Avocado

The avocado has puzzled me for some time now. I feel like it came out of nowhere and suddenly everyone and their mother was eating. Is there an avocado promotion board somewhere that brought this about? It could juts be my coworkers though who are again the primary influencers on my recent dietary expansion efforts. Several of my teammates bring in at least one avocado a week it seems and put it on their salads and sandwiches, or just eat it on its own. Yesterday, someone brought in a Dominican Republican avocado, which apparently is some special kind that is double the normal size and half the usual fat content. (Side note... how does a vegetable have fat?) They sliced it up and put it on a plate for the team to share, so I decided it was time for me to bit the bullet and go for it...

What I Like:
Salt an pepper. Also Salt 'N Peppa... Shoop!

What I Don't Like:
Avocado... normally. Although I will sometimes take small tastes of guacamole.

Who Made Me Try It:
Stringee and Hurley-Bird.
The Results:
I'm still not sold, but I haven't given up. I was told that this variety doesn't have the exact same texture/taste as the traditional avocado - it was very reminicent of a hard-boiled egg - so I think I might have to try a regular one next chance I get so that I can compare and solidify my opinion.

Falafel

This is the other major milestone for me the night I had baba ganoush (see the last post). I don't know where my coworkers ordered the food from but there were all kinds of odd things laying around - and I say "odd" because normally late-night office food is Chinese take-out or Panera (there's one right next door). Anyway, the falafel I think might have come on top of a pizza but, if I remember correctly, it also had cheese on it which they had asked to have it without for the sake of our friend with IBS. It was in sliced strips and looked like some sort of deep-fried goodness you would find at a carnival or state fair. Even with the warning that it was mostly (or entirely) vegetable based I decided to give it a try. And here's how it went...

What I Like:
Fried foods... to a degree. I refuse to eat a deep-fried Twinkie or Oreo... they are too good on their own and it seems like a bastardization to fry them. The Monte Cristo sandwich, on the other hand... now THAT is food improved by boiling oil.

What I Don't Like:
Fava beans and chick peas... although I do enjoy the hummus-state of the chick pea.
Who Made Me Try It:
Why, that would be C-Meri!! (Told you I would give you credit girl.)

The Results:
I am officially requesting a name change for this food... instead of "falafel" it will now be called "falawesome". Seriously... this was really good! I dipped it in the tahini sauce and that was pretty awesome too (but condiments don't get posts... sorry). I am actually very anxious to try the street-meat version of falafel now. If nothing else, It's Not Chicken is opening my eyes to new choices from sidewalk-based food vendors. Yay!

Baba Ganoush

There are several coworkers who have taken this "make Bill eat new things" to heart so with the amount of time we've been spending there lately it shouldn't come as a surprise that I've been dabbling in exotic cuisine. One evening in particular I tried several new items including baba ganoush. I didn't know what was in it, and I'm still not completely sure, but it looked somewhat similar to hummus and I was too tired and hungry to argue so I gave it a try. We had some very nice pita shells for dipping purposes, and I'm not sure if that is standard but it seemed right to me.

What I Like:
Bread... more specifically... bread dipped in things.

What I Don't Like:
Aubergine, and whatever else they had mixed in there. According to wikipedia, it could have been onion, tomato, or other vegetables... I may never truly know.

Who Made Me Try It:
Credit for this one goes to COURTNEY!!! Thank you buddy.
The Results:
It was pretty darn tasty. As I mentioned earlier, I like hummus and this wasn't too far from that. the flavor was nice and the texture wasn't an issue at all. If anyone doubted the potential success of this blog (in terms of new foods tried, not site traffic) then please feel free to open your mouth and insert your current footwear.

Raspberries

The title of this post might be a little misleading. Instead of "Raspberries" it should really only say "Raspberry". I'll get a little more into that below though. As you've probably noticed, the posts here have slowed down a little. The holidays provided a lot more opportunities to try new food than my everyday life does, but being sick for a week and rarely leaving the office lately haven't helped either. I'm back now though and ready to keep things moving. Since I am not going out to new and exotic restaurants to try most of this stuff, I'll likely be having more basic posts like this one. There are countless foods which people assume to be commonly eaten but still have not passed my lips... such as most berries. The raspberry is one that I've historically been even less willing to try due to its odd look. That changed yesterday, so let's see how it went.

What I Like:
Raspberry Pop-Tarts, but unfortunately that was not on the menu.
What I Don't Like:
Raspberries, and the urge to enunciate both the P and the B... "Rasp-Berries".

Who Made Me Try It:
Hurley Bird strikes again. She stopped by my desk with one of those clear plastic containers I always see at the grocery store and offered me some. In the spirit of It's Not Chicken, I couldn't say no.

The Results:
I'm still not completely sold on these things, but I will be willing to taste one again. The flavor was really good of course, and the texture was interesting. It actually had the feel of a gummy snack (a la "Fruit Gushers") but the seeds were a nuisance. Do they make seedless raspberries? If those exist I think I might like to try one.