tropical finds

Our time in Hawaii is at an end, and I have a few minutes to share the tropical food wisdom I have gleaned:

- Breadfruit is delicious. I wish I could grow it in Victoria. It's like sweet potato, only easier to deal with and tastier. So yummy! Leave it until it's really ripe and squishy, scoop it out and plop it in a frying pan with butter into little pancake-things. Total convenience food, yummy and probably even healthy-ish.

- There must be some good grass on the north end of Oahu, because the grass-fed beef is amazing. Some of the best steaks I've ever had. Not quite as good as Tabasco, but close.

- Supermarkets suck, except for the sushi. I guess it's all about what sells, but the majority of stuff in the supermarkets here comes from Thailand or Ecuador (like, seriously, importing *bananas* in Hawaii???). The packaged sushi is fantastic though, and a much, much wider variety than Victoria restaurants even.

- Jackfruit looks really fun, but doesn't taste good enough to actually buy any. Those suckers are HUGE. Even a slice is too much to eat. And it's so... not refreshing. I dunno, it's really sweet, really rich, and more than a bite or two is too much. Which is unfortunate, because they grow up to like 30 lbs each, and one would keep you going for a while if you could actually eat it. It's the irony of the fruit world.

- Starfruit, on the other hand, is REALLY refreshing, especially if you pick it yourself.

- The bananas that DO grow here are much tastier than the standard Chiquita tpe. They're called apple bananas, and while they don't taste like apples, they are more tart, firmer, and have a whole pile more flavour. Especially if they're wrapped in a wonton wrapper and deep-fried. Mmmmmm.

- You can eat too many papayas. And mango season ends about now, apparently, but when it's going, it's gooooood.

- Wheat beer brewed with lili'koi (passionfruit) is absolutely lovely, and just what you need after a long day of kayaking and whatnot.

That's about it. Back to Victoria now, and I'll be without computer for a few days.