Ox Eyes For Dessert

Boys and Girls,

You know that I have never been one to walk away from a sweet treat, so when I came across a bakery in Mexico I just had to walk in and buy something to eat. 

It is overwhelming when you are staring at racks full of baked goods, all of them covered in frosting and sprinkles, and each one looking more tasty than the next, but when I saw the "ojos de buey" I knew I just had to try it.

It looked so disgusting, I just had to try it!

"Ojos de buey" means ox eyes in Spanish, but if you ask me I think the dessert looks more like ox brains! 

Boy oh boy, was it ever sweet.  Two semi-spherical vanilla doughnuts with chocolate icing holding them together, wrapped in a sugary sweet red paste and then coated in sweetened coconut, my teeth are hurting just thinking about it.  I had one bite of the "ojos de buey" and had to save the rest for later...it was just too sweet.

Something tells me this isn't a healthy snack.

What happens to you when you eat too much sugar?

I hope I can find some more tasty treats to eat in Mexico!

Mr. P

Like a Kid in a Sweet Shop

I think I have found my favourite place in India, it is Gujrat Sweet Mart in Panjim.  Here you will find nothing but rows and rows of Indian sweets all available for you to munch on.  It was hard picking just one thing to try.  All of the sweets looked delicious.

Most Indian sweets are prepared with the same few ingredients, milk, sugar, butter and different kinds of flours.  These ingredients are cooked or fried separately and then put together in ball or bar form for you to eat.  This makes the sweets different then the cookies that you are used.  Instead of being dry and crunchy most Indian sweets are moist and soft.

Several of the sweets are covered in varakh, a paper made of silver that you can actually eat.  People like varakh because it makes the sweets shine and look extra special.

As a special treat I had a kaju laddu, a tasty cashew ball, and to drink I ordered a lassi, a sweet yogurt drink that helps wash down all the sweetness.  I was tempted by the other sweets on display, but I didn't want to spoil my dinner by eating too many sweets, so I paid the bill (75 cents) and continued to explore the city.

Here are some of the fancier desserts avaiable at Gujrat. 

Indian Delicacies

Walking around Ancestral Goa I came across a lady selling snacks at a little stand.  She had two baskets filled with what looked like candy.  I asked her about the two treats for sale.

Yummy treats for sale.

She explained that "Sweet Amla" were Indian gooseberries, and "Tamarind Toffees" were simply "sweet and sour".  They sounded interesting so I couldn't resist trying both.  I paid her 30 rupees (around 75 cents) and took a package of each.  The amla were just like giant, gooey raisins.  Sticky and sweet, I enjoyed munching on them.  Sweet amla has been soaked in sugar a long time to give the amla a pleasant taste as usually it is too bitter to eat.

The tamarind toffees were interesting in a weird way.  They tasted fine, they were kind of sweet and kind of sour just like I was promised.  What I had trouble with was their texture.  They were just a big, black, gooey mess of tamarind pulp and when you put them in your mouth there were little twigs and fibres that got caught on your tongue, so I didn't really enjoy eating those.

As well as enjoying sweets, I have also had wonderful dinners in India.  One night I ordered a South Indian specialty, a paper masala dosa.


A paper masala dosa with spicy sauces and a yogurt dip (raita) to help cool your tongue after eating all that spice.

When it arrived I laughed at how big it was, so big it didn't even fit on the plate!  Normally dosas are soft and easy to break apart but eating a paper dosa is different.  The dosa is paper thin so it is kind of like eating a giant potato chip that has been wrapped around spicy potatoes and onions.  It is pretty tricky to eat without making a mess, but lucky for me the table came well stocked with napkins.  I enjoyed every last crispy bit of my paper dosa.  I can't wait to have one again soon.