Care for a Kumquat, Katie?
(If you can say that three times fast, I bow to you.)
I am so super-over-the-moon excited about how many people want to take on this New-Foods’ Challenge!! Y’all are so much fun 
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Just to clarify, because I think my directions were a bit confusing: To be entered in the contest, you technically only have to try one new food during the duration of the contest. But I’ll be trying a new food each new week, because: More new foods = More fun! So it’d be awesome if y’all tried a new food per week, too, and left a comment after each one (or blogged about each one), telling me about it (that way, I can pick your brains for my own new-food ideas 
). And hey, don’t feel limited by the so-called contest rules; if you really want to, who says you can’t go crazy and try a new food per day?!
For the first week of my challenge, I picked up a new (to me) fruit at Whole Foods– Kumquats. They certainly didn’t look scary (unlike the bottom-left fruit on this page!).
After googling the mini fruits (seriously, what did we do before Google?), I discovered that one is actually supposed to eat the skin. So, I took a bite, skin and all.
Oh HOLY SOURNESS! Remember Warheads? Well, these kumquats are like Mother Nature’s version of the popular candies. The skin, itself, is sweet. But beware the flesh!
Chocolate-Covered Meal of the Day:
Kumquats and cashews, 2 packs of Steamfresh brussels sprouts, deliciously-soft homemade bread, and what on earth is that purple stuff, you ask? Why it’s none other than a gigundo purple-y mess of Monster-Mashed Cauliflower! (I used Version Two, which would also make an awesome sauce– for veggies, for pasta, even for salad greens!)
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The meal was a graveyard smash! Well, all except for the kumquats. Oh I wanted to like them, I really did. But my taste buds rebelled on me. They were just too gosh-darn sour, the little buggers!
Hopefully I’ll have better luck in Week Two of the Challenge.
Ohhh I always see those at the store but I’ve never tried them. This time of year I see all kinds of cool new fruits/veggies at the farmer’s market. This will be lots of fun
Those look delicious! I have not tried them either. I also cannot say Kumquat Katie 3 X’s either
There is a kumquat festival where I live… interesting perhaps, but I’ve never had one or been to celebrate all the kum-quat-ness!!!
I had to try kumquats a lot of times before I finally figured out that they taste good. But I think you have it backwards; the skin is sour, and the inside is sweet. A friend recommended not eating them whole but rather smashing them up with sugar and sparkling water to get a kumquat soda. They’re good like that too.
good job trying them! I’ve never even seen them in a store here!
I love purple cauliflower
dear dear!!! these are common fruits in China but people don’t eat it raw, they usually make preserves with it or marinate it in honey and lemon and then make tea with it.
I thought about trying kumquats, but the produce guy at WFoods warned me, he was like “You won’t like them, they are SO sour” Now I’m glad I believed him and put them back!
Ok it took me a second to figure out how on earth your cauliflower mash was purple…. I was like um Katie, are you sure you weren’t using cabbage?!
I’ve never seen purple cauliflower before but I do make this mash all the time, its so yummy!!!
I’ve always wanted to try kumquats! I think the name of them is just too funny.
Love your purple cauliflower!!!
I just tried a new food today, I will be blogging about it tonight =)
Hmm, I’m still curious about the kumquats. I do like me some sour food, perhaps I would enjoy them.
And I totally thought you had blended up some purple cabbage in that photo, possibly with some grains. Which, might not be a bad idea!
what! i ADORE kumquats! one of my fav fruits! the ones i usually eat are equally sweet as they are sour. i’m actually planning on baking a citrus bread using kumquats tmo morning! maybe you’d like that better…
what a weird little fruit!
Katie! I’ve seen those little things in the grocery store and I’ve ALWAYS been so curious about them! I figured they’d taste like little oranges, but I guess not
Haha thanks for the warhead warning! Hope you’re having a lovely day!
Love, Meg
I love this challenge! Already have next week’s new food picked out
It’s crazy kumquats are supposed to be eaten with the skin. I wouldn’t have guessed that!
My boyfriend bought those once because he likes to try new things, and I couldn’t decide if I liked them or not! I haven’t bought them since, so probably not. They are interesting, and so sour! But the inside is so delicious. A connundrum indeed.
Oh, no, I LOVE kumquats! I just re-visited them on Sunday at the Veggie Pride Parade and then had to run out and buy a box for myself. I snacked on them last night and brought some with my lunch today. I understand why they’d be too sour for some people’s palates, though. Thank goodness for a vast selection of fruits and veggies in this country!
I love kumquats! A friend brought them to kindergarten (yes, I still remember!) and I was hooked there after.
You’ve inspired me to want to try new foods! (other than vegan sweets, haha) I’ve never had Kamquats- I don’t think I plan to even though I (am one in a million) who likes the taste of lemons!
