Sometimes I'm surprised by what's found in the international or ethnic food section in grocery stores. If you're in a place called Little Italy or Chinatown or something, you expect to see that country's food products for sale, but sometimes I see unexpected ones. Anyway, as the title gives away, I'm talking about a wide variety of Polish foods that I found in a store in Southington, Connecticut. So evidently there's a decently high percentage of people in the area with Polish heritage. I bought several kinds of biscuits/cookies, and one tinned meat, Spam-style product (see November 8, 2013 post for more info on these).
Sokolow S.A. made the canned meat, pork loaf. This company dates back to 1899 and specializes in meat--in fresh, canned, and cold cut form. There was a 9 minute video on the company website which may have provided more company history details, but, not shockingly, it was in Polish, so I couldn't understand it. Fortunately for me, the rest of the website was translated into English. Their "Did you know..." section had some amusing tidbits. They mentioned that one of their branches makes enough wieners in one month to stretch from Warsaw, Poland, to New York City in the U.S. Or enough pate in one month to equal the weight of 100 elephants (they didn't specify which kind, Asian or African elephants, which I think can make a significant difference, but oh well). Then there's the odd statement--"The Debica branch is the only facility in Poland able to produce products with natural moulds on the surface." (I assume that this refers to some safe-for-consumption, flavor-enhancing molds, like in various blue cheeses like Roquefort and gorgonzola, or otherwise they'd be bragging about selling spoiled food!) An American company, Square Enterprises, distributed the tinned pork loaf, as they do with other canned vegetables and juices. (Many of their beverages contain carrot juice, which I find revolting.) Square also distributed one of the cookie brands, Pulaski. Otherwise I wasn't able to find out much about the other companies, or food types. Krakus is manufactured in Poland for Prime Choice Foods in the U.S., but I could only view a very large product list, including meat, canned vegetables, jams, and other baked goods.
1) Krakus flakes--strawberry yogurt cream filled wafers: These were long thin wafers (about 8.5 cm. by 3 cm. or about 3.25 inches by 1.125 inches) that had two yellow cross-hatched wafers sandwiching a pink filling. Kind of "meh," or average. Rather typical wafer, with a flavor that wasn't very dazzling. (See my May 25, 2016 post to read about Brazil's atypical fruit-flavored wafers.)
2) Krakus wafferio--chocolate covered wafer with cocoa filling: This was packaged individually, as a long rod, about 4.5 inches by .75 inches (about 11 cm. by 2 cm.), with a dark brown color. As expected, this was basically like a chocolate candy bar made using wafers. It was okay, and slightly better than the flake kind.
3) Krakus biscuits with chocolate black currant: This was a limited edition. These cookies were round, about 5 cm. (about 2 inches) in diameter, with a brown chocolate exterior and a white and purplish interior. They were soft and chewy, with a weird taste. The fruit and chocolate mixing was odd, and not that great. Kind of okay, I guess.
4) Krakus biscuits with chocolate raspberry: These were the same size, shape, and color as the chocolate black currant kind. Had the same texture, too. And were also kind of disappointing. This flavor pairing was slightly off-putting. Not terrible, but sub par.
5) Wawei chocolate truffle (? Just about all the writing on the label was in Polish, and I couldn't learn anything else online): These were essentially bite-size chocolate bars, similar to those Americans give out on Halloween. They were about 3.5 cm by 2 cm. (about 1.5 inches by .75 inches) and dark brown in color. I didn't like these very much. However, to be fair, I don't normally like dark chocolate much, so there's that. I could finish these, but just barely.
6) Pulaski wafers with peanut filling: Long and thin, about 11 cm. by 3 cm. (about 4.25 inches by 1 inch), with three yellow cross hatched wafer pieces encasing 2 light brown filling layers. These were quite good, easily the best of all the biscuits/cookies. But I love peanut butter flavoring, so this makes sense.
