For those of you wondering what type of dinosaur I referenced in the title to this post…the answer is: D) None of the above. It is not even an animal. Of course I am coming to you humbly to discuss “The” Mexican Turnip or jicama (pronounced: Zi Cama – or so it says online).

I am sensing some of you may be confused so let me explain. Today (Monday actually) at work a co-worker was eating some whitish strips that I thought may have been cheese sticks. No sir, no ma’am. She was eating jicama (see above for pronunciation). Another co-worker asked what she was eating and she said something that sounded like High Kama. My mind overlaid the word eczema (which is a skin condition) and my facial expression must have reflected a certain amount of disgust. My co-worker offered me a piece of this mystery food. Skeptical but always open for a new experience I tentatively bit into the whitish rectangle. Initially I was expecting something spongy and soft (SAWFT if you are a wrestling fan) but it was more like biting into a water chestnut, that is to say borderline crispy. And now for the taste…the taste…the taste…um, there really was no taste to speak of. Yes I ended the previous sentence with a preposition and frankly I do not give a dehydrated mouse’s liver if it offends anyone – assuming mice have livers. I know rats have livers and would assume the anatomy would be similar for mice just different size scale. Anyway, back to the un-blindfolded taste test of jicama…

The taste was pretty much nonexistent with maybe a hint of sweetness and the texture, chewing experience is very similar for me to the water chestnut. It wasn’t terrible nor was it really enjoyable. As a small child I once started munching on the Styrofoam packing pieces that accompanied some item my parents purchased (explains some things about me doesn’t it?). Eating the jicama brought that experience to mind. If pressed to say one way or the other if I liked or disliked jicama, I would have to marginally say I liked it. Given a choice of jicama or fresh coconut, I will enthusiastically opt for the coconut.

I have done no real research on the seasonality or availability of jicama so if you are further intrigued, I will let you do your own due diligence. I’m guessing there are stages of ‘ripeness’ like with other fruits and vegetables but on this topic I am clueless. For all I know I was eating a vegetable that was not even ripe yet. Maybe that is why it was so ‘crispy’, then again maybe I was eating it at its optimal consumability? If there are any connoisseurs of this food, please email or text me and let me know.

Happy Hump Day!

Peace.