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Uhleeuh, what an interesting name you have!
My upbringing was also food sheltered, so I'm certainly not going to be one to point and stare.
For the first sixteen years of my life, excepting the baby food and formula years, we had only the following foods:
Brekkie: cereal, generally Rice Krispies or Shreddies eggs and bacon
Lunch: sandwiches with bologna or egg salad
Supper: fried to hockey puck hamburger patties boiled to glue potatoes peas or carrots corn on special occassions gravy made from hamburger drippings
We also had occassional fruit like apples (MacIntosh or Red Delicious only), oranges, or bananas. I can't eat MacIntosh or Red Delicious without getting severely ill now.
Then I moved away from my parents at 16 to the Big City, where I had friends from a whole lot of different cultures, and that was where and when I started exposing myself to other food.
It took me over a decade before I could eat hamburger again in any form. It took me closer to twenty before I could eat potatoes.
So, you see, you're not the only freak around here. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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If it weren't so tempermental, I'd send you a box of the best Thai food in the area. Pra Ram is soooo tasty. Peanuts and beef and broccoli in a mix of rice and ginger spices.
edit: quidscribis Yay! I'm not the only food freak! You must have an idea of how many strange looks I get when I tell people, "Oh, I haven't had that before."
posted
Uhleeuh - I know exactly what you mean! Yep, I got a lot of those looks. But now I'm old and have tried a lot of stuff, so it no longer applies. I'm now more food-wise/food-experimental/world cuisined than most other people I know. Eck, that was worded badly. I'm also a really good cook and have made food from pretty much everywhere in the world. I hated how limited our diet was growing up and I refused to be like that ever again!
And now I'm living in a country where hamburger isn't even available and the standard foods are foods I fell in love with after moving away from the parents. Mmmmm. Curries. Mmmmmm.
If you don't like how sheltered you were, you're old enough to change it. It's that simple. So, have fun!
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Uhleeuh, I want to take you home and feed you. And take you grocery shopping, so you can pick out all the different fruits and vegetables you'd like to try. And then to all the best ethnic restaurants in town.
I know budget is a big concern for you right now, but seriously, start trying new things when you can. And if you ever go out to eat, small ethnic places tend to be very cheap, and you frequently get enough food to bring the left-overs home for two more meals. Try Vietnamese as soon as possible. You'll love them.
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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There was one Vietnamese restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia that I used to go to all the time with one particular friend, Greg, and everyone else who was hanging around with us at the time.
We'd typically have anywhere from 4 to 8 people at any given point in time and ordered enough to feed at least another 4. The bill at the end? When we ordered enough for a half dozen people to eat, it waas about $20. We'd all fight over who got to pay for it since it was a cheap way to get points for the next time we ate out. Pretty hilarious. And man, dirt cheap. And good. Really really seriously good.
Most of the time we had no idea what we were actually eating. Now that I've lived in Sri Lanka for a year and a half, I recognize a whole lot more of it than I did then, but still. It was pretty funny.
"Dude, what's this?" "Dunno. But it's good, eh?" *slurp* "Yeah, man. And this?" "No idea."
Seriously. It was pretty funny. And we were usually the only white people in the restaurant. We'd just point to stuff on the menu and say, "Uhm, that, please."
Yeah, Uhleeuh with your confusing name, ethnic restaurants are way way way way cool. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Uhleeuh, I want to cook for you, then teach you how to shop and cook for yourself. We are on a miniscule budget, but we still manage to eat really well; it's just always been a priority in my life. My eating experience was, like, the total opposite of yours. It's hard to think of something I hadn't had, or at least been offered, by the time I was 12. I even had haggis on Bobby Burns' birthday for a couple of years before I decided it was definitely gross. I ate artichoke for the first time when I was 5. (Mmmm... Artichoke.) I mean, I grew up in CA, where even on a budget we could afford lots of produce that's way too expensive where I live now, but really, I am just finding out how lucky I was to have parents who 1) exposed me to lots of different foods, and 2) taught me how to cook. We had meatless meals quite often, but that doesn't mean we lacked variety; we had everything from minestrone to eggplant parmesan to falafel to Brazilian-style black beans with rice. Wow. *checks* You're in Tuscon? I have a cousin who I think is still in school there... Maybe I'll ask him where you should shop and eat.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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My childhood was full of food exploration. My parents would encourage us to never order the same things twice and to always try new foods. They also taught me to cook at a very young age...and I was a head cook for awhile. Now, I still cook most nights and am constantly trying new things.
