The ABC game

[Arne Saknussemm]

Jackfruit

The jackfruit is a species of tree in the Artocarpus genus of the mulberry family. It is native to parts of South and Southeast Asia, and is believed to have originated in the southwestern rain forests
Nutrition Facts
Jackfruit
Amount Per 1 cup, sliced (165 g)
Calories 157
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 1.1 g 1%
Saturated fat 0.3 g 1%
Polyunsaturated fat 0.2 g
Monounsaturated fat 0.3 g
Trans fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
Sodium 3 mg 0%
Potassium 739 mg 21%
Total Carbohydrate 38 g 12%
Dietary fiber 2.5 g 10%
Sugar 31 g
Protein 2.8 g 5%
Vitamin A 3% Vitamin C 37%
Calcium 4% Iron 2%
Vitamin B-6 25% Vitamin B-12 0%
Magnesium 12%
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

No picture. It's too ugly. It tastes like sour, boiled wood. I hate it, and refuse it even when it's rude to do so.

 

[Enmos]

Jackfruit



No picture. It's too ugly. It tastes like sour, boiled wood. I hate it, and refuse it even when it's rude to do so.

Dude...

 

[Gremmie]

Dude...

TFF... Lol.

 

[Arne Saknussemm]

Dude...

No, I'm sorry, but no jackfruit for me. Thank you very much.

And now, a nut we're all familiar with, and somehow not too often ever see:

Wherever there is fun, there's always the....

This message brought to you by

 

[Arne Saknussemm]

Oh, back for the letter 'H' I was having such fun with 'hambahgah', I forgot that head cheese really deserves a place in an unusual food thread (Category Letter H).
I have too much information and too many disgusting pictures and straight ahead rock and roll to fit here. So I refer you to:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/05/head-cheese_n_4212453.html

And don't miss this Psycotic Pineapple number (1980)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R-uCOfcr_M

"It's got eyes and ears and nose and lips and everything I like except the tongue....."

 

[Gremmie]

Oishii desu ne?

You speak Japanese?... I'm far from fluent. I know a few phrases though.
Oishii desu ne... I think you're asking if it's delicious? I like it, and it's good for you. At least that's what "they" say.

 

[scheherazade]

An easy one for me, as a gardener, is Lettuce, as it comes in so many wonderful varieties and grows quite well in this climate. The following picture is my own backyard garden each summer, using recycled freezers as raised beds to thwart cats and voles from despoiling my efforts.

 

[Arne Saknussemm]

I was going to put moo goo gai pan for the sheer comedy of the name, and because my new avatar is a cow, but it's just a chicken and vegetable stir fry after all, so what would we learn from that?

Instead I give you monk's beard: http://blog.natoora.co.uk/?tag=monks-beard

See, I can be serious. :|

 

[scheherazade]

Monk's beard is a new plant species to me, so I thank you for that. I have never seen it in our store and it probably is too delicate and has too short a season for corporate grocery retail.

Nutmeg.

Nutmeg comes from an evergreen tropical tree native to Indonesia. Nutmeg comes from the nut at the center of the fruit in the picture, while mace is made from the red coating that is found around the outside of the seed.
Nutmeg has a strong, warm taste and is used as a spice by many different cultures, in both sweet and savory dishes.

 

[NMSquirrel]

Ostrich egg
makes good omelets.

 

[scheherazade]

What would food be with some beverages?

Port, also called porto or port wine, is a type of wine that is fortified with a spirit like brandy. Port is traditionally made in Portugal but similar wines are also made in other countries.

 

[Arne Saknussemm]

http://www.11points.com/Food-Drink/11_Foods_That_Start_With_the_Letter_Q

 

[scheherazade]

I have never seen 'Quisp' in this part of the world.

Rib Roast, Rare - One of my personal favorites!

 

[Arne Saknussemm]

Guess what it is or ask a question.























All right. I'll tell you.




http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/s2012/geenen_rach/

 

[Arne Saknussemm]

These guys deserve mention:

 

[scheherazade]

Ah, yes, saffron, the most expensive spice on the planet. It is frequently a target of shoplifters in our store, as we find the empty spice bottle with the tiny folded packet inside missing. Gourmet thieves, sophisticated beggars...

I grow Tomatoes in my house in pots on the windowsills. The photo is from last year, a variety called 'Early Cascade'. I have started some more of that variety and also Bush Beefsteak on March 2nd this year. They are just now of a size to be potted up and I am tending to a few each day.

