Name the vegetable from Nilgiri hills

Question

I bought this in Ooty market and was told that it is a Nilgiri hills specific vegetable. It is pink on the outside and white inside with two hard black seeds in the upper half of it. It tastes sour, very similar to unripe strawberry.

Now, I'd like to know what the name of this vegetable is and whether it can be used in any dishes. Until know, I've been eating it as a snack, just like I would any other bite sized food.

Asked by rlesko

Answer

I think it is a fruit called Chambakka.

There are a few recipes for chambakka achaar, which means pickled chambakka.

But I would try this chambakka jelly recipe. It looks delicious!

Answered by doctoraw

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What is the name of this Israeli street food?

Question

When I was in Israel a few years back I tried this really great street food. I had gotten the recipe, but now have lost it and don't remember what it was called. It is a cross between a pancake and a bread. The one I had had za'atar, thin sliced tomatoes, and red onion fried into one side and was flipped over. Does anyone know what this is called?

Answer

I was able to track down the dish. It is called Lahuhe. There is a picture of it here: http://pickuptheforkbuenosaires.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/mg_5093.jpg?w=640&h=426 Thank you to everyone for trying to help me out.

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Israeli street food

Question

When I was in Israel a few years back I tried this really great street food. I had gotten the recipe, but now have lost it and don't remember what it was called. It is a cross between a pancake and a bread. The one I had had za'atar, thin sliced tomatoes, and red onion fried into one side and was flipped over. Does anyone know what this is called, and better yet has a recipe?

Answer

From your description, it might have been a Malawach.

If it is, here is a link to a recipie.

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Can you identify these chiles on sale in Serbia and Macedonia?

Question

In the market in Niš, Serbia yesterday there were the most beautiful capsicums (bell peppers, red peppers) and chiles on display that I've ever seen.

But also on sale were these "ugly" ones that I first though were some kind of root vegetable due to their characteristic dull finish. Note also the characteristic "etched" concentric rings going around them:

My Serbian host has little English and after much effort and phone calls was proud to tell me they are called "hot chille peppers", but hopefully the culinary experts here can find a much more specific name or description.

I don't mind if the only names you can find are in Serbian or some other language, but I am interested to know why they look so different to the shiny chiles and how they are put to use in this part of the world, especially uses which differ to the more familiar looking varieties.

Answer

I've now found them on sale in a posh supermarket in Skopje, Macedonia. This time labelled:

потекло скопско

пиперки везени

благи / кг

Which Google Translate massages into:

origin Skopje

peppers embroidered

mild / kg

So an answer is "пиперки везени" or "embroidered peppers", for at least one name used in at least one country. Here is a close-up photo giving a better look at the striations:

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What is fat tripe?

Question

I was just in Santiago, Chile and had a mixed grill. One of the tasty items was "Tripa gorda" or fat tripe. But, I wasn't able to get a clear answer about exactly what fat tripe is.

Does anyone know what fat tripe is specifically?

Answer

In the US the closest thing you could (easily) get would be "Chitterlings" though this isn't quite correct since chitterlings are the small intestine, and tripa gorda is the large intestine.

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Identify this seafood from the Black Sea known in Romanian as “rapane”?

Question

Here on the Black Sea in Romania people are eating a shellfish called in Romanian "rapane" which they translate as "oyster" when I ask.

But they are elongated spiral shells which to me look nothing like the chunky flattish oyster shells in Australia. Besides which there is another Romanian word "stridie" for oyster and I can't find "rapane" in my print dictionary or any online dictionary. One person told me these are "sea oysters" as opposed to "ocean oysters". I've also been told they're not a native local species.

Here are some photos of a dead rapane shell on the beach. I'll replace them with better photos when I can take some:

Answer

They look like a species of whelk, which is a catch-all term for sea-snails. See the Wikipedia article here.

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