Cooking: What Does Slovenian Prosciutto Taste Like?

If you've been following my blog for some time, you probably know that I'm big on ham, especially cured like prosciutto or Jamon Iberico de Bellota. It was such a treat trying prosciutto from none other than Slovenia thanks to VT, a colleague who brought it from her trip back home.

She was nice enough to bring some crusty bread and gouda cheese with it. I promptly made myself a nice afternoon snack by heating up the bread, slicing the cheese and peeling one layer (ok, maybe two) of the prosciutto. I didn't even know Slovenians ate prosciutto.

She brought one fatty kind and one drier kind that she liked. I, being the fat-lover that I am, preferred the fatty one over the dry one.

The quality was really good and I basically couldn't stop eating it. At one point, it didn't even matter that there weren't any of the fatty ones left. I'll take the dry ones, I found myself saying, and gobbled up four prosciutto and cheese sandwiches, back-to-back, without taking any breaks in between.

And then I felt sick from so much porky goodness and couldn't stomach anything else for the rest of the day. But I was still happy because I can't get enough of the salty and fatty aspects of the cured meat. I craved oatmeal after this pork fest but it was worth every bite.

Indian Snacks in Artesia: Delicious and Nutritious Nut-based Goodies

I've always been fascinated by all the Indian markets and shops lining Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia, so I recently did some research and ventured to the corner of Pioneer and 186th Street that seemed to be the heart of Little India.

I was able to buy some asafoetida and black salt I had used for a dal (lentil) recipe that did wonders (helped avoid gas -- yeah!) for my stomach. I also got some paratha from the frozen section that I could just cook stove-top on a pan with some oil to amazingly delicious effect. And some ghee (clarified butter).

But I digress. I headed to a few snack shops and ended up at Surati Farsan Mart, which had the longest lines and an incredibly colorful assortment of these snacks.

I told the guy at the counter that I didn't know any of the snack names or flavors so didn't know what to get. He generously proceeded to let me sample everything and I mean everything.

I was intrigued by these silvery pink ones, which turned out to be rosewater-based with edible silver. So darn beautiful and while I'm not a huge fan of rosewater, these were amazingly flavorful, filled with some nutty cashew mix inside.

I pretty tried all the offerings that didn't have dried fruit or dessicated coconut since I'm not a big fan of overly sweet snacks or dried coconut (although I do love coconut water).

In the end, I was sold on these lovelies and got a half a pound box that cost me about $4. If this isn't a killer bargain, I don't know what is.

The friendly guy at the counter relayed that green usually has some pistachio, bright yellow has almond and beige has cashews. One of my favorites was one described as "mango cheesecake."

I can't wait to return and try its hot snacks that are made to order. I'm afraid I'll need some help there too.

Could Korean Rice Balls be the next Pinkberry?

Most certainly not. For one thing, Pinkberry's popularity seems to be waning. Also, I love a rice ball as much as the next Famima addict, but these Korean fillings in rice balls are just ok. So why am I reviewing them? Because of their novelty. I usually can't get enough of these rice and seaweed snacks often filled with goodies like tuna mayo or kombu seaweed that’s been cooked in a soy sauce-based sauce until tender and salty.

The ones I recently found at a Korean market were filled with spicy beef, Korean BBQ and kimchi BBQ. The products were dubbed "triangular kimbab," named after the Korean-style seaweed rolls usually filled with beef, egg, carrot and spinach (another snack/meal I absolutely love). Ok, the flavors weren't all that, unfortunately, but they're acceptable if you were to crave some kick. The spicy beef and kimchi BBQ were both plenty spicy if not particularly memorable.




The Korean BBQ filling was just ground beef that had been purportedly marinated in Korean BBQ sauce but it tasted pretty bland and quality of the beef wasn't great. Just a hint of saltiness and sweetness without much flavor.

There is a careful method to assembling this great invention without touching the seaweed with your hands for hygienic reasons.

These things also keep pretty well so I usually don't refrigerate them and that way, avoid tough, cold rice and filling. They don't microwave well either so it's best to eat them before having to throw them in the fridge.


I'm pretty sure Koreans traditionally served rice balls without seaweed but I could be wrong. My memories of rice balls were literally spheres (not triangular) stuffed with ground beef and some finely minced carrots and such, with rice that had been flavored with salt, sesame seeds and a hint of sesame oil.

Somebody needs to come up with better alternatives to these babies, especially for those who don't have Famima at their door step or want something more than just tuna mayo as their filling.