Food Phobias

On Monday I decided to make some guacamole for lunch. As I was dicing up the green goodness of the ripe hass avocados a wave of sadness swept over me. How many years of my life did I have to live without guac simply because I was afraid of the bright colored dip? The first time that I encountered this yummy Mexican treat was in Juarez Mexico during the summer of 2003. There is no real explanation for while I had such an aversion to quac, but I think that I was simply afraid of the color. Who eats things that are that color? The first taste was a trace of the dip on a chip. I was shocked at the creamy goodness that delighted my taste buds. It was salty, creamy, a bit spicy, and fantastic all over the place. From the first bite I was hooked and have lived the rest of my life regretting my decisions to give into my phobia of oddly colored food.

The other major food that I have discriminated against throughout my life as a result of my fungus phobia is mushrooms. I was the kid who would mine for the itty bitty pieces of mushroom in any dish and discard them as if they were land minds awaiting the destruction of my palate. Beef stroganhof? NEVER! As I have matured in my late twenties I have discovered what a treat these multifaceted decomposers are. They come in so many shapes and sizes that make the culinary possibilities endless. I will eat them on about anything now. I like them raw sliced paper thin, or simply quartered and sauteed in some olive oil. These little gems can take any ordinary dish and elevated it in a few quick and easy steps, not to mention the fact that they pack an amazing punch of vitamin D. This vitamin that we so often associate with the sun abounds within the walls of mushrooms. Mushrooms are the second most potent food for this essential vitamin. So skip that 15 minutes in the sun and eat some more shrooms!

I have had other food phobias as well that I have overcome and am disappointed about how much I missed out on throughout my life. Chilli beans, cheesecake, blue cheese, Gorgonzola cheese, asparagus, squash, the list could keep going. The point of this epiphany is that I know there are food phobias that are hindering your culinary experiences. Sure there are going to be things that you do not enjoy even after trying them, but you have to at least try. Not all of the things that you eat will be your favorite, just as not every book you read will be one that resonates with you. The point is to look beyond your phobias and embrace the delights that await you on the other side of your pearly whites. Try something new and you never know, you might just have a new favorite food.

The Ultimate Food

Blueberries, salmon, accai berries, and nuts are all categorized as super foods. Bananas, onions, and garlic are all foods that I have deemed as invaders. The ultimate food though, is bacon! I know, I know, some people are thinking that bacon is unhealthy and should be removed from everyone's diet. Hear me out on this hypothesis. Bacon is a food that can stand alone as the best piece of your meal, or meld into a meal to take it to the next level. Bacon is great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack, or even in dessert. Bacon takes any salad that it is added to and ratchets it up a few notches. Take an already exceptional food like filet mignon. Sure it is already on the top shelf of your dinner menu by itself; wrap it in bacon and you have a feature item. Little smokies, fabulous by themselves, exceptional when wrapped in bacon. Green beans straight out of the garden will knock your socks off, but add a little bacon to the equation and your taste buds are in heaven. What is a BLT without the bacon? Who is going to eat a lettuce and tomato sandwich on toast? You add some bacon and anyone will wrap their mitts around that. Any average hamburger can become great when you add a couple slices of thick cut bacon to the top. These thoughts came to me over the weekend when I was making our first batch of chilli for the fall. Chilli is something that is really hard to screw up, but when you fry up some bacon to start things off you absolutely cannot go wrong. The bacon grease provides a smokey atmosphere to saute up your onion, garlic, and tomatoes that cannot be duplicated by any other food. Sure some would argue that it is just all the fat the bacon brings to the dish. Not so fast my friend. Butter is fat, but does not pack near the taste sensation that good bacon does. Think about it, have the Canadians tried to develop their own, "Canadian butter?" I don't think so. Bacon is so good that everyone wants to be known in the same culinary sphere. Next time you are thinking about how you can make your dish better, just add a little bacon. Go ahead, sprinkle some bacon on the top of that sundae for a savory experience. You will not be let down.

You can't judge a berry by it's color!

Have you ever eyed up the strawberries in the produce section and simply began to salivate at their deep red hues? Those plump red morsels screaming at you to take a bite and taste the succulent juices that they have trapped within them. So you cave in and buy a package, or two, and head home to indulge in some of the seasonal sweeties. You carefully open the package, wash each berry by hand and chomp down. The only problem is you do not feel the softness of a ripe berry or feel the juices explode onto your taste buds, you simply taste a bland, hard piece of fruit that resembles a strawberry. I had this problem this morning when I went to eat my breakfast. I was ecstatic about cutting up some strawberries and sprinkling them into my morning pan of oats, only to find the bright red exterior of the berries to be a facade. The inner heart of every berry I cut was whitier than a piece of copier paper. This made me long for the sweet juicy berries I had plucked from my garden only days ago. This made me think about the "fresh" produce we are buying at our local grocery stores. Are we really getting "fresh" produce or are we getting produce that has been genetically modified for extended shelf life and packaged so that each berry would ripen on it's journey to my local store? How sad it is that many people do not know what a REAL strawberry tastes like. Billions will never have the opportunity to experience the bliss that comes when the sugary sweet juices gush into your mouth, and often drip down your face (and occasion onto your shirt). We have been so deceived into thinking that the produce we buy at the store tastes the way God intended it to. Oh to pick a strawberry from the vine and simply suck off the supple berry from it's stem. To pop a handful of FRESH blueberries into your mouth and chomp down. I encourage everyone to seek out their local berry farmers, farmers markets, and wild berry bushes to experience what summer berries really are to taste like. Take some time to experience some berry bliss, you will never look at your local grocery store produce the same again.