7) Army Brand chopped pork pattie loaf: Like Spam and its clones, this was basically pork scraps with some spices. This is definitely one of the most disgusting food items I've seen--it was pinkish brown meat with white chunks mixed in it, surrounded by a orange gel. It also had an unpleasant odor--and my family wasn't shy about complaining about this. I had a tough time digging into this, as it looked like it was rotten or something. Fortunately, once I did, it was pretty good. It didn't taste like Spam or the other potted meats--this one reminded my much more of a decent meat loaf. Nice chewy texture as well. Ketchup helped the flavor, too. So, to use a non-food metaphor, for me Army Brand pork loaf was more evidence that you can't always judge a book by its cover.
I'll conclude with some info about the namesake of one of the cookies, Casimir Pulaski. Pulaski was a Polish nobleman, best known for fighting for Polish autonomy with the Bar Confederation, and then helping the colonists gain independence in the American Revolution. Pulaski is credited with saving George Washington's life in the Battle of Brandywine, and is known as the father of American cavalry. He gave his life fighting for the Americans in 1779. As a result, he's had various bridges, highways, boats, and counties named after him. He's also one of only 8 people to be granted honorary American citizenship. (If you're curious, two others were Revolutionary War figures--Lafayette and Bernardo de Galvez, along with William Penn and Hannah Callowhill Penn (one of Penn's wives), Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (for his efforts to save Hungarian Jews in World War II), Mother Theresa, and Sir Winston Churchill.) One more fascinating item concerns Pulaski's apparent remains, which were exhumed and examined on at least two occasions. There is some controversy about whether this skeleton was indeed his, but various details and injuries found on the bones match up well with what is known about Pulaski's life. Anyway, some of the bones showed distinctly feminine characteristics, indicating that Pulaski may have been intersex.
Saturday, December 29, 2018
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Canadian Cookies (Biscuits)
This week we'll headed on a short trip, up over the border to Canada, the U.S.'s friendly neighbor to the north. Which I believe is the first Canadian-themed post I've done, which is kind of weird now that I think about it. Anyway, these cookies are from the Dare company, and I picked them up at my local Shop-Rite grocery.
Dare is a moderately old company. They've been making cookies and candies since 1892, based out of the family grocery in Ontario. This company was incorporated in 1919, meaning that their official centennial is right around the corner. Dare was started by Charles H. Doerr, and as such, the company was named the C.H. Doerr Company up until 1945. At this point, Doerr changed the title to Dare, thinking that this close approximation of his surname was much easier to pronounce, and remember. By 1954 Dare was sold all over the country of Canada, aided by the technological improvement of an effective resealable container for cookies. By 1956 Dare products were exported to the U.S. Dare continued to expand, and by 1983 their foods were available in all of the lower 48 U.S. states. Eleven years later, in 1994, Dare opened its first bakery in the U.S., in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This manufacturer has been near the forefront of addressing specialized dietary concerns, too. They eliminated all peanuts at their plants in 2003 due to allergy issues, and in 2013 they marketed Canada's first gluten-free cracker. In a similar vein, Dare has announced that they'll switch to using only cage-free eggs by 2025, and some of their products are kosher. Finally, in addition to cookies, this firm still makes candies, crackers, and various kinds of crisps (or "chips" to American customers). Currently Dare employs over 1300 people, and is exported to over 50 countries around the world.
1) Dare Breaktime oatmeal cookies: These were round, and about 4.5 cm (about 1.75 inches) in diameter, with a light brown color. Slightly disappointing, as they were not as good as some other oatmeal cookies I've had. Okay, but nothing more. They were better after being dipped in milk.
2) Dare fudge chocolate creme filled cookies: Circular shape, with a spiral pattern etched on them. These were like an Oreo cookie in that they were two outer pieces sandwiching a cream (or creme) filling. Diameter was about the same as the oatmeal. All of these components were dark brown. These were solid, but not great. Definite fudge-like flavor.
3) Dare coconut creme filled cookies: Yellow hue, with elaborate inner circular pattern and scallop-type edges. Like the fudge kind, they were sandwich style, encasing a white filling. Same size as the first two varieties. These were better than the first two kinds. Although the coconut flavor was strong--if you like coconut, you'll probably enjoy these, but if you don't you probably will hate them.
