World Cuisine: Exotic Vegetables: Winter Melon

Thanks to being active in various global social communities, I'm learning about all kinds of food like the “winter melon”. This is not a produce that I am familiar with. Even when I checked to see if maybe I knew it by a different name, it turns out I did not know the alternative names either. I don't recall seeing this melon in my local grocery store but it is probably in the produce section at an Asian market. Nevertheless, now it's a food that I am curious to try. 

Image credit:  Amazon.com

OK. Let me explain myself. I like cucumbers and I like melons. But I say a cucumber is a vegetable and anything called melon has to be a fruit. Right? WRONG!!

The Spruce Eats is my favorite GO TO site for when I want to learn about anything food-related. They published content titled “What Is a Winter Melon?” and it tells you all about it.  

The winter melon is a large vine vegetable; a type of gourd and a distant cousin of the cucumber. Commonly called ash gourd, wax gourd, white gourd, white pumpkin, and Chinese watermelon. It is a native to parts of Southern Asia and used in both Indian and Chinese cuisine.

You can cook it, but don't over-cook it because it will become mushy. It pairs well with a lot of different foods: watermelon, mushrooms, scallions, pork, chicken, duck, and ham, seafood like shrimp and scallops. I love that it can be cooked in soups and stews because soup is on my unofficial list of Top 5 comfort foods.

• Some sources say it can not be eaten RAW.
• Other sources say, add it to salads RAW just like you would with a cucumber.

???????

Here are some additional food facts and most of the sources seem to be in agreement.

“Chinese people believe winter melon is a Yin food that can help our bodies to counter the summer heat and humidity.” This soup dish is so popular they even serve it at weddings.

Chinese Winter Melon Soup Recipe ~ TheSpruce Eats

Winter melon can also be used to make drinks. There are recipes for Winter Melon Tea and Bubble Tea Latte. Sounds interesting.

18 of the Absolute Best Winter MelonRecipes to Try This Year - Backyard Boss  

A few of the health websites sing praises about the health benefits of the winter melon. It's good for digestion; promotes heart health; can detox your body; can improve your vision; and more!

9 Surprising Benefits of Winter Melon |Organic Facts

FINAL LINK SHARE:

Figured there had to be a candy recipe.  Petha / Winter Melon soft Candy !!! | Shailja's Kitchen [ Meals & Memories Are Made Here ] 

Food Blurb: Exotic Fruit: CUCAMELON

A cucamelon is known by many names, such as, Mexican sour gherkin, Mexican miniature watermelon, Mexican sour cucumber, mouse melon, or pepquino.  The taste is described as a cucumber with a touch of sour lime mixed in. Most people use it in salads, pickled or used in salsa. They are usually eaten raw, but you can cook them lightly and add them to a stir-fry. They can be refridgerated (will last up to 1 month) and frozen (will last up to 3 months).

Image credit:  Amazon.com

Links below supply some additional information and a few recipes you may want to try.

• Cucamelons Are the Cutest Superfood You Can Grow Yourself | Better Homes & Gardens
• EverythingAbout Cucamelons | How to Grow In Your Garden
• CucamelonPickles | Love and Olive Oil  
• EasyCucamelon Pickle | South Indian Recipe - Cooking with Thas
• CucamelonSalad, lightly marinated and easy! - Feathers in the woods

Food and Drink : Are You a Cheese Lover?

Have always been told that cheese is healthy eating. Haven't you? Unless you're lactose intolerant and have a hard time digesting dairy products, that is. But I received an article via eMail that said cheese might not be healthy. The headline was a shocker!

Cheese lover that I am!! ❤  I respect the source, so I had to read further. Whew! I'm so relieved. They mentioned the “unhealthiest” cheeses to eat. Cheese singles, cheese spray and cheese dips. Had to laugh because I thought to myself: “Duh! Those products don't even count as cheese in my book!”  ☺

Nevertheless, the other information presented in the article about healthy cheeses and the diet tips made it a worthwhile read. This excerpt below quickly summarizes what the real aim of the article is.

“If you're a cheese lover, then there's good news for you. Not all cheese is bad for your diet. In fact, there are plenty of ways to include cheese in a weight loss or weight maintenance plan. You just need to be careful about what you buy and how much you eat.”

Here is a quick outline of the subtopics:

• Healthiest Cheese Options
• Unhealthiest Cheese Options
• Health Benefits and Drawbacks of Cheese
• Cheese and Weight Loss
• Cheese Recipes

Reference:
Frey, Malia. “The Smartest Ways to Include Cheese in Your Diet.” Verywell, 28 June 2017, https://www.verywell.com/cheese-nutrition-facts-calories-and-health-benefits-4117668. Cheese Nutrition Facts: Calories in Cheese and Health Benefits ~ Content reviewed by a board-certified physician.

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Additional Comments:

I'm not sure if there is any style or form of cheese that doesn't taste good to me. Have heard people say they don't like the taste of goat cheese. Maybe if they ate it in the form of a cheesecake they'd change their mind.

Definitely never ate a piece of cheesecake that I didn't like!

