Sofi HaGirafa meets The Golden Giraffa

I am sure you were not expecting this post! ^__^

Golden Girafa?! Sounds very intriguing, doesn't it? Almost -- if not more intriguing than the post on the Elusive Dolphin, am I right? ^__^

Well this time: I found her! Not that I was looking for or even knew about her... and no, I am sorry.... *sigh* it is not an Indiana Jones's adventure...

A couple of days ago I shopped where I rarely do. How exciting I can see you think..... Well the fact is that I wanted some fresh fish, and no, you cannot find this in the supermarket. 

So I went to one of the very few fish stores in my city. This one is located in the corner of some tiny residential streets, among other small shops and coffee place. It reminded me in a minuscule way of the HDB Food and Market Centers in Singapore, where everyone knows everyone else, everybody chit-chats easily,no rush, good food, no cars and no parking needed.

Example of an HDB and Food and Market in Singapore,

a very pleasant outdoor experience!

And since I also needed vegetables, I decided to buy them to the next door shop!

And this is when the incredible happened....

The store was empty, spacious, but not big. The vegetables were on vertical shelves along the walls, something you do not see much in those modern supermarkets, where vegetables are usually placed in large "trays" at a customer's body level, well lit to look more enticing. I gathered what I needed, and when I was about to pay, I noticed a refrigerated shelf with some products that I did not recognize at first glance. I went to have a look and one of the items had a Giraffe!!! A beautiful, golden giraffe!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, I had to buy it! It was cheap, ... and it was a jar of "white Tahina"!

Tahina is most closely associated with the Middle East, where it is eaten as it is, and is often used in making hummus (mashed chickpeas, flavored with lemon juice and garlic), baba ghanoush (a purée of eggplant, lemon juice, garlic, and oil), halvah (a nougat-like dessert), etc. I do not know what the white tahina is specifically for, since it is still a challenge for me to eat tahina of any color, hummus barely, and impossible to eat halvah! 

This is what it looks like for those of you with gastronomic curiosity ^__^

  

Miam Miam?

This particular brand of Tahina is called "the golden giraffa" in both Arabic and Hebrew. The old man in charge of the store assured me that it was the best of its kind. I thanked him, and left very happy with my precious purchase! People must have wondered why I had this big smile on my face leaving with my bag of lemons and tomatoes ...if only they had known... ^__^

Anyway, isn't she beautiful and majestic?

Ssshhhh!

No name please, we do not want to hurt any giraffe's feeling...

I'm looking for the unexpected.

I'm looking for things I've never seen before.

 Robert Mapplethorpe