Guinea Pig Dishes

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Living near family is absolutely wonderful. Especially very loving and generous family who loves to have you over to their house and tries to fatten you up no matter what you say. I've never had better popcorn than my uncle's popcorn. He's practically a professional homemade popcorn maker; you'd be surprised at how much skill it takes to butter and salt it to perfection.

The food tonight was a little different than the normal popcorn and Tang Death. They'd just finished dinner when I went over, and my uncle all by force-fed me what was left. They had quite the dinner: some form of meat, edamame, grapple, and the guinea pig dish of the night - bombay sweet potatoes. Let me explain the guinea pig dish. Apparently my uncle likes to experiment every so often, and he picks some exotic or interesting recipe to try. Tonight's recipe had a bit of an Indian flavor: sweet potatoes with tomatoes and spices that are usually only used in conjunction with curry dishes.

When he first explained what this dish was, my uncle made sure to warn me that it was weird, and would probably never be made again in their family. So I will admit that I went into it expecting the worst. First, I generally don't like sweet potatoes. Second, I generally don't like Indian food. And third, I generally trust my uncle's opinion. So the dish had nothing going for it and everything against it. And it turned out to be fabulous. I loved it, which surprised everyone, including me. I loved it so much that I asked my uncle for the recipe, and he willing gave it to me. So I got a new recipe and a greater appreciation for guinea pig dishes. I just love experimental cooking.