New thing #1: Menudo is boring

I tried tripe for the first time tonight.

Menudo is a soup of tripe, hominy, and bright red chili broth that is a frequent sight on the tables of Mexican families, especially on Sunday nights. Well, tonight is Sunday, so I thought it would be appropriate. I also got a pupusa just in case I didn't like it. For people who don't know, a pupusa is a thick corn tortilla stuffed with (in this case) pork, refried beans, and panela cheese. And it's a good thing I did, because menudo is utterly boring. I expected the tripe to have a taste, but no, it was just chewy nothingness. Even with the flavorful broth, the tripe itself tasted like nothing at all.

Tripe is another thing to add to my list of foods I don't like because of their lack of flavor. I don't care at all that it happens to be from the animal's stomach. So what? Chorizo is made of salivary glands. Foie gras is liver. It's not like stomach lining is all that different. Here's the list of unappetizingly bland foods in its present form: jicama, hearts of palm, water chestnuts, and now tripe. Oddly enough, I adore eggplant, despite the fact that it has barely any of its own flavor and is essentially a sponge for other foods.

Since being back in LA (last night) I have also had dinner at the very interesting restaurant Encounter. Encounter, as I said in a previous post, is shaped like a UFO and sixties themed. Upon walking into the building, you go up an elevator with purple lights and hilarious music, and up to the restaurant. Once you're up there, you have a great view of downtown. Finally the food came. I played it safe, ordering ahi tuna tartare for my appetizer and mushroom ravioli with goat cheese for my main dish. It was good, but I do not feel that the meal warranted its price. Nothing about it was surprising or new. If you pay $17 for an appetizer, it had better not be the same ahi tuna tartare that you can get anywhere else. It should be fun. Here's the formula they used: sesame sauce, pickled sushi ginger, avocado, wasabi in a ring around the plate, and very fresh tuna. Good, but certainly not different or utterly delicious.

Going back to the tripe, now I can at least say I have tried it.