Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Unusual American-Honduran Chip (aka Crisps)

      When I first located these chips, at the alternate Shop-Rite, I thought I was on to something somewhat rare in my area.  A week or two later, however, I saw them again, in my local Rite Aid pharmacy.  Which, like most pharmacies, has an understandably limited food selection.  Therefore, these chips evidently aren't nearly as tough to get as I initially thought.  But, they do come from the Central American country of Honduras, and some of them are made from atypical vegetables, such as batata, taro, and parsnip.  So I think they more than qualify for my parameters of being an exotic food.  In all, I tried two selections from the Terra brand--their original with sea salt kind, and their sweet potato with sea salt one.

    The Terra story starts in Manhattan, New York, with two chefs--Dana Sinkler and Alex Dzieduszycki, in the late 1980's.  Both of these men were employed at 4 star restaurants (i.e., well respected eateries), but yearned for something new and different.  Thus, they quit, and together they started a catering business.  This then evolved into running a tavern.  Their customers naturally wanted snacks to go along with their liquid libations, so Sinkler and Dzieduszycki decided to create their own.  By February of 1990 they opened their own chip making business, Terra.  Their crunchy treats began to grow in popularity, so much so that by 1993 they'd outgrown their location and relocated to a bigger space in Brooklyn.  Later, their business was acquired by The Hain Celestial Group, out of Lake Success, New York.  Hain Celestial, meanwhile, is a larger company, which has many brands, including Alba Botanical, Gale's Imagine, Joya, and Robertson's.  They export to over 70 countries around the globe, in parts of North, Central, and South America, Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe.  Hain Celestial has a stated commitment to ecology, health, and having happy, well-treated employees.  Back to the Terra brand, alternate chip flavors include plantain, blues (blue corn), and barbecue sweet.

     As for the exotic vegetables, taro is one of the most ancient cultivated crops--while the exact date is unknown, it may have been domesticated as early as 11,000 years ago.  It's toxic if eaten raw, but is safe after being steeped in water, or cooked.  Batata is sometimes known as Cuban sweet potato, and it is a close relative.  The main difference between it and regular sweet potato is the former is starchier.  Finally, the parsnip is a root vegetable, related to parsley and carrots.

Terra sweet potato chips with sea salt:  These were orange, of course, and ribbed.  On average the chips were about 5 cm. by 2.5 cm., or about 2 inches by 1 inch.  Only slightly crunchy.  The taste was respectable.  Basic, but good.  Salt tang was decent, perhaps because it was sea salt instead of table salt.  Not the best sweet potato chips I've ever had, but not the worst either.  Solid.

Terra original chips with sea salt:  In this bag there were five different kinds of chips, so I'll list each separately.  

a) Sweet potato:  Like the sweet potato chips from above--orange, crunchy, nice.

b) Taro:  These were roundish, and were white with purple specks on them.  They tasted like corn chips.  Had a denser texture.  Good overall.  There weren't many of this type of chip in the bag, so I'm assuming they're more expensive.

c) Ruby dipped:  These were unnamed vegetable chips, which were dipped in beet juice to give them a red color.  They were salty, crunchy, and kind of tasted like the sweet potato kind.  Or, decent, but unspectacular.

d) Batata:  These were yellow, and like the taro, slightly denser in texture.  Once again, they tasted pretty much like the sweet potato and ruby dipped ones.  Also not many of these in the bag.

e) Parsnip: This type of chip was a yellow disc, with a distinctive ring in the center, which made it look somewhat like a banana.  Very few of these available.  Very dense texture.  Taste was just okay--the weakest of the five kinds.

     Therefore, overall these Terra chips were alright--not the best chips I've had, but slightly better than average.  I would recommend them, especially if you want to try new vegetable chips, or like sweet potato chips.

