Someone once told me that every new food you try adds ten minutes to your life. Now, I'm not sure about the science behind this statement, but I'd agree that there is much pleasure to be gained from trying new things, and surely that's got to be good for you. There is a cute infographic here that adds time to your life for drinking one glass of alcohol and 2-3 cups of coffee each day, while another adds and subtracts microlives for different types of activity.I got to thinking about some of the 'new' flavours I have tried or taken a liking to in recent months. Food markets are a great way of experimenting with flavours and we are lucky to have several good ones in Wellington. This city really is a foodie's haven.
I was treated to homemade melktert for the second time this week. This milk tart is a South African dessert with a baked biscuit crumb crust and a milky filling that is reminiscent of Italian crema, but not quite as sweet. The only thing better than a slice of milktert for morning tea is an even bigger slab of melktert for afternoon tea. Believe me, it's good.
✔ 10 minutes.
Speaking of South African delights, I have also learned about the joys of biltong, or cured meat. On Trays in Petone has a range of fresh biltong available that you can sample. I recently bought a bag of Nelson biltong, which has a full, gamey flavour and is all too easy to demolish.
✔ Another ten minutes.
And what about new drinks? I'd say they are easily good for another ten minutes each. At a conference today, we were served Optimism cocktails, named for the sponsoring company. Made from tequila, triple sec, strawberry crush and freshly squeezed lemon juice in a salt-rimmed Martini glass, they went down well on a sunny Tuesday afternoon in winter, even for this non-tequila drinker.
✔ Ten minutes. (We won't worry about deducting any minutes that I am convinced tequila shortens your life by. Ahem.)
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| Optimism cocktail |
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