10 products that we start to eat, having arrived in America
'10.02.2022'
Lidiya Kalinina, by ForumDaily
Americans, as a nation, in fact, have no national cuisine. Well, you can not assume that such potatoes and burgers, right? Classic turkey with cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie appear only for Thanksgiving. The rest of the time here with the kitchen tight. Well, more precisely, in New York, everything is beautiful - solely because it is full of other cuisines. You go around the corner - the Chinese, you cross the road - the Italians, pass the quarter - the Indians - eat, I do not want. Have just arrived emigrant eyes run - where to run and what to try? For two years of life here I was able to sort out something very tasty, and now I can tell you what we eat here (good), what we did not eat or rarely ate at home.
Bagels
Bagels (bagels) here is held in high esteem. What they just do not! From the simplest - from white flour - to sweet with raisins, “healthy” whole-wheat flour, sprinkled with all sorts of seeds and cheese (with everything - this one is called here, “with everything”). Bagel and coffee - a classic breakfast on the go for many New Yorkers. Bagels are cut in half up and down, and put inside, what your heart desires. From classic ham, eggs and cheese (ham, egg and cheese, more precisely not so "hameggandcheese"- they pronounce it in one breath and in one word, and try to rearrange the words in places when ordering - they will no longer understand), to various salads, salmon, sweet jams and chocolate pastes and, of course, creme cheese - which is discussed below.
Kremchiz
I ate soft cheese in Ukraine, of course. But here it is just everywhere, of all sorts of tastes and with a variety of additives, so I can safely attribute the cream to the list of dishes of national American cuisine. In bagel kremchiz mixed with vegetables, add to it syrups and fruits, put olives and spices. My favorite - with pieces of salmon.
Avocados, Limes, Mangoes, Blueberries and Artichokes
When I first arrived, I wanted to try all the exotic fruits and vegetables at once. I started with dragon fruit and papaya. The first one really looks like a dragon's head, you cut it - inside it is white or bright crimson (depending on the variety) pulp, which tastes somewhat remotely reminiscent of unripe strawberries. Papaya looked like a pumpkin to me. In general, the chakras did not open. But they opened after I tasted the yellow mango. It turned out to be much more fragrant than usual, and immediately took pride of place on my table. I buy it at any time, but it tastes best in summer. Another thing that is now constantly in my diet: blueberries (blueberry) and blackberry (blackberry). Boxes with these berries here you can catch on sales at very ridiculous prices, they add tasty ice cream, for example. And what kind of amazing cheesecakes come out with them, not to convey.
The list of "must-buy" I now include avocados. I can hardly imagine salads without him. And it can also be smeared on sandwiches instead of butter, do you know what a tasty sandwich with avocado and salmon? And with avocado and red caviar? Mmmm ... In an avocado, the main thing is to be able to choose it. It should not be very hard and not very soft to press lightly on the flesh - and it became supple, but it did not crawl away at hand. And, perhaps, the most delicious thing that can be made from avocados is guacamole. Mexican pasta made from ground avocado, tomatoes, onions and peppers is so popular here that I was extremely surprised when my Ukrainian friends asked “what is this?”.
I replaced the lemons with limes. The fact that Ukraine was a luxury and was bought only on holidays is worth a penny. In the store around the corner for 1 dollar you can buy 2 lemon or 4 lime. The choice is obvious.
You can talk about vegetables here for a long time. For example, artichokes. I used to know this word only from books (by the way, I don’t know, maybe they are popular in Ukraine, I was just so dark). There are artichokes on every corner - both fresh and canned, whatever you want. Just like I have never cooked just grilled asparagus before - and here it is a classic side dish. Here I also buy spinach in packs - it goes well with chicken.
Another of the popular, but not loved by me - sweet potato (sweet potato). Yes, this is a sweet potato. It’s as if you took and sprinkled potatoes with sugar, only it is orange. It is served as a side dish, baked, made from pies and mashed potatoes. Feeeee .. I do not like.
A lot of different herbs. In addition to our classic parsley-dill-cilantro-basil-arugula salad, for example, Keil (castle) - a type of kale. She is prickly. But it makes absolutely amazing smoothies. By the way, about them.