     Since the chips came from Honduras, I thought I'd delve into that country a bit, as I often do.  When I looked at fun facts about this nation, several were repeatedly mentioned.  Alas, all of the ones that particularly caught my eye were somewhat questionable.  For example, several websites claimed that Honduras was the first country to ban smoking in enclosed spaces, including in one's home, back in 2011.  However, when I tried to confirm this, I couldn't.  So evidently Honduras was one of the first, but not necessarily THE first.  Also, some sources claimed that Honduras has the second biggest coral reef in the world, after Australia's.  But then other sites indicated this reef, while impressive, is really the 3rd or 4th biggest.  Moving on, the cathedral in the Honduran town of Comayague is billed as having the oldest clock in the Americas, and perhaps even the world.  The story is that the clock was built by Arabs, during their occupation of Spain around 1100 A.D.  In what's now Granada.  This clock was then transported over the ocean to Honduras in about 1711.  However, looking into it, other online sources say that the oldest clock is in Salisbury Cathedral, in Wiltshire, England, and it dates back to 1386.  So maybe the Honduran clock is older, but doesn't currently work?  I couldn't find out the explanation.

     As for famous folks born in Honduras, or of Honduran ancestry, there's Steve Van Buren, who was born in Honduras, although to a Spanish mother and American father (who judging by his name was presumably Dutch).  Van Buren played for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1944-51, as a halfback.  He was named All-Pro 5 times, led the Eagles to two NFL titles, and was named to the Hall of Fame as well.  Staying in the word of sports, Teofimo Lopez was born in the U.S., to Honduran parents.  He's the current unified Lightweight boxing champ, although by coincidence he puts his title on the line about 12 hours after I typed this in, so we'll see if he retains his belts.  His record as of now is 16-0.  (Update--Lopez was shockingly upset by George Kambosos, Jr. by a split decision.  So he lost all his titles, and his record is now 16-1.)   Moving to acting, arguably the most famous person of Honduran heritage is America Ferrera.  She had roles in movies like "Real Women Have Curves" (2002), "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" (2005, and its 2008 sequel), "The Dry Land" (2010), "Cesar Chavez" (2014), "How to Train Your Dragon" and its sequels (2010, 2014, and 2019), and on television shows like "Ugly Betty (2006-10) and "Superstore" (2015-21).  Honduran-born Jose Zuniga appeared in movies such as "Alive" (1993), "Crooklyn" (1994), "Con Air" (1997), "Constantine" (2005), "Twilight" (2008), "The Dark Tower" (2017), and on television's "Law & Order" (1992-2006).  Finally, there's acting brothers Daniel and Luis Moncada.  Who despite their resemblance to each other are not twins.  Daniel was in movies like "Sabotage" (2014), "Blood Father" (2016) and "The Mule" (2018).  Luis had roles in films such as "Collateral" (2004), "Fast & Furious" (2009), and on TV's "Dexter" (2011)  and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" (2019).  But they're probably most recognized for their roles on the television programs "Breaking Bad" (2010) and its related prequel "Better Call Saul" (2016, 2018-20).

     

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--An Uzbek Meal

      Today I'm going to do something I don't do often do on my blog, and discuss some exotics from a particular restaurant.  As far as I can recall, I've only done this three times before, about the Bald Headed Bistro in Tennessee (see my post on October 16, 2012), Half Moon, located in Pennsylvania (February 9, 2013), and a Turkish Mediterranean restaurant (October 24, 2020).  The eatery in question today is Silk Road Choyhona, out of Gaithersburg, Maryland.  I was visiting a friend who lives in the Washington, D.C. area (Hi Dan!), and we both were eager to try some cuisine we'd never had before, from Uzbekistan.

    The Silk Road Choyhona official website is sparse, so I can't cover the establishment's history.  About all the site contained was a gallery of food photos, a "contact us" section, and the menu.  I did, though, learn a little about the main course I had, plov.  Plov, also known as palov, is the traditional, signature dish of Uzbekistan.  It consists of a meat--often lamb or mutton, rice, carrots, and onions, and sometimes chickpeas, raisins, barberries, or other fruit are added.  In general, Uzbek food is described as being "noodle-rich," as the country does a lot of grain farming, and thus, grain eating.  Sheep herding is also common, therefore lamb (young sheep), and mutton (older sheep) are often the meat base for meals.  Also, despite being majority Muslims (I saw estimates of between 88% to 96.5% of the population), the Uzbeks are more secular, as alcohol is made and consumed there--beer, wine, cognac, and especially vodka.  (Maybe most to all of this is consumed by the non-Muslim minority, but the point is, it's legal.)  Getting back to Silk Road Choyhona, the restaurant is well regarded online.  I saw a 4.7 out of 5.0 rating on Facebook, and a 4.5 out of 5.0 on Yelp.

