Various and sundry, part 3: Legume-Carrageenan Smoothies

Disclaimer:
I've been trying to log into Blogger using Firefox for over a week now so that I can properly add my links, but it's just not working. I wrote them about it, so with any luck I'll be able to get an answer or solution and fix up any posts that are left a mess, like this one. But for now, it will just be a mess. I'm too impatient. I just want to post it.

The eBay NES ad was cancelled and relisted http://cgi.ebay.ca/NES-Nintendo-EVERY-GAME-EVER-MADE-670-LOT-Licensed_W0QQitemZ110087180218QQihZ001QQcategoryZ62053QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem , seemingly because of problems the seller encountered with fake bidders. Apparently he got fake bids up to $244,000.
The relisted auction closed around $6,200. Much more sensible.

So, Big Bamboo Irish Moss Peanut Drink.

When I stay at my dad's apartment in New York, we end up frequenting the little deli on the corner. I think in most neighborhoods in New York, you're going to get some selection of products that caters to a culture you haven't really been familiar with before. That could cover a wide range of possibilities, of course, especially depending on how loosely you want to define "culture." It's right on the edge of Spanish Harlem, so you can figure "culture" means latin influences, but you can also interpret the sexually frustrated as a "culture," and include the horny goat weed they sell up at the counters.

Anyway, I like to buy the unusual stuff they have in the store. Not the goat weed, man. But the cool and crazy drinks and things. I tried one called Coco Rico last year, and it wasn't for me, but it was interesting to see what some other people like to drink. And I didn't want to spit it out, like my sister did.

I've been trying not to spend money on frivolous things, so on this visit back home, the only thing that really won me over was the Big Bamboo Irish Moss Peanut Drink. I'll admit that I misread the label: I thought it was peanut soda. When we got upstairs, I read the label a bit better and saw that there was milk in it. That turned me off slightly, and I tucked it into the fridge. Unfortunately, it was pretty close to the day I was leaving, and I never actually got around to trying it. This might be lucky, because when I got home and researched it a little, I found out that Irish Moss is a Jamaican drink made with seaweed and peanuts. Yum. I didn't recognize the seaweed was a factor in the drink I bought, because it was listed as carrageenan---which I do know is a seaweed product, but it's used as a thickener in so many things, I didn't think it had special significance as an ingredient.

But I wanted to know how this drink tasted, so I dug around a little and found a very cool website with a description of it. http://www.eatingintranslation.com/2006/06/kims_fruits_and.html But that was the least of it! This website is amazing! http://www.eatingintranslation.com/ It's unbelievably comprehensive. I don't even understand how this one man can sample all the food and drink he does, at as many places as he does. He may not be the best writer in the world, but he's pretty good with palpable, accessible, succint descriptions of the items. A little too succint, if you ask me, but considering the number of spots he's hitting and consumables he's ingesting, I guess he has to be. The insane coverage also scores him forgiveness for repetitive descriptions (I have a feeling that he's not too fond of apples, since so many baked goods "lean to heavily on" them).

One of the best parts of the site is repetitive in its own way: the photographs. But that's their charm. Sometimes the restaurant dishes are a little dark and 70s-cookbookish, but when the lighting is right, you have the perfect visual key for the ingredients he describes. I love the way he shows street food or drinks in his hand, often in front of the place of purchase. The pictures are so good at putting you right there that it's very sad when he doesn't have one.