Goodbye New Friend, Hello New Foods

(#13) Taste 25 Foods I've Never Tasted Before

1. Pattypan Squash
2. Beets
3. Eel
4.Wahoo
5.Lychee
6.Quinoa
7. Raw Oyster
8. Octopus
9. Duck
10. Daikon
11. Authentic French Food
12. Dragon Fruit
13. Bagel and Lox (/Smoked Salmon)
14. Astronaut Ice Cream
15. Big Mac
16. Steamed Burger
17. Cottage Cheese
18. Crawfish
19. Shrimp & Grits

Today was a big day. We said goodbye to a now former coworker (who by the way I met this year and therefore counts for a #19- new friend!) who is moving on to bigger and better things. And while we reminisced on the short year we spent together at work (and of course made plans to be best friends forever), I wasn't the only one who had the opportunity to try some new foods.

For breakfast I tried cottage cheese. I was a bit skeptical of liking this one- I guess I expected it to taste like it looks, and it looks like milk that's gone sour. But it tasted more like actual cheese. Somewhat like ricotta.

I liked the taste, especially paired with the pineapple, but the texture was still a bit off-putting. I think I would have liked it better if I had a real slice of pineapple with some cottage cheese on top.

For my coworker's final lunch, she chose a Cajun restaurant called Okras. Cajun cuisine sounded like a gold mine of new foods, so we scoured the menu before going and decided we would all give crawfish a try.

Does anything taste bad when breaded and fried? Crawfish sure doesn't. It basically tasted like tiny pieces of shrimp. Also it was served on a bed of fried leeks which was an unexpected treat.

For my entree I had another new food- shrimp and grits.

I love shrimp and though I've had polenta I'm not sure what the difference is between it and grits. And shrimp and grits together is a whole different experience.

It was covered in a thick and spicy gravy and served with grilled vegetables. The grits had larger grains than any polenta I've had, but I don't think that is always the case. It was creamy, buttery, and just plain delicious.

So we faced the bittersweet goodbye to our colleague with full and satisfied stomachs. As the merger draws closer and we all prepare to go our separate ways, at least we know we will always have crawfish.