Last night I went out for pizza and came across something on a menu that I had never eaten before—bottarga. I quickly assumed it was a type of Italian cheese and proceeded to order a pizza topped with that, fennel and mozzarella. However, I was very wrong in my assumptions. Bottarga is NOT Italian cheese. It’s dried fish eggs (tuna eggs to be exact)!!! Definitely a delicacy that requires an “acquired taste….”

As a child, I hated peanut butter and simply ate jelly sandwiches.  But now, as an adult, my tastes have changed and I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!  However, on my most recent visit to the Doughnut Plant (my favorite NYC doughnuts), I ate a giant peanut butter doughnut filled with homemade plum jelly and am now wondering if a regular old PB&J will still satisfy.  Maybe if I deep-fry it?!

So, after my visit to MOMA, I decided to have a potato knish from a cart located down the street. What a mistake!

The potato-filled pastry that I had was flavorless and really chewy—as in stale. Now, I realize these things are beloved by many a New Yorker, so if someone can point me in the direction of one of the city’s finest, I’d really appreciate it. I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m missing out on a great local food…

This has got to be the easiest way to dress up a tall glass of lemonade I’ve ever seen.

Simply place three or four whole lychees (canned lychees in syrup are usually available in the Asian section of your local gourmet grocery store) in the bottom of a pint glass.  Then, cover them with ice, about an ounce of lychee syrup, and top off with lemonade (homemade or your favorite bottled brand)!  Your friends will think you labored away peeling, pitting and juicing fresh lychees; when, really, you just opened a can!

What a cool idea! Although perfectly scary for Halloween, I doubt these skeleton-decorated gingerbread cookies will keep anyone from eating them! Joe emailed this photo to me but could not find a link to the source. If anyone knows who baked these frightful cookies, I’d love to find out!

Remember the blog entry about Valrhona’s “Les Perles” that I wrote a while back?  Well, I have a new use for them.  Inspired by a hot chocolate drink I just had that was garnished with chocolate-covered crispy rice cereal, simply toss a handful of the “Les Perles” into a nice mug of hot chocolate instead of marshmallows!  You’ll have super rich chocolate drink and a nice little bit of crunch to go along with it!

Check out these stalks of brussel sprouts that I spotted at the farmer’s market this morning! Instead of cutting each individual cabbage off its original stalk, the farmer chose to keep them intact and sell the entire stalk instead—similar to the way broccoli is sold.  Definitely worthy of a photo and tonight’s dinner menu.

We have all had bread and chocolate combined.  Most commonly found in the way of a chocolate croissant or bread pudding with white chocolate sauce (a New Orleans favorite).  So when I saw this organic candy bar made of “Bread & Chocolate,” I had to make the purchase.

It’s a bar of very dark chocolate that has toasty French bread crumbs and fleur de sel mixed into it.  Delish!  And a great alternative for a sweet tooth with grown-up taste.

Longan, a fruit native to Southern China, is very similar to lychee fruit. At least that is what I deduced upon eating it for the first time yesterday.

While passing the endless stalls of Canal Street vendors in Chinatown, I stumbled upon a folding table covered in bunches of longan fruit branches. I had never seen or tasted them before so a bought a single branch and, as instructed by the salesperson, peeled them by hand and popped one in my mouth. Delicious! They had the texture and liquid-like consistency of a grape without the peel, but with a flavor similar to the floral and sweet taste of a lychee—all of which burst in your mouth when you bite into it, being mindful of the seed in the center. I actually thought they might have been unripe lychee fruit because their flavor and textures were so similar. However, I was wrong. According to Wikipedia, longan fruit shares the same species as the lychee, but is still its own fruit.

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While perusing the shelves of a Spanish gourmet grocery store and sandwich shop in Manhattan, I stumbled upon this:  extra virgin olive oil packaged in a box—similar to a children’s juice box.

The little carton held 125 ml (about four ounces) and did not (thankfully) have a hole in which to punch a straw.  However, it did have other draws—like being a great addition to a camping trip or a picnic basket.  Thus, I purchased one little box and am now going to design a vacation around it…