1. Nuoc cu nang
Beverage: Nuoc cu nang/Chesnut drink
Ingredients: Water, chesnut, sugar
Appearance: One part particle physics laboratory, two parts peasouper fog a la London in the time of ace crime buster Sherlock Holmes. The motionless chesnut particles bring to mind images of an agitated, yet spookily calm millpond.
Aroma: Naked, of earth, yet tropical, clean and spiritual. Yes, this drink's got religion.
Taste: Sacharine sweet tree roots interwoven with those crunchy nut mid-beverage hanging particles. Drop the harsh artificial tasting sugar mouthmine and this tipple is well on the way to a health farm endorsement deal, sourcing a local yogi and teaching learned foragers a thing or two about nature's bounty.
If this drink were a TV show it would be... The Good Life. The sorta thing Tom and Barbara would rustle up after a hard day's composting.
Our survey said... 6.82 out of 10 organically grown, sustainably farmed, fibre providing points.
Cost: 3,600VD roughly 0.23 US dollars, 362 Vatican City Lira or 0.65 Lithuanian Litas.
All these drinks are way too sweet in my opinion. But, of course, my husband and most other guys I know like them.
Posted by: Lei/cottontimer | June 24, 2005 at 10:43 AM
Well I'll soon be finding out whether they are or are not.
Just out of interest, why do say "of course" your husband and mates like them? To sterotype for a minute, I would've thought it was women who preferred sweet things more than men. At least that's the perception I find in Asia.
Posted by: pieman | June 24, 2005 at 11:34 AM
Hi pieman,
This sounds interesting, but if it has that "artificial" sweetness to it, I probably wouldn't want to try it. I've noticed that SE Asians like spicy/sweet things. In fact, I was at a Thai restaurant the other day and a lady put tons of chillies in her bowl of soup. After doing so and tasting for spiciness, she proceeds to put tons of sugar in there as well!
Posted by: Reid | June 24, 2005 at 01:38 PM
My comment pertains more to drinks than cakes or cookies (although my skinny-as-a-stick husband likes those too). I've just observed that few men like to drink plain water or non-sugary drinks preferring instead juices and soft drinks. Agree?
Posted by: Lei/cottontimer | June 24, 2005 at 03:22 PM
Not sure I do agree Lei. I do like a can of coke, or at least the first half of it, when I need a fake sugary hit. but you simply cannot beat a large swiftly downed ice cold glass of water after sweating your way around Saigon for an hour or two. Marvellous.
Posted by: pieman | June 27, 2005 at 08:32 AM