Five Gingers in Review

From Ale to Beer
-



-
If you have read my review of Reed's Jamaican Ginger Beer than you know that I love ginger ale. The stronger the ginger bite the better. Or so I personally believe.
-
So upon arriving at Jungle Jim's it quickly appeared to me that I had somehow walked into nirvana. First there was the walls upon walls of cheese (another favorite of mine). Next the isles of meats from all sorts of wonderfully tasty little creatures. And finally the endless supply of exotic fresh produce gathered from all over the world.
-
And that is why when I came across the following five ginger ales and beers I knew I had found my new favorite grocery store. Nowhere else that I have ever been had ever had as many types and varieties of ginger ale as Jungle Jim's. So with that said let me introduce you to the following labels.
-

-
This brand, Barritts Bermuda Stone Ginger Beer, was a nice pop when served cold. However it was not really a good ginger ale. The reason I say that is simple really... it tasted more like a tangy lemon-aide than a strong bite ginger beer. And thus why I'm starting with it since it was my least favorite of the five gingers from Jungle Jim's.
-
For the price however it was a good deal. The pack of six was tasty in its own unique way. But it is a low grade ginger beer at best even with the purchase value.
-

-
Aw, Fentimans Botanically Brewed Ginger Beer... a truly odd ginger ale. A few months before having tasted this ginger beer I had tasted a dandelion beer that boasted the same .5% alcohol and same "grassy" flavor. Fentimans tasted sorta like a mouth full of flowers with a rather weak ginger bite at the end. And it was that ginger bite as you swallowed that made this number 2 in my review.
-
It was an expensive drink for a ginger beer that tasted more like dandelion beer than it did ginger. The bottle looks small but supposedly has the same amount of fluid in it. And the after taste is not as pleasant as the flavor is while the drink is still in your mouth. But even with all that it was still worth a try. Who knows, you might like the dandelion like flavor?
-

-
Regatta Ginger Beer is a much more traditional ginger ale than the two listed above. Unfortunately it exploded when I opened it so I ended up only getting to drink half the bottle. Yet in just those few drinks I was impressed. After all, I had drank the two above prior and was kinda disappointed thus far (and was drinking Reed's Jamaican Ginger Beer in between... you know, to "cleanse my palette").
-
The flavor was very nice with a good ginger flavor from start to finish. The only part of this drink I didn't like was the fact the ginger bite never really kicked in. So even though the flavor was good, I couldn't get into it that much since the bite was missing.
-

-
Old Jamaican Ginger Beer was a great ginger ale. It had the very traditional flavor and a mild ginger bite too. When drinking it you could almost imagine it was made in the same way the old handmade gingers were once brewed.
-
At first this ginger beer taste rather smooth with a strong flavor. It could have a stronger ginger bite I suppose. But even with a little less bite than I would had expected it was a really nice ginger ale.
-

-
And finally, Reggae Country Style Ginger Beer. This was one of the most uniquely flavored ginger ales I have ever had. It was flowery, earthy, and tangy all at once. You could really taste the ginger in it and yet still appreciate the multiple flavors in it. The ginger bite was still less than Reed's but still stronger than the other four beers.
-
This one is definitely a ginger beer you should look for if you like ginger ale. It is not expensive at all and the taste is well worth a try.
-

Zamorano Cheese

Sheepy Cheese
-


-
Recently I started my affair with Zamorano. So far it has taken twenty bucks to get my fill of this heavenly sheep's milk cheese. And I would gladly spend another twenty... and another... and another.
-
It has a very pasture like flavor when compared to cow's milk cheese. The taste of the great out doors works its way deep into the complexity of this cheese. And for being a hard cheese it is rather easy to slice and doesn't require cooking or thin slicing to get a good texture.
-
I like it right out of the fridge while it is still nice and cold. Others might like to let it set out for a little while so that it becomes a little softer. But it will never be as hard or crumbly as Parmasian or other hard cheeses. Instead it is easy to slice like Manchego and never grainy in texture.
-
And yet I have found that it is perfect for the kitchen too. It has that medium melting point that makes it great for a grilled cheese or something a little more challenging like a pasta dish.
-
You can find this cheese at Whole Foods for around 19 dollars a pound. It is usually cut into chunks that ring up for around four to five dollars. And those chunks of cheese can go a long way when used as a snack or even in the kitchen for a supper dish.
-
This cheese is worth a try. And it is a great cheese to start expanding your cheese palate.
-

Black Market Produce

... An Anarchists' Answer to Capitalized Food.



