Do You Try Different or Ethnic Foods When Cooking?

**Vannie** · 03-10-2006, 01:02 PM

Years ago I was turned on to Goya Products and fell in love with them. I use them as is, drained for salads, etc. About two weeks ago I found a package of small slightly sweet rolls that looked sort of like croissants(sp??) but were not. They may have been Portuguese not sure, have not seen them again

Does anyone else try foods from different cultures?

**danni** · 03-10-2006, 01:58 PM

I love to experiment with different foods. Last week I made hummus for the first time. Everyone but my 14 yr old loved it. The ingredients for the hummus cost me $2 and I got 2 bags of pita bread in the day old section for .50 each. So for $3 we had a healthy, yummy snack that almost everyone liked.

**Emerald_Mommy** · 03-10-2006, 02:02 PM

Most of our meals seem to consist of ethnic foods. We eat a lot of burritos, tacos, echiladas, etc. We eat stir-fry once a week. It just takes so much less meat to eat these kinds of meals.

One not exactly frugal thing I love is our World Market store. You can get products there from all over the world, even Vegemite, though I've never tried it.

We buy different things from there when we really want something different without all the expense of eating out.

**dndylfe** · 03-10-2006, 05:01 PM

We love ethnic food and usually plan lots of Mexican, Thai, and Arabic food. We make pretty awesome from scratch falafel and hummus. But my Thai meals have mostly been duds.

My husband's a whiz at Mexican cooking, and we're big fans of Goya too. For treats, we go to the international grocery store and blow a wad of cash on things like pomegranite molasses and negrita. We're suckers for anything exotic.

**AmyBoz** · 03-10-2006, 05:35 PM

Nope. We are not big tryers over here.

**Darlene** · 03-10-2006, 05:43 PM

Sometimes. I want to try to do it more often. Have some nice currypowder someone gave us and would like to use it soon.

**madhen** · 03-10-2006, 05:56 PM

I mostly stick to Korean/Japanese/vegetarian/American when it comes to meals.

I do however, have a strange obsession with odd fruit. If I see some new fruit in the produce section that I haven't tried before, I am COMPELLED to buy it and try it!

That is how I figured out I like star fruit! I am the person at the check-out counter who always stumps the cashier because he doesn't know the product number for the strange things I'm buying.

**Jellybeanz** · 03-10-2006, 05:59 PM

I venture into a little Mexican or Italian cooking. I have an delicious recipe for egg rolls that I make about once a year. They're not the usual egg roll ingredients though. Finely chopped spinach, pork, and mushrooms with bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, onion and garlic all fried up in wonton wrappers.

I would love to try other ethnic foods, just haven't been exposed to much because the area I live in . I'm pretty sure adventurous so I'll try anything once

**staceyy** · 03-10-2006, 07:09 PM

I don't try a lot at home but I love eating ethnic food out.

**Vannie** · 03-10-2006, 07:20 PM

Karen, I have never heard of vegemite so I went online and found that one brand is made by Kraft foods.

http://www.vegemite.com.au/ It has a really interesting old history http://whatscookingamerica.net/Histo...iteHistory.htm but not so sure I would try it because the second link says that it is salty. I don't eat much salt.

My husband's a whiz at Mexican cooking, and we're big fans of Goya too. For treats, we go to the international grocery store and blow a wad of cash on things like pomegranite molasses and negrita. We're suckers for anything exotic.

That's funny Rebecca. That's how I am too, then if I hate it, I cross it off my list forever.

I mostly stick to Korean/Japanese/vegetarian/American when it comes to meals.

I do however, have a strange obsession with odd fruit. If I see some new fruit in the produce section that I haven't tried before, I am COMPELLED to buy it and try it! That is how I figured out I like star fruit! I am the person at the check-out counter who always stumps the cashier because he doesn't know the product number for the strange things I'm buying.

Those are some of my favs too. I saw a beautiful piece of fruit last week. It looked one of those pears that get a purpleish color. I can't remember what it was called, but did not buy because it cost 1.99 for one

**CanadianTreehugger** · 03-11-2006, 09:43 AM

I love ethnic foods though my picky dh does not like most of it. I used to live in Portland Oregon which has awesome asian grocery stores!!
I'm also half Thai so I love Thai Currys, though I must admit my moms Thai cooking is alot better than mine.
I also adore most Indian food

**Vannie** · 03-11-2006, 10:34 AM

Originally posted by Island_wife
I love ethnic foods though my picky dh does not like most of it. I used to live in Portland Oregon which has awesome asian grocery stores!!
I'm also half Thai so I love Thai Currys, though I must admit my moms Thai cooking is alot better than mine.
I also adore most Indian food

One of my favorite things is Chicken Satay. I can't get enough. This is one of the things that most people enjoy, even when they are 'picky'

**foxxyroxie** · 03-13-2006, 10:55 AM

Darlene: If you haven't tried using your curry powder...try this recipe....It's authentic Indian, with a few of my adaptations. It's so yummy.

Garbanzo Bean and Potato Curry
1 T cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth (or other broth or water)
2-3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 (15.5-19 oz.) cans garbanzo beans, drained and partially mashed
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. coriander
1 tsp. cumin
2 (15.5-19 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
Saute onions and garlic in oil. Add potatoes and vegetable broth. Cook till potatoes are tender. Add the beans, spices, chutney, and tomatoes and mix well. Serve over brown or white rice or pasta.

**foxxyroxie** · 03-13-2006, 10:57 AM

I recently spent two weeks with an online friend. He was born and raised in Trinidad West Indies. He taught about Indian and Caribbean cuisine....what an adventure. I have several recipes if anyone is interested.

**Kimberlina** · 03-13-2006, 01:15 PM

I am so into "ethnic" food right now it isn't funny.

I have really been loving Indian- it is so nice and spicy. Yum!

I have been eating more Asian foods, too. I'm not crazy about them and would not eat them until recently, but I have been venturing out more. It is a bit tricky as I won't eat any meat foods from restaurants I am not familiar with (I eat only chicken breast, and I am very, very picky about it.)

I am absolutely in love with hummus and have been for years. I could eat nothing but hummus for days on end. I also love chole, which is an Indian dish with chick peas.

I'm always on the lookout for good new recipes!