It's Kaki Season!!!

I seriously do not know how I went twenty-four years of my life without this fruit. I discovered it last fall - they're called kakis here, persimmons in English - and I think I practically lived off it for three or four months. Then I spent about nine months eagerly awaiting the start of 2012 persimmon season.

Why so special, you ask? They're sweet, crunchy, have a fantastic, thick, pretty orange skin (I know, I'm weird, I always eat my fruit with the skin on, no matter how tough it is...unless it's like, an orange). Perfect for autumn. And, if you cut them horizontally there's a star in the middle, a bit like when you cut an apply horizontally.

Word of advice, though: there are two main varieties of persimmons, the gross variety (in my opinion), which is shorter and rounder and you have to let ripen until it's really soft and then you scoop it out; and the good version, which is slightly more elongated and eaten while it's firm. Mmm, I love crunchy fruit!


Edit: After some disconcerting research, I discovered that you shouldn't eat persimmons too often, and you shouldn't eat them on an empty stomach, especially with the skin on (i.e. basically the only way I eat them). Apparently they contain "a compound called shibuol" that doesn't react well with stomach acid and could eventually lead to digestive issues. I have no idea how much of a risk this is or if it applies to all different types of persimmons but...maybe just to be safe I'm going to stop eating them for breakfast every single day.

Made in the USA...Sold in España

Remember I wrote this post about American things (or things found in the US) that I miss because you can't find them in Spain? (Part Two is coming, hopefully soon, by the way.)

Well, here's a brief update on American products of a different category: things that you actually can find here in Spain and that I miss enough to pay ridiculously exorbitant prices for every once in a while.

1. Canned pumpkin.  Maybe fresh pumpkin is better (I don't know, I'm too lazy to have ever tried cooking with it), but even fresh pumpkins aren't very popular here. But to me, autumn = pumpkins. Among other things. But especially pumpkins. Not to mention Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie. So finding canned pumpkin is a once or twice a year necessity. I'm not sure if there are any Spanish grocery stores that sell canned pumpkin, but I've never seen it. If anyone ever has, please let me know! But anyway, I've always gone to Taste of America, where it costs €3 a can. Not terrible, but more expensive than I've ever seen at home. I recently bought a couple of cans to make pumpkin bread with, and it was totally worth it.

The cake mixes are perhaps the most overpriced - €6 or €7 a box!

2. Brown sugar.  The concept of brown sugar just doesn't exist here. They've got "azúcar moreno," which sort of is brown sugar (and is what that translates to), but in reality, it's only what we call raw sugar. Not the same as our probably extra-diabetes-enducing molasses-sugar mixture. Obviously this isn't something I use all that frequently, but I do like it on oatmeal and making certain baked goods, such as the good old chocolate chip cookie, is impossible without it. I also buy this at Taste of America - where it's generally about €1,50 - because I've never seen it in regular grocery stores either.

3. Peanut butter.  The funny thing is, I'm not really even much of a peanut butter fan. I love love love peanut butter cups or any other form of chocolate and peanut butter together, and I love it with apples, but I never eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, for example. I think it's the texture - it's just way too much between the stickiness/thickness of the PB and the bread. Anyway, I remember when I studied abroad here I brought a jar of PB, knowing that it was hard to find, and I went through that thing with lightning speed. I don't buy it often now, but I've found it in a couple of grocery stores and I therefore don't bother bringing it from the US. The latest regular-sized jar I bought cost me €4,50...which I do think is a lot for peanut butter...

Baking soda is also sort of a weird situation here - they sell what I think is the chemical equivalent here in grocery stores, but I think it's used more for cleaning than for baking. Normally it's only baking powder here. I've never tried this supermarket equivalent because I bought a box of way overpriced Arm & Hammer at Taste of America a couple of years ago and obviously I haven't even gone through a quarter of the box. I'm more likely to have to get new baking soda because this box is going to expire, rather than actually run out.

Sesame, onion, and plain bagels!

One last thing that is hard to find here in Spain, and when you do find it, it's usually not that great, is bagels. They actually sell them at Taste of America and also some specialty bakeries, but I've found it's much more cost effective (and let's face it, much more FUN) to make my own bagels. Mmmm.

So there you have it: these are the products that I occasionally like to pick up, mostly at Taste of America. (Notice how it's all food?) It's a cool little store (right by the NYU campus here), and they carry both food products and even American-style cookware, such as cupcake pans, cake decorating items, etc. They even have some weird products that I've never seen before (mostly brands, not actual foods), which is a funny, but seeing as America is pretty big, I guess I'm bound to not know ever brand ever in existence. Also, several times that I've bought stuff at Taste of America, they've given me random things free with my purchases - like this bag of Goldfish in the picture above. I don't even buy Goldfish often in the US, so I really can't remember the last time I've had them, but it was a nice little culinary reminder of home.