Tongue appetizer:  This was meat, still in its tongue shape, with a horseradish paste to spread on it.  I loved this.  The horseradish was nicely spicy--not too bland, not too hot--and I love tongue in general.  (Sorry to do this yet again, but my first ever post about exotic/disgusting foods was tongue, back on April 23, 2012.)  Given the size of the tongues (about 3 inches by 1.5 inches, or about  8 cm. by 4 cm) these might have been sheep's tongues, but I couldn't find out exactly.  Whatever animal they came from, these tongues were still very good.  Chewy, juicy, and tender.  So I really enjoyed this overall.

Plov:  According to their menu, this was made with braised lamb, rice, roasted garlic, chili pepper, chickpeas, carrots, and raisins.  At first I had serious misgivings, as there were many carrots mixed in with this, and it would have been hard to pick them all out.  And as I've surely already mentioned, I despise carrots--they are one of my least favorite foods ever.  I find them repulsive, both raw or cooked.  But something wonderful happened.  I tried some of them, mainly out of duty, and they were actually okay!  They were oily, and spiced, and these somehow overcame the usual horrifically terrible carrot taste.  I actually finished all the carrots, happily, which is somewhat of a miracle.  The rest was good too--the rice was also nice and spicy, and the lamb was tasty as well.  I usually enjoy lamb, so that's not a big surprise.  Overall this dish wasn't awesomely great or anything, but more than solid.  If I had one minor quibble, it would be that they could have included more meat in it.  But especially given the carrots being magically made palatable, this was a pleasant surprise, and I'm glad I tried it.

     Returning to the country of Uzbekistan, it was one of the former Central Asian Soviet Republics.  Meaning it became independent in 1991.  It's one of the most populous Central Asian nations, with a population estimated at over 32,000,000.  As far as fun facts, Uzbekistan boasts the world's largest open pit gold mine, in Muruntau.  One of its communities, Samarkand, is one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the world, dating back to the 8th to 7th century B.C.E.  Its traditional dish, plov, was reportedly invented by a cook serving Alexander the Great.  And for those that enjoy geographical trivia, Uzbekistan is one of only two double landlocked countries in the world, meaning it has no ocean coastline, and is itself surrounded by landlocked countries.  (Or, in other words, you'd have to cross over 2 countries to reach an ocean.)  The tiny European nation of Liechtenstein is the other double.

     As for famous people with Uzbekistan heritage, Ruslan Chagaev was an excellent boxer in the heavyweight division, as he held the WBA championship belt from 2007-09, and then again from 2014-16.  His final pro record was 34-3-1.  Moving to games, Rustam Kasimdzhanov is a chess grandmaster.  Salizhan Sharipov, who's half Uzbek, and half Tajik, is a respected former cosmonaut and astronaut--among his other accomplishments, he performed two space walks.  Uzbekistan's first Olympic gold medalist was won by Lina Cheryazova, in the freestyle skiing, women's aerials event in the 1994 winter games.  In the world of acting, there's Rita Volk, born Margarita Volkovinskaya, who acted in such films as "Almost Friends" (2016), "Summer Days, Summer Nights" (2018) and "We Still Say Grace" (2020), and on television programs such as "Faking It" (2014-16) and "Condor" (2020-).  She also appeared in a couple of music videos for horror maestro John Carpenter.  But arguably the most recognizable person of Uzbek heritage in the U.S. is Milana Aleksandrovna Vayntrub.  She was nearly ubiquitous as the character Lily Adams in AT&T television commercials in 2013-16, and 2020 on.  She also appeared in such films as "Life Happens" (2011), "Ghostbusters" (2016), and "Werewolves Within" (2021), and on television shows such as "ER" (1995), "Other Space" (2015), and "This is Us" 2016-17. 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Roquefort Cheese

      Roquefort is certainly a type of cheese I've heard of, but I wasn't sure that I'd actually ever had any.  Therefore, when I saw some for sale several weeks ago, I snapped it up.  At the very least, I'd have it again, post blog formation, so I could take notes and really do a proper sampling of it.  The brand that I had was Joan of Arc, and the label certifies it's a product of France.  However, Joan of Arc is currently owned by the Canadian cheese company Saputo, which I covered in my post about kasseri cheese on June 27, 2020.