4) Dare maple creme cookies: Not surprisingly, these cookies were shaped like a maple leaf, about 5 cm. by 5 cm. (about 2 inches by 2 inches), with yellow outside cookies enclosing a light yellowish-brown filling. "DARE" was embossed on them, too. These had an intense maple flavor. Since I enjoy maple, I really liked these. Very sweet and tasty. Easily the best of the bunch.
Overall, these Dare cookies/biscuits ranged from alright to very good. My family liked these too--they especially enjoyed the coconut ones. I definitely plan on buying the maple creme variety again. I should also mention that the price was very reasonable for these. The box sizes ranged from 8.8 ounces (250 gram) to 10.6 ounces (300 grams), and cost less than $3.00 per box. I think one was even less than $2.00.
Dare is a moderately old company. They've been making cookies and candies since 1892, based out of the family grocery in Ontario. This company was incorporated in 1919, meaning that their official centennial is right around the corner. Dare was started by Charles H. Doerr, and as such, the company was named the C.H. Doerr Company up until 1945. At this point, Doerr changed the title to Dare, thinking that this close approximation of his surname was much easier to pronounce, and remember. By 1954 Dare was sold all over the country of Canada, aided by the technological improvement of an effective resealable container for cookies. By 1956 Dare products were exported to the U.S. Dare continued to expand, and by 1983 their foods were available in all of the lower 48 U.S. states. Eleven years later, in 1994, Dare opened its first bakery in the U.S., in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This manufacturer has been near the forefront of addressing specialized dietary concerns, too. They eliminated all peanuts at their plants in 2003 due to allergy issues, and in 2013 they marketed Canada's first gluten-free cracker. In a similar vein, Dare has announced that they'll switch to using only cage-free eggs by 2025, and some of their products are kosher. Finally, in addition to cookies, this firm still makes candies, crackers, and various kinds of crisps (or "chips" to American customers). Currently Dare employs over 1300 people, and is exported to over 50 countries around the world.
1) Dare Breaktime oatmeal cookies: These were round, and about 4.5 cm (about 1.75 inches) in diameter, with a light brown color. Slightly disappointing, as they were not as good as some other oatmeal cookies I've had. Okay, but nothing more. They were better after being dipped in milk.
2) Dare fudge chocolate creme filled cookies: Circular shape, with a spiral pattern etched on them. These were like an Oreo cookie in that they were two outer pieces sandwiching a cream (or creme) filling. Diameter was about the same as the oatmeal. All of these components were dark brown. These were solid, but not great. Definite fudge-like flavor.
3) Dare coconut creme filled cookies: Yellow hue, with elaborate inner circular pattern and scallop-type edges. Like the fudge kind, they were sandwich style, encasing a white filling. Same size as the first two varieties. These were better than the first two kinds. Although the coconut flavor was strong--if you like coconut, you'll probably enjoy these, but if you don't you probably will hate them.
4) Dare maple creme cookies: Not surprisingly, these cookies were shaped like a maple leaf, about 5 cm. by 5 cm. (about 2 inches by 2 inches), with yellow outside cookies enclosing a light yellowish-brown filling. "DARE" was embossed on them, too. These had an intense maple flavor. Since I enjoy maple, I really liked these. Very sweet and tasty. Easily the best of the bunch.
Overall, these Dare cookies/biscuits ranged from alright to very good. My family liked these too--they especially enjoyed the coconut ones. I definitely plan on buying the maple creme variety again. I should also mention that the price was very reasonable for these. The box sizes ranged from 8.8 ounces (250 gram) to 10.6 ounces (300 grams), and cost less than $3.00 per box. I think one was even less than $2.00.
Saturday, December 15, 2018
Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Maine Soft Drinks
About a month ago I was working in Maine, so I thought it'd be appropriate to do a post about some Maine edibles and drinkables. This week I'll do some of the latter, and I'll probably return to the former some time in the future. The official state soft drink of Maine is Moxie, which I covered back in my December 5th, 2013 post. Today I'll be discussing and rating five flavors of Capt'n Eli's sodas, which are a brand made by the Shipyard Brewing Company, out of Portland.
