you had me at "Product of Colombia"...

As many of you know, I have an affinity for the heritage of my dear friend Sara.

Her family has taught me how to make guacamole, toast arrepas (traditional flatbreads) and how to drink straight aguardiente (this is a traditional Colombian liquor that is hybrid of sambuca and tequila, it is not sold on Canada, and roughly translates to "firewater" in English) at an age I perhaps best not reveal...

So while perusing the grocery isles this evening as I picked up some lunch meat, i saw this little guy and thought, SOLD!

So the Sweet Grenadilla is a relative of the passion fruit (which I HAVE tried). It is larger, orange, and can be identified by it's hollow sound and bright orange color.

Tropical, Colombian, and includes the adjective "Sweet" in the title.
So far so good...

 

When you manage to tear this guy open (the knife wasn't much use) it is essentially a large passionfruit inside with bigger, flat seeds. You need to go easy, because it takes some serious patience to get the slimy fruit off the seeds. The best part was the juice, and I must say this fruit is not for anybody in a rush.

Overall, not something I would buy unless I was making something fancy, and was going to squeeze the juice out with a cheesecloth for a nice sauce. Tastes great, smells amazing, and looks even better.

...From the outside anyways...

on the menu are also some apple turnovers, and a loaf of homemade bread for yours truly. Soon I'm going to need some stretchier pants..

Welcome!

Hello one and all,

You might have noticed that I have decided to try - despite my limited student budget - a new food every day. This is easier than it sounds. For someone who grew up in a house where my mother could whip up Indian as fast as she could Greek or Japanese food, it is a fun and exciting adventure with myself in the grocery store to discover lots of things which I would have thought were icky before.

The criteria are merely as follows:

1. I have never tried it before, or I do not recall ever trying it before
2. IT IS NOT GOING TO POISON ME, so no blowfish or unidentified mushrooms for the time being, thanks anyways
3. I can afford to eat it

That's all there is to it!

So far I have played it safe. Tropical fruits is the theme of the week. I have tried my first (miniature) guava (yum!) and red cactus pear (tastes like eating chlorophyll or leaves..), both a safe palate and moderate .75 cents each.

New on the menu is perhaps something slightly more odd but not vomit inducing. I am searching out jackfruit, kumquats, and whatever else has been evilly imported from the Southern Hemisphere, that I can get my greedy paws on in during a Pacific Northwestern Autumn.

I encourage you all to send me your thoughts, ideas, and recommendations!

Next week I am invading the Asian food isles of Fairway Market to eat some dried and jarred foods (most which still have their eyeballs)

Here is to hoping that i sort out all the formatting problems, I don't know how to make a paragraph break yet, but I'm learning!

Until then my stomach and I bid you adieu!