Some early food mysteries
The house dog (ours) has a generalized palate. If the dividing line on a menu is “his and mine”, he understands that I will not/never chow down on his kibble. He, in sharp contrast has made a decision. If I will eat something, he can too. Certain exceptions apply.
Which leads me off in a different direction. This evening, we had stuffed bell peppers. And I had a sudden Eureka moment, when I thought back to my four years in specialized agriculture (greenhouse helper). We sold, among other things, a variety of pepper plants. I could recognize them by their leaves at various stages. I could prepare the required fertilzers. I could sell the mature plants to the customers, on a hot May afternoon. What I could not do was describe the harvest. I did not know a bell pepper from a baseball, and the idea that this had nothing to do with pepper in a shaker had not become a realization. I knew nothing, and I didn’t let on to anyone. Ignorance.
There are a number of foods that fit this bill. I ate rice, for the first time, whehe railroad crew left for new sidings and gave my mother a box of assorted foodstuffs. She knew how to prepare rice grains into something for the table. I didn’t.
Similarly, I never learned about pizza until I was old enough to prepare one. From scratch. Guided by the illustration on the package. We didn’t live in a world with take away. If the food appeared on TV, I didn’t understand. We had a very different diet. Believe me, the potato, boiled and mashed, was understood. So was fish, especially pan fried fillets. Even ice cream came as a small brick, and we received carefully sized slices as dessert.
I have learned a lot, since. There are still mysteries. What is a won-ton, and how does it grow in the wild? Are grapes related to fruit cocktail? Or grapefruit? When did we stop adding color to margarine? Time for me to start some serious research into my own food history.
