10 Foods You’ve Never Tried And Are Missing Out On BIG TIME
Foods that even the most jaded foodies have never eaten. Give them. Serve them. Put a feather in your epicurean cap.
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1. Ghost Chilies – These are the hottest chilies in the world (don’t believe us? Ask Guinness!). With a Scoville rating between 855,000 and 1050,000 each, they’ll finally satisfy your need for spice, no matter how strong it is. |
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2. Dried Candy Cap Mushrooms – Mushrooms for dessert? YES! Candy caps have a sweet, maple syrup-esque flavor that can be used in custards, ice creams, and panna cotta. |
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3. Szechuan Buttons – Remember Pop Rocks? These little yellow flowers cause intense (but not unpleasant) tingling in your mouth when their tiny petals are consumed. Bartenders are experimenting with them to add buzz to cocktails, and they bring a whole new dimension to frozen desserts and raw seafood. |
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4. Molded Ice Cream – In the Victorian era, chefs used special molds to press ice cream into exciting shapes. This art has been revived today, and you can enjoy gourmet ice cream & sorbet hand-molded and hand-decorated to look like small fruit and walnuts. Forget the scoop, eat ice cream that’s art! |
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5. Fresh Wasabi Rhizome – Fun fact: most people have never tried wasabi (real wasabi, that is). The paste in most sushi bars and tubes is mostly (if not completely) regular horseradish with green food coloring. Though real wasabi does have similar spiciness, it is milder and accompanied by other complex flavors that horseradish can’t touch. True sushi & sashimi aficionados accept no imitations. |
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6. Organic Camelina Oil – still a well kept secret, camelina oil not only has a delicious flavor (nutty with floral tones) that’s great in homemade salad dressings, but it’s extremely good for you. It’s very high in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, and antioxidants. |
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7. Kangaroo Meat – Kangaroo is a wild meat with a beefy flavor and hints of smokiness and sweetness. It cooks quickly, and is extremely lean. It is also the highest known source of natural conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) a natural anti-carcinogen that may reduce blood pressure. |
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8. Pepquinos – Pepquinos (aka mouse melons) are tiny, slightly sour, quarter-sized cucumbers that look exactly like watermelons. Completely edible, they’re at home in salads and cocktails, but you could also use them simply as an eye-catching garnish. |
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9. Wild Huckleberries – Though they look like a blueberry, huckleberries have rich, complex flavor that combines sweetness, muskiness, and a variety of other nuanced flavors. They’ll take any berry dessert to the next level. |
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10. Live Geoducks – Geoducks (pronounced “gooey ducks”) are extremely large clams that have a light, crisp taste and slightly chewy texture. They are prized in Asia for their texture and rumored aphrodisiac properties. They are often served as sushi, sashimi or ceviche, but can also be steamed or sautéed. Shipped live, direct from Washington’s Puget Sound. |
I guess I’m not the foodie I thought I was. I, woefully, can’t check anything off.
December 5th, 2009 at 3:11 pm