Food Milestones

I've been a long time fan of Anthony Bourdain, particularly an avid viewer of his shows A Cook's Tour and No Reservations. His book Kitchen Confidential has been on my wishlist for months and I've picked it up nearly a dozen times but never purchased it until a few weeks ago.

I'd recommend this to the foodie and nonfoodie alike just because of the typical Tony-style crude humor, obscenity, and debauchery that amuses all, regardless of food knowledge. What struck me most about this book though was his description of his first oyster -- the first moment he knew that food was important. Ever since finishing this book, I've been trying to pinpoint that time in my life when I first started to take food seriously -- when food started dictating my every move. I ate a lot of awful stuff growing up and am having a really hard time deciphering the good memories. After all, we remember the bad memories more often than the bad. Like the time when I gorged myself on Chinese food and projectile vomited all over our new carpet, or the time I puked in my mom's shoes, or etc. I used to be one the pickiest eaters of all time, now look at me. As Tony says, "I'll try anything once."

My fondest food memories in childhood probably come from biting into fresh fruit and having the juice run down my chin. Good fruit in our local crap hole Food Lion was pretty rare, and exotic fruits like plums(!) and peaches were a special treat when my mom would bring them home. I distinctly remember eating an entire bag of small oranges in one sitting as well. When our cherry trees were weighed down with wonderful dark red plump berries, I would be stained from head to toe with cherry juice. Our old fashioned cherry seeder was always my favorite chore -- I'd grab handfuls of pitted black heart cherries and shove them in my face.

I have fond memories of visiting 'exotic' restaurants with my mom on our weekend shopping trips. I don't think any of these places exist anymore. We'd splurge on French food at La Petite Aurbage where they actually had steak tartare on the menu. I would gag at the thought. Chinese food, Thai food, authentic Mexican were also some of the more exciting adventures we'd take. The things I ate at these establishments were less than adventurous. Its going to take me some time to figure out what it was that forced me to develop my palate -- what it was that steered me in the direction of food enthustiast.