I promised this last week, and since I haven't done much cooking this week (that happens sometimes, much as I wish it were not the case), I thought this was a good time.
We all have things--food things--that we just love. Those things we seek out when they're in season, or must order when we see on a menu. We also have those things that make us scrunch up our faces when we mention them, those things we push to the side of our plate, and those things that we can't even smell for fear of our stomach turning. That's what this post is about. I figure if you know my biases, you'll better be able to tell whether or not you can trust my judgment on all things food-related.
I'll start with the negative and work to the positive.
Vegetables: Lima beans, beets.
As a little girl, I was forced to sit at the table by myself to finish my peas and lima beans. Peas I [mostly] got over with age, but lima beans linger. I will eat around them in vegetable soup. I will pick them out of succotash. They are mealy and bland and just...ew. Beets are both better and worse. In recent years, I have encountered a bite or two of roasted beet that did not completely gross me out. But in general, I avoid them like the plague, as they mostly remind me of those foul purple pickled beets of my childhood. *shudder*
Meat and seafood: Mussels/clams/oysters, sushi.
It's the texture of mussels, et al., that I cannot get over. If I happen across a fried clam, I'm usually okay. As for sushi, I can tolerate a California or salmon-cream cheese roll when the need arises...but in general? Not my first choice.
Dairy: Milk, French cheeses.
As a little girl, my mom had to add strawberry or chocolate Quik to my milk to get me to drink any. To this day, I don't think I could drink a glass of plain milk if you paid me $100. (Oddly, I love pretty much all other dairy. I would bathe in sour cream if I could.) The French cheese thing surprises me, too, especially considering how much I like other cheeses...and how much I like pretty much everything else French. But the French keep their cheese at room temperature, allowing them to get extra ripe. And they really like them ripe and stinky. On my two trips to France, I have tried all varieties of French cheese (even some very fine ones at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Provence). I have only found a few I can handle: Comté, which is basically French Swiss cheese, Boursin, and the occasional bit of Saint-André. I actually detest both Brie and Camembert. Yes, I really feel that strongly about cheese.
Other: Chocolate combined with citrus flavors, licorice, eggs (hard-boiled or poached)
Chocolate with mint, yes. Chocolate with peanut butter, please yes. Chocolate with coffee, anytime. Chocolate with raspberry or cherry, okay. But with lemon or orange? PASS. Also, there are two kinds of people in the world: people who like licorice and people who think those people are crazy. I'm the latter. The only way I eat eggs is scrambled or in an omelet. I cannot think of much that is grosser than the solidified sulfur-smelling yolk of a hard-boiled egg. But the runny yolk of a fried or poached egg is a close second.
Okay, onto my food obessions!
Vegetables and fruit: asparagus, nectarines, rhubarb, pumpkin.
I have loved asparagus since I was a little bitty girl. Truly. If it was a touch overcooked and soft, I would suck it down like spaghetti. If it was crisp, I'd try to do the same. To this day, I will eat asparagus whenever I can, however it is prepared. But it's best with hollandaise sauce, and everyone knows that. Nectarines, when perfectly ripe? Wow. Just...wow. It's the only food other than corn that I don't mind picking out of my teeth. And rhubarb? I think it's because I grew up in the Midwest. I love rhubarb. Whenever I can actually get some that's good, I will cook it as many ways as I can. And pumpkin? I could go on for hours. I will eat it in pie, bread, muffins, cookies, or cheesecake. I will also eat it in pasta, casseroles, or soup. I count down to fall every year just because of pumpkin.
Dairy: Goat cheese.
Mmmmmmmmmm. I discovered this when I was in college, I think, and my mom made these Three Cheese Chicken Enchiladas that were so good...and the third cheese was goat cheese. I haven't been able to control myself since then.
Fungus: Mushrooms, truffles.
I love them all, prepared any way. I don't eat raw mushrooms, generally, but that only leaves about 934875984 other ways to prepare them. My favorites are the simple cremini and the morel. My only exception is straw mushrooms, as found in Chinese food. But the truffles...oh, the truffles. Truffled pasta with nothing more than butter, salt, and Parmesan...soooo good. Or those "truffle love letters" I had at that fancy restaurant, where pasta was filled with mascarpone, truffles, and drizzled with truffle oil and truffle shavings. That was 4+ years ago, and I remember it well.
Herbs: Fresh basil, fresh cilantro, lavender.
Ever since I learned I could grow these myself? The world has been a happier place. My favorite ways of showing off basil are tomato-basil-mozzarella salad...or fresh pesto. And cilantro? Makes salsa and guacamole about 1000x better. Lavender I discovered in the last couple of years, and it really is a delicious addition to many desserts--my lavender shortbread cookies come to mind.
Other: All other things French.
Truly. I have a propensity for recipes like steak au poivre, bœuf bourguignon, chocolate mousse, potato galettes, etc. I have dreams at night about really good French onion soup with a croque monsieur. And don't get me started on the pastries.
There's probably a lot more than that, but this was just to give you a hint of the types of recipes I'll select or avoid...and the types of things I'll like in restaurants. A little self-indulgent, I admit, but hopefully it will also give a little perspective on where I'm coming from.
What about you all? What do your avoid at all costs--and what do you go out of your way to order again and again?
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