Mexico has a wide variety of food and small snacks. My mom recently went to Mexico and she bought back many different treats. One of the things she bought back were habas. I had never tasted them nor seen them before. Habas are a type of large bean, which are also known as broad bean or fava bean. It is part of the pea family. The ones my mom bought are called “habas enchiladas”. They are tossed in chili powder. They are crunchy with a kick of spice at the end. Very good to have as a snack on the go.

 They come in small bags. 

Like one of my other classmates, I tried arepas for the first time in the class when one of the teams bought samples to class. I had seen them before in street fairs and in jackson heights but I never really put much interest in them. The ones we tried in class were Venezuelan Arepas. I believe my classmate said they were called “Arepas de Choclo (Sweet Corn Arepas). Arepas look like a thick pancake filled with cheese. The arepa we tried was top off with sour cream and cheese. It tasted as a dessert to me since it had a sweet taste. I think it would taste better when it is freshly made, nice and hot.

Last week in class one of the groups that presented brought in Arepas. I have seen them before especially at things such as the 5th ave fair but never got the chance to try one. I was glad that I was able to try it and it was delicious. It consisted of corn and cheese as well as sour cream and cheese on the top as well. The flavors all blended together perfectly.    After trying it in class it makes me want to try them while they are hot.  I also remember in that groups presentation they mentioned the “arepa lady” located in Queens, I did research on her and found so many pictures of the arepas she makes and they look amazing. This summer I will be planning on making a stop there to get some.

Last Saturday I went to a friends house and they gave me this beautiful cup of deliciousness. I had seen it before, especially all over my instagram and I wanted to try it so badly. They sell these in Roosevelt, Queens. But they started to get famous in Brooklyn in a place called Nieves Tia Mimi. (Address: 4711 5th Ave.) This drink is called Mangonadas or Chamoyadas. This frozen drink is made with mango, lime juice, chili powder (tajin) and chamoy sauce and top off with a chili tamarind straw. I loved it! It was the perfect mixture of sweet and spicy. Perfect for the summer because it is so refreshing.

Throughout my culinary years of working in the kitchen, I tend to find ingredients every moment. There is a lot that I have yet to try. Majority of the ingredients is based on season, and some can only be found in different parts around the world. Here are the five new extremely recent ingredients that I encountered. Some examples are ramps, fresh green almonds, goose tongue plant, yuzu, and shiso.

The first time I encounter ramps is where I have worked. The green was like leaves that I see a lot when I was in China, and they seem just like normal wild grass or plants people grow in their backyard. The scent is garlic-ey and it tastes like it too when having it raw. However, once it is grilled with just salt, pepper, and drizzle of olive oil, it tastes really aromatic char of sweet treat.  This green is based on seasonal and that is usually around April through May.

The second item is at my internship job, and it was fresh green almonds. I usually thought almonds were just those raw brown oval shape nuts, but this one is fresh greens with tiny hairs that you would find similar to kiwi. The taste of this ingredient was just like eating watermelon seeds that are still raw. It is crazy how these even exist that way, but maybe we just never thought where almonds actually transformed from. I feel like most ingredients today, people see them as the way it is and do not look further to how it actually is formed. That is what I think.

The third taste is more exotic than I actually thought it was, and that was when my chef told me I will be prepping goose tongue for the night service. Goose tongue plants are just the name of how the greens look like, and it actually looks like the tongue of a goose. It is also known as sea plantains because the taste of itself is packed with salt, but not too salty. Same time to see these are in April through May.

The fourth new flavor that I found was a citrus fruit from Japan call the yuzu. It is look like regular lemon, but this one look like dried out plump fruit   Someone said it is the combination of sour mandarins and ichang papeda (citrus orange). To me, Japan is coming out with crazy new ingredients by combining fruits DNA together to form a new thing. The trend for new exotic stuff is getting real hyped, and it is getting more modern restaurant today in using them in their menu. The fruit itself is packed with tons of aromatic smell than any other citrus I encountered. It sure is something new that better than what household moms will use, pinesol cleaner, for floor cleaning.

