On one of our food tour trips we got to try, bunuelos colombianos, a type of fried cheese ball. It had a perfect crust and was warm and moist on the inside. It didn’t really remind me of a cheese ball but more like a a dish called bake that my family makes. I enjoyed it and would buy it again.

Ive only tried Homemade corn tortillas and I’m familiar with them but until recently i tried homemade Flour tortillas which are delicious. They are so soft and way bette than the packaged ones. The packaged ones tend to be tough, these homemade ones were so soft and so warm when fresh. I lost count on how many i ate because i just kept eating and eating them. I want to try to make them but it takes some practice because like pie crust they can easily rip.

Earlier this month, my mom and I visited a seafood market in Montauk, Long Island. I was surprise to find a item like Hijiki Seaweed Salad at this market, so I was intrigued to try. The seaweed itself had a neutral flavor and it was dressed it flavors I was familiar with. It was drenched in soy sauce and olive oil, which I would expect from a Japanese salad and featured crisp carrots and sesame seeds.

On our Jackson Heights tour we tried Rasgulla an indian sweet made with Curdling milk and sugar syrup. Rasgulla was way too sweet for me I only took  couple of tiny bites. It almost has a texture of shredded Coconut, I’m not a fan of coconut. This reminded me of sweets they have in Mexico as well which are home made. I used to pass by these shops when i used to work in jackson heights but they didn’t seem appetizing to me, at least now i know what they sort of taste like.

Last month, I tried sautéed fiddlehead and it was pleasant. It was crunchy, but soft in the interior. It reminded me of green beans and was bitter like asparagus, but more intense in flavor. The were just sautéed in butter, so it had the smooth taste and was tossed in salt and pepper.

When we went on the Williamsburg tour i tried Goats milk Chocolate for the first time. I did not like it. I love Chocolate but I guess not all of it. The chocolate has this sourness to it just like the cheese of course that is just not to my liking. I tried to chew it as fast as i could so the taste would just go away.

So this was my first time trying a rice cake from a dessert and sandwich shop we stopped by on our Sunset park trip. The texture was gooey and flimsy, but also has some stability to it so I didnt really mind. It had just the right amount of sweetness to it which I enjoyed because some desserts can get get overwhelmingly sweet and undesirable.

So Mimi Cheng’s Dumplings located on 179 second Ave (between 11th and 12th) provided me with this lovely desert of Dulce de Leche dumpling. It was one of the BEST deserts I’ve had in life. The dumpling itself was crispy on the outside with cold ice-cream on the inside which was heaven once you bite into it. The caramel was layered on light which made it not overwhelmingly sweet.

So I’ve tried smoked quail with vadouvan eggplant, caper raisin puree from Burke & Wills located at 226 W 79th st, New York. It reminded me of fried chicken wings, but VERY salty. I loved the way the puree complimented and balanced out the salt.

Another First I tried this semester was on 8th Ave in Brooklyn during our private group tour. It was Tofu with a sugar syrup. I’ve had tofu before but not like this and not with anything sweet. I’ve had it savory applications & it was very solid. In this dish the tofu was steamed in one of those rice cookers until it was like jello like and when you order it the woman would take some out and give you some syrup with it. It smelled almost like cooked white rice to me. When I tried it, i was taken back by the taste because the tofu had NO taste whatsoever by itself, but it was smooth and melted in my mouth like gelatin. I decided to try it with the syrup over it thinking it might be sweeter but the “sugar” syrup was even sweet and did nothing to enhance the flavor of the tofu. In general the whole thing was just tasteless and bland.