Strange confections and sundries in the grocery store's bread aisle.

[zallison]

Lemon curd, pumpkin butter, and almond bark

Edit-
While I'm thinking about it, anyone know somewhere I can get a good super high resolution (IE, not grainy, pixelated, and at least 2800pixels by 1800pixels or something insane like that) picture of a planet, star, or other galactic body?

Oh, and I saw apple flavored rice cakes the other day too.

[MrLinus]

LOL..

Pumpkin butter is just a flavouring they add to make it more "thanksgiving-y" (thank you, marketing).

Almond bark is a reference -- if I'm correct in what you're seeing -- to a chocolate almond mixture (very tasty and addictive) that comes out flat and gives the impression (if the almonds are in slivers) of a "bark" looking thing. It's traditional for my family (although I won't be able to have any anymore because I've gone vegan) and relatively easy to make.

Not sure about lemon curd.

The apple flavoured rice cakes are an old stand-by to encourage people to use them in their "diet" since regular rice cakes have "no flavour".

Check NASA for pictures

[MURACU]

here is the link for JPL they link to nasa also.
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html

[nihil]

For pictures try the Hubble Space Telescope:

http://hubblesite.org/

Haven't seen almond bark over here, but I think that we have something similar (nuts & chocolate spread) called "nutella", and a number of copycat products, I believe that they are hazelnuts though.

Lemon curd is a very British thing. You use it like jam, and spread it on bread or toast. It is also used in filling tarts and putting layers in sponge cakes. Just about every store selling groceries would carry it.

Pumpkin butter? ..................

Never even heard of it.............. mind you, I have made pumpkin and ginger jam, which is rather tasty (it is sweet).

EDIT:

Rice cakes: the traditional British rice cake is flavoured with almonds.

[zallison]

I had assumed that lemon curd was some sort of pastry based item, thanks for confiming nihil.

Next question-

What is the strangest jelly, jam, preserve, or spread you have ever seen? (Bonus gold star if you've eaten it also. )

I'm a fan of a habanero-blueberry jelly. Good flavor, with some heat.

Strangest I saw though.. green tomato preserves.

EDIT -

Picked up a massive 50mb jpeg of the galactic center.

7002px x 5050px file name is - ssc2006-02a1.jpg

Got it at NASA

[nihil]

Strangest I saw though.. green tomato preserves.

Strange? hell, I have made gallons of the stuff

Over here we call "preserves": "chutney". As you are probably aware, we have a very temperate climate with quite a short growing season for solanaceous plants (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines).

Making chutney is a traditional thing to do with green tomatoes at the end of the season when you know they will never ripen naturally.

EDIT:

Lemon curd is also used to make lemon-meringue pie and lemon cheesecake. It is actually made from lemons, sugar, eggs and butter.

[Ouroboros]

As long as Nihil's thinking food, I have a couple of questions after browsing through the "British" section of my local grocery store...

Strangely, it's the only section I've never tried anything out of...

First of all, what the hell is "Salad Cream" and why am I afraid of it? Is it mayonnaise mixed with something?

Secondly, I've always been intrigued by Marmite. Should I bother with trying it? (Mind you, I have a very diverse palate and a strong stomach...I can eat kimchi out of the jar ) If so, could you recommend a brand name? Gotta order it online, as it is not in the stores in my area.

O

[nihil]

Hi there O~,

"Salad Cream", now that is an interesting one. I would describe it as "mayonnaise for the masses", or "mayonnaise substitute". Basically it is mayonnaise in a bottle rather than jar. It has a runnier consistency and contains spices to give it a stronger flavour (classical mayo is rather bland to my taste).

The interesting part is that it was popularised in the UK by Heinz, along with tomato ketchup (catsup), and they are an All-American company AFAIK.

When I was young (yes we are going back 50 years now) I guess that the Heinz product was all that you saw in the foodstores, and was on the tables of every truckstop, roadside cafe, and greasy spoon in the country.

Now there are competitors, particularly supermarkets' "own brand" but supermarkets only started to take off over here in the mid-1960's.

I suggest that you try a small bottle, you would use it rather like thousand island dressing.

Marmite. The generic term for it is "yeast extract" and I suspect it is made from spent brewer's yeast. The manufacturer and holder of the brand name is Unilever (a British household products conglomerate). It is very rich in the B vitamins and folic acid.

The classic use is to spread it on toast or use it to make sandwiches. It is a vegetarian product, and is also used in cooking to flavour stocks and stews.

An alternative product, that some would prefer is "Vegemite" which is manufactured by Kraft (Australia). I use it to cook "momma's favourite meatloaf", an Australian recipe.

With cold meats and burgers I would suggest mixing it with hot mustard and brown sauce ("HP" is the leading brandname over here, and it is sometimes called "Yorkshire relish")

Bon appetit mes amis

[zallison]

That was very informative

I like learning about food.

How about vinegars? I am a fan of vinegar on my salad or assorted leafy greens. I like malt vinegar on mashed potatoes and fried chicken. I occasionally even put vinegar into soup bases while they are cooking.

Any suggestion for another use?

[nihil]

Any suggestion for another use?

Yes, it is traditionally used as a cleaning agent: glassware and windows for example. It is not as corrosive, abrasive or toxic as proprietary products.

Good for getting road slime off your windshield (although I prefer methyl alcohol)

In culinary circles it is a preservative: pickled onions, pickled gherkins, pickled walnuts, pickled eggs, pickled capers, pickled cabbage and so on. The kind of stuff you serve to complement a salad.

You can flavour it by adding pickling spice (a mixture of herbs and spices) or you can flavour it by adding herbs such as rosemary to the bottle.

Try adding some dried jalapenos or chillies...........