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.

I work in grand central station and they have a variation of foods in the dining concourse. I decided to get food from “Spice Cafe” they sell Indian food which I’ve never tried. I decided to try a plate of vegetable Biryani ( spiced mixed vegetables cooked with basmati rice) and two sides Dal Makhani (black lentils and kidney beans) Channa Masala (Chick peas cooked in spiced onion gravy) . It was a really flavorful plate. The rice was freshly made; I had never tried a spicy rice before, I really enjoyed it. The only thing I didn’t like about the rice was that it had about 5-6 really big chili Peppers, I don’t know if people usually eat them or they’re for flavor but I just left them on the plate. The plate was a lot for me maybe less carbs next time since I had to go back to work and felt too full.

It was my friends birthday back in September and she wanted to go to a sushi restaurant “Zuma”.  Going into this restaurant I was wondering and hoping they had vegetarian options, and they did. I tried their vegetarian sushi which was ok. The sushi roll had carrots, asparagus, mushrooms and arugula the veggies weren’t seasoned but they were fresh and crunchy which gave it a nice texture. I would of liked something with more exciting flavors maybe some some spice to it. I’ll try to stay away from sushi restaurants since there aren’t much options for me.

This little Colombian ball called bunuelo was delicious. It was surprisingly soft on the inside while the outward is a deep fried shell. This pastry reminded me of something called fried bakes from my country of Trinidad. Just goes to show even though we have our own cultures and cuisines, there are similarities in food dishes. I wanted to buy more of these but then I remembered starch goes right to the hips..lol

Soup Dumplings and Pork Buns

Today for my International Cuisine class, my Chef decided that the class explore 8 Ave and go on a scavenger hunt to find great Dumplings. It was because of this that I tried Soup Dumplings for the first time. I didn’t know what they were but I was curious because I love regular dumplings so I decided to give them a try. The order came with 6 dumplings and as I bit into them a smooth broth came gushing out that lit up my taste buds. It was also filled with Pork and scallions that were very well seasoned, perfectly cooked and tender.The broth itself, the seasoning wasn’t great as it was a little too salty for my taste .  dumplings wrapper was a bit too doughy which made it really chewy. All in all I loved the concept of the Soup dumplings and I would definitely try it again someplace else.

We tried pickled herring in a cream sauce on our walking tour of the lower east side. Russ and Daughters is a place I would like to eventually go and eat at, but herring in a cream sauce won’t be one of the items I get. It was interesting to try for the first time but the herring was a little to fishy for my liking. The cream sauce did cover the fishy taste up a bit but it was a little to much for me.

On October 16th when we visited Mast Brothers Chocolate in Williamsburg. When we took the tour, they had 4 different and unusual flavor of chocolate for the class to try. The one that stood out to me and I actually was most fond of was the Olive oil chocolate . This was actually my first time trying something like that but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. When I tasted it, the sweetness of the chocolate was countered by a slight bitterness. The olive oil flavor was very subtle but it complemented the chocolate very well without being overpowering. The texture of the change chocolate was very smooth on the count of the coco butter they use to make it.