I feel sad that you have not had the opportunity to delve into the wonderful world of food..but at the same time I'm a little envious of the all the wonderful first tastes you have yet to experience. Good food is a wonderful thing and you are just at the doorstep. My advice is to keep an open mind about food and be willing to try everything...at least a couple times - some things are acquired tastes. Don't eliminate a whole ethnic food type because of one bad dish...ie. order Pad Thai...don't like...then decide not have Thai food again.
Also, start learning to cook. start simple and you'll be surprised how fast you'll learn to enjoy cooking and how fast you'll learn about foods. There is no better way to explore foods and learn about foods then cooking with them.
Some of my friends and I have a monthly cook night where we get together and make a very nice multi-course meal. We make a point though of making only items that we've never made before. We also choose a theme..such as greek, italian, thai, etc.
Posts: 512 | Registered: Jun 2002
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Mmmmm ketchupqueen, you never fail to make me hungry.
There is so much to be done with just a few spices in your cupboard. I have about 10 different ways to prepare chicken and rice...add some garam masala and plain yogurt, it's Indian, add some jalepenos and tomatos, and it's Mexican, add some cinamonn, cardamon, it's African. Variety is wonderful.
Posts: 1021 | Registered: Sep 2004
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One of the things I've enjoyed about being in college is that I've had the opportunity to try new foods. There's a cafe on campus that serves pretty nice food, and I've tried duck and lamb, both of which I never had before. When I go shopping I like to pick out different kinds of cheeses to see what they taste like, rather than just getting the standard cheddar.
Posts: 3546 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Uhleeuh: Next time we have Greek night at my house you are totally invited. Or any night that we eat with chopsticks, which is probably twice a week.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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One of the things that I've really enjoyed about turning 21 is the opportunity to try all kinds of different alcohol. Before then it was whatever I could get my hands on. Same concept applies for food, except you don't have to be 21 to buy it.
Posts: 3056 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Well, where I'm from I could have tried anything before 21. Well, maybe not drugs, but anything else. I have tasted different types of alcohol, don't like any of them. Never smoked. Guess I've never found any appeal in those things.
As for foods, I've tried and then some. Combinations are also interesting: it never occured you to eat french fries, a stake and... grapes, did it? Well, my brother tried it, then I tried it too, and it's excellent! Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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WheatPuppet: Thanks for the thought, and if I ever run across a Thai restaurant, I'll see about getting Pra Ram.
quidscribis: I'll definitely be changing how sheltered I am but it will have to wait a few months more. I'm waiting to branch out until I get a job where I can afford to spend more money on food than I do now. Trust me, I'm looking forward to it. I've started collecting recipes. And how is my name confusing? It's just a different version of my first name (Alea).
ElJay: Are there any Vietnamese dishes you can recommend? Part of my reluctance to try more things is I'm just not sure where to start.
ketchupqueen: Yes, ma'am. I'm still in Tucson for another 5 months.
Traveler: I do plan on learning to cook. I just can't do much on my budget at the moment.
PSI: Thanks for the offer.
Now I really have to stop getting so distracted by Hatrack and get back to studying for my finals.
Posts: 378 | Registered: Aug 2004
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And after you're done with all that, you're moving in with me and eating crazy food for a week or so. Posts: 8504 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Ohhhhh! Why didn't you say so earlier? Well, really, what reason was there to. . . But that's a whole other issue. Been to Abbotsford many many many times. Used to have a client - my cousin - there, plus one of my best friends lives there, as does an aunt and uncle and various cousins. Another aunt and uncle and grandma live in Chilliwack. I lived in Vancouver for five years and Kelowna for 4. So, you're in my old backyard!
Oh, you know all the Mennonites there? I'm related to all of them. Please don't hold it against me.
I'm trying to think of some of the restaurants we used to eat at there. There was one German deli - Eidelweiss? Maybe not. But it had incredible schnitzel.
Oh, have you been to Anton's on East Hastings? Wonderful pasta with huge servings. No reservations. Fairly inexpensive. And you go home with a three pound baby.
Eaten in Steveston? Been up the Sunshine Coast? See, now you're just bringing back memories for me. All of a sudden, I'm missing Vancouver. Sigh. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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It's just a different version of my first name (Alea).![[Frown]](frown.gif)
