One of the miracles of trying cuisines other than one's own is the vast variety of flavors and textures that are available. For instance, I've long been eating sushi, but generally the more "standard" options - starting with tuna and salmon, and branching out to mackerel, eel, octopus, squid, etc.
However, some forms of rarer seafood tend to get a bit pricey. That's when vacations come in to play. You see, sometimes you have to "Treat yo' self". So, that's exactly what I did while visiting some friends. This time, uni came to play. I'm only using the Japanese name to sound particularly fancy. It means sea urchin. At $10 for a piece, it was more expensive than the rest of the sushi I ate that day. Combined. But as an experience, I'm happy I chose to get it.
The roll on the left is eel and cucumber sushi. Pretty run of the mill stuff, and I got exactly what I expected. On the right, the orange part is the sea urchin. Perhaps it is the most unusual food that I've eaten, texture wise. I really can't draw any direct comparison. On one hand, it is a bit rich and creamy. However, it also is a bit slimy. Lastly, it dissolves in your mouth the way cotton candy does. The closest I've come to describing it is a cotton candy with a gelatinous consistency. But even this doesn't do uni justice. Unlike those textural comparisons, it has the briny umami quality we desire from fresh sea food. It truly is like nothing else.
Most of the available desserts had, in my opinion, closer ties to Italian cuisine than Japanese. Sorbets, tiramisu, etc. Perhaps not entirely relevant to the main course, but mango sorbet served in half a fruit really hit home.
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