Pistachio ice cream...waffle cone...Port Jefferson NY...1994....
OK... I'm back.
Food can really have an effect on you. Memories and food get seared together in our brains, both the good and the bad. Flavors can bring you places you've never been and places you'd like to go back to.
Abby here, the little one formerly known as Polka Dot, is having her first taste of asparagus. Not only that, but also her first tastes of balsamic vinegar AND Parmigiano-Reggiano. Whoa. She loved it. But she won't remember it, and not the next time either, but the time after that...
We won't forget the first time Molly ate more than a couple bites of it. She was older, and polished off a plate of it. Later that night when she went to bathroom we thought there was a serious problem... Burning eggs, sulfur, overwhelming fumes from the pee of a 2 year old. A weapon of mass destruction.
Tina hit Google looking for 'foul smelling urine" or something like that and stumbled across a page about asparagus. Bizarre. Who knew? Scientists apparently. I absolutely love the fact that there was a research paper in a 1975 issue of Science titled, "Occurrence of S-methyl thioesters in urines of humans after they have eaten asparagus." Urines of humans? Anyway, apparently everyone's body does the same little dance when it comes to digesting the green stalks, but only certain people can smell the byproducts. I don't know whether we should be thankful for our S-methyl thioester receptors or not...
What else does food do to you?
Does anybody share this problem with me: When I eat eggplant, the skin falls off the roof my mouth. Seriously. It doesn't happen every time, and I can't figure out when it does and doesn't't happen, whether it's related to the cooking style, or something else I'm eating with it. I just thought I was weird until a couple other folks I know mentioned the same problem. The skin literally starts peeling off. It's unpleasant, but not frequent enough to keep me away.
Two simple recipes for when you want to torture yourself, or the ones that will use the bathroom after you:
1) Toss asparagus in some olive oil and salt. If it's nice out, and you've already got the grill going, put them on there and keep turning them until they are tender and a little crispy. If the grill is not a good option, put them on a sheet pan on some foil, and do the same operation under the broiler.
The last time we had them, we had big stalks and I got lazy and didn't feel like peeling them. In an unfortunate bit of positive reinforcement, I was rewarded. I ended up completely charring a few stalks - it turns out the skin peels right off, like a roasted pepper, leaving the soft creamy interior. The texture wasn't great for eating them straight, but chopped up in rice was excellent.
2) Toss some thin eggplant slices in oil and salt (hmm...a pattern here). Grill them on both sides until soft. Put something in the middle and roll them up. Pictured above, it was feta, tomatoes, basil and oil. Great, quick appetizer. Next time I might peel some of the skin - note the eerily straight edge in the lower left of the photo.
So I ask again, what does food do to you? Emotional, physical or otherwise...leave a comment if you've got something good to share...
I knew about asparagus doing that and yes I have the S-methyl thioester receptors too, so eww, but man, asparagus is so good, it's worth it! That pic of your little one eating the asparagus is totally adorable!
Posted by: LyB | May 21, 2008 at 09:09 PM
When I need comfort, I still eat bowls of graham crackers mushed up in milk. My mom and I always called it, of course, "mush." Then my dad would get really annoyed and say, "That's not 'mush'; CORNMEAL mush is 'mush'."
And for a long time I wondered, why does he care so much about the designation of "mush?" How can this be annoying to him?
But I think it links back to his own childhood memories of eating cornmeal mush. Like so many things, mush is important for sentimental reasons.
Posted by: Amanda | May 22, 2008 at 02:27 AM
Have you ever roasted beets? Not only do they stain your fingers and countertops, but the next day you'll see urine the color of rose wine.
Posted by: Murray | May 22, 2008 at 11:00 AM
i must say that first of all, no one in my house has this asparagus issue... and believe me, i've checked for it!
as for my food=memory, here it is...
i NEVER liked onions my whole life. then, on my due date with clayton, i went to my appointment and heard that NOTHING was happening and that i would be induced the following week. afterwards, we were in the car leaving when gerry asked me what i wanted for dinner. somehow we ended up at the mansard inn with my mother meeting us there. i'm not sure what came over me, but i ordered french onion soup. gerry looked at me like i was crazy, and i'm not going to lie, i felt kind of crazy. for some unknown reason, i REALLY wanted french onion soup even though i had NEVER had it before. that started my french onion soup obsession that i still live with to this day. i LOVE french onion soup! rodneys and the west end inn (both in hamburg) have FANTASTIC french onion soup... let's hear a good recipe...
Posted by: caren | May 22, 2008 at 09:34 PM
yes, when i was in ecuador I got extremely concerned about my pee. Was it some kind of tropical illness? no. it was the fact that we had beets (really tasty beets) for a meal earlier in the week. scared me a bit...but now i know!
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