As someone with parents from Goa, it was nice to see kokum being represented! However, a few points in execution. We do not soak and blend them in, but rather put them in whole into the curry, and then some people eat them in the cooked dish, but most discard it. Also, seafood curries would not have cilantro as a garnish and are best enjoyed with plain rice. Kokum is great with pork too - in a stirfry, or as a roast with onions, clove, cinnamon, and garlic.. Something else to try would be soaking it in water and then adding sugar to the liquid to make a syrup, which can be diluted with soda water or still water to make "brindade" - a kokum soft drink. Finally, there is a digestive drink called "sol kadi" which is made with the liquid extracted after soaking and mixing it with water and coconut milk, to which you add salt, chopped cilantro and chopped green chili. This can be eaten with rice or just drunk on its own after your meal.
I love sol kadi! So good for digestion and tasty as well. I've never heard kokum being blended then added, rather just thrown in like you said. My mom adds it in coconut fish curry, the dish is incomplete without kokum. Brindade is sooo good in summers! Helps combat the sweltering heat which literally sucks the life out of me.
Jamie blew my mind when he described how he would eat nopales, and that's exactly a ver very common way we eat them. I'm really loving this Mexico representation in Sorted Food
As someone who enjoys this channel as a comfort channel, I love how the various intros show the direction of Sorted over the years. I am absolutely loving this series, can we please, please, please do more, if nothing more than to see the food team blow our minds with amazing spreads of food. Maybe you could focus on a single continent, country, or culture, or try and get ingredients from each continent (or at least 6 of them, not sure how many ingredients can be found from Antarctica!)
Well I love most about this channel is how varied each video is with a good cycle of the classic fun need to watch each month! It's not just cut and dry same old same old. Yesterday I rewatched the spicy poker face challenge and then I watched the big breakfast collaboration and some pass it ons and today another global ingredient video brilliant
@@SortedFood I totally agree to the comment above. I also would be very interested in a mini how to series on planning weekly meals, grocery shop etc. Kind of like in the meal packs app but suitable for my own recipes and needs.
I enjoy watching them when I'm eating my meals. I usually have a go to depending on what I'm eating, usually the breakfast themed ones in the morning, battles at lunch and dinner. Whenever I want to be entertained it's the food challenges then for inspiration it's videos like these. There's one for every occasion!
For my fellow Swedes who were confused about Kvass/Gira being common in Sweden - its quite similar to Svagdricka, they might have been confused for each other as the preparation method is pretty much the same.
From wikipedia about Kvass. "Kvass was also made in Sweden, where it was known as bröddricka (lit. 'bread drink'), although it was very likely limited only to areas where rye bread was the standard bread as opposed to crispbread, which was more common in Western Sweden and did not stale. Bröddricka was still being made in Öland farms up until 1935."
Jag älskar kvarts och köper det väldigt ofta i ryska butiker på sommaren. Men något svenskt alternativ hade jag aldrig hört talas om. Svagdricka smakar mer öl om jag inte minns fel men jag ska ta och köpa mig en flaska och jämföra igen. KBAC ftw
As someone from Latvia I get kvass regularly, so it was so interesting to see this kind of reaction! Interesting to know - we have lighter and darker kvass, we also have a similar drink called 'health drink' in literal translation which is a bit sweeter. And each brand tastes slightly different too!
@@SortedFood furthermore the kvass usually found in stores is non alcoholic. Theres also filtered and unfiltered selection. And thanks for showing our Lithuanian Kvass
Had a classmate bring home made kvass to class one day, and the teacher had to say I understand that commercially it is considered non-alcoholic but because this is home made and you don't know it's exact content we can't let you bring it again
@@MatasVinikaitis we did a full google deep dive on it and discovered that in its countries of origin it's sold as a nonalcoholic beverage that children can drink so our teacher decided that if he could find some commercially sold version he could bring it but just not homemade (I went to an outreach school so our teacher had some pretty strong bend on what was and wasn't allowed) heck they brought in someone to teach a group of us how to do street art and set up some canvases in a nearby park and brought spray paint for us to make our own street art
Fellow Lithuanian here! I’m so happy to see some Eastern European food and drinks! I was going to recommend gira but you beat me to it (the g is pronounced like the g in “get”). You all should look into cepelinai, kugelis, pig ears, and šaltibarščiai! Cheers!
