Text 22610, 159 rader
Skriven 2007-11-12 13:11:48 av Barbara McNay (1:382/48)
     Kommentar till en text av Glen Jamieson
Ärende: AHHH 296  71111
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 >  -=> 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.

Sounds like you spent a profitable day.

 > 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.

I didn't realize that.  I thought it took them that long to get the main meal
ready. [g]

 >  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.
 > :)

Yes. :)  I was amused, and jumped to make them scatter. They certainly were
plentiful.  I wonder how the restaurants dealt with them.

 >> 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!

I have a similar problem with utensils that have been washed in perfumed
dishwashing soap affecting my perception of the food.  I suppose that's why
some soaps have a lemon scent, but it's a bit unsettling to see nonfood
products with pictures of lemons on their labels.

 >> 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.

Pleasing to all, presumably.

 >>  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.

Figures.  I think the bottle I bought was about $4 for 11 oz.  Why are they
expensive?

 > 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.

Evidently they make a satisfactory meal in themselves.

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 * Origin: T E X A S ! (1:382/48)