If God did not intend for us to eat animals, then why did he make them out of meat? John Cleese

Today's post is once again about food. Well, two of the three items I talk about are. The last one is a consumable, but it's not a food item. 

I talked about three treasures not long ago in a post. In reality, I am constantly finding treasures, practically every where I look. These three more items are definitely treasures. I have found delight in each. I hope you find some pleasure in reading about them.   

I love the feeling I get when I am in a grocery store, standing in front of a shelf, and I see an item that is totally unfamiliar. "What the heck is that," I say to myself, as I pick it up, feel it, turn it all around, probably smell it if it is appropriate to do so, and definitely, read the label. 

I had that experience recently when we stopped at Nola's Orchard store on our way back from Mass one Sunday morning. This little store, which is first and foremost a fruit and veggie place, also has lots of interesting grocery items. Things like mung bean fettuccine, wine jellies, and other things. The most interesting item I saw that day was the Fresh Koko Samoa.

I had to look up just what this stuff was. It seemed somewhat chocolaty, and somewhat smokey. Well, I found out that is because this is cocoa beans that have been roasted over an open fire and then pounded into a mold. Look---

Koko Samoa is Samoan Cocoa! 

The smokiness put me off a little until I understood why it's present. This Koko Samoa isn't being produced by a factory. Families are doing it over open fires and then pounding the beans into forms. 

This stuff isn't just another choice for making hot chocolate. This represents a completely natural, hand made and historic island method of producing chocolate. This is what evolved into the Nestle's Quick, etc. that we thought was the only way to drink cocoa. It's the ancestor of all chocolate drinks. And guess what?

After holding the cone of Koko Samoa  to shave off the powder, my left hand felt buttery. There's real cocoa butter in it after all. This is a very cool item, and one that I think even qualifies as a wild food. Discovering this made my day. 

I made a small batch to try. Three testers and three thumbs up. It tastes like very dark, very sweet hot chocolate, with some tiny crunchy bits. 

This is 'Koko Alaisa'
This is cooked rice with coconut milk, Koko Samoa and sugar added. I like it warm better than cold. The smokiness comes out when it's cold and is too strong. 
I think they use a lot of coconut husks and palm leaves for their fires. I think that some oak or apple wood would produce a better tasting smoke. -just my opinion

--And here is shot that shows some products of the cocoa bean that have been more processed than the Koko Samoa is. These are also available at Nola's. 

I much prefer the more natural Koko. 

Cacao = cocoa

The nibs are simply pieces of the cocoa bean.

*****

This year I got a couple of dozen figs on my tree. There are still a bunch out there, but they are so small that I doubt if they'll mature before the season ends. A bus friend, John, tells me they will not. 

The biggest problem with trying to grow figs here is dealing with the birds. They are out there on patrol for a meal from before first light to just after dark, and they love figs, as much or more than I do. I can't possibly compete with their schedule and hunger so I devised another solution. I would pick most of the figs when they are starting to get soft, but before they are fully ripe and stew them. The birds will have to go elsewhere. 

I went to Youtube and immediately found a great recipe for stewing them. It is easy and fast. And very tasty. 

Stewed Figs

Cut ends off the figs. Just cover with water and boil gently for 5 minutes. Discard water and boil again for an additional 5 minutes.
For the syrup, use 1:1 water and brown sugar, (about 3/4 cup of each) 6 to 8 dates, and a quarter (or more) tsp. of cardamon.
Gently boil the figs in the syrup for 5 minutes, let it cool, and store in fridge for at least 2 days before eating.

For minted figs.

Tear up a few fresh mint leaves and add to the figs. Let it sit overnight and enjoy.

*****

My pleasure in discovering Koko Samoa and trying Koko Alaisa reminded me of another island product that I tried a long time ago. It was just after arriving and I knew very little about it at the time. I'm no expert now, but I know that I want to try Kava again. 

Kava is a plant and a drink that is consumed throughout the Pacific Ocean cultures. It comes from the roots of the Piper methysticum plant. It is said to have sedative, anesthetic, euphoric and entheogenic properties. It is sold in many of the Indian and Island stores in my area. This bag cost $10. It is the smallest quantity I could buy. The store had bags that weighed a kilo. (2.2 lbs.) I didn't ask how much they cost. 

A lady at an island grocery/deli that sells Kava told me, when I asked about it some time back, "Tell your wife to make it for you. When you get home in the afternoon, she should have it ready. Drink it and relax. Then enjoy your dinner."

Hmm, I'd be more likely I suppose to have a beer or a scotch about 5 p.m., but this is worth looking in to.

I'm going to use about 4 TBS and wrap it up in that piece of cloth.

 I'll use about 10 oz. of water.

I have been soaking the powder and squeezing the cloth to release the kavalactones (the active ingredient) into the water for about 10 minutes.   

 It is normally drunk from a half coconut shell. Lacking that, I am using a bowl. There is a bit of ceremony that must be observed when drinking kava. The coconut shell is held in both hands and the contents drained without stopping. This bowl contains only 4 ounces so that won't be too difficult. The taste is very bitter. It may be ceremonial to down it quickly, but considering the taste, hardly surprising. I can't see myself slowly sipping this like a fine wine. 

Okay, I'm sure the question on your mind is, did it do anything to me? Was I sedated, anesthetized, euphoric or have an enthogenic experience? Well, I don't think so....

I have also read that on the islands, men would often sit around a fire during an evening, talking and drinking rounds of kava over several hours. I can imagine that scene and guess that such a gathering of friends could be very pleasant indeed. Even if kava has only a very mild affect, consuming several doses of it over a period of time in such pleasant surroundings may very well bring about a feeling of happiness and calm. 

What does make me happiest about this experience is that I had the chance to try it at all. My nose was to the grindstone as the old saying goes for about 38 years during my working career. And now, after all that, I'm being given a period of rest, relaxation and revitalisation. I'm seeing and doing things I never dreamed that I'd be doing. That's definitely enough to make an old codger like me a little euphoric. I don't really need any kava for that.  -djf