The Open Food Mind

We all have familiar patterns – typically, things we grew up with.  Things our parents or grandparents told us.  Things which were common, or “known” in our community.

In my experience, food is high on this list.  Like most people, I grew up understanding the foods my parents ate, and developed initial opinions and preferences on this basis.  For example, I still can’t fathom why anyone would ruin a perfectly good potato salad by putting pickles (or relish) in it.  I’m completely baffled on this one – and that’s only partly because I cannot stand pickles.  But that’s another one of those “other-day” topics.

However, as I grew up and got out into the broader world, I realized that there were foods I’d never had.  Foods I didn’t even know existed.  As a true lover of food – cooking it, smelling it, and most especially eating it – this was a wonderful revelation.  At some of my early jobs, I was able to get to know people from other cultures and try many different things.  Dim Sum is still something where I like some bits and not others, but it was a great experience to try with someone who spoke the language and could educate me.  I’ve been privileged to try foods from India, China, Vietnam, and the Mediterranean this way, and have gained many new favourites in doing so.

On to my honey.  When we got together, he knew what he liked.  You know – manly foods.  Burgers, steaks, chicken wings, a Hungry Man Dinner when he was bach’ing it.  Some stuffed peppers might be acceptable – lots of meat in those.  My cooking style is a little broader, as he learned.  Fortunately, he liked what he was getting enough to try new things, if with some trepidation.

The first revelation was quiche.  His response to this one was quick and simple “My dad always said ‘real men don’t eat quiche’”.  He got “the look” – whether you’ve been on the giving or receiving end of it, you know the one.  Once I had his clear attention, I recited the quiche’s ingredients:  eggs, ham, cheese (lots of it), cream, onion.  In a pie crust.  All things we’d clearly established he liked well.  He looked back at me as though confused.  How COULD a ‘real man’ NOT want to eat ham, egg and cheese pie?  He tried the quiche, and learned a powerful lesson:  real men don’t just eat quiche, they ask for seconds.  He still doesn’t understand his dad’s mindset on this, but being a guy, I can’t see him bringing this up as a topic of dissent.

The next revelation came at a restaurant.  We were in Niagara wine country, with a tour booked at Peller Estates.  However, we had a couple of hours free before our tour, and as we hadn’t yet eaten lunch, opted to try the winery’s restaurant.  (It’s really good if you have a chance to get there).  As we perused the menu and daily specials, we noticed the featured soup of the day, Parsnip with Poached Pear.  Before I could even get a word out, Larry exclaimed “why would anyone ruin a perfectly good pear with a parsnip?”.   I laughed.  He couldn’t imagine anything more terrible.  When I replied that I thought it sounded tasty, though, he paid attention. (See, he’s learned a thing or two on this.)  And when I said I’d like to try it, he said he would too.  I’m still not sure if that was just some manly version of one-upmanship, or whether he was truly curious about this strange-sounding thing I would bravely try.  Needless to say, our soup arrived, and it was velvety, creamy, and absolutely delicious.  So delicious, in fact, that my honey couldn’t get enough of it.  When the bread provided wasn’t sufficient to soak up a few remnants left in the bowl, he was chagrined to find that his tongue wasn’t long enough to get them all.  Yes, his tongue.  Yes, I let him do it.  Heck, he tried parsnip soup and liked it.  Why not let the guy enjoy every drop he could get? 

Many years later, he still remembers that soup, and finds that roasted parsnips are also pretty tasty.

The third big revelation came a few years later, when an Indian restaurant opened within walking distance of our home.  I had enjoyed curry previously, but as I hadn’t made it at home, my honey had not tried this.  To say he was unenthused was an understatement.  Time spent in apartment building halls with overpowering curry smells had given him – as many people – a bad impression of curry’s incredible deliciousness.  We got to the restaurant and he was relieved to note that not only did they have our favourite beer (Alexander Keith’s) on tap, they had “normal food” on the menu.  You’ve probably guessed by now that I can’t resist a challenge, and this was no exception.  I … pushed him a little to try the butter chicken as an “intro to curries”.  After some heaving and sighing, he agreed.  You can guess the rest, right? Our meals came, and his butter chicken was amazing in both aroma and taste (as was my own curry).  He’s since become more adventurous and now tries other curries as well, though the butter chicken is still a favourite. 

His love of curry has been rather fortuitous!  When health issues forced me to change to a gluten-free, dairy-free diet in early 2018, I discovered that cuisines originating outside North America are more easily adapted to this without heavily manufactured substitute products, and as a result we’ve been enjoying curries from several cuisines of late.  Maybe I’ll talk more about curries another day.

The lessons?  My honey’s is obvious – trying new foods is tasty and fun, and he should trust my judgment.  (This is a very good lesson).  My own?  When I try something new, it gives me the opportunity to share it with others as well as broadening my own horizons.  And, sometimes it’s right for me to push people to do things outside their comfort zone.  I’m fairly adventurous on some counts and that gives me the chance to practice my leadership skills in encouraging others to come along for the ride!

Till next time ….