Chia and Quinoa (Kinwa)
These are not curses, these are cereals. Well, more precisely, chia is not cereal, it is sage seeds. These seeds are very, very tasty insist on coconut or almond milk - they swell and turn into pudding. You add fruit - and a delicious breakfast is ready. And most importantly - very un-American useful. It is also great to add chia to all kinds of smoothies and cocktails. And quinoa (or kinwa, with an emphasis on I) is perhaps the most expensive of the local cereals. It costs about 10 dollars per pack. She still Indians grew. Kinva porridge is considered to be extremely useful, all lovers of healthy eating love it, in the year 2013 the UN was even declared the "Year of Quinoa", so it is a serious product. It tastes like brown rice. I like it, but without fanaticism.
Coconut and Almond Milk
Since we remembered - I will tell about them. Here in the order of things in a coffee shop to ask to make a latte not with regular milk, but with coconut or almond. I like coconut very much - I add it to mint tea and coffee, it turns out great. Almond - an amateur, it is very oily. But for vegans, of which there are a lot of them, this is a great alternative to a cow.
Clams and other seafood
Shellfish clams look like a cross between mussels and oysters. They are eaten raw, sprinkled with lemon juice, baked in the oven with Parmesan and croutons, and the famous soup is also made from them - clam chouder. It is made from potatoes, onions, ham, clams and cream, so the soup itself is white and very thick. Great thing. Soup is served most often with small crackers, which are usually thrown into the thick of it. Clams can be bought in the sinks, and you can - canned. I often buy them and add to the paste.
In addition, there are absolutely magic shrimps, lobsters, oysters. New York is a paradise for seafood lovers.
I usually buy everything from the Chinese. Oooh, Chinese stores are a separate story. Here you can even buy live frogs (I didn’t risk it, I haven’t been extreme yet).
Corn and Banana Bread
Corn is the queen of the fields and table. For example, in many places you will be served corn bread. It is sweet, so you can eat it with the first courses, and as a dessert.
They also love banana bread here - I love him too, I even learned how to bake. However, there is nothing special to learn there - the main thing is to put in more bananas, and then add what you want - nuts, candied fruits, raisins. It turns out great.
Different types of oil
Do you know what to cook in coconut oil? It is sold in jars - you can fry on it, and you can smear it after a shower instead of body cream - softens the skin amazingly. For cooking, coconut oil is often packaged in sprays - sprinkled on the pan - and forth. In addition, there is rapeseed oil, linseed oil, grape seed oil - in general, all that the soul asks. And Americans love to sell salted butter. I like to buy it in the summer, in the corn season - you can smear the cobs and immediately eat it, without any salt. Convenient and tasty.
Klenovыy syrup
Banana bread is deliciously watered with maple syrup. In general, this is a Canadian delicacy (where there are so many maples), but in the state of New York it is also made in large industrial quantities - it is even a symbol of the city of Vermont in the north of the state. This is a sweet burnt sugar sauce. This maple syrup is not cheap, but it’s good, though I can’t describe what it looks like. Pancakes are poured over them here (pancakes in our own way, only here they are loved to be made larger, the size of a plate) and pancakes.
Pies
Well, who did not eat the famous American pie! This is when the bottom of the same layer of dough, and on top a lot of stuffing. We have already established a tradition to find our “pie points” on every trip out of town. My favorite cake is lime. In New York, the most delicious lime cakes are sold in the Red Hook area. A small shop in the industrial zone, where on foot from the subway stomp half an hour, sells only lime pies. But they are so elegant that the business keeps afloat. Outside the city, there are many such “pie” stores.
Pecans (pecans), pumpkin (I don't like, too sweet), traditional apple, cherry, strawberries and rhubarb are popular here. They are many and they are very tasty. True, if the bakery is unfair, they are not made from fresh fruits, but canned ones - then the taste is completely different and, in my opinion, it is impossible to eat.
Well, here, perhaps, all of my "product developments" for two years of life here. I still haven't figured out a lot. For example, in Chinese stores. Sometimes they sell something that, in my opinion, is suitable for brewing a love potion, and not for food. Some kind of dried roots, it is not clear what, similar to bats, a mountain of all kinds of herbs and spices. Moreover, there is often no one to answer plainly the question of what it is - local sellers speak English too badly, and they do not particularly bother explaining these "incomprehensible whites" - it is clear that this is for sale for their own people. But in such shops I finally found the right pasta (in the sense of a mixture, not pasta) for making real curry, and now I can cook it almost at the level of restaurants.
In general, everyone living in New York may have something they want. Someone still buys food in Russian stores, so his diet has not changed at all since his move to the US. Someone, on the contrary, switched to American food, and pancakes, burgers and fries became familiar to him. This is the beauty of the Big Apple - every day you can arrange yourself gastro tours in different parts of the world, just by going to the other side of the street. So comprehend and comprehend more. Bon Appetit everyone!
