I was travelling as you know and I went to Indonesia as well.
Here are some more short videos from my travels.
I tried snake skin fruit.
I seldom eat snake skin fruit. I used to see them in the market when I was young and I must have eaten it a few times. But I cannot remember what it tastes like. I was in Medan, Indonesia, and travelled to Lake Toba. We came across loads of snake skin fruit. We visited the local market in Brastagi and there were loads of them. But we bought it on the way back from Lake Toba on a stop by the waterfall. So I tried it. It is also know as ‘buah salak’ in Malay.
Here is the short video.
Let’s keep this spicy!
Penang is famous for it’s spices and this is one spice you need to know more about.
As a food lover, I am sure you have been using nutmeg in your cooking, especially in baking. Mary Berry and many chefs use this spice in sweet and savoury food. My nose tells me that the sausages here in the UK has loads of nutmeg as it seems to be the dominant fragrance in most of the sausages.
We are used to using the nutmeg seeds . It is normally sold here as nuts that has been shelled and ready to be used. The nut is grated and used in bread and butter pudding, curries, sausages and even in white sauce and used in pies. Sometimes you can get it in the shells and you need to crack it open to get to the ‘nut’.
What is Mace?
But did you know that nutmeg is a fruit? What you get here is only half of the story. Hmm, I would say a quarter of the picture.
From the fruit, there is another spice call mace. Really? Not only that, we eat the nutmeg outer fruit itself, but the taste is horrible. It is sour and has a sappy texture and basically cannot be eaten as it is. It needs to be processed before eating and it is usually done as a business as normally it takes too much trouble to do it at home.
Pickled nutmeg? Are you sure?
Having said that, my late father actually pickled it when he can get it in the market. That was ages ago. And he did a pretty great job. His pickle was not only sweet, but crunchy as well. It has to go through a process of salting them first to get rid of the vile taste and then pickling it in sugar.
There are several varieties of pickled nutmeg. See the #shorts video that I made.
On top of that, nutmeg oil is medicinal and can be used as a rub. It smells a bit like tea-tree oil. It is widely used for headaches and as something to clear stuffy nose.
BTW, nutmeg is good for releasing gas from your stomach. If there is air in your stomach, or you feel bloated, eat a few pieces of pickled nutmeg. I swear by it.
My dad and I love it. Too bad, I cannot easily get the pickled nutmeg here in the UK.
Let me know if you have tried the snake fruit. Some people love it, some don’t. So me..? I am not a lover of it.
If you find relief to your bloated tummy by eating nutmeg, thank me and post your comment here, or in the video, subscribe and share. This would help others to know about this amazing info and help me in the algorithm.
Or better still buy me a coffee.
See you again, and many thanks for dropping by. There will be more to come.
Penang Lassie
