MY CULINARY INTERESTS HAVE CERTAINLY changed over my lifetime. Looking back at the diverse foods I came across introduced me to many nice surprises.
My first experience with pizza came in the late 1950s during a long ski weekend outing with many families in Gaylord, Michigan. At dinner, we children were placed in a dining room outfitted with Naugahyde-covered booths at the downtown Sugar Bowl restaurant. The grown-ups were in the adjacent room enjoying themselves at the bar. We kids were told to keep our voices down to a dull roar. I recall that this was not followed in either room.
Mozzarella cheese had not been part of my culinary experience until that Saturday night. I can still see the shiny pedestal metal serving trays that held the large pizza pies. With outstretched arms, we children secured our claim to slices taken from the pizza. Dangling strings of white cheese clung to each piece. The aroma of oregano, garlic, and spicy pepperoni was spectacular. Those gooey slices of Italian-style pizza left such an impression. Imagine this in the very German town of Gaylord. Go figure. Laughter certainly highlighted the outing. What a fun experience enjoying my first slice of pizza.
My next surprise came with the introduction of mushrooms in Ann Arbor when I was in my early teens. I joined my parents and two sisters as guests at a dinner party hosted by Avinash our former Indian exchange student who was earning his Ph.D. in chemistry at U of M. He and his girlfriend made us dinner in his small apartment just a block off Main Street.
I can remember seven of us sitting at a small dining table meant for four. Avinash ladled up bowls of his mother’s famous mushroom soup he had grown up with in New Delhi. I had never heard of such a soup with floating caps of sliced fungi. My mother, the lady she was, tried the stock but moved the mushrooms to the side of her bowl. The unknown nature of these objects must have spooked her. I tried them and thoroughly enjoyed the mushroom slices and flavors of ginger and curry that made up the soup.
I can’t recall what else was served for dinner that night, but I do remember Avinash squashed in the small kitchen with his German girlfriend smiling at her wet sweater from their drying of dishes after the dinner party. Even at thirteen, I had a sense of what “being well-endowed” meant. And she was all of that. Yes, mushrooms and big boobs - what a great combo.
This winter introduced me to corn Tostadas and Tortillas. They have become Nancy and my go-to snack in our quest to bring down the calorie count during our food intake. Tomatoes and parmesan cheese topped on a Tostada in the microwave delivers a snappy crunch and tasty treat with under 100 calories. How good is that!
Nancy is German.
Is there a sign here?
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