[Sca-cooks] Strange questions for the New Year

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Jan 1, 2007, at 12:57 PM, Devra at aol.com wrote:

> I'd like some assistance with preparation of some  Strange Stuph.  
> In my
> (semi-)local Stop and Shop, they had a bizarre-looking  object  
> resembling the head
> of Khuthoogol - lots of thin-ish roots or branches.  They labeled  
> it 'Budhha's
> Hand.' Is it a fruit? A vegetable? How does one cook  it? [I am  
> assuming it
> is native to the Far East, and probably never never known  in Our  
> Area in
> period, but this is the group with the widest knowledge...]

The Buddha's Hand I've seen looks a little like a bunch of bananas  
but is actually a single, segmented citrus fruit that I think is a  
form of citron. It's generally seedless, with a sour pulp, not much  
juice, and mostly all that is done with it, apart from sticking one  
in a closet to keep it from smelling musty (and possibly to repel  
some types of insect), is to candy the rind. I've never done this,  
but I hear the white pith is a lot less bitter than the same pith  
from other citrus fruits.

>     Second question: the local (to Weight Watchers)  greengrocers  
> seem to
> carry green, fuzzy, unripe almonds and also pistachios.  What does  
> one do with
> these?

They can be sliced (raw or lightly blanched) and put in salads (this  
is apparently a Middle Eastern Thing), behaving a lot like edamame or  
baby fava beans, and then, of course, one can dig out the Menagier  
recipe for compost that calls for new nuts...

>     Thanks.
>         Devra the slightly confused  (and a happy new year to all)

And to you!

Adamantius




"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04