Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--An Italian/American Juice Beverage

      Some readers might be anticipating a holiday-relevant post today, since it's only 2 days past the American holiday of Thanksgiving.  (A holiday that's probably the most food-centric one of them all, even.)  Alas, that's not the case.  I couldn't locate anything like that.  Instead, I'll discuss a drink made from bilberry nectar.  From the Bionaturae brand.  Which in turn is part of Jovial Foods, which is headquartered in the American state of Connecticut, but many (all?) of their products come from Italy.

     The founders of Jovial Foods were a married couple--Carla Bartolucci and Rodolfo Viola.  (I'm using the past tense because Carla tragically passed at a young age in 2021.)  Bartolucci was American, but of Italian heritage.  Viola was born in Italy, and is of Italian heritage.  Carla had become interested in organic foods after her parents died from cancer.  Rodolfo had actually studied organic agriculture while in college.  So it was natural that together they started a brand that specialized in marketing Italian organic food and drinks in 1995.  (Some of the business details are a bit unclear, but I believe that brand was Bionaturae.  But by 2010 the overall company became Jovial Foods.  This may have been the same date when the Connecticut headquarters were established.)  Anyway, Jovial/Bionaturae produces pastas, tomatoes, vinegars, oils, fruit nectars, and fruit spreads.  All traditional Italian dishes, obviously, and many (all?) grown and processed in Italy.  But the focus of Jovial seems to be their foods made from einkorn.  Einkorn is a variety of wheat, one which is a bit different than varieties most commonly used currently.  Adherents love einkorn because it's not hybridized, and is seen as being healthier, and more pure.  It does have more protein than the common modern varieties, and has greater amounts of some nutrients, such as potassium, beta carotene, and phosphorus.  Reportedly einkorn also contains a weaker type of gluten.  Some folks with gluten sensitivities can digest einkorn without difficulty.  Although, critically, those with celiac disease should NOT consume einkorn, as its gluten will definitely still adversely affect them.  Additionally, some consumers think that einkorn has a distinct, and better flavor than regular wheat.  All of which makes me wish I'd tried some Jovial products made using einkorn, but unfortunately my grocery stores only had the bilberry juice.

     Moving to bilberries, they are a variety of berry that's closely related to the North American blueberry.  There are some differences, though.  The exteriors of bilberries are dark purple or black, and their inner pulps are red or purple, as opposed to blueberries' blue exteriors, and greenish pulp.  Bilberries are softer and juicier than blueberries, and are more difficult to cultivate.  Meaning most bilberries are harvested from wild plants, and are not transported very far, usually sold in local gourmet stores instead of widespread supermarket chains.  Bilberries are eaten raw, or are made into jams, pies, skyr (see my post on December 7th, 2016), other desserts, soups, and are even sometimes turned into liquors.  It's often claimed that bilberries have various medical uses, such as helping to lower blood pressure, or aiding eye ailments, or improving night vision.  However, as is so often the case, medical science has not found evidence for these claims as of yet.  I mean, they're nutritious, and tasty, but don't expect them to cure your cataracts or astigmatism or anything.

Bionaturae bilberrry nectar:  Not much of an odor.  Deep purplish-red in color.  Taste was okay.  Kind of thin.  Not a bold taste.  Slightly disappointing.  I would have liked it to either be more tart, or more sweet.  It was kind of in a mediocre flavor middle.  As befits the Jovial overall healthy focus, there was no sugar added.  Although there was some apple puree and apple juice concentrate, both organic, clearly.  Otherwise there was just organic bilberry puree, ascorbic acid, and filtered water.

  

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--An Australian/Indian Snack

      I saw this one several months ago, at the alternate Shop-Rite.  From the name and what it looked like, I initially assumed it was from India.  But, then I read that it was distributed by an American LLC, out of Georgia.  However, looking further, the food was actually made in Australia.  Specifically, it was the bhuja cracker mix, from the Majans company.

