14 day Countdown to 40 - Self-Indulgence #12

The Custard Apple...

My joy in discovering new foods dates back almost as long as I can remember.  By the early 1990s, I had moved away to another city for university, but had yet to see much of the world.  In 1993, I had the opportunity to participate in an exchange program to India, with Canadian Crossroads International.  During those travels, I took the opportunity to try out as many new foods as I could - sometimes whether I knew what they were or not.

For one of my braver culinary adventures, some friends and I decided to buy one of the strangest and ugliest fruits there was, from a fruit vendor who didn't speak much english.  I remember it was green and looked a bit like a cross between an artichoke and a grenade.  We brought it back to our hostel and sat there looking at it for quite some time, trying to figure out how to eat it.
First - We didn't know if we should peel it, or just wash it and prepare to eat the skin;
Then - We didn't know if there was a special way to cut it open... would it be full of juice like an orange? would it be pulpy like an apple?

After we finally took the plunge and cut it open, we had no idea what to do next... what part of it could we eat?  The pulp, honestly, looked like barf (sorry, but it's true) and the seeds were hard and smooth like a watermelon's.  After alot of laughter and jokes worthy of any 8 year old, we slowly started poking at it.  It smelled DELICIOUS - so that was a good thing.  We decided the seeds were too hard to chew, so we set them aside, and bravely moved on to the barf-like pulp.... and what a treasure we found!!!
The pulp was smooth and creamy, and almost exactly like a fruity custard!!  We found out later that they are sometimes called Custard Apples, but are also known as cherimoya or sweet sops.
They are a very soft fruit and must not ship well, because I have never seen them for sale in Canada; however, my parents just returned from their annual winter trek to "Holiday Island", and brought one back - just for me, in their suitcase - it was a little battered on the outside, but as disgustingly mushy gushy delicious on the inside.
My whole evening paused while I cut into it, and indulged.... alas, its barfy-looking pulp did NOTHING for my kidlets, so for once, I didn't have to share the treat with anyone..... oh well, their loss.

Thank you Mom and Dad - both for making this special trip out west for my Birthday, AND for the WONDERFUL Custard Apple Birthday gift.  I love you!!!!

Hmmmm - so tomorrow's the eve of my big day.... I can't wait to see what final self-indulgences await!!!!

As Always, Dayna

14 day Countdown to 40 - Self-Indulgence #7 (UPDATED POST)

GOBLOOS!!!

When I was a little girl, living in Ottawa, we had some family friends who were from India.  Every now and then, we would go over to visit them for a playdate and dinner.  Unfortunately, I've only managed to hold on to a couple of bizzare memories of those dates:
1) I remember Monika and Susan had a really fun puzzle with unusual shapes mixed in with the traditional puzzle shapes (i.e. cats, stars, boats, people etc); and

Gobloos (aka gulab jamun, aka the BEST dessert ever!!!)

2) I remember gobloos... gobloos were what I called the little balls of fried dough soaked in sweet cardomom and rosewater syrup that Mrs. Chadha always served.
Anyways, we moved away when I was 9, and I never saw the Chadhas again - but I never forgot those gobloos.  It wasn't until many years later, while travelling in India, that I learned this isn't the correct name for the dish.  They are actually called Gulab Jamun.  (Imagine how cool I sounded asking if there were "gobloos" on the menu in every restaurant I went into for the first 3 weeks of my trip - the looks this crazy backpacker got were priceless!!!)

This evening, I went over to my friend Jen H's house with a couple of other girlfriends, for indulgence #7 - an indian feast and a movie.  When she was planning the evening, and asked what we should have on our menu, OF COURSE I had to include Gulab Jamuns.

Channa Masala

The rest of the meal was a combination of take-out (raita, butter chicken, chicken tikka masala and aloo gobi), store bought (Papaddum and Punjabi mix) and homemade (I've got my slow-cooker simmering up a bunch of channa masala as I write this).... all some of my favourite foods, rounded off with a bottle of PKNT Gold Carmenere but it's the Gobloos that finished off the meal perfectly in my mind....

After dinner we curled up with an appropriately themed girly movie - Bride and Prejudice.  It was a very light-hearted Hollywood-Bollywood crossover - probably not a movie I'd recommend to everybody, but a perfect compliment to a curry dinner girls night.

So I must say a BIG THANK YOU to Jen, Sandra and Annette, for the fabulous evening.  We had such a nice time that we talked about doing it again - next time experimenting with another type of international cuisine..... I think if we can get our acts together to dine like this on a regular basis we should call ourselves the "Nanton International Cuisine Epicure Girls" (N.I.C.E. Girls for short)... what do you think???

As Always, Dayna

P.S. The PKNT Gold Carmenere was so good, it has to qualify a self-indulgence (#8).... I"ll post about it separately....