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Game On

Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 06:00:03 AM

Welcome to the first installment of our weekly Friday game, WTF IS IT?!?

Each Friday (maybe) we'll put up a photo of some exotic and supposedly edible foodstuff.

First reader to correctly identify the thing will win....
...the smug knowledge that s/he is an insufferable know-it- all.

You're naturally invited to blather on at length about orgins, cooking techniques, amounts safe to imbibe, other non-edible uses, etc.

We were going to start you off with something easy, but then we stumbled across this:

Even the girl who rang us up at the market said she had no idea what to do with it (hey, keep those filthy thoughts to yourselves!)

Here it is in its natural habitat.

Here is where we found it.

Knock yourselves out.

Category: WTF is it?!?

4 Comments:

Lise says:

Indian Bitter gourd or Bitter Melon
http://www.evergreenseeds.com/bitgourbitme.html

Posted at: July 4, 2008 12:42 PM

gail shepherd says:

Wow, Lise, you really ARE a totally annoying Cliff Clavin! Here's what wikipedia has to say about this baby, the Indian bitter melon, which apparently only barely qualifies as "edible":

"It is also a popular vegetable in Indian cooking, where it is often prepared with potatoes and served with yogurt on the side to offset the bitterness, or used in sabji. Bitter melon is stuffed with spices and then fried in oil, which is very popular in Punjabi Cuisine. Bitter Gourd is popular in the cuisine of South Indian state of Kerala. They use it for making a dish called thoran mixed with grated coconut, theeyal and pachadi."

Soooo, anybody got a recipe they'd like to share?

Posted at: July 4, 2008 12:51 PM

Lise says:

Hi Gail,
Never have tried these,but they sound interesting and .............if you already have one on hand you should try them.
http://www.iskcon.net.au/kurma/2007/03/31

Posted at: July 4, 2008 1:14 PM

gail shepherd says:

That recipe sounds fabulous Lise -- how could it fail with all that oil and salt? But then, anything deep fried is calculated to warm my cold, cold heart. Anybody brave enough to try the bitter gourd, they're available at Don Victorio's, 7504 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach -- I'm going to try cooking these next week and I'll post the results if I live to tell the tale.
PS: Apparently these are great for people with diabetes as they really help control blood sugar.

Posted at: July 4, 2008 2:41 PM