Sweet 'n Starchy

It's 1998. My wife and I are hiking in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. I grab a handful from my trail mix. Along with the nuts, raisins, and occasional dried pineapple (yum) there's something else in there... what is it? It's slightly chewy, sweet, and starchy. After a quick review of the ingredients, this yummy thing turns out to be a date.

While the flavor of the date is great, it's the texture that makes it special. The starchy texture spreads out and sticks to your tongue as you enjoy the flavor of date's flesh. After a bit of exploration, I found a few other foods that were also sweet 'n starchy -- and similarly delicious.

Examples include:

• red bean paste - commonly used in Asian desserts and the sesame seed ball (below) you get at dim sum
• sticky rice with mango - a dessert you can get at Thai restaurants which includes sticky rice, coconut milk and mangoes
• this yummy green thing (below) I picked up from a Vietnamese sandwich shop in Boston