My grandma (who was born in Lithuania, but moved to north-west Poland before WWII) used to make these for me when I was a kid. They are amazing (except for pig ears, I've never tried them).
Nopalitos, is such a versatile ingredient, you can cook it, fry it, grill it, eat it raw, you can have them in stews, with scramble egg, with pork skin or chicharrón, and it's always delicious, so glad you guys tried it.
Finally one I've eaten! Cactus is used and sold in some supermarkets in the US, and it's super tasty. I've had it cooked with fajita steak and it's amazing!
You have to be really careful with cactus through. A lot of cactus contain toxins, irritants to some people, on top of Mexican produce containing pesticides that are banned in most of the world.
Pickled cactus was also something I had as a child in the 90s. I totally forgot about it until this episode. I cannot wait to go back and see if I still like it.
In western US nopales is a standard item in grocery stores. It’s usually in the Hispanic or Latin (Depending on what that grocery store calls it) section along with taco shells, enchilada sauce, a salsa, refried beans, etc.
That cactus is such a wonderful ingredient. When you get it fresh, you can grill it and slice it into a salad. Fresh cheese and veggies with tomatoes and that grilled cactus with olive oil and seasonings is my favorite way to enjoy it. Keep up the great work!
Yes. So good. My mind was blown at first that that didn’t know / were unfamiliar with it, then I had to remind myself that the UK doesn’t have easy access to multiple weekly trips to taco trucks.
I get the tacos a lot from a few places, and buy the cans. I need to learn how to prep it so i can use fresh. Maybe this will be my weekend learning project
You guys should try "pinhão", it is literally a pine cone that we cook in the south of Brazil and eat during winter. We can also use it in dishes. And we also have "mate", which can be prepared as tea, chimarrão (in a hot kind of bowl), or terere (the iced kind).
Oh I got my grandma mate and a gourd and straw for her birthday one year! She loves trying new foods and drink from different countries and she loved that tea. I'm fascinated to hear there's a kind of pinecone you can eat. The ones here are basically wood and wouldn't be good eating, are yours softer?
To be fair, cold mate is very well-known in Germany and Switzerland, though it does have a reputation as a "hipster" beverage, typically associated with social science and teaching students. I personally love the stuff, especially home-brewed (and yes, I study English language and literature with teaching in mind. Stereotype confirmed).
Visiting Brazil has always been something on my bucket list because I’d love to experience and embrace the traditions and culture of a country completely outside of Europe. What would be your biggest recommendations of traditional Brazilian ingredients I should try in England that would give me an insight into the brilliance of traditional Brazilian cuisine?
We often hear the normies go "Oh, this blew my mind!". How about a few episodes where you revisit the ones that truly blew their mind, and ended up as items they used repeatedly (as opposed to once or twice for noveltys sake). They present it and cook a dish with it.
I live in Tucson very close to the Mexican border and there are a ton of things with cactus in it. It is a part of both Mexican and Native American cooking. There are a lot of edible succulents (agave for instance) that could be cooked up.
I actually researched kvass as part of my final year project to see if there were any potential health benefits from the lactobacillus used the fermentation process. Unfortunately, most of the store bought samples were pasteurised before sale, but had the lactobacillus been allowed to stay in the product, we concluded that it would have similar benefits to kombucha or cultured milk.
Kvass fermentation is caused by yeast, not really your usual bacterium species, so it is alcoholic fermentation. In some Slavic languages we call yeast - "kvasac". Also in some Slavic languages certain type of vinegar is called "kvasina".
the cactus is called "prickly pear"....the "leaves" also grill well (once de-thorned) as a side serving with steaks and chicken on the barbeque. The fruit from the blossoms make a great jelly/jam sort of thing, with a flavor somewhat similar to black raspberry. even fresh, they can be peeled and sliced onto things much like a kiwi might be used...
