I gave it a lot of thought as to what I would choose to taste for this blog entry. After all, I've eaten many 'out of the ordinary' items in my life that cover the five basic tastes. My Chinese background lends itself to many interesting foods including tripe, tendon, chicken feet, ox tongue, swallow's nest, shark fin, bitter melon and durian, just to name a few.
I wanted to eat something in its original form, so I narrowed it down to a few choices and ultimately decided on a rambutan, a fruit that is native to Indonesia and Malaysia, despite my grocery receipt stating that it comes from Thailand.
Sensory Evaluation
* Sight - This is such a strange looking fruit. From a distance it seems like it would be prickly or rubbery on the outside. Once cut, the inside looks squishy.
* Touch - The spikes seem like porcupine needles but when you pick it up, the spikes are not prickly at all. They almost feel like silicone. The fruit itself is quite firm to the touch once I picked it up and squeezed it. The cut fruit is squishy as expected with a firm tough seed. The texture of the fruit is similar to that of an peeled grape or a lychee.
* Smell - The uncut rambutan doesn't smell like anything distinct, but the cut fruit itself is completely different. The shell smells green and herby and the fruit has the faint smell of lychee.
* Hearing - The only part of the fruit that exhibits any sound is the seed. I bit into it and it delivered quite a crunchy sound, similar to a raw almond.
* Taste - The seed has a very bitter aftertaste that is slightly medicinal. The fruit tastes sweet, but not overly so. I mentioned that the fruit has a mild lychee taste. After eating it again, I detected a slight Bartlett pear flavour.
This fruit is quite unique as it does not grow in North America and it is imported from Southeast Asia, where it is far more common. What I learned from tasting this fruit is although my palate still needs to be developed, I am able to distinguish varying flavours and aromas. I also am able to discern more complex flavour profiles.
I did enjoy eating the rambutan as it appealed to all my senses. I liked how I was expecting one thing yet the rambutan managed to fool me once I tasted it. I'm not sure that I would eat it again as it didn't have enough distinct flavours for me. It had the texture and faint taste of a lychee, but I felt that it was a 'flashy wannabe cousin'. Although the external spikes are intringuing, I'd rather eat a perfumy, highly favoured lychee or a crisp, sweet grape instead of the rambutan.
I've discovered that I enjoy complex flavours and aromas that deliver a high-impact punch vs. the more subtle flavour profiles. I've learned that we need to use all our senses when tasting food so that we can come to a more well-rounded conclusion about what we're tasting. As well, I need to better understand how primary and secondary seasonings can be layered so that we can create interesting flavour profiles.
I ended up buying quite a few rambutans in a package. Who else wants to try some of this interesting little fruit?
I wanted to eat something in its original form, so I narrowed it down to a few choices and ultimately decided on a rambutan, a fruit that is native to Indonesia and Malaysia, despite my grocery receipt stating that it comes from Thailand.
Sensory Evaluation
* Sight - This is such a strange looking fruit. From a distance it seems like it would be prickly or rubbery on the outside. Once cut, the inside looks squishy.
* Touch - The spikes seem like porcupine needles but when you pick it up, the spikes are not prickly at all. They almost feel like silicone. The fruit itself is quite firm to the touch once I picked it up and squeezed it. The cut fruit is squishy as expected with a firm tough seed. The texture of the fruit is similar to that of an peeled grape or a lychee.
* Smell - The uncut rambutan doesn't smell like anything distinct, but the cut fruit itself is completely different. The shell smells green and herby and the fruit has the faint smell of lychee.
* Hearing - The only part of the fruit that exhibits any sound is the seed. I bit into it and it delivered quite a crunchy sound, similar to a raw almond.
* Taste - The seed has a very bitter aftertaste that is slightly medicinal. The fruit tastes sweet, but not overly so. I mentioned that the fruit has a mild lychee taste. After eating it again, I detected a slight Bartlett pear flavour.
This fruit is quite unique as it does not grow in North America and it is imported from Southeast Asia, where it is far more common. What I learned from tasting this fruit is although my palate still needs to be developed, I am able to distinguish varying flavours and aromas. I also am able to discern more complex flavour profiles.
I did enjoy eating the rambutan as it appealed to all my senses. I liked how I was expecting one thing yet the rambutan managed to fool me once I tasted it. I'm not sure that I would eat it again as it didn't have enough distinct flavours for me. It had the texture and faint taste of a lychee, but I felt that it was a 'flashy wannabe cousin'. Although the external spikes are intringuing, I'd rather eat a perfumy, highly favoured lychee or a crisp, sweet grape instead of the rambutan.
I've discovered that I enjoy complex flavours and aromas that deliver a high-impact punch vs. the more subtle flavour profiles. I've learned that we need to use all our senses when tasting food so that we can come to a more well-rounded conclusion about what we're tasting. As well, I need to better understand how primary and secondary seasonings can be layered so that we can create interesting flavour profiles.
I ended up buying quite a few rambutans in a package. Who else wants to try some of this interesting little fruit?