As those who read my posts know I'm all about trying new foods.  Here are a few that I've recently sampled.
1.  Arkansas Black Apple:  not horrible but certainly not the best apple I've ever eaten.  They are crude and rough, like apples cave men would have eaten before we started cultivating them.  They were popular in olden times because they lasted longer without refrigeration than other apple varieties.  I wouldn't buy them again.
2.  Kabocha Squash:  I love squash in general.  I usually have one or two varieties of squash in at any given time.  I didn't care for Kabocha Squash.  Maybe the one I bought was bad or old or something.  It had a chalky texture and taste.  Those who read my posts know I HATE to waste food but I could only bear to choke down three quarters of this squash.  I ended up throwing the last quarter in the trash conjuring up images of starving Armenians to haunt me.  I definitely won't be buying this squash again.
3.  Fennel:  The entire plant is edible.  If you like licorice you'll like Fennel.  Unfortunately I don't care for the taste of licorice so I don't really like Fennel.  The stems have a strong licorice taste, the spindly fronds not quite as much, and the bulb is the least offensive part.   It's not horrible... I'll eat the one I bought but I won't be buying it again.
4.  Romanesco:  It's like a mash up of Cauliflower and Broccoli.  It is mild, sweet, tender, and absolutely delicious.  The entire plant is edible.  This one I'll be purchasing often.   

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I went to Japan over the summer and they had fresh lychee and a bunch of other fruits for the breakfasts  lychee was pretty good somewhat of a strange texture
Also stuff like kimbap sushi and okonomiyaki which isn't overly unorthodox but it was new to me thought it was Good though.

Trying new fruits is sort of a passion of mine. Currently I am scouting for my first Durian fruit experience. If you haven't tried Jack Fruit RM I would highly recommend it. Wonderful flavor and texture.

Morphy wrote on Jan 1^st, 2025 at 2:08pm:

If you haven't tried Jack Fruit RM I would highly recommend it. Wonderful flavor and texture.

I've never tried it.  I'll look for it.

    Here's another apple variety I tried for the first time about nine months ago.  The Evercrisp.  This one is a winner.  It is crisp, juicy, and the sweetest apple I've ever tasted.  All of the apple varieties that end in "crisp" are excellent.  This one is the best of the best. 

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Honeycrisp have been my favorite for a while.  They're best on their own, so if I want to add something, like peanut butter, I'll switch to something else, like Cosmic crisp.

I haven't heard of Evercrisp, how do they compare to Honeycrisp?

So many delicious apple varieties across the world. Unfortunately here it's hard to come by more than the few types sold in supermarkets.

Stals wrote on Jan 7^th, 2025 at 4:40pm:

I haven't heard of Evercrisp, how do they compare to Honeycrisp?

Somewhat similar but sweeter.

Yfir wrote on Jan 8^th, 2025 at 12:02am:

So many delicious apple varieties across the world. Unfortunately here it's hard to come by more than the few types sold in supermarkets.

Yes, I'm fortunate.  Our local Produce Junction  always has many varieties of apple.

    Gray Squash.  What an unfortunate, dismal sounding name.  Who would want to eat a gray squash?  It sounds terrible.  But it's actually very good.  I've been eating Gray Squash for about a year now. 
     First of all it's not gray.  It's green and white.  Taste and texture wise it's a lot like Yellow Squash or Zucchini and can be used in place of either.  If you like squash as I do try this one. 

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This is a recipe a friend on Fascistbook recently sent me and not a new food but what the heck.  It tastes too good to be as simple as it is.  You need:
2 Bananas
2  Eggs
4  Tablespoons of oatmeal
    Peel the Bananas then smash them with a fork.  Beat the eggs.  Mix the eggs and smashed Bananas together then mix in the oatmeal.  Fry in a large non-stick pan with a little butter or oil.  Flip it once.  Done.  You could put syrup, jelly, honey, butter, etc. on it if you wish.  I eat mine straight up. 
     The outside is like a regular pancake and the inside is creamy.  It's ridiculously simple to make and delicious.  Try it.

This sounds weirdly good and falls into the narrow category of what I can make. Little honey or real maple syrup should make it just right. Hell maybe some chocolate chips? Im not trying to get too skinny now.

Rat Man wrote on Jan 18^th, 2025 at 4:07pm:

This is a recipe a friend on Fascistbook recently sent me and not a new food but what the heck.  It tastes too good to be as simple as it is.  You need: 2 Bananas 2  Eggs 4  Tablespoons of oatmeal     Peel the Bananas then smash them with a fork.  Beat the eggs.  Mix the eggs and smashed Bananas together then mix in the oatmeal.  Fry in a large non-stick pan with a little butter or oil.  Flip it once.  Done.  You could put syrup, jelly, honey, butter, etc. on it if you wish.  I eat mine straight up.       The outside is like a regular pancake and the inside is creamy.  It's ridiculously simple to make and delicious.  Try it.

I will have to try that at some point! If the oatmeal amount in that recipe was bumped up a bit to make a dough I imagine it would make some fabulously simple cookies. Probably at 350-375℉ for some 10-15 minutes, and presto. I'm going to need to experiment.