     The Majans official company website was one of those terse ones.  So I got only a bare bones history, which lacked much detail.  Anyway, the business began in 1960, when an unidentified member, or members of the Raniga family went door to door selling Indian spices and foods, in Brisbane, Australia.  In 1984 the company started marketing a bhuja mix.  All told, there are five kinds of the bhuja mix.  The cracker one that I tried, plus the original mix, the nut mix, the beer mix, and the crunchy seasoned peas.  According to LinkedIn, the number of Majans employees is between 51-200, and the current directors are Kam and Rick Raniga, who are presumably descendants of the founding Raniga member or members.  (Unless the founding Ranigas are still going strong aged 95 or something.)  Moving on, bhuja is a generic name for an Indian snack that was reportedly developed in the Indian city of Kantabanji in 1970.  Bhuja consists of puffed rice mixed with items like crackers, dried noodles, dried peas, peanuts, other nuts, and spices.  Additionally, the Majans products are free of GMOs, gluten, all meat and animal products, artificial ingredients, and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans.  It was also a relief to find no articles detailing the Majans company's mistreatment of its employees, or its products causing any babies to become dangerously ill.

Majans bhuja cracker mix:  Present were green peas, yellow crackers, brown peanuts, yellow rods, brown crackers, and raisins.  Crunchy.  Not spicy, though.  Kind of blandish.  Okay, but not great.  I was a bit surprised that an Indian snack wasn't more spicy.  So overall this snack was alright, but the lack of spice bite was definitely disappointing.  I've had other mixes of this sort, and those tasted a little better.

     As luck would have it, Brisbane is actually a city that I've visited, as a friend of mine (Hi Dan!) lived there for a time back about 20 years ago.  I enjoyed it, although the summer heat was fierce.  Because of its size (a population of about 2,600,000), Brisbane had had several famous denizens.  Bowen Yang is of Chinese ancestry, but he was born in Brisbane.  Although he spent almost all of his childhood in Canada and the U.S.  Yang has written and acted on "Saturday Night Live" since 2018.  The lead singer of the band Savage Garden, Darren Hayes, was also born in Brisbane.  As was actress Miranda Otto, who's appeared in such films as "Daydream Believer" (1992), "The Well" (1997), "The Thin Red Line" (1998). "Human Nature" (2001), "War of the Worlds" (2005), and "The Silence" (2019).  But she's surely best known for playing Eowyn in the last 2 "Lord of the Rings" movies (2002-03).  Tennis player Roy Emerson, was born elsewhere, but spent much of his life in Brisbane.  Emerson was a Hall of Famer, amassing a lifetime singles record of 1397-416, 110 career singles titles, 12 Grand Slam singles titles, and 16 Grand Slam doubles titles.  Samantha Stosur was also a tennis player, and also was Brisbane-born.  She finished with a lifetime singles record of 607-457 and 9 career singles titles, including the Grand Slam U.S Open in 2011.  She also won 4 Grand Slam doubles titles (of 28 total doubles titles), and 3 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles.  She retired earlier this year, and will presumably be elected into the Tennis Hall of Fame sometime in the near future. 

 

The Worst (and Best) MLB Rookies of the Year

      The 2023 major league baseball season ended recently, meaning the MLB award season is upcoming (or has already started, for some awards).  This includes the Rookie of the Year, the award given to the best rookie, defined as being the player's first year.  (Some players have technically played some games in a previous season, or seasons, but they can't have gone over an official amount of at bats, innings, or time on the roster.  Long story short, a player's rookie year is their first one wherein they play a full season, or at least most of one.)  Of the major awards, Rookie of the Year seems to lend itself to the most "flashes in the pan," or players who have a great rookie year, but then underperform for the rest of their careers.  Or sometimes they don't even play that many more years.  There are occasionally cases like this for Cy Young or MVP award winners, but not usually as often.  Anyway, that's what I'd like to cover today--the guys who won the Rookie of the Year but then didn't do much of anything else.  Also, in some seasons the Rookie of the Year wasn't that great--either they were kind of overrated, or else maybe no other rookies that year were that special, either.  So we're going to try to come up with a list of these worsts.  I'm going to use the stat WAR (wins above replacement) to settle this.  (I realize some stat enthusiasts prefer ones like VORP, EqA, Win Shares, or possibly others.  I'm using WAR because it seems fairly extensive, it's more widely used, is more familiar to me, and finally, is easier to find, since it's on the Baseball Reference website.  And therefore I'm using Baseball Reference's version of WAR, and not Baseball Prospectus', or any others.)  Finally, I'm not trying to be mean here.  I realize all these players were excellent players, and had accomplished careers.  I'm just trying to figure out who were the worst ones in the MLB, for this category.  So let the arguments begin, I guess.  Lastly, this award was first given out in 1947.  For the first two years there was only one Rookie of the Year for MLB, but starting in 1949 there was one for each league.  I'll be abbreviating "Rookie of the Year" as "ROTY" frequently in this post, for obvious typing reasons.

