Out of the box

7/30/09 7:30 PM

The last time I updated this blog, I wrote about Kombucha, a tea swimming with live organisms. Interesting, right? I thought it would intrigue readers, especially my co-workers. “Your food blog is good, but you can be more adventurous,” said Jeff, former online editor of the Central Florida Future and fall term Editor-In-Chief. I agreed. The next thing I knew we were on our way to a Vietnamese restaurant to eat tripe, the lining of a cow’s stomach, seasoned with cloves and warmed in soup. I wasn’t completely sure what to expect. Maybe it would taste like sweaty feet, or tar or acid. Kayla, CFF’s summer Variety editor, and Ashley C., CFF’s online editor, accompanied Jeff and I. Kayla’s order of “salty pickled lemonade” came...

It's alive!

6/15/09 11:48 PM

The first time I tried Kombucha tea was with my friend Amanda. She was sick, and we were painting with acrylics inside. She kept drinking a strange orange liquid from a glass bottle that said, “Gingerade.” I asked her what it was. “It’s tea,” she said. “It’s really good for you. It will make you un-sick in one day or less.” So I tried some, thinking it would actually taste like tea. Take the fizziness of Coca-Cola and power it by one thousand, and then you get the fizziness of Kombucha. This brand was specifically made by GT’s. I handed it right back to Amanda, not being able to drink anymore. I thought I was going to explode. A month later, I found myself in a Los Angeles Wholefoods looking for a gift to give my friend. I saw...

Purple People Eaters

6/8/09 11:29 AM

My wild goose-chase for purple carrots began when I found a bottle of purple carrot juice at the grocery store last week. I was sick (really sick) and looking for some sort of cure beyond antibiotics. To me, purple carrot juice seemed more like an odd miracle than anything. I’ve heard of purple food before – purple potatoes, purple chips. But never purple carrots. So I bought the juice, did some research (as I was coughing and sneezing over my laptop, and dozing off in between), and found out these purple veggies contain a whole bunch of good stuff, like anthocyanins, other vitamins, minerals, fibers, and phytochemicals. I needed to find the source of this juice, those purple carrots. After venturing to and calling all the organic grocery stores in the area, I even went...

Eating like mermaids

6/1/09 2:39 PM

  Before I met my friend Kelsey, I never thought I’d eat a squid. I specifically remember reading a book that stated giant squid’s eyes are the same size as pie plates (gross!). But last week, Kelsey and I got bored, went out for sushi, and, as always, I thought I’d order something familiar to me, like a Dynamite roll. But then, Kelsey said, “You have to try squid and seaweed salad.” I thought she was joking, but she didn’t flinch, raise an eyebrow, or even slightly smile. “You’re serious,” I said. She nodded, and she ordered. I separated my chopsticks and she did the same. When our squid seaweed salad came, all I could think about was how pink it looked. Tiny pink and purple curls topped a bowl of thin, stringed seaweed....