Posts Tagged ‘South of the Border’

Lucas Pelon Roller Tamarind

No Comments » Written on March 2nd, 2012 by
Categories: Food
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Product: Lucas Pelon Roller Tamarind
Purchased at: Grocery Outlet (Lakewood)
Price: 8/$1 or around 13 cents each

I’d like to think I’m somewhat of an Andrew Zimmern of the grocery store, but instead of indulging in durian (me: done), snake penis (me: maybe) and balut (me: no way), I sample possibly expired treats, discontinued finds and occasionally unfamiliar territory. Also, Mr. Zimmern – you owe me big time for blatantly advertising your show right there.

I’m not too familiar with Hispanic candies, though I’ve browsed through popular choices like hot & spicy mango lollipops and those little tubs of flavored powder at our local market (they also sell pork rinds [chicharones] here at big as your forearm – Atkins dieters rejoice). So as something that’s previously unfamiliar to me, I’ll be using Google and Wikipedia to do some research; I’m also writing this at 5am so it’s a bit of déjà vu from my college years (thank you Wikipedia for helping me spell déjà vu right there).

What you may not know is, over the past few years a variety of candies have been removed from shelves due to possible lead contamination in the packaging. I noticed this list had “Pelon roller tamarind flavored syrup candy” on it – so I hope I don’t get an extra surprise with my purchase. For those of you worried about me, Wikipedia notes “As of July 2008, this and other similar Mexican candies are safe to eat.”

Tamarind isn’t widely used in American candy (then again, neither is spicy chili powder), but it’s the main component of this candy. The liquid tamarind roller candy is so popular it even has its own Wikipedia page.

Even those this candy is a liquid (sugar, water, glucose, chili powder, citric acid, xanthan gum, and tamarind extract), you don’t squeeze it into your mouth as much as you roll it with the circular application tip. Without risking this sounding like a set of tampon instructions, I’ll stop right there for my sake.

Contrary to the label that the candy is “Mucho Fun!”, it smelled and tasted like the sticky liquid you find pooled and encrusted underneath the ketchup, mustard and mayo bottles sitting in your fridge door. It was not an enjoyable experience, so suffice to say, it was no mucho fun. The brown color of the syrupy liquid didn’t really help that fact.

Now I expect to get some feedback from folks who have grown up with this candy and love it to death, but it really didn’t jive with me. I don’t care for the idea of any liquid candy and I think the tamarind flavor works much better in drinks and other foods.

Grocery Outlet (in Lakewood) still has a whole mess of these sitting in their candy aisle, waiting to be purchased by adventurous people like our dear readers. Try one if you’re inclined to roll a sticky, sour liquid on tongue (that’s all the innuendo you get for today). Happy Friday!

 

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Tepache Frumex Original Pineapple Cider

No Comments » Written on October 28th, 2011 by
Categories: Drinks
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Product: Tepache Frumex Original Pineapple Cider
Purchased at: Saar’s Marketplace (Lakewood)
Price: 95 cents – 12 oz bottle

In our forays into international grocery aisles, we’re constantly finding more and more fermented food and drinks we haven’t tried like canned kimchi, kombucha, and kvass (keep an eye out for a future review on that one). On one of my last visits to the Lakewood Saar’s (probably the same trip I bought the Frutiking), I spotted a bottle of tepache, below the familiar Jarritos, Mineraga and sangria. What’s tepache you say? Well I’m glad you asked, because I put way too much time on these posts doing background research on what the products we eat and drinks actually are.

Thank goodness for Wikipedia! It’s not just useful for college papers!

Tepache is “a drink made out of the flesh and rind of the pineapple, sweetened with brown sugar and cinnamon and sometimes beer. Tepache does not have a high quantity of alcohol, since it is left to ferment for only about three days. The alcohol comes mostly from the addition of a small amount of beer, the most common way of serving it in Mexico. It is a drink better served cold with dry chili powder to give it a spicy taste. Tepache is commonly made by inmates in Mexican prison, because the process of creating tepache is simple and quick. However, tepache can also be found in taquerias since it is a rather cheap drink. Housewives sometimes prepare tepache. In markets, you can sometimes find a vendor with an orange barrel full of ice-cold tepache.“

Mmm…prison tepache.