I love prickly pears! They’re a fairly commonly eaten fruit here in South Africa, most big grocery stores stock them in season. But I’ve never eaten the “leaf”, I only recently heard that it’s also edible and I’d love to try it. What does it taste like unpickled?
Even more interesting than the video are the comments below. I love how everyone from the respective regions comments about the use and variation of these ingredients. I am learning so much! Thank you for sparking these conversations, Sorted!
White American here, I always go to different Asian, Indian, etc. markets and if I see something weird, I'll pick it up and research how to use it. Basically it's like a science project for me, and I made a Singaporean version of that salad with a touch of fish sauce (they use it there more) and even added in siling labuyo (the Filipino pepper) and sort of made this Asian fusion dish. It was so good!
I always have a packet or two of jellyfish at my house, and I love to eat it as a side dish to rice or congee. Most often congee, since the blandness need a bit of texture and some seasoning, and it's so nice! Good to see it featured here!
We’d usually toss it with some peanut and carrot/cucumber, poured the classic fish sauce + sugar + lime/chili combo on top. Amazing refreshing summer salad, and congee is definitely an interesting idea!
Is jellyfish decently healthy, like other fish? I can see many uses for it but I would probably only bother getting a hold of it, if its quite a healthy ingredient and depending on the price.
I love how asian countries focus so massively on textures in their food like the jellyfish. Would definitely be interesting to have a whole video based around textures like that.
Being from the US, I've enjoyed these episodes but never really had that "oh they're noticing our cuisine" type moment because we don't *really* have anything. But I'm from southern California and seeing them enjoy cactus made me realize just what that feels like, and I'm so happy for the rest of the sorted community that has been able to feel that before. It really is wonderful
The US has tons of regional cuisines, the issue is mostly that we've done such a good job exporting our culture that it's not really "foreign" to people from other countries. Tex-mex, American Chinese, teriyaki chicken, Cajun, creole, several distinct barbecue styles, dozens of pizza and burger, clam chowder, biscuits and gravy. Not to mention new-world crops like corn and tomato.
Im with the guy who mentioned we are great at exporting our cultural cuisines. And I wanted to add brisket which is amazing and delicious. Not to mention Hawaiian foods they're American foods
Yay kwas chlebowy! My mother's always been a fan and I would hate it as a kid, now as an adult I've come to appreciate it more, as i have almost everything else to her taste 😄
Nopales are the best everrrrr! I don’t know if you already tried jícamas or not, but if you haven’t you should definitely consider them, they’re super juicy and versatile too. It’s really nice to see you try global ingredients, but oh my I felt so happy to see something so Mexican and so amazing (also, the fruit of the nopales, the tuna fruit is delicious too).
Greetings from Poland! You've made me very happy with your representation of Polish and eastern European food ;) I must say though that I was slightly shocked you didn't know about using cactus as a regular food ingredient in Mexico... I mean, even here in Poland we have things like cactus juice or cactus flavoured green tea (which I happen to really like - granted I can't be certain of the flavour's authenticity as there's plenty of other ingredients but that aside, cactus is clearly considered a food item even here).
Nopales are my favorite! The perfect taco for me is ensalada de nopal with queso fresco crumpled on top in a slightly charred corn tortilla. I have one slight critic: you have to warm up those tortillas on a gridle to get a little char on them; it's part of the flavor! That's what most non Mexicans get wrong about Mexican food.
So cool to see you guys try something so popular in Poland. I really do wish you'd make a Polish cuisine oriented episode one day. It's vast, let me tell you :D Sending all the love from Poland! Keep me entertained!
As a lithuanian I can tell you that the G in the word "gira" is like in a word "good" and the stress is on the letter A (and it's short A, not prolonged). All the samples shown were lithuanian products.
Fresh Nopales are incredible. They have (the way they were made for me anyway) the texture of broccoli stalks, and similar flavor also. But most definitely one of the lesser talked about hidden gems in Mexican cuisine for sure
Had jellyfish in HK in a sauce that could as well have worked with glass noodles… made me think that it could be a great substitute in certain dishes, and given that jellyfish is low calories and probably very sustainable, we should eat it more often!