Lowest WAR for a Rookie of the Year:

1)   0.0   Ken Hubbs, second baseman, Chicago Cubs, 1962.

2)   0.4   Steve Howe, pitcher, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1980.

2)   0.4   Eric Karros, first baseman, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1992.

4)   0.5   Chris Chambliss, first baseman, Cleveland Indians, 1971.

5)   0.8   Albie Pearson, outfielder, Washington Senators, 1958.

6)   1.1   Todd Hollandsworth, outfielder, Los Angeles Dodgers, 1996.

6)   1.1   Chris Coghlan, outfielder, Florida Marlins, 2009.

8)   1.2   Billy Williams, outfielder, Chicago Cubs, 1961.

9)   1.3   Tommy Helms, third baseman/second baseman, Cincinnati Reds, 1966.

9)   1.3   Kazuhiro Sasaki, pitcher, Seattle Mariners, 2000.

9)   1.3*   Devin Williams, pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers, 2020 (a)

     (a) Recall that the COVID-affected 2020 season was only 60 games, instead of the usual 162, so Williams WAR may well have been higher (or possibly lower) in a regular length season.

Lowest Career WAR for a Rookie of the Year winner:

1)   1.0   Angel Berroa, shortstop, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, etc., in 9 year career with his ROTY award coming in 2003.

2)   1.1   Chris Coghlan, outfielder/infielder, Florida Marlins, Chicago Cubs, etc., in a 9 year career with his ROTY award in 2009.

3)   1.2   Ken Hubbs, second baseman, Chicago Cubs, 3 year career, ROTY in 1962. (a).

3)   1.2   Butch Metzger, pitcher, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, etc., 5 year career, ROTY in 1976.

5)   1.5   Joe Charboneau, outfielder, Cleveland Indians, 3 year career, ROTY in 1980.

6)   1.9   Kyle Lewis, outfielder, Seattle Mariners, Arizona Diamondbacks, active player as of 2023, 5 year career so far, ROTY in 2020.  (b).

7)   2.5   Bob Hamelin, first baseman, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, etc., 6 year career, ROTY in 1994.

8)   3.0   Alfredo Griffin, shortstop, Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, Los Angeles Dodgers, etc., 18 year career, ROTY in 1979.  (Also part of 3 World Series winners.)

9)   3.4   Walt Dropo, first basemans, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, etc., 13 year career, ROTY in 1950.

10)  3.7   Harry Byrd, pitcher, Philadelphia Athletics, New York Yankees, etc., 7 year career, ROTY in 1952.

10)  3.7   Jerome Walton, outfielder, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, etc.  10 year career, ROTY in 1989.

10)  3.7  Kazuhiro Sasaki, pitcher, Seattle Mariners, 4 year career, ROTY in 2000. (c).

Notes:

(a)   Hubbs' career was so short because he tragically died in a plane crash at the age of 22.

(b)   Since Lewis is active, he might accrue more WAR and leave this list.  Although his last few seasons have been poor, so he might actually lose more WAR and go down a few places, too.

(c)   Sasaki played many years in the Japanese Nippon Professional Baseball league (NPB), so he didn't get to the MLB until he was 32.

     

     Okay, let's get to the positive.  Here's a list of the 19 ROTY who had fine careers, and were eventually elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, followed by some possible candidates for later elections.  Again, I'll order these in career lifetime WAR.

1)   156.2   Willie Mays, outfielder with the New York/San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.  22 year career, ROTY in 1951.

2)   109.9   Tom Seaver, pitcher with the New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds, etc.  20 year career, ROTY in 1967.

