Friday Firsts - Jicama

Happy Friday everybody! If this is your first Friday Firsts click the image above or on the side bar for more information! I'm happy to see a crew of "regulars" joining me every week! Thank you for sharing your firsts and continuing to spread the word!

My first for this week was trying jicama for the very first time! Jicama is a root vegetable popular in Mexican and Asian cuisines. It is usually eaten raw and when I searched for "recipes" most tips said to cut it in slices and munch as you would with carrots or celery. It is also sometimes added to salsas, stir fries, or salads.

To prepare I cut the tips off and peeled with a vegetable peeler. It smelled exactly like cut grass to me- very fresh and "earthy." The jicama was very hard to cut, it was starchy and clung to my knife like a raw potato.

At this point the kitchen smelled pretty strongly like cut grass. It didn't smell sweet or like something that should be eaten raw. But, I took a deep breath and did what any adventurous person trying a new food would do ...




And he spit it out!! (Not a good sign, especially from the dog that eats everything!)



Ok. Enough stalling! I took a bite and it was odd to say the least. A lot starchier than I expected. The forefront was subtley sweet like an apple or a pear, but there was definitely a raw potato feeling in there. Further back in your mouth it tasted very starchy, almost as if all the moisture in your mouth was being sucked out.

Johnny and I both gave a couple of pieces a try. I will admit that the more you eat, the more you taste the apple tones. But, once you stop eating and go back for another piece it's as if you're right back at the start, building up a tolerance for the starch factor.

Now it's your turn to tell me about your first! To participate in Friday Firsts create a blog post featuring a "first" of yours. It could be the first time you've baked a cake from scratch or the first time you've used your stick blender! Any culinary first will do! Next, link that blog post below and tell us about it! If you don't have a blog or a specific post to link to please tell us about your first in the comment section! Any and all participation is welcome!



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