International Junk Food
I took two of my grandsons with me to Global Foods this week. Ages 6 and 4. That changed the focus of my browsing toward sweets.
We saw scores of cartons of all manner of sweets. No root beer barrels, licorice sticks, or jelly bellies to be seen. Instead this is what caught our eye. The six year old thought the coco apricot looked pretty good. The four year old wanted to try the pistachio nougat. And I wanted them all.
In the Iranian aisle, we discovered fruit in a tube. Lots of flavors to choose from including sour cherry, apricot, and plum.
A few of the healthy items that interested us were these huge yams from Ghana.
And the banana blossoms from the Philippines.
Then the six year old decided we just couldn’t leave without marshmallows. Not the nice big fluffy bag of American style marshmallows, though. he wanted the Japanese version – stuffed with apple jam and wrapped in individual servings.
So, here’s the loot we came home with. For the boys the apple jam stuffed marshmallows and the almond cookies. For me the lucky sticks (same as pocky, just a different brand); espresso candy (much cheaper than Pocket Coffee. We will see if it is as good); two new varieties of Ginger Beer to sample; my favorite toothpaste from India, Neem; and the never before tried ingredient of the week — Banana Blossoms.
It turns out, I don’t care much for banana blossom salad. But, hey, you don’t know until you try, right?
I would love to visit that store. How fun! What did the banana blossoms taste like? Do you eat them raw?
Deborah responds: Cindy, yes the preparation was for a raw salad, and it was bitter. I’ve read after the fact that the best banana blossoms are small young ones. I think this one was to old and big, maybe. Anyway, I wasn’t impressed.
Loved reading about your shopping excursion! I have to say, those Japanese marshmallows sound pretty good, and I’m not usually a fan. 🙂
Great loot! 🙂