woodyinoz

Whilst the topic of food is so ripe and my kids school is concentrating on healthy eating.
What exotic foods are out there and what are they like??

here's one for starters..... eggplant

Tried when we first got here and put it in a casserole. Maybe not the best way to cook them as it had a strange texture and tasted yuck! They look beautiful though

Hels

Ohhh they are gorgeous sliced, drizzled with some olive oil and rubbed with a bit of salt and done on a grill or bbq....or even just roasted!! Or in a Moussaka...

There is a fruit that you can buy here that actually tastes like Chocolate!!

Luke I Amyofath

Cant wait for mango season when the price drops drastically. theres something very exotic about biting into a nice juicy ripe one.. better than oral sex I reckon

Vanessa

eggplant is just another name for aubergine. You could try the following to get them to eat vegetables. Chop eggplant into 2cm cubes and sprinkle with salt - puts into a colander and place weights ontop for about 1 hour rinse and dry. (they can be bitter and this takes the bitterness out) Chop up red peppers and cougette (about same size as the eggplant) half tomatoes, quarter some onions and place all together in a roasting dish with crushed garlic and olive oil. Coat with your hands and roast for about 45 minutes - turn half way through. Veg should be charred but not burnt!

You could also try a moussaka - not that I like it but here is recipe if you want it:

Rick Stein's recipe
Ingredients
150-175ml olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
900g lean minced lamb
50ml white wine (a generous splash)
1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
1 x 5cm piece cinnamon stick
a handful of fresh oregano leaves chopped (can use dried is needs be)
3 large aubergines
salt and pepper
For the topping
75g butter
75g plain flour
600ml pint milk
50g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
2 medium eggs, beaten



Method
1. For the lamb sauce, heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a pan. Add the onions and garlic and fry until just beginning to brown. Add the minced lamb and fry over a high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the wine, tomatoes, cinnamon and oregano and simmer gently for 30-40 minutes while you make everything else.
2. Slice the stalks off the aubergines and cut them lengthways into 5mm slices. Heat a frying pan until it is very hot, add 1 tablespoon of the oil and a layer of aubergine slices and fry quickly until tender and lightly coloured on each side. Lift out with tongs , layer over the base of a shallow ovenproof dish and season lightly with a little salt and pepper. Repeat with the rest of oil and aubergines and seasoning each layer as you go.
3. For the topping, melt the butter in a non-stick pan, add the flour and cook over a medium heat for 1 minute to cook out the flour. Gradually beat in the milk, bring to the boil, stirring, and leave to simmer very gently for 10 minutes, giving it a stir every now and then. Stir in the cheese and some salt and pepper to taste. Cool slightly and then beat in the eggs.
4. Preheat the oven at 200C/400F/Gas 6. Remove the cinnamon stick from the lamb sauce, season to taste with some salt and pepper and spoon it over the top of the aubergines. Pour over the topping and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Luke I Amyofath

I might be totally wrong but thought my sister used to make a similar dish but would stuff the eggplant and bake it with similar ground meats, or perhaps it was stuffed marrow I forget now

Vanessa

You can do stuffed marrow which is similar with a white sauce. Personally I can't bear it as I don't like the slimy texture of marrow.

Bordy

How about some of those lovely cakes you spent Monday night making.

Linda Lushardi

I went to the market yesterday and bought 3 GORRRGEOUS!! pineapples for $5!! Couldnt believe they were that price and expected them to be nasty, but they are probably the best ive ever tasted.

renth

The thread is about exotic food and we have so far done aubergine and pineapple. Not particularly exotic I have to say. Anyway they sell durians at our local Woolies, always fancied trying them but never wanted to stink my house out with the smell of sewage.

"Some Westerners have described the experience of eating the durian as "like eating custard in a public lavatory".

Richard Sterling (as quoted in The Travelling Curmudgoen) says; "..its odor is best described as pig-sh*t, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. "



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian

renth

Giving, or receiving?

Linda Lushardi

But how do you define "exotic"? Surely that is subjective depending on who you are and where you come from.
As a pom having grown up in UK i will always see a pineapple as a form of exotic fruit because it cannot be grown there and comes from far away places. Juat because i have moved location i cannot change how i see it.
On the flip side of this, i heard someone on TV a few months ago here in Australia refer to a raspberry as an exotic fruit!!

renth

Bananas, melons, cucumbers

Linda Lushardi

LOL.. behave.. you changed my wording!!

woodyinoz

OH they tasted sooo nice

'durians ' I think that I may give these a miss.

I am going to try these recipes... they sound great. I reckon I just cooked Eggplant wrong so I am willing to give it another go.

Hels - what fruit tastes like chocolate.... sounds great for a diet

Mango's is another one I haven't tried... I always wonder how to eat them.

I love eating fruits and veggies and it's great this time of year to see so many different types.

Vanessa - sounds great, remember that peppers are capsicum now I got a few weird looks from locals when I said I was going to grow peppers.

Luke I Amyofath

was that a proposition ?

anyway, the misses says that theres a real tropical fruit called monsterio delicio that apparently tastes like a mixture of other exotic fruits.
cant find a piccie though on google