Is there an ingredient you have never used?

NailBat said:
I don't think anyone on Earth has ever cooked every possible ingredient, but one thing I'd really like to try is sour tamarind. I've only found the sweet kind.
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lol.

I love the sweet kind, but have only managed to get it the once when I lived in the UK. getting the sour kind is easy in both the UK and Australia. it's a regular feature on my menu.
 
garlichead said:
Get the raw tamarind and make your own. Generally it comes in blocks with seeds. It generally will appear like a brick. Add to hot water and allow to dissolve in the water then strain through a sieve pushing down on the pulp. It's sour by default
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no it's not.

the tamarind that's sour is the unripe fruit. it sweetens as it ripens loosing the acidity with some cultivars having no acidity when ripe.

sweet tamarind (ripe) is sold unshelled. I've had it before.
Sweet Tamarind

the stuff in the compressed block (sitting on my shelf in the spice cupboard) is unripe fruit...
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
I guess I've just remembered another. don't laugh but I actually have a tin of young Jackfruit that I have no idea what to do with! I think the tin is too small for starters and I have an aversion to tinned stuff anyway.
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I made a great vegan burger with tinned jackfruit. Possibly the best vegan burger I ever made. It has a meaty texture and soaks up flavours. Unfortunately, I don't think I wrote the recipe down. But here is a photo:

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garlichead said:
Yeah, huitlacoche.
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medtran49 said:
We've had fresh frozen and it was pretty much the same way.
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I took the plunge and opened the jar of huitlacoche. I ate a heaped teaspoonful. Oh my! I think its wonderful. At first it tasted a bit like mushrooms then the umami kicked in. You know that taste that oysters have that lingers in the mouth? Its similar but muskier. Its the aftertaste which makes it.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
no it's not.

the tamarind that's sour is the unripe fruit. it sweetens as it ripens loosing the acidity with some cultivars having no acidity when ripe.

sweet tamarind (ripe) is sold unshelled. I've had it before.
Sweet Tamarind

the stuff in the compressed block (sitting on my shelf in the spice cupboard) is unripe fruit...
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I assumed he was getting a condiment, which are plentiful in the grocery stores, where the unprocessed isn't.
 
Morning Glory said:
I took the plunge and opened the jar of huitlacoche. I ate a heaped teaspoonful.
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I'm in awe of people who can just take a huge bite of something they've never had before.

I'd smell it, walk away, smell it again, poke at it with a fork, smell it, walk away, and then, whatever it's smallest component is, I'd try that, and move on from there.

I'll admit, I do live in fear, so to speak, of ever tasting anything bad or off. Sometimes, I'll guess whether the cream is good, for example, and my wife will give it a sniff and then...GASP!...actually drink a little of it to see if it's ok. I'm more of a, "When in doubt, pour it out," kind of person.
 
garlichead said:
Yeah, huitlacoche.

In Canada Mexican food is not that popular generally speaking but my love for Mexican food goes back 35 yrs when I use to spend at least a month vacationing there.

I did order a can of huitacoche from my supplier, again simply because I regularly have something Mexican inspired on the menu or as a special. I opened it and tasted it, then tried to figure out if I wanted to use it or not and not because I didn't like it but because it tasted like nothing, nothing at all. I suspect the fresh specimen is where the fuss is and until I can get it fresh, I'll pass. So technically I've never used it.
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I've heard of huitacoche, but know nothing about it. I can get pretty much any Mexican ingredient here. Many are available at regular grocery stores, but we have Mexican Supermercados here that have harder to find Mexican foods.

CD
 
The Velvet Curtain said:
I have tried it, I don't like the taste or the texture, plus, environmentally it is another disaster crop
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I'm not crazy about avocados, except sometimes in guacamole. I will only buy California avocados, because the avocado market from Mexico is increasingly controlled by the drug cartels. Mexico is the largest exporter of avocados in the world, and the drug cartels want a piece of that multi-billion dollar pie.

CD
 
NailBat said:
one thing I'd really like to try is sour tamarind. I've only found the sweet kind.
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I´ve never heard of, or tasted sweet tamarind. The stuff I get is eye-scrunchingly acidic. Do you buy the fresh tamarind (with shell) packs, or do you buy it already processed?
Back in February 2020, a friend of mine gave me a whole SACK full of fresh tamarind, about 10-15 kilos. I had to remove the shell, soak the seeds & pulp, and then process the tamarind water - which was actually quite thick.
I made about 5 kgs of Indian Tamarind (Imli) chutney - so, so good, I sold it all!!
Tamarind is an absolutely wonderful souring agent for Indian and SE Asian food.
 
I´ve eaten huitlacoche in Mexico. Glorious - it´s the "fungus" that grows on corn cobs and a Mexican delicacy.
The tinned stuff is ok, but nowhere near the real thing.
As for avocados - here in Venezuela there are at least half a dozen varieties, none of which are the dwarf-like Haas versions. I´ve had avocados from my neighbour which weigh 1 1/2 kgs. There are purple avocados from the West of the country which have long necks. Carupano avocados are round, like tennis balls. Catalinas are creamy, buttery, nutty - I can eat them on their own with salt and pepper. The best are from Chuao (which also has the best cacao in the world) and are small-ish; they fit in your palm. When they ripen, the pulp is barely 1cm thick, but just oh, oh, oh so good.
 
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