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Monday, November 17, 2008

Taste Test - Final Turkey Edition

I promised in a previous post that we would do one more taste test before we left Turkey. Today I deliver on that promise. This time I decided to do things a little differently though. This time I let the kids decide what they wanted to taste. We all went to our local grocery store with one thing in mind. Taste Test Shopping. The only rule I gave the kids was that it had to be semi-Turkish and it had to be something they had never tasted before. Brian and I also picked something for them to try as well. Drum roll please...


Anna Grace picked this exotic orange, carrot juice.


Down the hatch.


It really doesn't taste like carrots. It just seems like orange juice to me. Yucky orange juice.


Hm...this smells like paint.


Jacob drank his whole glass.


Erica had been absent for every other taste test so she was a little wary of this one.


For good reason it looks like. She was not a fan of the orange, carrot juice.


Jacob was a little sneaky in his choice. He picked a brownie with caramel in it. We have tried the chocolate and the cherry but had somehow missed the caramel flavor. Ok...I guess it counts.


Proud of himself.


Will isn't a fan of caramel at all so he wasn't a big fan of this brownie!


Erica was quite happy with Jacob's choice!


So was Anna Grace.


Erica chose beef pastirma. Basically greasy dried beef.


It kinda tastes like beef jerky.


Yeah, but it's not as good as beef jerky!


No. I don't like it.


Jacob thought it was ok.


I chose celery root. Come on...someone had to pick something gross!


And gross it was.


Anna Grace agreed.


Erica said it tasted like celery, but it wasn't as good.


Jacob chewed but didn't swallow. It was too much for him.


Brian chose hurma. This is a fruit that looks and feels like a tomato.


Slimy, sweet, nastiness. It would take some getting used to.


That is disgusting.


As soon as Anna Grace put it in her mouth she immediately turned and spit it in the trash.


Jacob swallowed this time, but you can tell he didn't like it either.


Erica agreed that it was gross!


Finally we have Will's choice. Pomegranate iced tea.


And the glass is drained. I did notice that the glass made Will's teeth look remarkably huge and razor like. Nice.


Again...anything to get that nasty hurma taste out of her mouth!


Yes, this is good!


Can I have some more?

Since I was shooting the pictures none were taken of me trying the different items. That was fine with me! Because I know people care and will want to know here are my opinions...
Orange, carrot juice...not a big fan. First and last taste was carrot.
Beef Pastirma - I didn't try it this time. I have tasted it before and didn't enjoy the coating of grease left in my mouth after I swallowed.
Caramel brownie - ok. I love caramel and brownies, but I prefer the homemade kind to the store bought ones.
Celery root - very strong celery smell and flavor. Would be good in something that called for celery seed or regular celery. Not great eaten raw!
Hurma - slimy and honey like in flavor. I didn't think it was as bad as everyone else. I still wouldn't want more though.
Pomegranate iced tea - ok, but I am not a big fan of flavored iced teas.

And there you have it folks. I can't wait to see what fun new foods we can try in America!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha! Nice taste tests! I, too, loved the rodent quality of Jacob's teeth as seen through the bottom of the glass. You all are great sports to try all those new things. It's funny, I've never eaten celery root before but just saw a Barefoot Contessa show where she featured it in a Thanksgiving recipe show. Celery Root and Apple Puree. It has potatoes and fennel in it too and ends up looking like mashed potatoes. She also said it's not good raw but really good cooked. I was thinking of trying it. I think if I made it for Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws, the taste-test pictures would look just like the hurma pictures. That is, if I could get them to try it at all!

Mamadallama

Anonymous said...

I love your taste tests! The only one I might have like was the pomegranate iced tea. Well, maybe...I have a chapstick that flavor, and its good. ;-)

Anonymous said...

For the celery (iac): grate it, grate some sour green apples (granny smith might work), put lots of mayo, some yogurt, lemon juice and salt and maybe just a bit of walnut...yumm! I was thinking of making this salad for ages... Thanks for reminding:) That's the only "raw" celeriac recipe that I know:)
See you soon:) Good luck with the move!!!
Best, Nese

Anonymous said...

I'm guessing I'd vote for the brownie.

94stranger said...

