Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--A Turkish/American Watermelon Juice

      A while ago I was browsing the fruit juice section at my local Shop-Rite, and beheld some watermelon juice.  I've obviously had watermelon many times in my life, as well as quite a few watermelon-flavored products (some which used actual watermelons, some which used artificial, chemical approximations).  But never, to my recollection, the juice alone.  So, I gave this a try.  It was from the ISO Naturals company, which is based in NJ in the U.S.  Although the label noted that the contents were a product of Turkey (spelled "Turkiye," with an umlaut over the "u"), so presumably the melons were grown and processed in Turkey, and then exported to the parent company in the U.S.A.

     This is yet another entry in my growing-ever-longer list of companies which don't seem to want to talk about their owner(s), founder(s), or company history much at all.  The official website noted that they've been in business "nearly a decade," but that was it.  Alternate business-related websites like LinkedIn listed some employees' names, but none were the owners or founders.  I looked up the names that were provided online to find out what ethnicity they were probably of, and leaned that they seemed Turkish in origin.  So, it would seem that IOS Naturals was probably founded by some Turkish folks, or perhaps Turkish-Americans.  Sometime around 2015 or 2016.  Alternate juice selections include pear, apricot, cranberry, super chia, "forest fruits," "green," and "red."  Aside from juices, IOS also markets spreadable fruits, seeds, salt & pepper, oils, fig balls, dried fruits, and capers.  The business is extremely into being all natural, as their wares are organic, and lack GMOs, preservatives, artificial flavors, and added sugar.

     Moving on the fruit whose juice I consumed, watermelons are native to Africa.  Wild watermelon seeds have been found in Libya which date back 5500 years ago.  A melon in Sudan is a good candidate for being the original progenitor for watermelons.  They were domesticated in Egypt by 2000 B.C.  Although these early watermelons were quite different, with yellowish-white inner flesh, and a bitter flavor.  People have been breeding them for millennia to make them into the red-fleshed, sweet, relatively easy-to-open fruits we know today.  Also, botanically this large fruit is technically a berry.  In addition to eating the flesh, some people press the seeds for their oil, and some other eat the rinds after they've been cooked or pickled.  In fact, I've had the rind in pickled form--see my long ago post on May 12, 2013 about Ottumwa, Iowa cuisine for more details about that.

IOS Naturals organic watermelon juice:  It had a slight odor.  The color was reddish-orange.  The taste was rather thin, and kind of watery.  It wasn't terrible, but not really appealing, either.  Just bland.  Not that sweet, not that much of anything.  Kind of like the fruit itself.  I probably mentioned this in previous posts, but I don't enjoy watermelon, because of its watery blandness.  Therefore, it makes sense that I also find its juice to be dull, and not worth the trouble.  I was also surprised by how high it was in calories--120 per serving, which was 8 ounces (240 mL).  There was apple juice concentrate in it too--maybe the apples were the main culprit here.  Anyway, I won't be buying this again, which is pretty much what I figured, since this fruit doesn't dazzle me.  But if you're a fan of watermelon in general, you'll probably enjoy this.  I'll stick to eating watermelon in the only way I've really liked, which was pickled.  As I covered in the previous paragraph.

    

     I also noted that the label on my bottle said that the juice had been "flash pasteurized."  Which, as I learned, simply means that it was heated at a higher temperature, for a shorter amount of time, than the normal pasteurization process.  This is thought to preserve the substance in questions' color and flavor better.  Since this will still kill any harmful bacteria, this sounds like a win-win situation.  Certainly better than the foolish alternative of drinking non-pasteurized drinks, and needlessly risking getting sick.

     

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--American/Chinese Bean Snacks

      So this one came about a couple of months ago, at the same Shop-Rite I reference very often on this blog.  A bean snack, which was listed as being a "Product of China," but also mentioned as being made for a Bronx, NY company.  I tried two kinds--the garlic & onion sort, and the zesty ranch flavor, both from the Bada Bean Bada Boom brand.