Shipyard Brewing, as the name suggests, is primarily a producer of beer. Founded in 1994, it's currently the fourth largest microbrewery in New England, after the Boston Beer Company, Harpoon, and Magic Hat. Its beers are available in 40 states. Shipyard's owners are Fred Forsley and Alan Pugsley. Pugsley is the master brewer, while Forsley seems to the driving force behind the soft drink line. Shipyard also owns Sea Dog Brewing and Casco Bay Brewing, and produces beer under contract for Gritty McDuffies's Brewing Co. Some of the brewery's more exotic offerings include Fireberry, Maui Mango, a Coffee Porter, Melon, and Monkey Fist IPA (which, somewhat disappointingly, is not flavored with actual monkey parts). As far as I can recall, I've only sampled two of Shipyard's beers--their Pumpkinhead and their discontinued Gingerbreadhead. (The Pumpkinhead I found to be an average, kind of bland and inoffensive, but drinkable pumpkin beer, while the Gingerbreadhead was an odd flavor, but kind of good.)
The Capt'n Eli's brand in a way dates back to the 1920's, when one of Forsley's ancestors made a home made root beer. It's been made and sold since 1996. Apart from the five I'll talk about below there's three other flavors--root beer, cola, and strawberry pop. The makers are proud to note that they use cane and brown sugar for sweetening, and not high fructose corn syrup. They're also free of caffeine and gluten. (They're presumably vegan, too, but I didn't see this listed.) The official website has one unusual feature, in their store section. Aside from the usual branded glassware they sell a comic book line. These are about the undersea adventures of Capt'n Eli, and also a character called Sea Ghost.
1) Capt'n Eli's black cherry pop flavor. Came in a 12 ounce (355 ml.) glass bottle, as did all the other flavors. Pinkish-red color, caused by beet and grape juice additives. Solid overall--not awesome, is a tad thin. So just okay.
2) Capt'n Eli's blueberry pop flavor. Similar color, since it's a purplish red hue. Again is alright, but doesn't have a particularly strong flavor. Maybe a bit weaker overall than the black cherry kind.
3) Capt'n Eli's orange pop flavor. Yellow color. Hate to be a broken record, but it was about the same as the previous--average, but not a very strong, distinctive taste. Solid but nothing more.
4) Capt'n Eli's cream flavor. Champagne hue. Has a sweet, almost bubble-gum like taste. Better than the first three, but still just good.
5) Capt'n Eli's ginger beer. Best of the bunch. Very good, but not excellent, though. If it had a slightly more intense ginger bite it would be great.
So as you can see I wasn't exactly blown away by Capt'n Eli's sodas, and I tried most of them. I think I'd only buy the ginger beer kind again.
As I often do, I thought I'd flesh out this post by adding a few fun facts about where they came from, in this case the state of Maine. It's the most easternmost state, as well as the only one whose name is only one syllable. It's also the only state to share a border with only one other state. (Clearly Alaska and Hawaii don't border any other U.S. states, and all the other lower 48 contiguous states border at least 2 others.) Almost 90% of the nation's lobster is harvested off the coast of Maine. It also boasts some museums with unusual themes, such as ones about sardine history, telephones, cryptozoology, and umbrella covers.
Probably just about everyone knows that horror author Stephen King is from Maine, but there are some other famous Mainers. The first women's Olympic Marathon winner was Joan Benoit (later Joan Benoit Samuelson). Business magnate/boardgame manufacturer Milton Bradley (1836-1911) was also born in Maine. In the world of acting this state boasts Anna Kendrick, probably best known for roles in the "Twilight" series (2008-2011), the "Pitch Perfect" series (2012-2017), "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" (2010), and her Oscar nominated performance in "Up in the Air" (2009). Famous writer E.B. White (1899-1985) wasn't born in Maine, but he did live and die there. He's famous for his contributions to the "New Yorker" magazine and for writing the children's classic "Stuart Little" (1946) and "Charlotte's Web" (1952).
Another famous Mainer was Dorothea Dix (1802-1887), who was the Superintendent of Army Nurses during the Civil War, and a mental health advocate. Turning to politics, we have Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891), who was a Congressman, Senator, Governor, Ambassador (to Spain), and the Vice President during Abraham Lincoln's first term. Melville Fuller (1933-1910) was the 8th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, from 1888-1910. And finally there's Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), who was the first woman to serve in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and was also one of the few to stand up to Joseph McCarthy's cruel insanity during the Red Scare in the 1950's.