Jellyfish is indeed very sustainable. The edible kind can can actually multiply to plague proportions around Japan. Squid is another very sustainable seafood.
I really appreciate how Sorted tries foods from beyond the traditional UK diet without making them out to be gross or strange. It's refreshing to hear about the ingredients in context without "othering" them as exotic. Also, Sierra Nevada's Otra Vez is a very tasty cactus beer. 10/10 would recommend.
Kvass ( Kvas) originally comes from Russia/Russian Empire area. It is popular in the post-Soviet countries for that reason. It goes all the way back to year 989! Over here in Latvia, Kvass is " beer for children" because it tastes close enough :D
@@dexteritymaster My comment was mainly aimed at people who don't even know the difference between Russian Empire and USSR :D I myself know that. The point was that it comes from that part of the world.
@@MarijaEnchantix Sorry it was me, my brain added politics to it, basically it was first mentioned describing the celebration of Vladimir the Great's baptism in 996 (in Kyiv, Ukraine)
@@dexteritymaster And I'm well aware, I literally said it was year 989. But I don't thin kthat majority of people not from this part of the world would care about who was the ruler at that time or what specific part of what specific country it was. I'm from Latvia, I know all of that. But you have to also know your target audience or the meaning is lost on them.
In the mid 80s I travelled across the Trans Siberian and in the city of Khabarovsk they were sellomg Kvass on the street for 5 kopec (virtually free) from yellow bowsers (like they type you get when the mains water is not working) you drank it from a glass on a long chain attached to the bowser.... delicious too
Oh come on Ebbers really needs to cook with these without previously knowing. I wanna see how creative he is with these amazing ingredients vs chefs making something they already know. Ben would crush it, and break all the rules of fusion!
@@lewismaddock1654 Very interesting idea. The chefs could be in the dark about the ingredient and would have to improvise with it, meanwhile the normals get to do research and cook an authentic version. And at the end you could compare how close the chefs were with the use of the ingredient. That would be very entertaining to watch and also very informative.
Still blows my mind how different cultures can be. As someone whose lived in the south and southwest of America I immediately recognized nopales and was initially shocked that anyone could be confused. But then thinking well shredded jellyfish is something I’ve never ever heard where overseas it could be just common. Love this show is so diverse, it would be awesome to be able to experience that for work everyday
It is interesting watching these episodes and thinking about how one's location affects one's food choices. I live on the west coast of Canada and can get fresh or pickled cactus paddles and dried jellyfish in my local grocery, but have never heard of kokum or kvass.
Polish community is pretty large in Canada, if you live in any larger agglomeration, there's a high chance you'll find polish grocer, try searching for "polski sklep"
It's so interesting! I am in the UK, but as Sorted are in London they have the best access to this sorta stuff, differeny cuisines etc. I lived on one side of England and there was 2 huge East Asian supermarkets, East European delis etc. But now on the other side of the country (closer to London now) I have access to so much more, its a very foodie city too. For 3/4 years I had said to my partner that we needed a weekend away, or even a day/night trip to one of two cities under 2 hours drive away just for Korean restaurant. In Novemberish 2019 I saw a sign in the city for a new Korean restaurant behind his head 😅 But I know if I want Filipino food for instance, London will be where I can get that! I had the most amazing sushi in Vancouver 😍 a close friend moved there for her Masters Degree, and I visited. The East Asian malls and the Nanaimo bars :P and the sushi, "Samurai on Davey". Saying a location like that was so cool and new to me rather than idk like 24 Davey Street, so I have that recommendation stuck in my head forever.
@@lsmithgoose Samuri on Davie is still there and still great. I live a five minute walk away. My sister, who used to live in Bristol, seemed to have access to a great selection of South Asian foods. Now that she lives in Northern Alberta I have to mail her even the most basic ingredients for curries, etc.
