Author Archives: T. ETKINS

Gulab Jaman

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Gulab Jaman is a dessert made mainly from milk solids. Traditionally from Khoya, which is milk reduced to the consistency of a soft dough. Modern recipes call for dried/powdered milk instead of Khoya. And is sometimes garnished with dried nuts like almonds to enhance flavor. It was served to my classmates and I cold. To me, it tastes like flavorless cake soaked in sweetened condensed milk. The texture was soft and a little grainy. It was definitely a once in a life time try, I did not enjoy eating it but at least I can say I tried it.

Jalebi

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During our trip to Jackson Height we stopped at a Indian Sweet shop where they made something called Jalebi which is also known as Zulbia and Zalabia. When I looked up what Jaleb was it is a sweet popular food in some parts of South Asia, West Asia, North Africa, and East Africa. It is made by deep-frying Maida flour batter in pretzel or circular shapes, which are then soaked in sugar syrup.
My first impression of Jalebi was that it doesn’t look to appealing but sometimes looks can be deceiving. The first bite I was expecting it to be chewy maybe like taffy but it was hollow with a slight crunch. It was like eating a stale chip. It is suppose to be sweet but I barely tasted sweetness. Me and some of my peers agreed that it tasted like fired oil with a lightly sweetened honey, that was not enjoyable

Cocoa Beer

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During our stop at Mast in Williamsburg Pip offered our class a free sample of Cocoa Beer which was something new they were offering in the store. The smell was mostly vanilla with a hint of chocolate and maybe a orange zest. It tastes like chocolate but maybe a dark chocolate with an earthy taste of Oakwood and no sign of alcohol even though it has “Beer” in it’s name, some of my classmate and I came up with the conclusion that it may just be like Root Beer but chocolate flavored.

Rosé

Odd Fellows- Boozy Popsicle

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During our trip to Williamsburg when we stopped at Odd Fellow Ice Cream Shop. The had many different flavored ice creams like Toasted Sesame, Saffron Passion fruit, Lemon Basil sorbet, and Lime Tarragon sorbet. But one thing on their list of sweets that caught my eye was there Boozy Popsicle, every week is a different alcoholic popsicle flavor. This week was a wine Rosé. It was light and refreshing with flavors of Strawberry and Raspberry, a medium alcoholic and an aftertaste of cotton candy that I was not expecting but definitely liked. I would go back again to see what different boozy popsicle flavors they create next and maybe next time try there ice cream as well.

Spanakopita

Spanakopita

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During our trip to Astoria ,Queens I was introduced to a pastry call Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)

This is an authentic, really rich pie stuffed with spinach, onions, feta and herbs that are all enfolded by crispy, flaky phyllo dough. It was savory and seems like something you would eat for breakfast or maybe for lunch. You can find it or make it into different shapes like snack-sized, triangles, even rolls or cigars. While looking up what Spanakopita is I found that in Greece less amounts of spinach is sometimes used and leeks, chard or sorrel would be used to substitute for spinach. I would definitely eat this again, it reminded me of Baklava which is a Greek dessert that also made with phyllo dough.

Tiropita is also similar to the spinach pie, with layers of phyllo dough but filled with a cheese and egg mixture