10. Nov, 2017

Today, the stuff I ate was oyster leaves.

What, in God's name, you may ask, are Oyster Leaves?

Very good question. I was working with a chef at a place I work sometimes (writing about food, rather than cooking it), and he hilariously conned me into eating one of these so-called vegetable items.

Now, I like oysters. Specially in a fancy restaurant, with a glass of fizz, my partner opposite, some low lighting and, perhaps, the promise of a decent steak after. 

Eating one of these is nothing like that experience.

They really do taste exactly like oysters. They have a thick consistency, as you might imagine a non-prickly cactus leaf would, or part of an aloe vera plant - as in they're quite juicy. But as soon as your surprised little tastebuds wake up, you get a full-on salty, sea-water, molluscy, earthy taste that is utterly unexpected. And did I say salty? It took 3 white chocolate buttons and a cup of tea to get rid of the taste.

This 'hilarious' chef colleague of mine was using them in a fancy fish dish as a playful garnish... But I say to you, 'Beware the oyster leaf'. It's grim.

What are they anyway? A whiz over to Wiki tells me their official name is 'Mertensia maritimia', and that they are the leaves of a flowering member of the borage family. They grow in the Northen hemisphere in places including Canada, Greenland and some Scottish islands.

Verdict: Surprising and unpleasant in equal measure. 
Score: 1/10 (1 because the weirdness did actually make me laugh.) 
Would I eat them again: Really quite definitely not.

17. Jun, 2016

Today the stuff I ate was Experimental Tropical Fruit: Pitaya & Granadilla

The wee lad had a music exam and on the way back to school we popped to Tesco for some basics, but, feeling euphoric because of the exam, we threw some experimental tropical fruit in the basket, too.

The knobbly bright yellow one is called a pitaya. The smooth orangey yellow one is called a granadilla.

We dropped the granadilla on the floor by accident and the skin cracked almost like an egg to reveal a white cotton-wool like layer underneath, which was pretty darn cool.

We chopped them open and the pitaya had seeds and flesh a little like a grey kiwi fruit. It tasted sweet but without much flavour. OK.

The granadilla’s insides were more like a passion fruit, again quite grey, with a slimy texture and hard seeds that burst between your teeth. The taste was like an over-ripe passion fruit with a hint of toilet. Not very lovely.

And so ends the experiment. Our fave fruits remain apples, melons, passion fruit, nectarines and pineapples.

Verdict: A fun experiment, but disappointing fruit
Score: 7/10
Would I buy them again? Only in a tropical country, but they provided a snippet of excitement today