The brilliant orange hardcover is a staple for so many children, encouraging an open and adventurous disposition. But, despite the immense satisfaction that we witness as the hairy old grouch gives in and tries Sam’s green eggs and ham, it seems that few people really internalize the moral of the story. That is, many are unwilling to adapt the lesson of openness to try new foods to their own lives.
In my adolescence there was a long, and rather arbitrary, list of ingredients that I did not eat – greens, spinach, peas, corn, carrots, cauliflower, beets, black eyed peas, lamb, dark meat chicken, fish (except salmon and tuna), runny eggs, cereal, and pancakes.
My distaste for this ever-fluctuating list was based on bad experiences. Someone, usually my mother, had served me something disagreeable and I extrapolated to condemn the main ingredient. My mother’s reconstituted frozen spinach disgusted me so, naturally, I refused to eat any spinach at all.
And I continued to reject these for years until a conversation in high school helped me to recognize the folly of targeting and refusing ingredients. One Sunday evening I was enjoying dinner with my church youth group and observed a friend sitting with an empty plate, obstinately refusing to have pasta. Her reason? She had tasted pasta before, didn’t like it, and swore to never eat pasta again.
Pasta?!? Yes, the ingredient that comes in every shape and size imaginable; can be paired with a limitless variety of meats, vegetables, and sauces; and is one of the most popular foods in the world; pasta was on her short list of foods to never eat.
In my hard-fought battle to change her mind about pasta, I realized my own hypocrisy. Pasta is ever-popular because its simplicity allows it to compliment and support a wide variety of flavors and textures. But really, each ingredient is just that – the constituent element of something – ever awaiting some skilled cook to activate its potential and, with respect for its substance and character, to find a method and accompaniment that will create something delectable. And that’s after you account for the variables of quality in the ingredients linked to seasonality, freshness, and chemical interventions that make no foodstuffs alike one another despite the enduring battle of food science to standardize everything we ingest.
Until just a few months ago I was mistaken in thinking that I don’t like cauliflower. I guess the raw stuff with a side of ranch dressing killed it for me. But I’m always up for a challenge or the opportunity to prove someone (or myself) wrong, so, after some argument over the ingredient with a coworker, I gave it another shot. The crispy cauliflower appetizer with currants and pine nuts served at Ballaboosta boomeranged the vegetable in my mind and I have sought out other ways to enjoy it ever since. I highly recommend Aloo Gobi Matar.
So as I now dine on Green Eggs an Ham – split pea soup with ham topped with an egg fried over easy – chock full of ingredients I once despised, I’m reminded of the book’s moral: be open to a taste of anything and delight in being proven wrong. Many of the ingredients I swore to never eat are now featured on this blog as part of my favorite recipes and I’m so glad I’ve been able to reconcile my differences with each of them.
What is one dish/food you swore to never eat (again)?
In my adolescence there was a long, and rather arbitrary, list of ingredients that I did not eat – greens, spinach, peas, corn, carrots, cauliflower, beets, black eyed peas, lamb, dark meat chicken, fish (except salmon and tuna), runny eggs, cereal, and pancakes.
My distaste for this ever-fluctuating list was based on bad experiences. Someone, usually my mother, had served me something disagreeable and I extrapolated to condemn the main ingredient. My mother’s reconstituted frozen spinach disgusted me so, naturally, I refused to eat any spinach at all.
And I continued to reject these for years until a conversation in high school helped me to recognize the folly of targeting and refusing ingredients. One Sunday evening I was enjoying dinner with my church youth group and observed a friend sitting with an empty plate, obstinately refusing to have pasta. Her reason? She had tasted pasta before, didn’t like it, and swore to never eat pasta again.
Pasta?!? Yes, the ingredient that comes in every shape and size imaginable; can be paired with a limitless variety of meats, vegetables, and sauces; and is one of the most popular foods in the world; pasta was on her short list of foods to never eat.
In my hard-fought battle to change her mind about pasta, I realized my own hypocrisy. Pasta is ever-popular because its simplicity allows it to compliment and support a wide variety of flavors and textures. But really, each ingredient is just that – the constituent element of something – ever awaiting some skilled cook to activate its potential and, with respect for its substance and character, to find a method and accompaniment that will create something delectable. And that’s after you account for the variables of quality in the ingredients linked to seasonality, freshness, and chemical interventions that make no foodstuffs alike one another despite the enduring battle of food science to standardize everything we ingest.
Until just a few months ago I was mistaken in thinking that I don’t like cauliflower. I guess the raw stuff with a side of ranch dressing killed it for me. But I’m always up for a challenge or the opportunity to prove someone (or myself) wrong, so, after some argument over the ingredient with a coworker, I gave it another shot. The crispy cauliflower appetizer with currants and pine nuts served at Ballaboosta boomeranged the vegetable in my mind and I have sought out other ways to enjoy it ever since. I highly recommend Aloo Gobi Matar.
So as I now dine on Green Eggs an Ham – split pea soup with ham topped with an egg fried over easy – chock full of ingredients I once despised, I’m reminded of the book’s moral: be open to a taste of anything and delight in being proven wrong. Many of the ingredients I swore to never eat are now featured on this blog as part of my favorite recipes and I’m so glad I’ve been able to reconcile my differences with each of them.
What is one dish/food you swore to never eat (again)?
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You bring up a great point about the unwillingness and lack of openness people tend to have in tasting that, which is not familiar.
But food for most of us has deep emotional ties that we may not even be aware of. Needless to say, it’s interesting that you brought up a childhood experience in which you remember the feelings associated with trying something new.
For me, foods can represent my family, childhood or a life event. I liken this to a memory that one gets when they here an old song that takes them back to a particular time in their life.
It’s something that’s in and from your heart.
And I think being open to trying new foods is all in the mind.
Ultimately, the best way to being open to trying new foods is to put some heart into it. Perhaps that’s why bread is best broken when together and when it’s with love.
Nice post.