People may not need to be told about this food blog and website: “Williams-Sonoma Taste”. It seems to be very popular (meaning it has a pretty high Alexa ranking). But in case you never heard of it, sharing a link below. You can sign up to receive their recipes via e-Mail.

Fresh Goat Cheese and Lemon Curd Cheesecake

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This content first appeared at ForumCoin under the same title “Food and Drink : Are You a Cheese Lover?”

5 Exotic Spices From Around the World by Melisa Marzett (Guest Post)

Even though many herbs and spices are now readily available in local grocery stores all around the world or can easily be purchased online, most of us don't know know the history of these marvelous cooking ingredients and which country is responsible for introducing these exciting flavors to the global community.  Sharing a brief introduction to five (5) exotic spices:

SPICE Spotlight: Juniper Berries

1. Asafetida. This is an Asian spice made from the roots of certain species of Ferula. It is a gum-like spice with a very strong and unpleasant smell.  Actually, the name of the spice has a Latin origin, which means “evil-smelling gum”.  Asafetida is common in Indian vegetarian cuisine and is often the main ingredient in rice and bean dishes. Additionally, it has a wide range of medicinal properties and is beneficial for people with digestive disorders, high cholesterol, and/or nervous disorders.  Asafetida is rich in minerals and nutrients, such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, and protein.  Although most chefs and cooks rarely prepare a dish without onion and garlic, some people do not eat onion or garlic.  Certain people are allergic to onions and for some people, garlic causes extreme heart burn.  Asafetida is an ideal spice for those people.  In fact, its smell is similar to both onion and garlic.






2. Dried Avocado Leaves.  This spice (or herb) originated in Mexico. It is one of the most popular spices in Mexican cuisine.  Avocado leaves have an aniseed fragrance; however, these dried leaves are odorless and have a pungent taste. Dried avocado leaves are added to bean or meat dishes. Regarding health benefits, they are useful for people who have kidney stones and hypertension. Noteworthy:  Only certain varieties of avocado leaves are to be used in cooking or for medicinal purposes because some kinds of avocado leaves can contain toxic substances.

Additional References:

• 13 Health Benefits of Avocado Leaves and Side Effects
• 20 Health Benefits of Avocado Leaves (No.4 Potent)

Avocado Leaves: A Secret Mexican Ingredient

Avocado Leaves: A Secret Mexican Ingredient

Avocado Leaves: A Secret Mexican Ingredientby Victoria ChallancinLove at First Bite. Like any motivated foodie, I almost made myself sick sampling, musing, and guessing what unknown ingredient I was tasting in what appeared to be an ordinary black bean dip.

3. Epazote. This is another essential spice used in Mexican cuisine. Its extraordinary (or strange) scent can be described as a combination of kerosene, mint, and citrus. Epazote is made from the leaves of Mexican herb called dysphania ambrosioides (aka "Mexican tea").  It is used with bean and meat dishes. Additionally, it can be used in soups.

Additional Reading and Recipes:

• Mexican Magic: Epazote's Special Flavor

4. Grains of Paradise. This delicious spice is an integral part of West African cuisine. It is obtained from a flower called Aframomum melegueta. Africans believed that this flower grew in Eden. Grains of paradise look like seeds and have jasmine, citrus, and hazelnut odor. It can be added to meat, fish, and potato dishes.

Link of Interest:

Find spices ordered according to the region:

GEOGRAPHIC SPICE INDEX

Ras El Hanout (4.0 Oz) By Zamouri Spices

Ingredients include over 30 different herbs and spices, such as: 
 Grains of Paradise, Lavender, turmeric, ajawan seeds, kalajeera, ginger, galangal, oris root, rose buds, monk's pepper, cinnamon and more!

5. Juniper Berries. Actually, juniper berries are more likely to be cones than berries. It has the smell of fir and is used for cooking meat dishes, especially stewed rabbit or beef. These “berries” grow on the juniper tree, are common throughout Europe,  included in ancient Greek recipes, and have been found in the Egyptian pyramids.  A wide range of German traditional dishes are cooked with juniper berries.

♦♦  Hope you enjoyed this intro.

About the writer:  Melisa Marzett works for: bigpaperwriter.com.  She does excellent research and can pen articles and supply blog publishers or website owners with quality content on almost any topic. 

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Looking for foodie friends? Have fun finding and sharing food-related content on Noise.Cash. It's a global social community. The PLUS is that you can make friends and earn Bitcoin Cash$.

A Cultural History Of The Kebab (Reblog)

Awesome article found at a site where I was not even looking for food-related content. Had to share. I'll give you a quick summary below, but by all means please read the article in its entirety.

Article Link: A Cultural History Of The Kebab

QUICK ARTICLE SUMMARY:

• A kebab has its roots in Middle Eastern cuisine.
• The word “kebab” reached the English-speaking world in the 17th century from the Arabic kabāb, in part via Hindustani, Persian and Turkish.
• FYI. “Kebab is normally cooked on a skewer over a fire, but some kebab dishes are made in a pan, in the oven, or even as a stew...”
• FOR THE VEGANS. No worries. There is a “Vebab”, a vegan kebab.
• Gyros Or Kebab? A Lively Debate ~ Middle Eastern food OR Greek by way of Turkey
• Where Did Döner Kebap Come From? 