Shipyard Brewing, as the name suggests, is primarily a producer of beer. Founded in 1994, it's currently the fourth largest microbrewery in New England, after the Boston Beer Company, Harpoon, and Magic Hat. Its beers are available in 40 states. Shipyard's owners are Fred Forsley and Alan Pugsley. Pugsley is the master brewer, while Forsley seems to the driving force behind the soft drink line. Shipyard also owns Sea Dog Brewing and Casco Bay Brewing, and produces beer under contract for Gritty McDuffies's Brewing Co. Some of the brewery's more exotic offerings include Fireberry, Maui Mango, a Coffee Porter, Melon, and Monkey Fist IPA (which, somewhat disappointingly, is not flavored with actual monkey parts). As far as I can recall, I've only sampled two of Shipyard's beers--their Pumpkinhead and their discontinued Gingerbreadhead. (The Pumpkinhead I found to be an average, kind of bland and inoffensive, but drinkable pumpkin beer, while the Gingerbreadhead was an odd flavor, but kind of good.)
The Capt'n Eli's brand in a way dates back to the 1920's, when one of Forsley's ancestors made a home made root beer. It's been made and sold since 1996. Apart from the five I'll talk about below there's three other flavors--root beer, cola, and strawberry pop. The makers are proud to note that they use cane and brown sugar for sweetening, and not high fructose corn syrup. They're also free of caffeine and gluten. (They're presumably vegan, too, but I didn't see this listed.) The official website has one unusual feature, in their store section. Aside from the usual branded glassware they sell a comic book line. These are about the undersea adventures of Capt'n Eli, and also a character called Sea Ghost.
1) Capt'n Eli's black cherry pop flavor. Came in a 12 ounce (355 ml.) glass bottle, as did all the other flavors. Pinkish-red color, caused by beet and grape juice additives. Solid overall--not awesome, is a tad thin. So just okay.
2) Capt'n Eli's blueberry pop flavor. Similar color, since it's a purplish red hue. Again is alright, but doesn't have a particularly strong flavor. Maybe a bit weaker overall than the black cherry kind.
3) Capt'n Eli's orange pop flavor. Yellow color. Hate to be a broken record, but it was about the same as the previous--average, but not a very strong, distinctive taste. Solid but nothing more.
4) Capt'n Eli's cream flavor. Champagne hue. Has a sweet, almost bubble-gum like taste. Better than the first three, but still just good.
5) Capt'n Eli's ginger beer. Best of the bunch. Very good, but not excellent, though. If it had a slightly more intense ginger bite it would be great.
So as you can see I wasn't exactly blown away by Capt'n Eli's sodas, and I tried most of them. I think I'd only buy the ginger beer kind again.
As I often do, I thought I'd flesh out this post by adding a few fun facts about where they came from, in this case the state of Maine. It's the most easternmost state, as well as the only one whose name is only one syllable. It's also the only state to share a border with only one other state. (Clearly Alaska and Hawaii don't border any other U.S. states, and all the other lower 48 contiguous states border at least 2 others.) Almost 90% of the nation's lobster is harvested off the coast of Maine. It also boasts some museums with unusual themes, such as ones about sardine history, telephones, cryptozoology, and umbrella covers.
Probably just about everyone knows that horror author Stephen King is from Maine, but there are some other famous Mainers. The first women's Olympic Marathon winner was Joan Benoit (later Joan Benoit Samuelson). Business magnate/boardgame manufacturer Milton Bradley (1836-1911) was also born in Maine. In the world of acting this state boasts Anna Kendrick, probably best known for roles in the "Twilight" series (2008-2011), the "Pitch Perfect" series (2012-2017), "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" (2010), and her Oscar nominated performance in "Up in the Air" (2009). Famous writer E.B. White (1899-1985) wasn't born in Maine, but he did live and die there. He's famous for his contributions to the "New Yorker" magazine and for writing the children's classic "Stuart Little" (1946) and "Charlotte's Web" (1952).
