Interesting food finds

“The first time you see something that you have never seen before, you almost always know right away if you should eat it or run away from it.”
― Scott Adams   (Creator of Dilbert)  

I don't know about what you consider to be too far beyond the fringe to consider as food. I realize that there is a huge gulf between the most particular eaters and the most experimental. Where you fall along that line is your business.  I know someone who says he has never tasted a strawberry, because he doesn't want to. I have so far drawn my 'line in the sand,' with salted squid guts.  You probably fall somewhere between those two extremes.   

Today's post is about interesting foods I've come across lately.    

My header photo and this one just below this batch of text were both taken at our favorite fish market. They recently added these little baskets of frozen octopuses to the store. (yes, adding -es forms the correct plural, I looked it up) 

Can you see how difficult it would be for me to pass these packages up?  That's an experimental-sized octopus if I ever saw one. They are now so satisfying and neat. (They become must less neat when you thaw them) 

In John Steinbeck's Cannery Row, one of my favorite books, the character Doc drives down the California coast to some tide pools he knows about and collects octopuses (yeah, I still want to say octopi too) for biological specimens.  As I read, I imagined them to be about this size.  

This is where I bought the octopus that I cooked with potatoes in a recent post.  

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/398866872025297364/3971390330736738207

Now here is something I've seen for a long time but never bought. These are salted egg yolks. Apparently, to make these, the yolks are separated from the whites, laid out very carefully on a layer of salt and then buried in same.  In a week or two, they have absorbed enough to keep indefinitely.  

I did not buy any egg yolks themselves, but did bring home these cookies when I saw them. We didn't care for them.  The egg yolk taste seems to be concentrated by the salting process, and even though these cookies weren't too salty, they were too 'egg yolky.'

(Because I like  to try things, doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to enjoy their flavor.)

Here's another one with egg yolk in the description, although apparently not salted this time. 

These reminded me a little of the fish I used to eat as a kid. 

On the rare occasion when I would actually catch a fish, my mother would have me scale it and then she'd fry the separated halves whole; skin, tail and all. (No heads though) 

We didn't know anything about filleting a fish.

I liked the skin and especially the tail. It was always so crispy that the spines would explode into crunchy bits in my mouth. I liked mine with plenty of salt and pepper.  

These are nowhere near as good, although it is clearly fish skin. They're not salty and their crunch seems to be somewhat stale. The egg yolk coating doesn't do anything for me at all.  

My friend Lee, who spent his early years growing up in Papua New Guinea, has told me about going into town to buy dried plums after school.  I didn't know if either of these are similar. 

The ones on the left are really good while the ones on the right are much rougher, but still pretty good, and certainly interesting.  If either of these are similar to what he bought, I can readily understand why he did.  

Update: I recently sent Lee some of the plums on the right, thinking that, from his description of them, that they were more likely to be close to what he remembers.  He reported that they are quite similar.  

I took this shot as I walked toward Henderson to do our grocery shopping and passed by a tree with fruit hanging over the sidewalk.  These are the first fruits of the year, loquats.  

I've done posts on the durian in the past. I don't want to repeat myself here, but look at the price they're charging for them these days.  A small one will weigh about 1.5 kilos. And yet, these fresh ones will fly off the shelves, or rather, out of the bins 

(I can get frozen ones anytime for only $19.99/kilo.) 

I'm sure that I'll get another some day, and when I do, I intend to weigh it to determine what percentage of the weight is actually edible fruit. I'm guessing it might run 25% to 35%.  

So, you want to talk about pricey? I just saw two kinds of lobsters. The packhorse are slightly larger than what are labeled crayfish in the photo just below, but they both weigh about 1.5 kilos and up.  

They're bargains, marked down to just $110. per kilo.  

These will also disappear quickly.  Amazing.  

 

It's mutton bird season.  These are the chicks (yes, they're big birds) of the Puffinus griseus, or sooty shearwater.  A member of the petral family of seabirds.  The Maori call them Titi.  

Each year, Maori families, who hold the Titi harvest rights for small islands located off the south island, go out and harvest their quota of the chicks from deep burrows.  

It has been estimated that 21 million mutton birds congregate on these islands each year. A total of 250,000 chicks are allowed to be harvested.  It is reported that those numbers represent 100% sustainability. 

The birds are cleaned, salted and stored in barrels.  Cooking them involves boiling in two changes of water, and then roasting or grilling them.

(I wonder what salted mutton bird eggs would taste like) 

This next picture was taken at our favorite butcher's. Biltong originated in South Africa. The beef is first marinated in vinegar and spices and then dried.  I've tried it sometimes and enjoyed it, mostly. 

I couldn't resist buying this package when I notice Miss Durian winking at me from the shelf at Lim Supermarket. The individually wrapped cakes inside did not have as runny a filling as is pictures here, but were powerfully durian.  

My final item today is a honey I haven't tried before.  

I came  across it at Countdown where they use dummy jars on the shelf to prevent theft. 

Tawari trees are indigenous to the north island. They're relatively small, only reaching about 10 meters. They live under the forest canopy, like moist conditions, and have, like the jar shows, little white flowers.

  

Manawa is a Maori company and they refer to their tribe as Children of the Mist.  

It's very good, but doesn't interest me quite to the extent that Waitemata pohutukawa, thyme, or beechwood honeydew do. It is a very 'dry' honey. Its consistency is like that of creamed honey, which I like. I e-mailed the company to get whatever additional information I could about this honey, and was answered by one of the most friendly, helpful and pleasant people I've ever run into at the other end of a business keyboard.  She contacted me three times over the next couple of weeks to follow up on our first 'conversation.'  

I hope that you've enjoyed this look into our island foodstuffs. I find that there is always something new to discover.        -djf