When I was in 3rd grade we had a luau with our student teacher who was from Hawaii. He (or someone) made poi. All the other kids were like “Ack, gross!” but for some reason I decided I was going to be the awesome kid and eat everyone else’s poi.
Anyway I don’t remember it looking delicious - it sort of looked and tasted like grape gum that had lost its grape flavor (obviously not that chewy). But that was uh…25 years ago.
It looks like gray wallpaper paste, and has little flavor. I think the gross factor for most haoles (mainlanders) is the pasty, flavorless texture along with the gray. It is not terrible, and it will fill you up, but I would not call it yummy looking or tasting, personally.
My wife is Brazilian, and she makes tripe (her family loves it). Preparing it involves cleaning it and marinating it in onion, garlic, and lemon juice.
What you get for your efforts is something that tastes like a sponge marinated in garlic, lemon juice, and onion.
When we were in Hawaii, it was a big deal to have poi - I guess it was a bad season or something as one of the locals said it was hard to get that year.
I felt guilty even trying it - knowing it was something the locals loved and here I was taking my portion away from them.
After tasting it, I assured them I would never, ever again infringe upon this delicacy and gladly leave them every parcel from future crops. It will be a very easy promise to keep.
Going by the pic in the Wiki article, it certainly doesn’t look very yummy to me.
Huh. Also, according to the article:
[QUOTE=Wiki]
poi can be known as two-finger or three-finger, alluding to how many fingers you would have to use to eat it, depending on its consistency
[/QUOTE]
Which is an interesting coincidence, because that’s also how I categorize my girlfriends.
Does Fruit Striped Gum count?
Fruit Stripe tastes amazingly good. For 20 seconds.
Yeah, and what you cannot see in that pic is that there is no one holding the other end of the spoon.
I agree with everything except that I find myself becoming quite fond of their “bulk” cookies. They’re overpriced, like nearly everything at Whole Foods, but tasty (unlike damn near everything else in their bakery).
I’m not sure soft shell crabs qualify as “yummy looking.” I love me a good soft shell crab sandwich, but it does kind of look like deep fried spider.
Oh, speaking of Whole Foods…they (and other higher-end stores) carry a line of sodas called Izze. They’re gorgeous, jewel-toned drinks available in various flavors. Sadly, every one I’ve ever tried tastes the same. Most of the sodas use an apple/grape juice base; I suspect this is why.
I wouldn’t call poi vile, it’s just pretty tasteless. It rather looks like it should be a grape-ish sort of pudding, but instead you get…nothing, really.
'Course, I had it at a very commercialized, touristy luau. Perhaps it’s better at something less “produced” (for lack of a better term).
I dunno. I rather enjoy their tangerine flavor, but I don’t much care for the other flavors. However, like nearly everything else at Whole Foods (except the 365 tonic), Izze is terribly overpriced.
Look for the ones that have a "King Of The West" sticker; they’re consistently awesome.
I find Italian cookies (the ones you find in Italian bakeries) to be disappointing, more often than not. Give me a cannoli or an eclair any day.
Honestly, I think that’s true for many of the foodstuffs mentioned in the thread, particularly for fruits and vegetables. The best examples taste great, but mostly you get disappointing results.
There’s a small chain of Italian bakeries in the DC/MD area called Vacarro’s which is quite excellent. They have almond cookies and pignolia cookies that are fabulous. Of course, I consider the place to be superlative, rather than a common example. Also, I don’t know exactly which kinds of cookies you’re referring to.
I was quite a fan of the grapefruit flavor. They are a little out of my price range these days though.
Both of the Whole Foods in Ann Arbor stocked their middle eastern selection from a local Lebanese deli in town and it was both crazy delicious and insanely healthy.
Largely because they haven’t made it.
(my bold)
Is that opinion or fact?
Hmm…I’ve never tried any of the citrus flavors.