Another famous Mainer was Dorothea Dix (1802-1887), who was the Superintendent of Army Nurses during the Civil War, and a mental health advocate. Turning to politics, we have Hannibal Hamlin (1809-1891), who was a Congressman, Senator, Governor, Ambassador (to Spain), and the Vice President during Abraham Lincoln's first term. Melville Fuller (1933-1910) was the 8th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, from 1888-1910. And finally there's Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995), who was the first woman to serve in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and was also one of the few to stand up to Joseph McCarthy's cruel insanity during the Red Scare in the 1950's.
Saturday, December 8, 2018
Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Eels
Recently I saw some canned eels for sale in a Wegman's near Rochester, and picked them up. I've been eating eels for years, so I assumed I'd already done a post about them. However, I haven't, so here we are.
Eels are actually a type of fish. Which seems odd, as they don't resemble a typical fish in a lot of ways. But they're just a variant of fish with elongated bodies, and no pelvic fins, and sometimes no pectoral fins. "Eel" is kind of a catch all term for various other long, snake-like aquatic creatures which aren't true eels, such as the electric eels, and deep sea spiny eels. Real eels adult body lengths range from a small of 5 cm. (about 2 inches) to a large of 4 meters (about 13 feet). Weight-wise, the largest eels can be up to 110 kilos (240 pounds). Their life cycle has only been fully understood fairly recently. For much of recorded history, there were many theories about how they reproduced, some pretty strange. For example, in ancient times some noted naturalists thought they came from worms made of mud, or sprang up from dew that formed in May and June, or propagated by rubbing against rocks. Their reproductive organs weren't even conclusively discovered until 1897! Anyway, some of them are like salmon in reverse, in that they begin their lives in the ocean, move into fresh water rivers and lakes, and then return to the ocean to spawn. Others spend their entire lives in the ocean. Whatever kind of water they live in, they tend to like shallow water, and often burrow in rocks and sand. Unlike many species of fish, they are capable of swimming backwards.
Most of the eels I've eaten were at Japanese and Chinese restaurants, as sushi. As far as I can recall, I've only had the freshwater kind, called "unagi," and not the salt water "anago." Unagi is simply delicious. It's a cooked sushi, and appears mostly brownish. I essentially like eating every kind of water-dwelling creature, but even with that in mind unagi is one of the best ones. It's not just me, either--of my sushi-eating friends it's one of the most popular kinds as well. But the recent canned variety I got was different. This was from a Taiwanese company called Tong Yeng. These eels were listed as being conger eels, which means they were probably a species of salt water eels, one of the larger kinds. They weren't as good as the fresh water eels. They had an odd sweetish flavor to them, which may have been from the spices and/or soy sauce they were packed in. They weren't terrible, and I could finish them, but they were a huge disappointment when compared to the unagi. Of course, to be fair, canned foods are almost always inferior to fresh ones, so that was surely a contributer, too. I wasn't able to find out much of anything about the Tong Yeng company, except that they've been around since 1954, and produce various sorts of canned and cured fish and seafood.
One final interesting thing about eels is that their blood is toxic to humans, and many other mammals. But only in a limited way. Cooking destroys the toxic protein, as does the normal digestive process. (As I said, unagi is cooked, and I think most salt water eel is as well, which might be just to be safe about the toxin, and possible parasites, and/or for better flavor.) So it would appear that the only way you could poison yourself with the blood is if your tattoo artist doesn't properly sterilize their equipment after decorating an eel customer before you. Or, more disturbingly, if you and an eel friend share needles while injecting heroin.
But seriously, unagi eel is awesome, and I couldn't recommend it more. And maybe salt water eel is good, too, if fresh and prepared in the right way. Although many species of eel are endangered, some critically, so I guess I'll immediately contradict myself to say maybe we should eat less of them.