Caspian wrote on Jan 18^th, 2025 at 10:56pm:

Rat Man wrote on Jan 18th, 2025 at 4:07pm: I will have to try that at some point! If the oatmeal amount in that recipe was bumped up a bit to make a dough I imagine it would make some fabulously simple cookies. Probably at 350-375℉ for some 10-15 minutes, and presto. I'm going to need to experiment.

Yes, maybe with some shredded coconut and a maraschino cherry or walnut  on top. 

OK the three ingredient pancake is interesting. Good, especially with syrup, but interesting. Intriguing, I daresay.

I halved the recipe, because this is a test run. The banana I used wasn't as ripe as it probably should have been, but I'm having a bout of delirium caused by a variety of things and so I was eager to try the recipe for its simplicity. And so this isn't as sweet as it would be with a riper banana, and the lack of sugars kept my pancake from getting crispy. It has great potential, however, and necessitates further investigation - probably when I'm not delirious and when there's overripe bananas to use. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Caspian wrote on Jan 20^th, 2025 at 12:14am:

OK the three ingredient pancake is interesting. Good, especially with syrup, but interesting. Intriguing, I daresay. I halved the recipe, because this is a test run. The banana I used wasn't as ripe as it probably should have been, but I'm having a bout of delirium caused by a variety of things and so I was eager to try the recipe for its simplicity. And so this isn't as sweet as it would be with a riper banana, and the lack of sugars kept my pancake from getting crispy. It has great potential, however, and necessitates further investigation - probably when I'm not delirious and when there's overripe bananas to use. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

If you are delirious how can we trust your results ?
You may have been at the Mad Hatters  Tea Party exchanging wheat grains with the Dormouse, for all we know !
😁👍

xud9a - call me zud 👍 wrote on Jan 20^th, 2025 at 5:21am:

Caspian wrote on Jan 20th, 2025 at 12:14am: If you are delirious how can we trust your results ? You may have been at the Mad Hatters  Tea Party exchanging wheat grains with the Dormouse, for all we know ! 😁👍

You'll just have to take my word for it. Else, as Rat Man said, try it! I may be delirious but that doesn't mean my taste buds don't work! Only don't trust my results now that I've slept - the pancake is but a vague and distant memory now and I can't remember much of it. I could say it tasted like caramel banana bread and I myself would be none the wiser of whether it did or didn't.

A wise and intelligent answer.
I will now hie myself hence to smell the music, listen to the flowers and taste the colours of the rainbow.

Do not adjust your set   ---   nor       al service will be resumed shortly.




                                                        M   




😁👍               

Back to the Kabocha Squash.  They're always in Produce Junction.   If they're all as bad as the one I tried then they wouldn't exist.  With that logic I bought another one.  It was sweet, nutty, and delicious.  Not a hint of chalkiness.  That first one I tried was obviously bad; probably too old. 

Rat Man wrote on Jan 18^th, 2025 at 4:07pm:

This is a recipe a friend on Fascistbook recently sent me and not a new food but what the heck.  It tastes too good to be as simple as it is.  You need: 2 Bananas 2  Eggs 4  Tablespoons of oatmeal     Peel the Bananas then smash them with a fork.  Beat the eggs.  Mix the eggs and smashed Bananas together then mix in the oatmeal.  Fry in a large non-stick pan with a little butter or oil.  Flip it once.  Done.  You could put syrup, jelly, honey, butter, etc. on it if you wish.  I eat mine straight up.       The outside is like a regular pancake and the inside is creamy.  It's ridiculously simple to make and delicious.  Try it.

I tried this, and I will say it is VERY good! I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was, considering it was only 3 ingredients.

    Here are two more; the Sunrise Magic Apple and the Asian Pear.
     The Sunrise Magic Apple is a big, sweet, juicy, crisp apple sort of like a Cosmic Crisp.  It's not the best apple I ever had in my life but it certainly is very good and worth buying. 
     I first encountered the Asian Pear while stationed in Korea in the mid 70s.  It is very mild tasting, sweet, juicy, and crisp.  In both taste and texture it reminds me of a cross between a pear and an apple.  I ate them often in Korea.
     Then I got sent back Stateside.  No more Asian Pears for decades.  I missed them.  Then I started seeing them again here and there but rarely. Fortunately they're becoming more and more accessible in America.  My local Produce Junction has them most of the time now.  In Korea they were huge, like Grapefruit size.  The ones I get here now are the size of apples.  But they taste the same so it's cool. 

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Rat Man wrote on Jan 18^th, 2025 at 4:07pm:

This is a recipe a friend on Fascistbook recently sent me and not a new food but what the heck.  It tastes too good to be as simple as it is.  You need: 2 Bananas 2  Eggs 4  Tablespoons of oatmeal     Peel the Bananas then smash them with a fork.  Beat the eggs.  Mix the eggs and smashed Bananas together then mix in the oatmeal.  Fry in a large non-stick pan with a little butter or oil.  Flip it once.  Done.  You could put syrup, jelly, honey, butter, etc. on it if you wish.  I eat mine straight up.       The outside is like a regular pancake and the inside is creamy.  It's ridiculously simple to make and delicious.  Try it.

This morning I made this again but threw a couple of handfuls of dried cranberries into the batter.  It's a winner.