FINAL QUESTION:  Which Is It, Kebab Or Kebap?

• In Arabic-speaking countries, it's “kebab”.
• In Turkey, it’s “kebap.”

ALL AROUND THE WORLD?? It's just plain old good food! ☺

https://myfoodieluv.tumblr.com/post/684628676916150272/amazing-food-history-a-cultural-history-of-the

Find lots of kebab recipes at My Foodie Luv Tumblr blog.

Foodie Friday : Figs ~ Enjoy a Raw Coconut Fig Slice ( and More Wonderful Way to Enjoy Figs)

It's another #FoodieFriday. Even though it's late in the day, this post will be published before midnight. If not, I might turn into fig! (Just kidding!) 

For this #FoodieFriday, the keyword is "fig".  (It was going to be "gumbo' but ... found this post about fig and went off in a completely different direction! :)  )  Before getting started, let me share this healthy tip.

TIP:  Need a pre-workout snack? Try figs! They are filled with calcium, magnesium and potassium.  (Source)

OK!  My first fig share is an awesome post found in a Google Plus Blogging community.  The G+ network was shut down do I'm glad I saved the link.

Raw Coconut Fig Slice (http://itislovelyfood.blogspot.ca)

I don't know if the fig was really the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. As far as I'm concerned it's a fruit that was heaven sent!

Here is a little bit about the fig. It's an excerpt from my article published at Wizzley.com. 

FIG TREES Genus Ficus The fig plant can be either a low-lying shrub or a tall tree.  They grow wild; or domesticated in the Mediterranean region and in California.  In Israel, the fig trees usually sprout buds in late spring; by the month of June (early summer) the tree is full of leaves; and in just a few more weeks, the figs are ready for picking. ... You can learn more about the ficus plant at PlanetFig.com

An additional fact.  In the Bible, the fig has two symbolic meanings.  Hope (if the fig tree fruitful): Desolation (if the fig tree is barren).



Here are more shares.  Enjoy!

The humble Fig.

The Fig...You can get it dried almost anywhere in the world and fresh and luscious from September through to autumn. There is nought like the taste of a fresh fig and dried they are different but sweet, with a chewy flesh and crunchy edible seeds.The fig tree has no blossoms on their branches ...The blossoms are inside the fig.

Dalmatia Spread Fig, 8.5 oz

Bring Me Some Figgy Fig Recipes. (shewearsmanyhats.com)

• Fig Jam with Vanilla and Black Pepper - Jenni Field's Pastry Chef Online
• Cracked Wheat Fig Halwa (affronplatter.blogspot.ca)
• 15 Sweet and Calcium-Rich Recipes With Figs
• Spiced fig, coffee & hazelnut cake
• Delicious Savory Melon and Fig Salad
• Fig Salad with Kale and Halloumi - Delicious Fig Salad Recipe

 

Red Pepper Flakes Are a Secret Ingredient

Lidia Bastianich is an award-winning TV chef.  Her specialty is Italian food.  She says that the “secret ingredient” in Italian recipes is RED PEPPER FLAKES.  I did not know that.  I have tried to cook Italian food and never thought to add red pepper flakes.  Although I do sprinkle it on my pizza. 

I don't usually have red pepper flakes in my spice cabinet.  If you don't happen to have any, here are 6 alternatives or substitutes.

1. Ground cayenne pepper

2. Ground habañero pepper

3. Paprika 

4. Chile de Arbol powder

5. Hot sauce (Tabasco OR Sirachi)

6. Chili powder

REF:  Substitute For Red Pepper Flakes: 6 Fantastic Alternatives

Fortunately, I usually have Paprika OR Chili powder on hand.  

What about you?

If You Liked This, You Might Also Like:

Air-Dried Herbs Make Great Food Gifts

There is Ginger and Then There is Blue Ginger

6 Spices For Indian Cuisine

5 Exotic Spices From Around the World (Guest Post)

A Memorable Party Favor

 In the USA, we have a practice at parties. We give what's called party favors to the guests.

* A party favor is a small gift given to the guests at the occasion. The host (person throwing the party) gives it to the guests as a token or a souvenir to take home with them, a gesture of thanks for their attendance, and a keepsake or memory of the event.

If you have this custom, what kind of party favors have you given away OR what particular party favor do you remember receiving?

I can't remember as it's been a while since I've been to a party; for myself or to take one of my kids. But I do know that I've never been to a party where one of the party favors was a fortune cookie.

If I can make a recommendation.

The next time you throw a social gathering, consider giving out fortune cookies. Homemade, ready-made or custom made. 

Most people like to read their fortune. Even if they don't believe it, it's amusing and fun. If by coincidence the fortune comes true, they will always remember where they got the cookie!! 

Image credit:  Amazon.com

Are you planning a party?

Chinese Fortune Cookies as American as Apple Pie

How to Make the Best Fortune Cookies