Feeling sentimental today, but I remember the days when Sorted was just a bunch pals doing some recipes. Seeing the variety of challenges, adventures, battles, and learning moments this channel now has is amazing. Kudos to everyone there! P.S. when Ben went "What else holds a lot of water", I definitely had a knee jerk reaction of "A WITCH!... or a duck?"
I think an idea for a new series (that i'd defo love to see!) is maybe something to do with student meals and how to elevate the classic student ingredients like packet noodles and rice and stuff I for one get so stuck at uni trying to cook on a measly budget with no time and not being bothered to prep loads of stuff and only really having basics. Would love to see a student based series
Here in Philly we have these stores called NetCost, who specialize in Eastern European foods. They, quite literally have an entire aisle dedicated to every type, flavor, brand of k'vas from every locality, in every language. It's truly impressive.
I love the idea of needing five places to use these products to devour them. Maybe an episode showing us different ways of using these crazy wonderful products
@@GigaBoost The paddles, in English, are technically also called "Prickly pear," since the plant is commonly referred to as the "prickly pear cactus," to differentiate from the more "standard" trunk-like cactus that nearly everyone will picture. In Spanish, it's far less confusing, since the flat edible cactus is called a "nopal," and the trunk-like cactus is still a "cactus."
What's nice about the cactus is you get two and one. The fruit is used for drinks and the paddle is used as a vegetable. I have a couple large jars of the pickle. I even use some of the pickling in some of my soups or chillis.
Just wanted to mention that one of the mostly consumed drinks in india in the summer season to cool our bodies is Kokum sharbat also known as kokum water Do try and please tell how would you give it your own twist
Jamies going "The Ocean... A Lake... A BATH!!!" reminded me so much of Joey in Friends answering to the TV game question by "Paper... Snow... A GHOST!!" loosing total sight of what the original question was.
I am in Texas, USA and I have the cactus (nopalitos) in scrambled eggs at least twice a month and in tacos or on a burger all the time. It is especially good on a chicken burger!
Having lived in England all 21 years of my life, I’ve always lived following the Western values and traditions that the country abides by, but my eyes were really opened when I visited Qatar on a work trip because their way of life was so different from what I was used to! It was amazing, and the local cuisine was awesome, trying traditional dishes that I never knew existed!
I grew up in southern Arizona and you could buy them in some supermarkets, de-thorned. Though i always checked again for thorns before cooking. If you can find it, prickly pear (what we would call the plant) jelly is also nice! Haven't had it in years but it's a lovely pink color. The way I learned to cook fresh nopalitos was to cut it and fry it up with salsa, then treat it as a vegetable side. It tastes like any green vegetable, similar to broccoli. Never tried the pickled kind but I might pick it up next time I see some!
Word of warning: In many countries, “chocha” is a vulgar term for a female body part. I’d never heard of it as a food item (and I’ve been speaking Spanish for almost 40 years - but am more familiar with Caribbean Spanish).
The cactus is amazing. I’m in the pac NW of the US and we have it fresh and pickled and have used it for decades. It’s everywhere. Versatile and delicious!
if you loved nopales you guys should try another mexican product called tejocotes, which are fruits from hawthorns. they are often sold in jars cooked in syrup and we use it for christmas fruit punch, but i think a dessert made with the fruit would be great!
My great-grandma used to make kwas at home. It was so delicious, none of the store bought ones ever came close to that flavour. We never learned how to make it unfortunately.
Did she add caraway seeds? I've had few kwass/gira, but in one restaurant they had their own and it was very different and tasted after caraway. Absolutely delicious!
@@jasnix He sure does and his Kvass is really good too :) There are a dozen or so folk that have videos on YT making Kvass but Boris is probably the most fun to watch and the video I like to share with friends who say "what is this?"
We used to do cactus or Nopal tacos in our bar in Cork Ireland. Our supplier was a lovely lady from Mexico who used to grow them in her garden. People loved the tacos!