-
Over the years I have struggled to understand why we need more and more government when it comes to the things we eat. Over the last year I have been building a small urban farm that is growing hard to find foods. I grow Gia Lan and other oriental vegetables that are far to costly or impossible to find here in Indiana. And now it seems that government and the people who run it are making it impossible to sell those products.
-
That is why I'm starting a "Black Market" for my produce. I'm simply just skipping the miles of red tape and the socialist style leadership of the local Farmers' Markets. In simple terms I'm just going to sell the produce to the consumer without government permission.
-
You don't pay taxes when you buy your produce at the local supermarkets here. You don't need to ask the local Marsh if they have a permit to sell edible goods. You aren't required to see the local Meijer's insurance information to purchase your cabbage.
-
That is why I'm inviting those here, north of Indianapolis, to inquire about the produce I grow. Without the need to pay local governments' insurance I can lower my prices. Without the need to pay nearly five times the worth of my crop out in fines and fees I can lower my prices. Simply put, cutting out the government and their minions, I have lower prices.
-
Note, the cartoon above is not mine nor did I purchase it from its original owner... just to add to the seemingly illegal activities of the day.
-
On a different note I should explain what an Urban Farm is. Its based on making a simple garden into a much more productive and much more expansive practice. In doing this I grow more than any family could consume in a given season (instead of four or five tomato plants I use sixty). This produce is then harvested not simply as needed but in much the same manner as a small farm, on set days that are put in place for days of sale.
-
Every inch of unused space is used for growing edible plants (herbs, vegetables, and fruit). Every plant I raise comes from seed or root starts. And most importantly, I do not use chemicals in any way. No herbicides, pesticides, or artificial fertilizer.
-
Plant foods used are all based upon decomposed plant matter or worm castings. This decreases the plants need for more and more artificial food sources which compose the mass produced chemical fertilizers. It also grows stronger and better plants while keeping the soil clean and healthy.
-
I collect rain water and thus do not need to water my plants from city water sources. This practice is complemented by the practice of irrigation that mimics or reproduces the methods that have been used for centuries. Trenching and mounding is complemented even more by using old coke bottles buried in the soil where rain water goes directly to the plants' roots.
-
Other methods of "organic" style farming are implemented to break up the pest insects' life spans. This keeps me from needed to use chemicals to kill the pest. I then build ecosystems that foster the growth of beneficial insects and animals. This adds to the inhospitable environment for the destructive insect populations.
-
Sound like a practice you can support? Don't worry, it isn't totally illegal. It is just not the method of selling produce that the government has manufactured around here. And the produce I am growing is much healthier than anything you will find in the supermarkets.

Homemade Beef Jerky

-

-
I love this YouTube channel. They are so awsome.

Bizarre Foods Night

Andrew Zimmerman Is My Role Model



-
Have you ever watched the Travel Channel's show "Bizarre Foods"? I watch it every chance I get. Then I go online and watch the shows over and over again. I just can't get enough of Andrew and the things he will try. I like to imagine that given the same chance I would try the same things. Thus we arrive at a "mini" Bizarre Foods night with my family and friends.
-

-
Above is a picture of the main course for the night. And if you look close you can probably guess what it is. But if you can't, well I'll tell you. That my friends is pan fried chicken feet. It would end with a BBQ sauce to make it a little more appealing to my less adventurous siblings.
-

-
You can usually find chicken feet in a Mexican grocery store. And for this cut of meat you can expect to pay around a dollar to a dollar fifty a pound. But to me you can't really beat the price for something you most likely will not find in a Mexican restraint. And the adventure of cooking them is even better for the price.
-
The following video will explain how to prepare the chicken feet.

-
I think chicken feet taste great. They don't really have much meat on them but they do have a good crispy skin if fried. And the meat that you get is just as good as chicken wings in my opinion. You just have to get use to snapping off toes to get at the rest of the meat.
-

-
The other sorta main dish was a simple baby octopus risotto made with mahogany rice cooked in goat butter and a mixture of spices. The herbs used were savory, saffron, tarragon, and lovage. I used these to help bring out the flavors of the rice and the butter. All were also selected to help complement that sea food flavor one can expect from fresh baby octopus.
-

-
Now I will be the first to admit that the little guys aren't the cutest little buggers. But they are rather tasty. In a way they aren't that much more fishy than jumbo shrimp. However they are much harder to cook. After all you don't want them to be too chewy and you really don't want sushi when you aren't planning on making it.
-

-
So that is why I steamed the rice and then added it to the pan after searing the cut up octopus. I went just under three minutes before removing the meat from the heat of the pan so as to stop the cooking process. And for me, that was a perfect time frame for a pound of octopus.
-
The dish tasted great and ended up being one of the most well received amongst the bravest of the foodies (my mother and I). However my brother and sister found it to be rather hard to swallow simply because of those little suckers and curly tips of the tentacles. I thought that the goat butter did a great job of keeping the meat on the tender side. And the flavor was better than most rice dishes I have gotten at high end restraints... most likely due to the exotic rice mixture.
-

-
Some of the sides were just as bizarre if I do say so myself. However I had already had most of them when I cook for myself at home. But anyhow they were a little different and yet oddly everyday foods in their own ways.
-
First their was Ugli fruit. And from the outside it is rather ugly for a tropical citrus fruit. Yet it tasted great... somewhat like and orange actually.
-

-
Next was the goat milk kefir which I was certain my family had not tried. And of course, my sister hates all things goat, it didn't go over well. But it may have very well have helped them prepare for the food that was still to come.
-
I actually used goats milk to saute some yucca root and taro root then made a mash out of the two. With an addition of some goat butter and the flavor was complete. All it needed was some pepper and salt to bring out the subtle flavors of the two roots.
-