3)   107.3   Frank Robinson, outfielder/first baseman with the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, etc.  21 year career, ROTY in 1956.

4)   95.9   Cal Ripken, Jr., shortstop/third baseman with the Baltimore Orioles.  21 year career, ROTY in 1982.

5)   81.2   Rod Carew, first baseman/second baseman with the Minnesota Twins and California Angels.  19 year career, ROTY in 1967.

6)   79.9   Jeff Bagwell, first baseman with the Houston Astros.  15 year career, ROTY in 1991.

7)   75.1   Johnny Bench, catcher/first baseman/third baseman, Cincinnati Reds.  17 year career, ROTY in 1968.

8)   71.3   Derek Jeter, shortstop with the New York Yankees.  20 year career, ROTY in 1996.

9)   70.1   Scott Rolen, third baseman with the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, etc.  17 year career, ROTY in 1997.

10)  68.6   Eddie Murray, first baseman with the Baltimore Orioles, Los Angeles Dodgers, etc.  21 year career, ROTY in 1977.

11)  68.4   Carlton Fisk, catcher with the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago White Sox.  24 year career, ROTY in 1972.

12)  64.8   Andre Dawson, outfielder with the Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, etc.  21 year career, ROTY in 1977.

13)  64.5   Willie McCovey, first baseman/outfielder with the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, etc.  22 year career, ROTY in 1959.

14)  63.6   Billy Williams, outfielder with the Chicago Cubs.  18 year career, ROTY in 1961.

15)  61.8*   Jackie Robinson, infielder/outfielder with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  10 year career, ROTY in 1947.  (a)

16)  59.5   Mike Piazza, catcher/first baseman with the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, etc.  16 year career, ROTY in 1993.

17)  55/8   :Luis Aparacio, shortstop with the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, etc.  18 year career, ROTY in 1956.

18)  50.1   Orlando Cepeda, first baseman/outfielder with the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, etc.  17 year career, ROTY in 1958.

19)  43.0   Tony Oliva, outfielder with the Minnesota Twins.  15 year career, ROTY in 1964.

  (a)  If Jackie Robinson had been allowed to play in MLB earlier, he would have clearly played more seasons, and accumulated a higher lifetime WAR.  As it was, he broke the color ban in his late 20's.

Definite future Hall of Famers who also won Rookie of the Year.  As in, barring an arrest or positive PED test or something like that, these guys will definitely be elected, probably shortly after the 5 year minimum.

1)   101.5  Albert Pujols, first baseman, outfielder, third baseman, with the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angles Angels, etc.  22 seasons, ROTY in 2001.

2)   85.2*   Mike Trout, outfielder, Los Angeles Angels.  Active player, 13 seasons as of 2023, ROTY in 2012.

3)   81.0*   Justin Verlander, pitcher, Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, etc..  Active, 18 seasons as of 2023, ROTY in 2006.

     These next players have a strong case for Hall of Fame election, but not as strong as the previous 3 guys:

1)   75.1   Lou Whitaker, second baseman with the Detroit Tigers.  19 seasons, ROTY in 1978.

2)   70.1   Carlos Beltran, outfielder with the Kansas City Royals, New York Mets, etc.  20 seasons, ROTY in 1999.

3)   60.0*   Ichiro Suzuki, outfielder with the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, etc.  19 seasons, ROTY in 2001.  (a).

4)   58.7   Dick Allen, first baseman/third baseman/outfielder with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago White Sox, etc.  15 seasons, ROTY in 1964.

   (a)  Suzuki played in the NPB in Japan until his late 20's, so bear that in mind while observing his career WAR.

     And now the depressing pair.  These last Rookie of the Year winners would have been surefire Hall of Famers, but they broke a couple of serious rules.  They still might be elected someday, but it's unclear.

1)   79.6   Pete Rose, outfielder/first baseman, second baseman, third baseman, with the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, etc.  24 seasons, ROTY in 1963.  Barred from HOF due to gambling on baseball games.

2)   62.2   Mark McGwire, first baseman with the Oakland Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals.  16 seasons, ROTY in 1987.   Not elected so far because of obvious, and finally admitted usage of PEDs.