Whenever I eat nopales, it takes me back to when my oldest sister and I lived together in Albuquerque. We were poor and so were our neighbors. Most of them were Mexican. Prickly pear was abundant in the area and they would gather it to supplement their diet. A really nice lady who would babysit my nephew showed me how to burn off the thorns, peel it and cook it for a versatile vegetable that pairs with lots of dishes. Kind of tastes like green beans. Ironically, decades later when I bought my house in Missouri the previous owner had a large prickly pear in the front yard. It even produced tunas, the prickly pear fruit. Too much work for little yield and for some reason attracted box elder beetles, harmless but pesky. I eradicated it.
If you want something german that basically unknown everywhere else, go with Waldmeister (in english Woodruff, or master of the forest) Its basically just plant leaves made into either tea or syrum, and most commonly used in sweets.
I'm Romanian and I guarantee you Kvass was never popular around here, however if you want to try tuica (just fermented plums and a whole lotta alcohol), that would be really funny to watch :)
Texas here, we have the pickled nopalitos on the grocery shelves here and the raw cactus paddles are in the fresh produce section. Use them as you would a bell pepper. Also, they are supposed to be very good at helping with high blood pressure.
I tried nopales a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It was served as a side with fajitas. I really enjoyed the mild citrus flavor that tempered the richness of the beef and sour cream. Very nice.
I’d also add that jellyfish is a common item on flights to Japan as well. It typically comes as a salad with a very nice soy sauce and sesame oil dressing.
Coming from a Mexican family, nopales os absolutely one of my family's favorite things to cook. We scramble it with eggs and onions as well as even make a salad with cheese and chicharrones. Honestly, nopales is one of my parents favorite things to eat.
I first had Mangosteen when I lived in the Philippines and later on I lived in Honduras for 6 years and Mangosteen was available during Lychee and Rambutan season. I’m a huge fan of these tropical fruits and although they are available in the US at Asian markets they are never as fresh or on point and are ridiculously priced since they are imported.
I want to try them so badly but they're practically impossible to get in my part of the UK. I love fruit so much and love trying foreign fruits so it drives me nuts how limited my selection is in the UK. We grow berries, apples, and pears really well and that's about it. Everything else has to be imported because anything that needs heat and sun doesn't grow well in a country that's grey, damp, and fluctuates between cool and cold 90% of the year.
Was listening to a British streamer who lives in America talk about British foods he has trouble finding around here, namely Branston Pickle. Made me think it would be a neat idea for Sorted to "review" typical British products, and maybe even craft a battle around making the most creative use of them.
Feels so weird not to hear that kvass is much more of a staple in Russia than in any country mentioned in the video. It is traditionally used as a base for cold soups like okroshka, sold in the streets in summer etc. While visiting Poland many times, I do not remember it being widely available. Way more popular in Baltic states but still not as much as in Russia. As a Russian myself, I totally understand all things Russian getting hushed up or cancelled at the moment, but should it apply to foods too? Sorry for bragging and thanks for your videos anyway 🍺
I had the same thought. I’m from Asia, but I know of Kavass from Russia. Not the others countries. I don’t appreciate Russia being omitted as a nation from the culture and food history just because of a bad political situation. That’s my two cents on the matter anyway.
I think Sorted should do disclaimer. It is a shame to misinform people about the real tradition of drinking and using kvas just because "somebody" can think "something"
@@elenakhusanova2814 Damn Right, by not telling people where certain foods are from the masses will just be uneducated!! @SortedFood If a product is from Russia just say it!
The part in the video when they lifted the cloche(?) off the kvass was so funny to me because I immediately thought “that looks like kvass but there’s no way they haven’t heard of kvass.” 😂
So i've had jellyfish maybe three times and i keep going back to it because it really is very unique in texture. Generally it's been sold cold with ginger garlic and chilli in an almost kimchi flavoured sauce, but more hot and garlicky.
I managed to NAIL jellyfish as soon as they popped off the cloche! I remember having it as part of a showing off at the Aquarium almost 10 years ago! What a memory!
