Nopales means cactus stem. They are the pads on the prickly pear cactus, the fruit of which we’ve also covered here. The pads are purple or green, flat and about the size of an adult hand. They’re fairly common in Mexico, the plant’s native country, and used in many Mexican dishes. They are most commonly […] Read more…
Archive of ‘Kitchen Adventure’ category
Week 17: Farro
Farro is the most controversial grain I’ve ever encountered. Here is it’s background: farro is an ancient grain, a type of wheat that was one of the first domesticated plants in the Middle East. However, it’s a low yielding crop and has been replaced over the years by its cousin modern wheat. It still remains […] Read more…
Week 16: Chayote
Chayote is another one of the unusual ingredients I’ve found to have several aliases. In different countries it is known as sayote, mango squash, choko, chuchu, chow-chow, chocho, christophene, custard marrow, xuxu, mirliton, and the most fitting, vegetable pear and pear squash. They really do look a lot like pears, except a bit more wrinkly. […] Read more…
Week 15: Goose Eggs
After my fun experience making tiny poached quail eggs a few weeks ago, I jumped at the opportunity to try goose eggs. I also found these at a Whole Foods, this time from a local goose farm. Now all I need to do is find fresh duck eggs – unless there is another egg I’m […] Read more…
Week 14: Umeboshi
Umeboshi are pickled ume fruits, often called plum but are actually closer in relation to apricots. The little orange-pink fruits are round and wrinkled and pickled into umeboshi by using salt and vinegar. Umeboshi is common in Japan and are considered to be a sort of super food – good for digestion, preventing nausea, helping […] Read more…