-
Now for the meats that I left for the side dishes.
-

-
Frogs are by far one of my latest favorites. They just taste so much like blue gill fish. And the tender meat is so easy to cook. You just toss some butter in the pan and let it melt then toss the meat in. Wait, flip, wait, and flip again. Once the meat is firm to the touch you are ready to eat. It is just as simple as that.
-

-
Then there was the squid cooked in ink sauce. Or should I say calamari? Anyhow, it tasted good to me. I mean the ink sauce was a little less flavorful when used on the squid than it is when used to make pasta. But the dish tasted great.
-

-
But for me their is nothing that says bizarre here in the Midwest than escargot. After all, we don't typically like the idea of eating bugs. And snails are not only bugs but are typically snot covered bugs. And that turns a lot of people off. Yet it makes me hungry just thinking about them.
-

-
These were store bought and tasted great. Got them at my local Marsh. And the herb butter in them made the snails taste amazing to me. I alone ate about half of these while my brother and sister could hardly finish one.
-

-
And in the end we all had a good time. Even if the other two in the picture above were about to run to the restroom, I ate till I could eat no more. So I would encourage you to find some local bizarre foods the next time you venture out to the grocery store. It is always a great way to be a little more adventurous with your food.
-
As Andrew Zimmerman always says, "if it looks good, eat it."
-

Goat Kefir

-

-
First off I would like to point out that I did finish my trial of Lemon Grass Dry Soda... Not my cup of tea. But now for Goat Kefir.
-
You might be asking yourself what Kefir is, I did too. So I looked it up (after getting home and having been talked into trying it by the Whole Foods lady). It turns out that Kefir is a fermented milk drink that originated with the shepherds in the Northern Caucasus. And yet unlike other fermented drinks, Kefir does not have that rotten tastes some associate with fermented foods.
-
Originally the yogurt like drink (can almost be chewed... so it might be eaten more than drinking) was concocted by mixing milk with kefir grains. The grains naturally have large amounts of bacteria and yeast to start. But when mixed the two foods make a fermented (and mildly alcoholic) concoction similar to a thin but still very much yogurty mixture.
-
Modern methods yield only about 1 percent alcohol and yet still have that faint fermented flavor. The product is thick and creamy in its own unique way. And it is rather difficult to swallow if you take a large mouthful in at one time (as I did on my first attempt at "drinking" goat milk kefir.
-
I would suggest that if you like goats milk than you should definitely try goat milk kefir. I purchased Redwood Hill Farms Plain Goat Milk Kefir at Whole Foods for $5.99. And I'm pretty sure that you would have to go to a specialty store if you aren't looking at Whole Foods or Fresh Market.
-
This drink/food is definitely worth a try.
-

My Violent Torpedo of Truth

"Tantalizing Flavor, Exotic Essence, All Natural"
-


-
Dry Soda Co. Lemongrass Soda.
-
When I was at Whole Foods I decided that I needed to try something different. I was looking for something really off the wall sort of strange. One might even say bizarre in describing a soda that uses lemongrass as its main flavor. I thought "heck ya"... I mean I use lemongrass as a kitchen herb a lot anyhow.
-
So on the side of the box it gives serving suggestions.
-
1. Taste / No Ice.
Serve chilled with no ice for full flavor.
2. Visual / Champagne Flute
Serve in champagne flute for full visual effect.
3. Aroma / No Garnish
Serve without garnish for full aroma.
-
On the other side of the box it describes the soda.
-
Flavor Profile
Bubbles with the refreshing and tantalizing essence of lemongrass.
Characteristics
Dry, bright, grassy, medium acidity.
Pairing Ideas
Asian inspired foods, spicy dishes, sushi, shellfish, goat cheese, asparagus.
-
OK, with all that said I must say that "Dry" is a very accurate "Flavor Profile" of this soda. It is very dry... my wife described it as "baking soda" sorta dry. And that is something that I wasn't really expecting. It is like sand almost as it grates over your tongue on its way into your mouth.
-
And as for flavor... it does not have a lemongrass sorta flavor. The other few people who tried this drink did however agree that it tasted "grassy". It does in fact taste like grass (I love using nira grass and lemongrass both as herbs). But even that flavor is masked by the taste of soda water. And that taste of carbonated water you get when the pop machine is running low on syrup.
-
However, what I found very odd (and all the other tasters did too) was that the first drink is kinda pleasant. Then you take the second drink and it hits you. And I do mean that it hits you like a violent torpedo of flavorless sandy water.
-
As for the rest of the description of this drink... sure it sparkles in a glass. And it has a very... very... very faint aroma to it. An aroma that doesn't even really smell like fresh cut lemongrass.
-
But I would invite you to try the soda for a whopping price of 5.99 or so for four bottles. It is worth a try i suppose. After all, you never know if you will like something unless you give it a try.
-



-
Dry Soda Co: Refined Flavor / Lightly Sweet
www.drysoda.com