We can buy the Nopales paddles and grow them In the Eastern USA. I've harvested it, our best local restaurant grows a bunch and serves it grilled. You can even harvest a paddle and plant it. Easy to propagate
Kvass came to Russia just over 1,000 years ago, and it was mentioned in Russian manuscripts from the time. It was an everyday drink in old Russia, valued for its thirst quenching properties and energizing effect. It was the drink farmers would take to the field on a hot day. Kvass is Russian, just say Russian nothing bad is going to happen to you.
Yeah, it's weird. Even if it's for political reasons, makes no sense to just avoid entire country and its history in this context (and I'm saying that as someone who's squarely against what they're doing right now)
Hey! An Indian here from Mumbai. We use something called kokum syrup for making drinks and my grandfather loves using it in bhel ( a Chaat) to make it sweet that very beautifully balances the spicy and salty.
Oh come on, don't leave Russia out... Once it's +25 outside we have portable sellers of kvas popping up all over the cities, it's a must in summer! It's more of a staple drink than vodka is actually... You should also try making okroshka with the light variety of kvas :D
Having grown up in the southern USA, it blows my mind a little, that cactus is pretty common place. Nopales tacos can usually be found in most taquerias in my area, but also, prickly pear jam is pretty common, and not to mention aloe waters. People like to consume cactus.
Another fantastic video! Please explore more middle eastern cuisine! In UAE they use black dried lemon for mandi. And we use black nigella seeds in katayaf. I really would love to see you guys to explore more of these. They’re my fave!
Two suggestions Sorted chums: - actual face-to-face tasting events, cooking on a specific theme or mixed workshops. (Sorry people not based in the UK!) - your own restaurant. Food cooked by the normals looks great, then there's the excellent food from Ben, Kush and the Sorted Kitchew Crew - you guys need to share this with the general public!! PLEASE!!!
Out of these four, I think I'm going to have to try the nopales myself, since I know a good Mexican deli that should stock some. I've never had anything that called itself kvass, but I suspect the traditional Finnish kotikalja (lit. "house/home beer") is close, being malty, low-alcoholic, and often served during summertime festivities, especially among the working class. It's rather fallen out of fashion in modern days, but I remember it was still a mealtime staple for my grandparents' generation. These days, I think people generally drink stronger beers, wines or other alcoholic beverages in those contexts.
Well Kvas/Kwas/Kvass is a root word for Slavic word meaning ferment. So, unlikely that you would find it under that name in Finland. It can be found here in Slovakia under that name, but it is not a very common beverage.
Kotikalja and kvassi (or kvas) are slightly different, but closely related. I remember kotikalja was a stable for every buffet ever when I was younger (I'm 34 now), I don't think I've seen it much in resent years tho. Which is fine, I always hated it. lol I did think they might drink sima, it looked so similar.
Small note from a Pole here - that "kvass" is more popular in Poland as "kwas chlebowy" which literally translates to "bread acid". Kwas being said acid in this instance :) However, I don't remember ever drinking it as-is, we used it to make other stuff.
Ok, I'm actually surprised that they've never even thought about cactus as a food item. Here in the states it isn't the most uncommon thing. You see it used in Mexican cuisine, particularly as an ingredient in Molcajete where you get cooked strips of cactus as part of the dish. It has a slimy texture that reminds me of an aloe plant, the taste is...not my favorite, but edible enough that I'll eat it alongside a bit of chorizo or chicken.
I'm reading the comments and notice a lack of representation from the chinese/asian side about jellyfish. I live in America and getting them dried is actually quite easy at an asian supermarket, and they really are quite good when used in the right context. My mom would always put jellyfish in some very light rice porridge with some dates and lotus seeds.
@@Blackthorne369 Yup! After a quick google search I realized its called *millet* in english and its sweet. You can add sugar or some other sweetener if you would like but I think the dates generally cover it, and it's a nice light and comforting breakfast.
Guys--Napolitos is available all over the USA and particularly the southwest, both raw and pickled, and is a "crunch" element in some salsas and garnishes. As for Kvass? When I first visited the USSR in 1970, there were vending machines on the streets of Moscow with a big heavy glass mug on a chain attached which you could get a quick glass of Kvass from.