The last ingredient that I thought was similar to bay leaf looking type of leaves, but the color is more brighter to appearance. This plant is widely known to be use in breakfast, and it is also commonly found in Japan. The taste to me is closely to mind, but less of the punch of the actual mint we tasted in America. On the other hand, it also tasted like cilantro, but also weaker taste of the normal kind of cilantro we know. Whatever it is, Japan is differently making something that people will go crazy over about the flavor fusion. The “wow” factor is real to these new type of find from Japan.

Overall, I am always excited to use new ingredients that I have not yet seen, and it is just crazy how the old ingredients are becoming infused with other type of flavor. This trend is going to change the future of culinary as to what kind of ingredients we use today.

I never before have went to Jackson Heights before, it was a great experience going with some good items to try. My favorite item was the Colombian pastry as well as the Dumplings we tried. Those two were my top faves. I did not really enjoy the sweets too much though. I also enjoyed going into Patel Brothers it was so interesting seeing so many different types of ingredients I also found a rice specifically for diabetics which was interesting. Seeing how many vegetables and fruits they had was also interesting. I also saw what many of us know as cilantro it was called something else. Overall  I really enjoyed this trip to Jackson Heights and I really am looking forward to going back there to find more items to try.

After visiting Jackson Heights, I was able to visit many places that I ended up liking. The first item I ate was the Carrot Halwa. This dessert is an unusual Indian dessert. Its made with grated carrots, whole mike, dried fruit, and nuts, and it has delicious light fudgey texture.

The next item i was able to eat was the boondi laddu. Laddus are ball- shipped sweets popular in the Indian Svon. These are made of Flour, minced dough and sugar with other ingredients. They are often served at festive or religious occasions.

Finally, I was able to try the gulab jamun. It is a milk-solids- based sweet mithai, popular in countries of South Asia and found in such as Indian cuisine.

I was able to try this type of food for the first time after visiting Jackson Heights. It is made up of ground maize dough or cooked flour prominent into cuisine of Colombia and Venezuela. It is eaten daily and is served with various condiments such as avocado, and cheese. They are usually split and make them into sandwiches. The one I had, I didn’t expect to like it. They were sweet but also salty. And this wasn’t a taste I’ve ever tasted before. It reminded me of a Salvadorian dish names pupusas. It kind of has the same consistently because they are both a form of tortillas.

Coniglio: Whole Roasted Rabbit & Sauteed Swiss Chard. I have never had rabbit before and it was my friend’s birthday so we all went out to Maialino, in Gramercy Hotel, and we decided to try different things. I knew I was not going to like it but I took a bite and it was the strangest texture. It was chewy and I just did not like the texture. It was a whole rabbit so texture was different for different parts.

Live octopus: This dish is pretty common in Korea. They cut the legs in small pieces and dip it into a salt and sesame sauce. I was so grossed out by the movements of the octopus. I tried one and I felt it sticking to the top of my mouth. It was definitely interesting. It actually did not taste bad surprisingly. I tried this in one the Korean seafood restaurants in Flushing, Queens.

Rasmalai: It is an Indian dessert that has an consistency of like a cheesecake. It comes with creamy sweet milk with the chunk. I do not like any food that has a mushy texture so I knew I was not going to like this one. The taste was not bad though because it was not too sweet. I tried this at Dera in Jackson Heights.

Wasabi Soup Dumplings: It was my first time trying soup dumplings and I have heard so many good reviews about it so I went to go try it at Bao in St. Marks. We got a couple of different ones but I found the wasabi one to be very interesting. First, I burnt my tongue not knowing how hot the soup was going to be and when I got the taste of wasasbi, I had a huge kick to it. I like wasabi so I enjoyed it very much. The broth was also very tasty because of the stock they used.

Peking Duck Tacos: Morimoto just opened a ramen restaurant in the east side of midtown. Besides the ramen, I wanted to try something I never had trusting Morimoto’s selection of the menu. One Peking duck taco came with one piece of duck with cucumber, scallions and sweet Chinese duck sauce wrapped in a crispy gyoza skin. I think the duck was perfectly prepared and cooked. The skin was crispy, rich, and fatty. The crispy gyoza and the soft duck balanced each other.