Text 22575, 108 rader
Skriven 2007-11-11 15:19:26 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Barbara Mcnay
Ärende: AHHH 296  71111
=======================
 -=> Quoting Barbara Mcnay to Glen Jamieson <=-

 >  BM> I have been to Galveston beach several times; a somewhat distant
 >  BM> cousin of my ex has an art school/museum in San Antonio.
 
 > The Galveston beach didn't impress me much,

 BM> Hmm.  I, being a passenger, was transported to the place of interest
 BM> to the others. [g]

Not much chance of wandering.  At that time my niece was working at the
Galveston hospital, so she dropped me off to spend the whole day
walking around the town alone, picking me up to dine at a local
restaurant after she finished work.

The restaurant overlooked the beach, and was where I was introduced to
the USAn custom of eating a salad before the main dish. I had ordered
both, the salad was delivered, and I waited patiently for the rest of
the meal to come, until my niece told me that it was customary to
finish the salad before getting the rest.  If I wanted them together I
should have specified that.  I like the texture and temperature
contrast of hot grilled fish or steak eaten together with cold salad.

 BM> I went to the Alamo, and was introduced to cockroaches at the
 BM> Riverwalk. 

I have walked the walk by day and sailed the river by night.  The
cockroaches didn't wait to be introduced, but introduced themselves.
:)

 > I have been told that PNG has some 200 varieties,
 > including the tiny
 > wild bananas that the others descended from, but not
 > all are edible.
 > In fact, some may be poisonous.  One of my other
 > favourites is pale
 > green when ripe, with a flowery, perfumed taste.  It
 > has a very short
 > shelf life, with only a day between "green" and
 > "over-ripe going bad".

 BM> Do you have a problem with perfumed tastes?  Many years ago, when

No, in fact I like that kind of perfumed flavour.

 BM> lime-scented shaving cream was popular, I was served lime-flavored
 BM> Jell-O with whipped cream for dessert.  It was tasty, but I couldn't
 BM> finish it, as I couldn't get rid of the persistent notion that I was
 BM> eating lime-scented shaving cream. 

That would be off-putting.  I have come across some "foods" which have
an aroma similar to the deodorants used in public toilets.  Not
appetising at all!

 > a banana fruit/flower combination.  The plant produces
 > only one bunch,
 > then dies.  The leaves are used a lot for wrapping
 > meat or fish, to be
 > steamed or cooked in a ground oven.  The stem is

 BM> Useful, indeed.  I've been told that banana sap ruins car finishes. 

Very likely, as it is sticky and somewhat acid.  Difficult to wash off
your hands.

 BM> Are the leaves actually eaten, and, if so, must they be cooked to be
 BM> edible? 

Banana leaves are not eaten, but they contribute their flavour, which
infuses into the contents of the parcel if used as wrappers.  To use
banana leaves the central rib is cut to thin it down, and the leaf is
wilted over a flame or by steaming.  When I first visited Singapore in
about 1971 I ran short of money and ate in the very cheapest eateries
as used by Indian wharf labourers.  Steamed rice topped by a spoonful
of chicken curry was served on a square of banana leaf at a long
communal table, and eaten with the fingers.  It cost the equivalent of
about 3 cents.  The last time I dined on chicken curry in Singapore
it came on a plastic plate made to imitate a banana leaf.  The top
class restaurants there now serve it on a real banana leaf on a plate.

 >  BM> Incidentally, the brief recent messages about mangosteens suggests
 >  BM> that only the inside is eaten, but the juice sold here, according to
 >  BM> the label, is from the entire fruit. The purple part is said to be
 
 > Normally the mangosteen is just cut open and the
 > several sections of
 > juicy flesh picked out and eaten, discarding the
 > seeds.  Flavour is
 > somewhat similar to rambutan or lychee - sweet and
 > succulent.  In parts

 BM> I can't in fact tell you what the whole fruit juice tastes like,
 BM> because it was mixed with wine grape juice, acia [?] juice, and the
 BM> juice of yet another fruit I never heard of.

As mangosteens are quite expensive I would expect the proportion use in
a "tropical fruit juice" to be very, very small.  Orange and mango
juice is sometimes sold here, but a close examination of the label
shows that there is only 5% mango in the mix.

The last time I was in Singapore in the durian season I had to eat my
durian at a table in the street, as such items are not allowed to be
taken into hotels, but I also bought a kilo of mangosteens and took
them back to the hotel for supper and breakfast.
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

--- FLAME v2.0/b
 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)