The King of Fruits

So, I was watching 'Bizarre Foods' on the Travel Channel and the host, Andrew Zimmern, (who eats everything from blowfish to snake penis) admits that he has trouble eating a particular fruit called the Durian. Apparently, this fruit smells so bad, and has such a gross texture, that even though it actually tastes decent, many people cannot bring themselves to eat it.


After seeing this on TV, I asked a number of people if they'd heard of the Durian. Everyone who had heard of it seemed to have a response like: "I've heard it is putrid" or "Isn't the the fruit that smells like sweaty socks" or "I think it's banned on the subway in Singapore" -- but no one had ever actually smelled or tasted it. At this point, I was pretty intrigued and had to find out for myself.






A friend of mine from the office, Jonah, and I went to Chinatown here in Boston to an Asian Market called Super 88. It didn't take long to find the Durians. The fruits are very large, about the size of a pineapple, and very spikey. In fact, Jonah's hand was impaled when one rolled on top of it. We bought a Durian and brought it back to the office to let it defrost and ripen for a day.












The following day, the Durian was soft, but still pretty spikey. A group of folks from the office brought the Durian outside (just in case in really smelled like sweaty socks) for an official tasting. It definitely didn't disappoint.

Smells included Grandma's Basement, Chinatown, A Trash Can Sprayed with Potpourri, and Butt. Upon slicing open the fruit, we were instantly hit with a strong scent of formaldehyde. The inside of the fruit had four separate sections, each yellow and fleshing resembling raw chicken. The taste was compared to Onions, Custard, and House Paint. The texture was surprisingly slimey. There is no denying that the smell and taste of the Durian is incredibly complex.









Overall, while I'm glad I tasted the Durian, it's definitely not a favorite of mine. Like others, I would agree that the problem with the Durian comes from the smell and texture rather than the taste. If you have a Durian story, please share it with me.

-Brian

Mr Shrimp, Please Remove Your Feet at the Door

Shrimp is one of the easiest seafoods to eat - most folks who aren't 'seafood people' can eat shrimp without making too many faces. This could be due to the fact that shrimp is usually battered, fried, dipped, or marinated and grilled into a mere vehicle to carry the coating to your belly. I'm classifying shrimp into two ways to eat it - appetizer mode and meal mode.

In appetizer mode, shrimp is great. It comes cooked and delivered to you with a built in handle, and you can tell which end you hold and which end you eat. If it's 'naked shrimp', as in shrimp cocktail, it's even easy to pinch the tail to get the whole piece out into your mouth. Love the shrimp!

Here's where the joyride ends on shrimp... you go to a restaurant, skim the menu and choose the MEAL... baked stuffed shrimp, shrimp scampi, the list goes on. It arrives steaming and hey, there's the shrimp with the feet still on. Now, what are you supposed to do? Here's a photo of my friend John's shrimp feet. He ordered Shrimp Fra Diavolo, which is loaded with tomato sauce over a bed of angel hair pasta. John is an architect, even architects don't know how to carefully, delicately, or smoothly extricate the shrimp from their feet as they slide around on a bed of pasta. Unless they have made a foot extractor in recent history (like a nutcracker, or an apple corer), this unnecessary surgery has to be done with a lot of consternation before you can enjoy your meal. Since you're using a fork and knife, you have to cut it, losing a portion of the foot meat inside the shell. Or, you have to reach into your bowl or dish and use your hands, which is nasty in public. Regardless of how you take them off, you have the unsightly "feet on the butter plate" thing going (as pictured here).

I'd like to think that I'm an average restaurant customer, I've eaten at all different levels of industry service and quality. I really think I can count on one hand the amount of times the feet have been removed from shrimp dishes that need to be eaten with a fork and knife. Is it a presentation thing? Is the food preparer afraid to touch the shrimp - are they using it as a sanitary handle? In Seinfeld's words, What's the Deal? Hey Chef - if anyone can actually answer why the majority of shrimp main courses MUST have the feet on them, please enlighten me and all of my Fun Food Fight friends who shout out their shrimp feet frustrations.