     Roquefort is an ancient cheese.  Although just how ancient is a matter of some debate.  Some folks think it dates back almost 2000 years, as they claim Pliny the Elder wrote about it in 79 A.D.  But, other historians contend that Pliny was not necessarily referencing Roquefort itself--he could have been discussing another Gallic cheese, and he pointedly did not mention it was a blue cheese, which Roquefort certainly is.  Therefore, the first undeniable historic reference to actual Roquefort is in 1411, when French king Charles VI granted a monopoly for making the cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, who reportedly had been making it there for centuries at least.  There's also a legend about how Roquefort was invented.  The tale goes that a youth was eating bread and sheep's cheese in a cave, but he happened to spy a young woman nearby that he took an immediate fancy to.  He ran off in an attempt to woo her, and left his meal behind.  Months later he returned, and discovered that mold from the bread had infested the cheese, but in a cool, delicious way.  (I should note that one website disputes that the cheese could have been invented this way.  They claim that investigation of the Roquefort bacteria's genetic information indicates that it's distinct from the type of food-spoiling bacteria that would have formed on the bread, and this bacteria doesn't exist in those caves on its own.)  Whenever it was developed, and how, Roquefort is probably the most famous of the blue cheeses.  Meaning cheeses that deliberately have mold growing in them, from the Penicillium roqueforti bacteria.  (Which, despite the similarity in name, is not the same bacteria that makes the important antibiotic penicillin.)  Roquefort is an incredibly popular cheese, especially in France.  It's often referred to as the "King of Cheeses."  Although this title is not official--numerous other cheeses claim to be this sovereign as well.  (I'd like to see a "Game of Thrones"-style series of battles over this, but I don't think any are forthcoming.)  Evidently it's the 2nd most popular cheese in France, behind only Comte.  Moving on, there are the legal issues surrounding it.  Due to EU regulations, cheese can't legally be called "Roquefort" unless it follows several detailed guidelines, the main ones being that it has to be aged, cut, and packaged in Roguefort-sur-Soulzon and its caves, and be made from only sheep's milk, and these sheep must be of the Lacaune breed.  I assume other countries might not be as strict in this labelling, as often happens with "unofficial" brands of bourbon, champagne, tequila, etc.  Finally, Roquefort is thought to have some medicinal qualities.  Historically shepherds used to apply it to wounds to avoid infection and gangrene, and some modern research indicates it may have anti-inflammatory properties, the ability to inhibit LPS leukocytes, and even be effective against chlamydia.  That said, if you suffer from any of these ailments, I'd strongly advise going to a doctor instead of just putting the contents of your cheese plate on your afflicted areas.

     I can't really tell you much of anything about the Joan of Arc company or brand, alas.  The official website was sorely lacking about its history.  The label of my cheese reads, "Since 1918," so there's that.  And my package has official-looking seals on it, so maybe it's one of the seven companies that legally produce Roquefort cheese.  (I couldn't discover which one of the 7 mine was from, though.)  Conversely, however, the label of the cheese I had did not indicate it was unpasteurized.  And supposedly official Roquefort cannot be pasteurized.  But, I don't know if it's legal to sell unpasteurized cheese in my state of New Jersey.  So I'm more than a little confused about whether the Roquefort I ate was 100% legitimate or not.

Joan of Arc Roquefort cheese:  The color of it was yellowish-white, with greenish mold chunks mixed into it.  The odor was strong, almost pungent.  The taste was also quite strong--sour, and reminiscent of other blue cheese I've had, only bolder.  I tried some plain, and then some on some water crackers.  Which helped--the cracker helped balance the nearly overpowering flavor of the Roquefort in an effective way.  This wasn't my favorite cheese, but, as always, it was still very good.  I would definitely recommend it, unless you're adverse to strong cheeses, and blue cheeses in general.  The sight of the mold, and knowing that you're eating mold is a little off-putting, I guess, but the flavor was definitely well above average, and quite tasty.