Eels are actually a type of fish. Which seems odd, as they don't resemble a typical fish in a lot of ways. But they're just a variant of fish with elongated bodies, and no pelvic fins, and sometimes no pectoral fins. "Eel" is kind of a catch all term for various other long, snake-like aquatic creatures which aren't true eels, such as the electric eels, and deep sea spiny eels. Real eels adult body lengths range from a small of 5 cm. (about 2 inches) to a large of 4 meters (about 13 feet). Weight-wise, the largest eels can be up to 110 kilos (240 pounds). Their life cycle has only been fully understood fairly recently. For much of recorded history, there were many theories about how they reproduced, some pretty strange. For example, in ancient times some noted naturalists thought they came from worms made of mud, or sprang up from dew that formed in May and June, or propagated by rubbing against rocks. Their reproductive organs weren't even conclusively discovered until 1897! Anyway, some of them are like salmon in reverse, in that they begin their lives in the ocean, move into fresh water rivers and lakes, and then return to the ocean to spawn. Others spend their entire lives in the ocean. Whatever kind of water they live in, they tend to like shallow water, and often burrow in rocks and sand. Unlike many species of fish, they are capable of swimming backwards.
Most of the eels I've eaten were at Japanese and Chinese restaurants, as sushi. As far as I can recall, I've only had the freshwater kind, called "unagi," and not the salt water "anago." Unagi is simply delicious. It's a cooked sushi, and appears mostly brownish. I essentially like eating every kind of water-dwelling creature, but even with that in mind unagi is one of the best ones. It's not just me, either--of my sushi-eating friends it's one of the most popular kinds as well. But the recent canned variety I got was different. This was from a Taiwanese company called Tong Yeng. These eels were listed as being conger eels, which means they were probably a species of salt water eels, one of the larger kinds. They weren't as good as the fresh water eels. They had an odd sweetish flavor to them, which may have been from the spices and/or soy sauce they were packed in. They weren't terrible, and I could finish them, but they were a huge disappointment when compared to the unagi. Of course, to be fair, canned foods are almost always inferior to fresh ones, so that was surely a contributer, too. I wasn't able to find out much of anything about the Tong Yeng company, except that they've been around since 1954, and produce various sorts of canned and cured fish and seafood.
One final interesting thing about eels is that their blood is toxic to humans, and many other mammals. But only in a limited way. Cooking destroys the toxic protein, as does the normal digestive process. (As I said, unagi is cooked, and I think most salt water eel is as well, which might be just to be safe about the toxin, and possible parasites, and/or for better flavor.) So it would appear that the only way you could poison yourself with the blood is if your tattoo artist doesn't properly sterilize their equipment after decorating an eel customer before you. Or, more disturbingly, if you and an eel friend share needles while injecting heroin.
But seriously, unagi eel is awesome, and I couldn't recommend it more. And maybe salt water eel is good, too, if fresh and prepared in the right way. Although many species of eel are endangered, some critically, so I guess I'll immediately contradict myself to say maybe we should eat less of them.
Saturday, December 1, 2018
Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Moon Drop Grapes
A couple of months ago I got a surprise while looking at some fruit my parents had bought. They were grapes, but giant ones. And not just one freakishly large one mixed in with normal siblings, but the whole batch. So I was able to get an easy blog post topic completely unexpectedly, out of the blue.
Moon drop grapes are, as far as I can tell, only made by one company, which goes by the unimaginative, but apparently effective name of the Grapery. To give a brief background, the Grapery was started in Bakersfield, California in 1996. It was founded by Jack Pandol, a man whose family ran a vineyard, and who got his viticulture degree from the University of California--Davis. His co-owner is Jim Beagle, who has an agricultural degree, also from UC-Davis, and an MBA from Harvard. Evidently their main plan is to cultivate new varieties of grapes, and come up with new and sometimes elaborate names for them. For example, aside from moon drops, they sell grapes called cotton candy, gum drop, tear drop, flavor pop, sweet celebration, sweet surrender, autumn royal, sheegene 21, and sweet globe. Some of their cultivation secrets involve covering the grapes from excessive rain, so that they get more sun (which reportedly enables them to reach peak ripeness, and have the best flavor), and harvesting different fields of grapes at different times, instead of doing all of them at the same time. (I'm sure there are other strategies, too, but I guess they don't want to help out their competitors too much.) Their unusual shapes and flavors are natural, too, and not like the Grapples I discussed in my March 30, 2013 post about hybrid fruits and animals. Also, the Grapery does not use GMO's, and is into sustainable farming. But, they are not organic, if that's important to you.