     Bada Bean Bada Boom (for brevity's sake, from now on I'll mostly abbreviate this as BBBB) is a brand of the Beyond Better Foods LLC company.  Which is one of those firms that doesn't include much of anything about its founder(s), general history, etc.  I had to cobble these details together from alternate online sources, such as LinkedIn.  Anyway, Beyond Better appears to have started in 2012, and currently employs a reported 32 people.  The person (or persons) ultimately responsible for the business's existence is a little vague.  LinkedIn has a Maria J. Coria as the founder, but other sources note that the owner is a Michael Shoretz.  (Perhaps Coria founded it, and later sold controlling interest to Shoretz, or something.)  In addition to the BBBB snacks, Beyond Better also had (has?) an ice cream line called Enlightened.  As far as I could learn, there are only 6 flavors of the bean snack.  Aside from the kinds I tried, there is a sweet sriracha, a sweet onion & mustard, a spicy wasabi, and a sea salt kind.  The website is very health-conscious, proudly touting how much more nutritious these bean snacks are versus regular potato chips.  Not surprisingly, the website also notes that their wares are vegan-appropriate, kosher, and free of gluten, GMOs, and soy.  (Although their factories do process tree nuts and peanuts, so be aware of that if you're intensely allergic to these substances.)  Evidently the secret to their bean snacks' relative healthiness is the beans themselves, and because they're roasted in a limited amount of sunflower oil.  Also, it should be noted that the beans used in BBBB are broad beans, often known as fava beans.  (Yes, yes, like the ones that Hannibal Lecter mentioned.)  More on that later.  I also was struck by a slightly defensive sounding question on their FAQ section on the official website, "Why is Bada Bean Bada Boom made in China?"  Their answer was that the broad beans are best from China, as they are native to there, and that the factories in this nation are confined to the highest safety standards, and ethics.

 Bada Bean Bada Boom garlic & onion flavor:  The pieces were bean-sized, and bean-shaped, or roughly ovoid, with a brownish-yellow color, and a pebbled texture.  They were dry and crunchy, obviously.  I could detect the garlic & onion flavor, but it wasn't very strong.  Okay, but not great.

Bada Bean Bada Boom zesty ranch flavor:  Same size, shape, color, and texture as the previous one.  Dry and crunchy, like the previous.  Some ranch hints, but again, not a strong flavor.  Alright, but not dazzling.  I would have much preferred a stronger, more significant flavor.  So both of these are clearly more healthy than regular potato chips, but they don't taste better.  I don't plan on buying them again.

     Two additional points struck me about this snack.  As the official website admitted, and other online sources corroborated, there is a medical condition called "favism."  Certain people have a genetic disorder, called "G6PD," which is a type of anemia.  When these folks eat fava beans the results can be nasty--fatigue, dark urine, shortness of breath, pale skin, lower back pain, rapid heart beat, fever, and diarrhea.  And it's not just fava beans either--other things like anti-malarial drugs, certain antibiotics, mothballs (presumably from skin contact, and not eating!), aspirin, and even stress can be triggers.  Which must really suck if you're afflicted and need to undergo surgery, or travel to areas where malaria is a danger, or if you get a bacterial infection, or if you're just worried about the possibility of any of these things.

     Finally, readers might be curious about the odd name of this snack.  Well, Bada Bean Bada Boom is clearly a reference to "Bada Bing Bada Boom."  "Sopranos" fans will recall that the first two words of this phrase were the name of Silvio's strip club in the show.  And this in turn is probably a reference to a quote from Sonny Corleone (played by James Caan) in the first "Godfather" movie (1972).  But, there's more.  The first public and notable mentioning of this phrase, as far as I could tell, is from the 1958 Pat Cooper comedy routine, "The Italian Wedding."  However, it's evidently a fairly common East Coast Italian-American saying, meaning, "long story short," or "there you go."  The derivation of the phrase is vague.  Some think it's from the Italian phrase "bada bene," which means, "mark well," (or possibly "mind you," according to translations I could learn online) while others think it's the approximation of the sound of a drum roll and cymbal crash after a joke at a comedy club.  So there you are.  I love "The Godfather," and "The Sopranos," so I think it's a cool name.  But, it's admittedly a rather unwieldy moniker, I will say.

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Israeli/American Flatbreads

   So this product caught my eye a bit because of its exclamation point after the name--"Absolutely," or, "Absolutely!" with the punctuation.  When I saw that this was a product of Israel that settled it, as I was going to buy it.  I went with the "original" and "everything" flavors from the Absolutely! flatbread line.  Despite what Jake Jarmel would think.  (This is a deep cut sitcom reference--see the end for an explanation, if you need it.)

