"Don, thanks for the info on the radishes. I'm going to keep my eyes open for them, just out of curiosity. Being sweet and considerate (what's this about a fiendish grin???) I'd test them on myself before EVER inflicting them on a guest. Really." -- Carolly Try Monterey Market (sp?). What? Did I ever say you had a fiendish grin? {shuffles feet while whistling tunelessly and looking at the upper corners of the room} ;) -- Don

genny -- Not offended at all. I tend to forget how harsh a terse statement can look without a smiley or other such indication. No, I am grinning fiendishly at the thought of a Carolly-instigated goth party (you've seen Carolly grin fiendishly, right? like that, only somewhat less fiendish since I don't run RPGs :), and enjoying the chit-chat. I didn't really expect you to make pasta from scratch, though the recipe URL I sent explains that you add the cuttlefish ink to the milk before mixing the pasta. (And if bottled cuttlefish ink is easier to find than black pasta, I'll be very surprised :) -- Don

Of course, part of the fun of Googling is the automatic ads: ======== New & used Black Pasta Check out the deals now! www.ebay.com ========

genny -- If we can't find pre-blackened pasta, let's just leave that off the menu. -- Don

"...I have never made Pasta in my life from scratch..." -genny There are recipes online: http://www.milioni.com/ricingl/dati/341.htm But, considering how many pages I get when I Google for "black pasta" (exact phrase), I suspect someone around here carries it. -- Don

"Black radishes... hmm... what do they taste like?" -- Carolly Well, it's been a while, but... radish-like, I'd say. As I recall, they are black on the outside, red on the inside. And maybe we could track down a supplier of black pasta (traditionally colored with cuttlefish ink; are we goth enough yet?). And... hmm. This could be interesting. -- Don

"Every time I'm in Safeway and see yellow watermelons and blue potatoes and purple syrup and pink butter, I am reminded of how much our impressions of food are "colored" by tradition and familiarity." -- Carolly Yes, indeed. I do some shopping at Berkeley Bowl and other places that carry items like fractal broccoli, black radishes, and such. I did a rice and beans dish once using black beans and black rice. Very gothic (one of Fritz Leiber's stories had a banquet table of all black foods; he had fun figuring out all the items). And at a Thai eatery there was a wall poster of a fruit basket with dozens of types of fruit. I recognized three of them. -- Don

"one of these years I'm going to have a science fiction party where all the food will be strangely colored and interesting" -- Carolly We will hold you to that, you know. Meanwhile, I think I'll bring my bean salad. It's not Springish, but it's notorious. -- Don Simpson