(Coutesy of Alphainventions)
the thing you call hurma - or at least, the Turks do, is called Persimmon in English by the looks of it. It ripens on bare tres and needs a frost to do so. I first tasted it in the south of France, whare it is also called Kaki - apparently a Janonese name. For me, it's one of my absolutely favourite fruit - but it is a bit slimy, can be furry also - whio can account for individual taste!

Oh, and I loved the photos!

94stranger said...

I was a bit too quick off the mark. Would you be kind enough to correct my outlandish spellings of trees, where, Japonese and who? Thanks.

Brittany said...

I thought it all looked good...except for the beef, that i couldn't do.

The Over-Thinker said...

"Erica said it tasted like celery, but it wasn't as good."---best quote ever.

Photo of Jacob after the celery root---best photo ever.

Nanny Goats In Panties said...

My only question is, why is Jacob wearing a boa?

Plus, I love the celery root pics!

I can't find my blog said...

I'm going to miss these! So funny!

And looking forward to the ones from America-what others think of what we eat all the time that your kids aren't used to.

Travel safe, my friend!

Anonymous said...

I used to eat hurma when I was little. It was a treat. It gives you a fury feeling in your mouth afterwards. What a name..hurma..in Norway it was called rosa-sharon or something like that.
-Julie

berenike said...

Sharon fruit!

I was going to post a celeriac-and-apple salad recipe, but the one above is much posher.

It's also marvellous in stock. E.g., easy clear soup:

one hen/chicken/bits thereof (you can use wings, the cheap carcase bit left once they've chopped the wings and legs off, the legs - okay, decent amount of bits of dead bird)
some soup-suitable bit of beef, pref with bone
carrots (2?), celeriac (1), leek (1), parsnip(about the same as carrots)
Bay leaf, whole black peppercorns, whole allspice seeds/corns/whatver you call tehm

peel and top and tail the veg, rinse the hen/hen substitute (you might want to cut out some of the fat if you use a hen)

either chcuk it in all together and cook it very slowly for about an hour and half or two hours, optionaly taking the veg out at some point and cooking the meat longer

or cook the meat very slowly for a bit first, then chuck in teh veg

Eat it with vermicelli or similar tiny pasta - chuck some chopped fresh parsley or dill on the top of each bowl.

The Austrians eat it with thin ribbons of pancake, or liver dumplings. but the Austrians don't know squat about food.

Irrational Dad said...

I hope this continues while you're in America.... you can take the family to a chinese food store or something like that to pick out your items for taste testing.

Anonymous said...

great pics! you are smiling and holding that celery root like it is an oscar! "i would like to thank the acadamy...." have a safe trip and keep in touch!

Anonymous said...

whoops! academy... please fix that, i wish these comment thingies had spell check!

Anonymous said...

My vote is for the brownie.

peace
#2

Natalie said...

mamadallama - i think the celery root would taste good in soups or cooked in food. and again it was ok raw just not great!

supersmartkooger - if i had room in my suitcase i would bring you some pomegranate tea. unfortunately we are packed full!

nese - not long now. we leave in about 5 hours. i should be sleeping!

citizen of the world- the brownie was ok. kinda of dry though.

94stranger - yep...persimmon. like i said i liked it ok. i was surprised at the others' reactions.
thanks for the visit! i figured since you chimed back in with the corrections everyone will know you just mistyped!

brittany - the beef is gross. erica heated some up in the microwave the next day, and my house smelled horrible for hours. you would have lost your lunch for sure!

over-thinker - i know. they are some crazy kids!

nanny goats - you know...i wondered the same thing. i didn't notice it until i was putting the pictures on the blog. he thought it was funny and then died laughing when i showed him that someone else noticed it as well!

headless mom - we are going to try to keep doing them in the states. there are all kinds of fun things to try there. my kids would love to try some weird american foods!

julie - the dry mouth was so strange to me. especially since the fruit was so juicy!

berenike - yum. now i am hungry! well for all of it except liver dumplings. that doesn't sound too good. although i ate liver here once that i actually liked so maybe i would like them too!

joe - it will. there are lots of fun things to try there!

friyet - i love that comment! i can't even imagine being awarded a celery root. thanks to all who voted for me! so funny!

#2 - it was certainly the most recognizable!