Our particular tepache is non-alcoholic and made with 12% juice. Ingredients include: Purified carbonated water, fermented pineapple extract (skin and pulp), barley, spices, sugar, brown sugar, and vitamin C.

The drink is tangy, akin to the glaze on a slice of pineapple upside-down cake from last’s months work potluck or the fruit cup that you found sitting in the back of your fridge. The flavor is what you’d expect from pineapple juice that’s fermented minus the alcohol: it’s got a twang, it’s a little sour and it tastes much better chilled.

Okay it wasn't that good.

If you like pina coladas, getting caught in the rain and possible flings with people who may or may not be your significant other, then maybe you’ll “love” this pineapple cider concoction I crafted with the stuff that was already in our cupboard: a glass of cider, plus some unsweetened coconut milk/coconut milk ice cubes and some simple syrup (add alcohol if desired).

But if you’d like to try something that’s probably more palatable, you could always just try it the traditional way, paired with a Mexican beer.

Have you had tepache? Should I try making my own? Did I miss the mark completely? Feel free to educate me!

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Frutiking

2 comments Written on October 24th, 2011 by
Categories: Drinks
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Product: Frutiking
Purchased at: Saar’s Marketplace (Lakewood)
Price: 33 cents each (3/$1) – 6.76 oz bottle

Lots of showbiz families seem to have famous/not-so-famous sibling(s) such as the Baldwin brothers, Ben & Casey Affleck and my personal favorite, Ron and Clint Howard. In the food world, the infamous Burger King (now mysteriously out of the limelight/possibly booked for lewd and lascivious behavior) happens to have a lesser known Mexican cousin, who goes by the name Frutiking (who I like to imagine wears a very colorful cape and has a sceptre topped with a pineapple).

Anyway, the newest trend with food products seems to limiting serving sizes in the hopes of curbing the obesity trend in America. Who hasn’t seen 100 calorie packets of Oreos, single serving cups of ice cream (so I won’t feel guilty about eating ice cream from the tub, not that I do anyway) and now miniature cans and bottles of soda.

frutikingI picked up “Red” (or “Punch”) and “Orange” flavored Frutiking mini-bottles from Saar’s a few months ago (you can also find them in the bulk section at Winco, bulk soda – who knew?) and they’ve sat in my fridge ever since so I figured it was about time to try them before they turn into Frutiking Wine. On their website, Mexicorp, the makers of Frutiking describe the Punch flavor as “A blend of yummy tropical flavors that give a powerful taste” and Orange is “A delicious sweet citrus taste that everyone loves”. The website also features the statement (though more like command): “You will begin a new flavor adventure”.

Like the ever popular Mexican Coca-Cola, Frutiking uses “real” sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. In terms of content, it’s still got less grams of sugar than the same amount of Coca-Cola (18g vs. 21.8g), but in my beverage experience, brightly-colored sodas generally pack a syrupy saccharine punch.

Upon opening both of the little bottles, I noticed a distinct lack of psshh! despite the first ingredient being carbonated water (agua carbonata, if you prefer). Now I don’t know if this is because of the age of the soda/chilling in my fridge forever or sub-par carbonated water, but I’ve never had a soda lose its fizz from just sitting around unsealed unopened.

Despite the flatness, I still took a swig of each flavor. The immediately reminded me of a long forgotten childhood favorite: unfrozen/melted Otter Pops, just like their Poncho Punch and Little Orphan Orange counterparts. However, now as an adult and hearing daily warnings of diabetes and heart attacks, sadly Otter Pops and other such sugary things are not so suited to my grown-up palate.

frutiking

Ben's photos are much better than mine.

While I applaud Mexicorp/Frutiking for making little bottles, the soda was just too sweet for me to enjoy on a regular basis. The flavors were nothing out of the ordinary, but Frutiking also comes in Apple, Pineapple, Lemon (Lime) and Grape. Sad fact: only 18 people like Frutiking on Facebook so maybe it’s not just me? If you’re really curious to try Frutiking, maybe pick up some of the bulk bottles at Winco for a sugar-alternative to Halloween candy (they carry the Pineapple flavor too) and pick up a bottle for yourself.

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