(especially squeezed into tea with some agave nectar!)
Don’t throw them out, just make some kind of sweetened compote with them. If you stew them with sugar (and I’m going to guess a spritz of lemon juice), or even look up a recipe for cooked kumquats, you might like them and won’t have wasted food!
I love kumquats..
Make jam with them! It’s delicious!
Well you get snaps for trying kumquats in the first place. I don’t know that I would have done the same! I do think that produce is a great place to start for new foods, though. I just learned about ramps on Tri to Cook – never knew about those before!
Katie,
My new food of the day was avacado:
http://curlytopbop.blogspot.com/2009/04/facing-big-green-monster.html#comments
Yum!
Have a great day sweetie!
With love,
Emily
I love kumquats! I’ve always loved sour foods, ever since I was a baby, or so says my mother.
im not the biggest fan of those little guys.. but theyre not bad at all!!!!
i cant wait to see what you try next!!! I tried Kombucha today… I LOVE IT!!!
-thanks for the happy birthday girlie
I’ve always wondered about kumquats! But now I’m not going to bother because I don’t really care for sour stuff. Can’t wait to see what you try next!
Kumquats are good candied. But that’s about it.
I love kumquats! Well–come to think of it, I’ve only had them once…and I *was* chasing them with lychee martinis at a Chinese New Year’s party…but they were fun to eat
i’ve had kumquats before and i like em! i mean, some are pretty sour but they are kinda good too. so cute!
I’ve had kumquats in a salad once..they were fine that way. And I also tried a new food today. ;P Its on my blog if you’re interested.
Definitely try guava. I heated mine up today in the microwave. I was reading their nutritional info and a serving has 56% DV of fiber. CRAZY!
Hmm thanks for the idea for my “K” bowl of oats…
We used to have a kumquat tree in our yard when I was a child. I didn’t care for them then, but I wish I had that tree now!
Hey Katie,
I just tried Barney Butter, almond butter for the first time this morning. I’ll be honestly, I liked the texture, it was nice and creamy, but the taste wasn’t nearly what I was hoping for.
My raw almond butter that I make is better, and TJs almond butter is much better. I didn’t hate it, but I would not buy a jar of it over another almond butter.
Guess it can’t always be a good experience with new foods!
Have a great weekend!
kumquats! they’re supposed to be really good in healing flu and stuff, esp with honey and made into tea! I am really liking your new foods challenge…it’s nice to venture out a bit and be more adventurous with food! there are a billion different things out there, it’s boring to stick with the same kinds of food over and over again!
I can’t just munch on kumquats whole, but I like them thinly sliced and tossed into a salad. I feel like they are inside out fruits. If nothing else, they are really pretty.
I love the bowl of purple mash!!
I’ve never tried kumquats before (but I do love their name). I don’t think I’d like them very much if they are as sour as you claim. I prefer my fruits to be sweet!
Oi ! Kumquats ! I beat you on that, I had them ages ago in cooking class ( and a kiwi, too, which I was afraid to try again, because my first try had been desastrous, taste-wise, – turned out, that the first time I had had the then novelty fruit I actually had had a rotten one, ha ! … which NOW makes me nervous about the pittahaya I have bought for the challenge…. what if THIS is gone off as well ????)
Katie, your challenge is turning out to be a real challenge for me !!!
heck, what I wanted to say was… maybe the kumquats hadn’t reached their height of ripeness yet ? Because what I meant to tell you was, though I recall sourness, they were really well-balanced sweet and sour little buggers, the kummies, fruity perfection… as was the kiwi my teacher forced me to eat .
I am forever grateful to Frau Espe for being so persistent!
Oh dear! Sorry about the sourness! My Mum goes mad over Kumquat Jam, maybe you could make something like that with them?
ooooh kumquats! lovely start to the challenge indeedy – my family and i always eat ONLY the skin and use the fruit as one would use lemon juice (it’s certainly equally sour!) the skin is so lovely and citrusy and tart, and a symbol of good luck for the chinese.
can’t wait for more!
I’ve always been curious about kumquats, but now at least I have some idea what they taste like! Sour isn’t my particular favorite either, so I’ll probably avoid them. Kiwis, however, ARE to die for. Have you ever tried starfruit?
OOHHH kumquats …. squezze a lil bit into cold sprakling mineral water + drop in some stevia (optional) >> enjoy … it’s really good that way. I think kumquats are not good to be eaten as a whole fruit – i think its best to treat it as lemons
I am not a fan of kumquats, so I think you’re very brave for trying them!
ooh, fun! i’m not a fan, either
they are too sour for me! lychees on the other hand, I could eat all day!