Monday, November 5, 2007

Childhood Memories of Exotic Foods

There are only about 3 exotic foods I remember having as a child. I remember my dad bringing home some sugarcane from the grocery store, and us girls getting to chew on some of that. I also seem to recall a whole coconut and some ginger root.

As a child, I was not a very brave eater of unusual or exotic foods I'm sure - seems like I was an older teenager before I even tried mushrooms, and was surprised that I actually enjoyed them.

I remember a pomegranate. Don't know if I actually tasted it - but I remember the name of the girl who had it. Her name was Sherri Fidler. The name stands out in my memory b/c even though she was probably at least a few years older than me, I one day threw a rock at her and got in trouble. Don't know if I did it intentionally or if she just got in the way of a wayward rock I was playing with...

Anywhooo the thing I most remember about the pomegranate was that Sherri said the seeds were poisonous. Now anyone who has had a pomegranate knows they contain about a million little seeds surrounded by red jeweled bits of yumminess. They are very messy and time consuming to eat. This is especially so if you place them in your mouth one at a time, burst the juicy sac with your teeth and then have to remove the tiny little seed, all the time being careful not to accidentally swallow the little seed and poison yourself.

I'm sure it wasn't until I was an adult that I realized the seeds were NOT poisonous.

Speaking of accidentally swallowing tiny little seeds - this summer my sister was visiting and told me that she had become lazy when eating cherries. "I just swallow the pits now." She was serious. I had never heard such a crazy thing! But then again this is the sister who enjoys drinking a little glass of pickle juice every now and then.

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