     As has happened quite a bit recently, this was a revisit of sorts.  Absolutely! is a brand of the NJ-based Kenover Marketing Corporation, which, as it turns out, has tons or brands.  Probably the most famous of these is Manischewitz, which makes foods like cookies, matzo, noodles, crackers, soup, gefilte fish (see my post on April 6th, 2013), chocolate and candy, oils and vinegars, etc., but is arguably best known for its wines.  But one of its other brands might struck a chord with regular readers of this blog--Kedem, makers of the tea biscuits I discussed in my post on February 9th, 2019.  As usual, I won't repeat myself much here--consult that article if you're curious about the company's history.  For those that don't want to go back, Kenover started in 1948, and its brands are exported to over 30 countries worldwide.  As for the Absolutely!, aside from flatbreads, the brand also makes crackers, pizza, and snacks, all of which are free of gluten.  And if you're really a history buff of my blog, check out my original post about gluten-free products, in my post about gluten-free beers on December 10th, 2012.

Absolutely! flatbreads, original flavor:  The pieces were rectangular in shape, about 13 cm. by 4.5 cm. (or about 5 inches by 1.75 inches), and look like matzo.  They were white, with brownish/blackish cooked or singed-like edges.  When eaten plain, the flavor was like matzo, too--blandish, some salt tinges.  As the base for a cheese canape the result was much better, pretty tasty.  

Absolutely! flatbreads, everything flavor:  These looked very similar to the original ones--same size, shape, and color, except that some greenish/black spice granules were visible.  Eaten plain they tasted like the original kind too--pretty bland.  Some spice flavor, but not much.  As before though, as the base for a cheese canape the overall effect was improved significantly.

    In conclusion, then, if you like matzo, you'll probably enjoy these as well.  But they'll definitely need some help in the form of a condiment or topping, unless you really like plain matzo-type flavors.

 

     Returning to the reference in the opening paragraph, Jake Jarmel was a character on "Seinfeld," played by Marty Rackham.  In the 4th episode of Season 5, "The Sniffing Accountant," (first aired on October 7th, 1993), Jarmel gets into a fight with Elaine and breaks up with her over his disdain for her overuse of exclamation points.  (For the record, in general I agree with Jake--exclamation points should be used sparingly, I think, or they lose their effect.)  I was slightly surprised to learn that the Jarmel character actually appeared in 3 episodes, and Rackham also appeared as a cop in "The Trip Part 2," when Kramer is accused of being a serial killer in Los Angeles.  Finally, in real life Jerry Seinfeld claimed that a former accountant stole $50,000 of Jerry's money to buy drugs.

  

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--South African/Belgian Fruit Rolls

      It happened again.  I was browsing around in my local Shop-Rite, and came upon something kind of exciting.  A food from South Africa.  (Perhaps my first?   I can't recall anything else offhand.)  Obviously, I bought it without much further consideration.  To be exact, the products I got were two kinds of fruit rolls from the Bear brand--their apple/pear/raspberry, and their apple/pear/mango kind.

     I spent a bit of time researching Bear, and hit an internet wall of sorts.  Basically, all I discovered were some product lists.  Aside from the types of rolls I sampled, these included Minis (smaller fruit rolls), Splits (combination fruit flavors), and Fruit Treasures (which are also a sort of tiny rolls).  Some of the fruit flavors offered were strawberry, mango, raspberry, blackcurrant, and apple.  My packages weren't labeled as being "Splits," but were clearly combinations of different fruit flavors as well.  Anyway, a little deeper searching revealed that Bear is a brand of another business, and doesn't appear to be a separate company itself.  One which I've already encountered--Lotus Bakeries, out of Belgium.  So, as before, I'll try not to repeat myself much here.  If you're curious about the Lotus company, head on over to my post on November 2nd, 2019, which covers their Biscoff cookies/biscuits.  And it appears that the fruit itself was grown in South Africa--hence the notation on the box.  Otherwise, Bear had an advertisement made for it which was directed by an Emmy winner--Anna Mantzaris did a Bear commercial called "Wildly Irresistible."  (Mantzaris, a Swedish animator and director, won her Emmy for co-directing an ad for Apple called "Fuzzy Feelings" in 2024 )  But the main memorable feature about Bear fruit rolls is what's included in the box, with the food.  They have several cardboard trading cards, similar in size and shape to the baseball and football cards I collected as a kid.  Sadly, I was a little disappointed in these.  The front of the cards were cool--stylized drawings of the beast in question.  But I would have liked it if the back side had statistics and/or fun facts about the animal, such as how big aardvarks get, or how heavy a sailfish weighs, or other bits of trivia.  Instead, there were just other pictures, or maze type games.  So, just a friendly suggestion to the folks at Lotus--maybe consider changing up the cards.

