Rice slightly salty to the tongue with the full fragrance of rich coconut milk, and the underlying herbal scent of warm banana leaf.
The first pudding I ever ate was a rice pudding with stewed prunes, the Friday night dessert at my very English boarding school.
It's sour, it'll clear out your sinuses, it's Shanxi old vinegar, one of the oldest food products from the region.
Vinegar is one of the staples in the Chinese kitchen, together with oil, rice, salt and soy sauce.
It took several persistent tries before we were granted our request. It was the wrong season, we were told, but we were truly reluctant to leave Qufu without visiting the Confucius Family Wine Brewery.
Before I describe one of the best meals I've had recently - the Moravian-style rabbit at the new Czech Pub near Beijing's Ritan Park - I have to 'fess up.
If you take a closer look at the ingredients on Madison's menu, you may just start asking questions.
We hear of food that travels, but here's a beer that's been down under and back, as Mike Peters finds out.
El Bulli, which has been the most influential restaurant in the world, served its last dinner on July 30.
International media is fond of compiling endless lists of the best and worst.