Anyway, the moon drop grapes are big, as I mentioned. They average about 1.5 inches long (or about 4 cm.), and are a dark purplish/black color on the outside. They kind of look like mini-eggplants in shape and color. The interior flesh is green, with no seeds. The taste was good. But oddly disappointing, in that I don't know if I could tell them apart from regular sized purple grapes. (Or even green or red ones for that matter--I don't think my palate is that discerning when it comes to grapes.) I probably should have done a blind taste test, like I did with the sunrise raspberries versus regular raspberries (see June 24, 2017 post), but I didn't think of it at the time, and now it's too late. Yes, this whole post has been a tease, as the season for moon drops is August 20th--November 15th. So if you're interested in trying this variety, which looks like grapes on steroids, you'll have to wait about 8-9 months from now. Finally, just about every other kind of the Grapery's wares is also out of season now, too.
Despite my dismay that they didn't taste remarkably strange and different, I would eat these again. And I'll try some of the other kinds if I get the opportunity, especially the ones that supposedly taste like gum drops or cotton candy. I read how the original name for the tear drop grapes was "witch's fingers," but potential buyers thought this moniker was gross and off-putting. Personally, if the Grapery wants to entice consumers like me, I would love the more interesting, morbid title. (If you're wondering, the witch's finger/tear drop grapes are long like the moon drops, only with a tapering shape on one end, to sort of resemble fingers, with a little imagination.)
Moon drop grapes are, as far as I can tell, only made by one company, which goes by the unimaginative, but apparently effective name of the Grapery. To give a brief background, the Grapery was started in Bakersfield, California in 1996. It was founded by Jack Pandol, a man whose family ran a vineyard, and who got his viticulture degree from the University of California--Davis. His co-owner is Jim Beagle, who has an agricultural degree, also from UC-Davis, and an MBA from Harvard. Evidently their main plan is to cultivate new varieties of grapes, and come up with new and sometimes elaborate names for them. For example, aside from moon drops, they sell grapes called cotton candy, gum drop, tear drop, flavor pop, sweet celebration, sweet surrender, autumn royal, sheegene 21, and sweet globe. Some of their cultivation secrets involve covering the grapes from excessive rain, so that they get more sun (which reportedly enables them to reach peak ripeness, and have the best flavor), and harvesting different fields of grapes at different times, instead of doing all of them at the same time. (I'm sure there are other strategies, too, but I guess they don't want to help out their competitors too much.) Their unusual shapes and flavors are natural, too, and not like the Grapples I discussed in my March 30, 2013 post about hybrid fruits and animals. Also, the Grapery does not use GMO's, and is into sustainable farming. But, they are not organic, if that's important to you.
Anyway, the moon drop grapes are big, as I mentioned. They average about 1.5 inches long (or about 4 cm.), and are a dark purplish/black color on the outside. They kind of look like mini-eggplants in shape and color. The interior flesh is green, with no seeds. The taste was good. But oddly disappointing, in that I don't know if I could tell them apart from regular sized purple grapes. (Or even green or red ones for that matter--I don't think my palate is that discerning when it comes to grapes.) I probably should have done a blind taste test, like I did with the sunrise raspberries versus regular raspberries (see June 24, 2017 post), but I didn't think of it at the time, and now it's too late. Yes, this whole post has been a tease, as the season for moon drops is August 20th--November 15th. So if you're interested in trying this variety, which looks like grapes on steroids, you'll have to wait about 8-9 months from now. Finally, just about every other kind of the Grapery's wares is also out of season now, too.
Despite my dismay that they didn't taste remarkably strange and different, I would eat these again. And I'll try some of the other kinds if I get the opportunity, especially the ones that supposedly taste like gum drops or cotton candy. I read how the original name for the tear drop grapes was "witch's fingers," but potential buyers thought this moniker was gross and off-putting. Personally, if the Grapery wants to entice consumers like me, I would love the more interesting, morbid title. (If you're wondering, the witch's finger/tear drop grapes are long like the moon drops, only with a tapering shape on one end, to sort of resemble fingers, with a little imagination.)
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