     One final tidbit, about the woman who inspired the brand/company name of this cheese, Joan of Arc.  Some folks might not know that she fought alongside a man who's considered to be one of history's worst serial killers, Gilles de Rais.  He was a nobleman who was superior in military matters--he was even named a Marshall of France.  But then, later, long after Joan was dead, he was accused of sexually assaulting and then murdering dozens, or even hundreds of children.  Some modern historians question his guilt, but Gilles de Rais was executed in 1440 A.D.  He's also believed to have been the basis for the "Bluebeard" story.

     

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Two More German Cookies

      Well, I didn't cover a single food during the past month of October--three of the posts were about horror movies, one was about the World Series, and the final one concerned a pumpkin liquor.  So any readers who prefer my articles about consumables should be happy.  Today I'll discuss two kinds of cookies (or biscuits) from the Bahlsen company, out of Germany--their Choco Leibniz flavor and their First Class kind.

     Bahlsen is a moderately old company, as it started in 1889 in Hanover, Germany.  Hermann Bahlsen took over a cake/cookie business owned by a H. Schmuckler and renamed it Hannover Cakefabrik H. Bahlsen.  One of the firm's first products was a cake named after a famous Hanover resident named Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) *.  According to their official website, Bahlsen won a gold medal at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition.  (Normally I wouldn't include a tidbit like this, but it struck me as a coincidence since I'm reading Larson's "The Devil in the White City," about killer H.H. Holmes and that Chicago fair.)  Next, Bahlsen reportedly used the first assembly line in Europe at their factory in 1905, or 8 years before Henry Ford made this innovation famous in the U.S.  But the most surprising informational nugget on the website was about Bahlsen's activities during the Nazi years in Germany.  In 2019 they commissioned an independent historian, Prof. Dr. Manfred Greiger, to investigate their business's actions during this time.  Greiger discovered that the Bahlsens were Nazi party members, and used over 700 forced slave laborers in their factories from 1943-45.  Most of these workers were women from Nazi-occupied Poland and the Ukraine.  Anyway, clearly Bahlsen committed crimes against humanity during World War II, but it's nice to see them own up to it at least, and even put it on their website.  Cynics may say it was only because of heiress Verena Bahlsen's published online comments defending the company's World War actions, saying that they treated the workers well, etc.  (Obviously these statements were false, and she did later apologize.)  But, at least it's a start, I guess.  I mean, probably every mid 20th century German company did some level of wrong during the Nazi years, but this is the first one I've looked at for my blog that actually addressed it.  And I realize this tangent is much darker in tone than most of my posts about edibles, but I did notice it, and thought I'd discuss it a little.  Moving back to food details, Bahlsen also owns several other brands, including Leibniz, Raw Bite, and Brandt(who I covered in my post on August 13, 2019).  Finally, I was amused to see the citation, "Those who love cookies also accept website cookies" on their website.

Bahlsen Choco Leibniz, milk, crispy cookies:  These were rectangular in shape, about 6 cm. by 4.75 cm. (or about 2.5 inches by 1.75 inches), that were a yellow cookie on one side, and brown chocolate on the other.  "Bahlsen Leibniz" was embossed on both sides.  So it was a cookie with a chocolate section, kind of layered.  It was almost like an open faced Twix.  They were quite good.  The cookie part and the milk chocolate were both tasty.  Would definitely recommend.

Bahlsen First Class, milk, crispy wafers with hazelnut praline:  These cookies were square, about 4.75 cm. (about 1.75 inches) to a side.  One side was chocolate, while the other was a yellow cookie with cross hatched waffle-like pattern.  "Ohne Gleichen/First Class" was embossed on them.  These were chocolate wafers, crunchy.  I'm not a huge hazelnut flavor fan, so I didn't like these as much as the other kind.  But they still were alright.  If you like hazelnut, you'll probably enjoy them.

*  Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was apparently quite the Renaissance Man.  (Not quite literally, by most historian's time reckonings, but figuratively.)  He excelled as a mathematician, diplomat, scientist, and philosopher.  Even if Voltaire made fun of him in "Candide."