So I take it that you never eat tomatoes, because “their unnaturally red color has to indicate that they’re poisonous”. Tomatoes were regarded as evil and toxic in medieval Europe for just that reason. Which is not altogether unwarranted, as tomatoes are related to the nightshade family, some of which are indeed toxic.
But beets aren’t even red, they’re more of a purple colour. I’m not generally a fan of beets, but one of the best soups on this planet is a well-made borscht, glowing with the purple of beets, with pieces of tender pork, and dollops of sour cream! You need to expand your food horizons, my friend – we’re not in the 50s any more, where the height of fine dining was Spam embedded in molded Jello!
A friend who likes most foods can’t tolerate red beets or even cooked beet greens. He described the taste as “like dirt”. I was always curious whether golden beets had the same objectionable taste to him.
How did you get to be a grownup dog and not understand how individual tastes work? My cat, sitting next to an untouched dish of Fancy Feast, would like a word with you.
My state has a Possum festival and the state politicians are expected to attend.
It’s an old tradition.
Possum is extremely oily and fatty no matter how it’s prepared. Possums for food are raised in cages and fed clean foods. Instead of the garbage they normally scavenge. It’s still not a pleasant experience to eat it.
Yup - since dirt doesn’t evoke any kind of taste to me, I can’t imagine what would make it objectionable. If he’d said vomit, or rotted milk, I could at least relate.
When we got married I told my wife that there was a short list of things I would prefer not to eat but would if she served them to me, but there were three things I would refuse to eat – one of them being Brussels sprouts. She talked me into trying them roasted, and they’re quite good that way.
Pumpkins and gourds can be found in the vegetable section, but as far as I can tell, most people use them as fall decorations. Cinnamon, which originates as tree bark, can flavor other foods, but eaten on its own, can be harmful or lethal. This actually describes most spices.
Technically correct – I should have said 16th century Europe. The first documented tomatoes were in Spain in 1519, which was immediately after the medieval period and considered the beginning of the early modern period or Renaissance. They may have been known earlier but not by much.
Most of the ones you see in the store are just that. Was in TJ’s the other day and among the various jack o’ lantern varieties (orange, white, warty) was a bin of “pie pumpkins.” They were smaller – about eight inches across – and much less orange than the j-o-ls they were adjacent to.
And to balance, I love eggplant and can’t stand sheep.
Hubby doesn’t like eggplant either, so I only get it at restaurants. The first time I had eggplant is when someone offered an extra slice of their vegi pizza. So good!
I’m still bumping up against this. There are housecats that weigh 28 pounds, and the horns of bighorn sheep weigh 25 pounds. The smallest extant sheep breed, the Oessant, weighs about 41 lbs, and may date back to the Vikings. Maybe the reference is to the weight of useable meat? Or maybe sheep were really just the size of big Maine Coons, and I’m having trouble wrapping my head around it.
Parsley pretty much, yes. But wasabi is an absolutely integral part of the sushi experience, and it can hardly be regarded as decorative when, in properly served nigiri sushi, the wasabi cannot even be seen – the chef puts just the right amount between the rice and the fish.
Like I said, it surprised me as well. The equivalent I used was picturing a sheep the size of a beagle.
I feel the reference was to the whole weight of the living animal, not just the meat it produced after slaughter. The author compares the figure to the equivalent of a modern sheep and those figures are for the living animal.