Evolution of Taste

How many of us have memories of our childhood, throwing a fit over something on our plates because it is new, weird, or "icky"? I know I was a particularly shitty eater as a kid, having had a few memorable nights of bellowing while I stormed upstairs that baked ham was, " TOTALLY DISGUSTING!!!! " I didn't believe my mom when she assured me that my tastes would change. Of course, I also thought I'd grow up to be a teacher, or movie star. (I was banking on movie star, obviously)

To my own surprise, my mom happened to be right! I started discovering my culinary tastes changing when I started working for Richard's German Restaurant in Brunswick, ME. I had fallen in love with their desserts, and begged the owner, Richard, to teach me how to make them. That spun into my first real job in a kitchen, and it grossed. Me. Out.

German food, beyond being a lot of sausage and cabbage, has a myriad of other dishes and techniques many people aren't familiar with. As a 14-year-old girl, it was downright bizarre. Richard and his sons would try to get me to try things, and for the first few months, I absolutely refused. But after a few shifts working doubles and starving myself, I started to notice the sauerkraut smelling sort of... Well, not awful. I tried it. And the shock of sweet and sour vinegar goodness blew me away. I finally started to let the boys teach me how to eat.

Edible discoveries never stop. Food and beverages are always changing, for better or worse, and it creates mini-adventures for me. In a couple weeks, I'm going to forage for snails and try escargot for the first time. It's just so fascinating to me, to never know what I'll discover next. And knowing what I know now? I fully intend to raise my future kids in a kitchen. The number of opportunities I skipped because I was terrified to step out of my comfortable little box? My kids will never have that fear. I am so much happier now, ready to step out and really seize life by the balls, and that is entirely attributed to my taste buds and the boys at Richard's. I can't thank them enough.

Revelatory Rosemary Lemon Cream Sauce
*I usually can't stand cream sauces, as they usually are too heavy and burden my palate. Dicking around today, I actually found myself licking my plate after stumbling on this*
*1 tsp unsalted butter
*1tbsp extra virgin olive oil
*1 tbsp minced shallots (white onion would also work)
*2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, or 1/2 tsp dried
*1/2 tsp chopped green onion
*Juice of 1 Meyer lemon (or 1/2 regular lemon diluted with a tbsp of water)
*1/2 c heavy cream
*salt to taste

-Put the butter and olive oil in a sauté pan and get the pan nice and hot. If you're preparing the sauce to go on top of a protein (I recommend chicken or white seafood), sear your protein off in the pan first and finish it off in a 200°F oven while you make this sauce
-When your pan is hot, add your shallots and rosemary. Let the shallots get a nice brown without burning, then add the green onion, lemon juice, and cream.
-Let the cream reduce until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Salt it, then serve over whatever. Bread, noodles, protein, veggies- it's really freaking versatile!

Putting a Little Age On It

So I've been lucky enough to play tourist the past day and a half! My job at this first winery is winding down, so I got some time off to check out some tasting rooms and explore the Sonoma Coast and parts of Napa. I hit 7 different tasting rooms and wineries- Rosenblum, Portalupi, J, A. Rafanelli, Gustafson, Chateau Montelena, and Medlock Ames. It. Was. A. Blast! I got to see so much of wine country,  and meet some really cool people. My favorite wines so far have come from Gustafson.  Their vineyard is located just down the mountain from where I'm working now, and their tasting room was across the street from my new favorite seafood joint in Healdsburg. They had an incredible late harvest zinfandel that was just pruney, raisiny, and rich.

Seeing Chateau Montelena was pretty amazing, too. Half the reason I tried getting a wine internship is because I am in love with the movie 'Bottleshock', and their wines did not disappoint. I was, however, caught off guard by how much better their reds were than their whites. The cabernets they were showing had this excellent richness of character that's only going to improve with age.

Thanks to my new favorite phrase ("industry discount"), I have accidentally started a wine cellar for myself. The girl who previously could barely keep a 12pack of beer in her fridge is now the proud owner of 16 bottles of wine. I am intending on giving some away, but I am still hanging on to a majority. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I love the idea of having wine on hand, but I'm not going to have time to drink any of it until maaaaaaybe November. And by hen, I'll probably have more collected. It's strange to consider. A mere month ago, I was reticent to spend even $20 on a bottle. Now that I'm in the thick of things, I almost want to take out an insurance policy on what I've accrued thus far- and I wouldn't even call this an impressive start, based on what I saw other guests buying.
Though I ought to cut myself some slack- I may be the youngest adult for 100+ miles. Everyone else I've seen around has at the very least a decade on me, if not a solid 30 years. I've been ok with that,  I usually run with a more mature crowd, but it does make me feel a bit more disconnected from everything. And not having anyone to flirt with? I've never felt more like a nun. Lord. :p

My Fixation

I am obsessed with food. I suppose I could also be called a "foodie", but I would hope not in the insufferable, annoyingly hipster, douchey sense it has come to be associated with.

I have a love affair with flavors, textures, and smells. There is nothing more beautiful to me than a well-designed menu, nothing more erotic than a gorgeous plate presented in an appropriate setting.  An inventive cocktail,  or an exceptionally well-made classic,  send my tastebuds into a complete tizzy.

But it's not just fine dining that gets me drooling more than Pavlov's dog. I also have a soft spot for the chwap, the greasy, and the "clearly-going-to-put-me-in-an-early-grave". Food is an adventure, the Final Frontier I otherwise wouldn't get to explore if I were to wait on space travel. It is because of this I have an exceptionally low tolerance for picky eaters.

Before everyone gets all up in arms about "respecting people's preferences" and all of that hoopla, let me explain- picky eaters piss me off so much because I WAS ONCE ONE MYSELF.

I decided I hated any food that came out of the sea or from a pig, onions, tomatoes, pickles, peppers, stroganoff, horseradish, anything that looked weird, and anything made with anything from that list. As well as a few things I'm forgetting,  I'm sure. I lived in Maine for eight years and refused to eat seafood. I didn't believe people who told me, "Oh, your tastes will change as you get older!"

I'm not entirely convinced that's the whole case. To be fair, yes, my tastes have changed, but I think early exposure could be a big difference too. I had a pretty standard hot dogs-and-grilled cheese menu growing up, and when new foods were introduced, it was always an overly intense and overwhelming experience.  These days, I go to restaurants and see children devouring sushi and sweetbreads and offal of all kinds. Part of it is probably the celebrity chef/foodie culture that has been developing over the past few decades. People are seeing all of this food porn floating around, and passing it to their kids. It's awesome to see... and twice as maddening to see pickiness rearing it's ugly head. With SO MUCH available from so many other cultures, how can anyone not be curious?!

Try everything twice, just in case the first time got fucked up.

Actions and Words and Everything In Between

L word success! Well, probably. He didn't say it back. We're both acting as if I didn't say it. With the exception that I'm going keep saying it. He's given me something special too, though- he's putting a dish on his new menu that I inspired!!! How cool is that?? I was so touched.

It might not be a normal 'I love you', but it speaks volumes to me. For one, it means he actually listens to me- a HUGE win in my book. For another, it means he trusts my tastes! I have never suggested dishes to him for his restaurants, but the one he's going to do now was based on me mentioning an esoteric snack that I tried and loved. It's precious to me, the idea that I've managed to make that kind of impact on his life? So it's not a verbal declaration- I've always said that actions speak louder than words. Besides, he'll say it when he's ready. Cheers~!