When we arrived in Asia ten years ago, there was plenty of room to try new veggies, new fruits, new dishes, even new fishes and meat. From dragon fruit, jackfruits, and other yam to several special hot sauces or gravy, or even insects if I would like to, I enjoyed in discovering the different culinary habits and customs. I have not tried everything but tastes were rather exotic, sometimes strange and surely very varied. And I don’t talk about the variety of nationalities that added to the possible taste combinations (and “fusion” food).
I didn’t have high expectations when I arrived in the US, but even if the food would not be so varied, I was looking forward to finding “the best hamburger ever”, various sandwiches that I could not find elsewhere, and incredible Mexican and South-American dishes, apart from, perhaps, other type of high-quality fast food that I was not aware of.
Well, unfortunately the pandemic has postponed the opening of restaurant in the area (that essentially live from tourists here), so I could not “try” at all. So apart from delicious local beers, I have not been particularly challenged, yet.
But as a surprise, I had the opportunity to recently discover 2 delicious new dishes:
Radish leaf velouté, cooked with an onion, potatoes, garlic, veggetable stock, and salt and pepper; (I am still wondering why I didn’t try that before… excellent!);
Fiddleheads, a Maine tradition, which are basically unopened fronds of wild fern. They apparently only grow wild and must be carefully hand harvested otherwise the plant gets damaged. I cooked them first in hot salty water until they were still a bit crunchy, then pan fried them with a little of olive oil and lots of garlic. Their taste is something between asparagus, green beans, and maybe a very little bit of Lady’s fingers… Delicious!
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