 

[Arne Saknussemm]

Ah, the Japanese! Always helpful in a pinch? I had to google foods that begin with the letter U (Is that cheating?) And, lo and behold, the first three are purely Land of the Rising Sun dishes. (And to answer someone's earlier question, yes I do speak 'passable' Japanese, or used to.

And Scheherazade, I have to say, a couple years ago I worked out that my favorite food of all is a fresh tomat, as they're called in southest eastestest Asia, cut into quarters or eighths and ever so lightly salted. There's nothing better.

Anyway, onto our celebration of U foods, courtesy of 日本:

First a nice plum blossom (ume)

Here are some Japanese style pickled plums (mmmm, oishii!)

Plums are used, obviously, in plum, ume sake,

You can get quite plum pickled yourself drinking this stuff. Much tastier than ordinary sake. And they say 16 glasses in a row will kill you, but that must be true of 16 medium tumblers of any hard liquor, desu ne?

Then there is sea urchin, umi, often served as one especially tasty kind of sushi:

And udon

-thick buckwheat noodles served in infinite variety. As they are so hearty, the Japanese reserve them as a winter treat and think it eccentric to eat them in the humid summer months, or even the spring or the early fall.
There are so many variations that rather than try to select a few images, I'll have to refer you to here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=udo...AQ&biw=1366&bih=667#q=udon&tbm=isch&tbs=isz:m

 

[Arne Saknussemm]

And I suppose this would be the appropriate time to remind everyone of the Japanese discovery of umami which by the way has everything to do with salted fresh tomatoes:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15819485

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami

 

[Aqueous Id]

Ah, yes, saffron, the most expensive spice on the planet. It is frequently a target of shoplifters in our store, as we find the empty spice bottle with the tiny folded packet inside missing. Gourmet thieves, sophisticated beggars...

. . . pollen snorting addicts . . .



In related news, police have released this sketch of a suspect believed to be connected to a string of fennel pollen robberies in California last month:

An elderly honey farmer said the perp, who had yellow strained nostrils, drove off in a Volkswagen Microbus, blasting music. When pressed for details, all he would say was "electrical banana".

[video=youtube;nrbni0tVBZ8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrbni0tVBZ8[/video]​

 

[scheherazade]

Pure Vanilla is the second most expensive spice on the planet, or at least when last I checked. Be wary of processed foods that claim to use 'natural vanilla' because it is one of those word loopholes permitted by the food industry.

Imitation (Synthetic) Vanilla

Imitation vanilla comes from synthetic vanillin, which mimics the flavor of natural vanillin, one of the components that gives vanilla its extraordinary bouquet.The first synthetics were made in Germany in the 1870s as pure vanilla was so expensive that only the wealthy could afford it. It was first made from coniferin, the glucoside that makes some pines smell a little like vanilla. In the 1890s a French chemist created a synthetic from euganol, found in cloves. The two most common sources for synthetic vanillin have been Lignin Vanillin, a by-product of the paper industry, which has been chemically treated to resemble the taste of pure vanilla extract, and Ethyl Vanillin, which is a coal-tar derivative and frequently far stronger than either Lignin Vanillin or pure vanilla.

In the late 20th Century a new variety of imitation vanilla came into the commercial market. Made from rice bran extract, it is a favorite of many large corporations as it is much cheaper than pure vanilla and easy to buy in the U.S. During the vanilla shortage and subsequent crisis between 2002 and 2005 it was put into frozen vanilla desserts and labeled as “natural flavors” or “other natural flavors.” While this is not in compliance with FDA regulations, the FDA did not intervene. This gave the distinct message that it was okay, so increasingly we’ll see “other natural flavors” for products that should contain pure vanilla.

Coumarin is a derivative of the tonka bean, which comes from Dipteryx ordorata, a tree native to Brazil. Some of the organic constituents that make up its flavor are similar to, or the same as, those in pure vanilla. Coumarin is frequently found in synthetic vanillas from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean as it’s cheap and it makes synthetic vanilla smell more like pure vanilla. Unfortunately, coumarin can be toxic, especially to the liver, and potentially carcinogenic, and has been banned from the United States since the 1950s. (Dicumarol, which is a derivative of coumarin, is the active ingredient in certain blood-thinning medications, and is legal in the United States.)

Read more: http://vanilla.com/imitation-vanilla/#ixzz2yRTouSOz