 

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Pumpkin Seeds

      Originally, this was going to be a typical, light-hearted post about an unusual food.  I was happy that it was autumn-themed, or even late Halloween-themed, since it featured parts of pumpkins.  But then, once I started researching the company that made the seeds, I learned some details that I found unsettling.  So be forewarned--today's post isn't just about food, and will even touch on some political and societal issues.  If you're the type of person who doesn't like hearing about such things, maybe give this article a pass.  For the record, I tried two kinds of pumpkin seeds from Eden Foods--their lightly sea salted kind, and the hot, spicy, and savory ones.

     At first, Eden Foods appeared to be similar to many of the food/beverage companies I cover.  In fact, they seemed to be a bunch of "crunchy hippies," if I can use that term.  The Michigan-based business opened in the late 1960's as a food co-op.  Then it became a natural food store, then an establishment that had a cafe, bakery, and bookstore.  Then in 1972 it became an organic and natural food warehouse, selling its products throughout the U.S. and Canada.  Currently Eden sells a lot of different products-noodles, condiments, seaweed, teas, pickled veggies, rice, Japanese cuisine, oils, vinegars, beans, lentils, flour, cereals, hemp oils, dried fruit, nuts and seeds, butter, juices, fruit spreads, soy milk, etc.  They also boast of being the oldest natural and organic food seller in North America.  Oddly, their product labels don't have the USDA Organic seal, nor the Non-GMO Project Verified seal.  Because, as they claim in their "FAQ" section on the official company website, Eden considers the federal regulations for each of these issues to not be stringent enough, not as organic or non-GMO as Eden is.  Which seemed a little strange to me, but there it is.  Otherwise, the folks behind Eden seemed like they were the usual good-hearted, green, health-conscious, vegetarians or vegans I often run across for my blog posts.

     Then I checked out the company using other online sources.  And found out some quite negative things.  I guess, for legal reasons, I should preface all of these events by using the word "alleged," since I'm not 100% sure.  But, on the other hand, the links and sites I used to confirm these claims seemed pretty legitimate.  Anyway, first off, about 10 years ago Eden wanted to refuse to cover contraceptives for its employees on its health plan, because of the owner/founder's Catholic beliefs.  A lower court blocked this, but the U.S. Supreme Court eventually reversed this decision.  Additionally, in April of 2022 four women claimed that the owner and possibly some other high executives subjected them to various types of sexually harassment.  In autumn of 2023 Eden settled, and paid out $182,500 to these employees.  Finally, and most seriously, in 1988 a Canadian infant developed a rare eye and bone disorder due to vitamin deficiencies.  The baby's parents had given it only Eden soy milk, instead of breast milk or vitamin-rich formulas, due to claims made by Eden's advertising.  The CEO, Michael J. Potter, pled guilty to a misdemeanor, and got a $25,000 fine, 2 years of probation, and a 30 day jail sentence.  (Fortunately, the baby later recovered.)

Eden pumpkin seeds with sea salt:  These were a green color.  They were okay.  A bit bland.  They reminded me of sunflower seeds.  Dry and crunchy.

Eden pumpkin seeds, hot/spicy/savory variety:  Some of these were green, and some were brown.  A dusting of spice was visible on them.  These were also dry and crunchy.  But there was a noticeable spice bite.  Not too strong, but pretty decent.  I liked these better than the regular sea salt ones.

     Overall these were a good snack.  Previously I'd had a few dried pumpkin seeds that were collected after pumpkin carving, and found those to be extremely bland, probably because they didn't even have salt on them.  But these professionally made seeds were pretty solid, especially the spicy kind.

     So, in normal circumstances I would recommend these seeds, and would have been willing to try some other Eden products.  But because of the unsavory and criminal details I learned about the company's higher ups, I don't want to support these folks financially.  Obviously each reader will have to make their own decisions about this.  I encourage everyone to research this on their own, and draw their own conclusions on whether to buy Eden products or not.  Again, I didn't want to inject politics into this post--it just happened, and I felt I should comment on it.  I hope that all (or at least most) of my future posts are just more fun musings on weird or unusual food and drinks, or discuss interesting trivia about horror movies or sports, or are accounts of upcoming magazines or anthologies that feature some of my stories.