It's Alimentary My Dear - aka - You Can't Use the "N" Word

Living in an area with a sizable Asian population affords me the opportunity to try a variety new foods that I am enjoying quite a bit.

The newest is "alimentary noodles" from Japan. I was one of my favorite stores after work and in the refrigerator section I saw these fresh, creamy, milky white noodles the thickness of a pencil. I had to try them especially because of their name and their size. It was a 3 pack of noodles that included a packet of dry soup mix for each. It was so yummy and didn't taste "pre-packaged" at all.. The texture of the noodles was perfect.

Sidenote: I love this store.... I also got a chocolate babka and Italian Muscat grapes.... those of you who know about my "grape-scapades" last April in Seattle .... these are THOSE grapes :-)

Now you may be asking - what the hell are "alimentary noodles"? Here is the description according to The Cook's Thesarus:

Until recently, the U.S. government required a noodle to contain flour, water, and eggs to be rightly called a noodle. Since most Asian noodles aren't made with eggs, this left them without much of an identity. The FDA permitted names like "alimentary paste" and "imitation noodles," but Asian noodle producers--from the birthplace of the noodle no less--could not use the n-word. The government finally relented, and we can now use the name "Asian noodles."