If You Love Food, Spin Your Leek

This blog posting is barely food related, other than it involves a leek.

A few years back, someone introduced me to www.leekspin.com. After a brief respite, the site is back. As it's one of my favorite sites ever, I had to share.

It's simple, VERY catchy, and addictive to the Nth degree (at least for me). It makes me want to skip down the street singing this little ditty. The cycling animation is brilliant at only a few frames. Please enjoy this website and pass on the leekspin love.

Is Coleslaw A Sustainable Resource?

Quick thought:
What's the percentage of coleslaw that is actually eaten vs. thrown away?

Crying shame. Poor cabbage!

When Not To Cut Corners

Food shopping is full of trade-offs. Take for example the cheaper, generic, supermarket-version of pretty much every item in the store. What makes the name brand of flour any better than the Stop&Shop brand? Why would I spend more money on something that I really know nothing about? I have no idea, but I do.

Aside from the name brand vs. generic dilemma, there are other situations where I decide when not to cut corners. Given that I don't have the money to feed my family of five all the top-of-the line groceries they deserve, there are still two specific instances where I will drop some cash: maple syrup and parmesan cheese.

I always buy 100% pure maple syrup, never the more popular brands like Aunt Jemima. If any of you have ever priced out pure maple syrup in the supermarket, you know that this is not a small sacrifice. It's pricey! Still, it's worth it.

Another place I've learned not to skimp is with parmesan cheese. I always buy a fresh block and keep it wrapped in saran wrap in the fridge. Whenever I want to use it, I grate it. Once you've experienced this, you'll never go back to that funny green cylinder again. It's well worth the price -- and the effort of grating.

What items are worth the extra mile for you?

Passover ... Help!

For my Jewish friends... you know how challenging Passover can be. Once the leftovers have run out from your in-law's seders, you're on your own. While I am far from successful every year (and I suffer the same gastronomic distress as the rest of you), here's a quick dinner that actually tastes pretty good.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Get a salmon fillet and brush olive oil over it. In a small bowl, mix equal parts brown sugar and chili powder. Rub the mixture over the fish. Cook and serve with veggies.

When it comes to Passover keep it simple! Break out the grill and eat lots of fruits and veggies.

Is it a breakfast treat or a dessert topping? Bacon Chocolate is BOTH!

After taking the inaugural bite out of Mo's Bacon Bar, my first thought-out-loud was... "How do they get the bacon so small?"

I treated the experience like a wine tasting, as the subject of choice was both decadent and should only be for adults over 21. I shuddered with visions of teenagers getting all hepped up on bacon chocolate on a Saturday night as their parents innocently thought they were eating Doritos and drinking beer in Colby from the soccer team's basement.

I digress - my thoughts in order (after the inaugural one) was, "hey, nice smooth chocolate", then I began marveling at the minute bacon particles broken down into the perfect proportion of meat to chocolate. You only wish that chocolatiers can create that 'wispy shard of its former self' size with coconut. The balance of the two (chocolate and bacon) is perfect, the smoky and sweet blend is quite refined.

I ate this at 11am. I would imagine this would be a good afternoon chocolate, but I'm not sure. Fans of chocolate chip pancakes for dinner could (in reverse) appreciate bacon chocolate for breakfast. I think that is my biggest question, at what point of the day would someone crave the Bacon Bar? In my opinion, this is unchartered territory when it comes to the proper time of the day to eat certain foods. Is this a bachelor party dessert, or a PMS sufferers breakfast-on-the-go dream?

Anyone with a more savory-based palette would find this chocolate interesting. Not interesting enough to eat more than one square at a sitting, but interesting nonetheless. The only true downfall to bacon chocolate is the AFTERTASTE. I didn't expect it to linger, but it did. A co-worker attributed it to the "smoky" type of bacon used, and I concur. I had to do a Gum Chaser (I don't usually chew gum before noon) as I couldn't think of anything else to cleanse the palate.

Try bacon chocolate! It's upwards of $7 a bar, but fun if shared in a group and let us know what YOU think.