Bear fruit rolls, apple/pear/mango flavor:  The rolls were in a circular shape, about 1.5 inches/4 cm. in diameter, and about 1 cm./.25 inches thick.  The color was brownish yellow.  The taste was sweet.  I could detect the apple in particular.  They were okay, but not great.  Okay for a fruit snack.

Bear fruit rolls, apple/pear/raspberry flavor:  Same size and shape as the previous.  These were a purple color.  Better than the other kind, I guess.  I like raspberry better than mango, it seems, at least for these rolls.  Chewy.  Again, a decent fruit snack, but not spectacular or anything.  I prefer Fruit Roll Ups or Fruit Leather better.  (I'm not sure that either or both of these are still made, but I recall liking them more.)

 

Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Canned Vietnamese/Japanese Crab

      A few weeks ago I took an unexpected trip down memory lane at the grocery store.  While in the canned meat section, I happened to see some canned crab meat.  Years ago, when I was dieting, I would sometimes eat canned seafood, since it's surprisingly low in calories.  While also being fairly tasty and filling.  As I was looking to drop a few pounds once again, I bought some more, both the crab, and some minced clams.  And by chance, one of the cans I picked up was from Vietnam, by way of a Japanese company.  Specifically, the "fancy white crab meat" from the Geisha brand.

     This brand name sounded familiar, and I did a brief review of my blog history.  I learned that I'd tried a Geisha product before, in my post about baby corn on August 13, 2022.  So, if you're interested in the company behind the Geisha brand, Kawasho Foods, feel free to check out that post.  But I'll refrain from repeating much now.  Instead, I'll focus on the animal that I ate.  Fortunately, the official Geisha website provided the identity of the exact type of crab I'd had, which was the blue swimmer crab.  Among other common names, as it's also called "blue crab," "flower crab," and others.  This species is native to the Indo-Pacific region, off the coasts of the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, and of course, Vietnam.  Only the males are actually blue--the females are more of a greenish-brown color.  As the end of the common name suggests, this crab is a talented swimmer.  The males also use their substantial front claws to help keep rival males out of their individual territory.  Their claws, and evident aggression are of little use versus humans, alas, so this crab is a very popular food source.  They're sometimes eaten in their less mature, soft shell state, or later in their mature harder shells.  The crabs also do well when they're farmed, which clearly makes it easier to harvest them.  (Although my can noted that my crabs were wild caught.)  The blue swimmer crab's distinctive movements also have had an odd cultural impact, as it inspired the movements of some characters in the Filipino stage plays/festivals called Linambay, or sometimes moro-moro.

Geisha fancy white crab meat:  No real odor, surprisingly.  Looked like white mush.  And it was--it must have been severely minced, or even pureed, since no pieces were even as big as a grain of sand.  It tasted kind of like regular crab, but watery and weak.  (It had been packed in water, but I drained out what I could.)  I had this plain, as I always used to do with canned seafood.  Overall this was very disappointing.  I usually love crab but this was like the light beer of crabmeat--a weak-tasting approximation of the real thing.  I guess given its whipped up nature it's more intended to be added to soups or stews or something.  But I definitely do not recommend this, and won't buy it again.  I'll stick to canned seafood that retains its texture, and flavor.

     When I saw the brand name (again) I wondered if it was a bit tasteless, or even offensive.  I was under the impression that "geishas" were synonymous with prostitutes, and thus this might have been a rude term.  I was happy to learn that I this was cultural misunderstanding on my part.  I guess my first clue should have been that a Japanese company named this, and not a non-Japanese business.  The overall story is very detailed, but long story short, geishas were, and still are, performing artists and entertainers who do traditional songs, dances, and musical renditions, usually while wearing distinctive makeup, hairstyles, and clothing.  But nearly all geishas were not prostitutes, and didn't exchange sexual favors for money to their audience members.  So, at least this can of seafood ultimately led me to learn a little something about a different culture.