Sunday, November 28, 2004

Guava

I'm finally coming out of a food coma after three consecutive days of mass consumption. Thanksgiving day was the traditional American fare (a little too conventional, frankly) prepared by my Mom. It was an overload of starches, sugars and salt. I much preferred and enjoyed the Vietnamese country meal she cooked Friday (fried fish in tomato sauce, grilled steak salad, sweet & sour fish/pineapple soup, caramelized chicken, pickled veggies, rice). In between meals were snacks of fresh guava (homegrown), silky tofu with ginger syrup, pies with fresh cream, and tasteless sponge cakes (Mom picked it up at some local Asian bakery; they looked pretty but tasted like a sponge). Another highlight meal was Saturday brunch of dim sum bites and wide rice noodles served with tofu, Vietnamese Pate, herbs, nuoc mam.

Amongst the usual table discussion of politics and life, we talked about food. Dad said in another life he would've been a chef. Of course, his favorite ingredient is beef and he's not fond of the Asian spices, so our taste is quite different. His palate favors Western (mostly American), a bit heavy on the starch and protein, while I prefer fresh vegetables, fruit, poultry, herbs, tropical spices.

These beautiful tropical guavas came from my parents backyard. Great as a snack, I'm hoping to come up with a new recipe featuring the fruit. Guava is pungent with a sweet musky smell. This specific genus is big, round or ovoid, yellowish green skinned, white on the inside. The outer fruit is sweetly tart, crisp while the inner core is a sweet creamy pulp threaded with crunchy seeds.

11 Comments:

Blogger darth said...

my mom used to make homemade strawberry guava jam-we had a guava tree in the backyard. actually, it was more like a bush.

9:23 AM  
Blogger mhp said...

Really? Where did you grow up? Guava-strawberry jam. I have to look that up.

10:16 AM  
Blogger darth said...

it was actually a type of guava..strawberry guava? they are kind of reddish inside i think..and very sweet.

up here in the sfbayarea!!!

3:17 PM  
Blogger mhp said...

Oh, yes, right. I know exactly what you're talking about. They're very sweet & pungent. These are crisp and a bit more tart.

5:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

MP! The way you talk about food makes me feel durty.

BTW, I have never eaten a guava in my life. I have had guava nectar, and I've had bla bla bla and guava jam etc, but never an actual real live guava.

7:59 PM  
Blogger darth said...

you mean in a good way, right bella?

10:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Darth: Durty with a 'U' is always a good thing.

9:02 AM  
Blogger mhp said...

We can all agree food is a pretty sensual thing. Nature's just like that.

10:09 AM  
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