Willravel

I was eating a delicious fajita this evening, when the taste of the orange bell pepper sparked a nostalgic recollection of the first time I ever enjoyed bell pepper.

I was maybe 11 or 12, and my family went out to a Denny's clone for brunch. I don't think it was any special occasion, just "family time". Anyway, Ch'i got the waffles, and mom ordered a Denver omelet. I love omelets, and without looking at the menu, I ordered the same. It was divine. I'm sure I'd had bell peppers before, but never featured so prominently in a dish. The omelet had to be 3 parts egg, 1 part onion and 2 parts green and red bell pepper. It was rich and flavorful, but not overpowering. The bell pepper presented a new kind of sweetness to my palate. Since then, I've probably had a hundred Denver omelets, and I've loved every single one of them. I probably eat 4 bell peppers a month.

It occurs to me now that had the bell pepper been presented to me via some other medium, say in a salad or hummus, I probably wouldn't have liked it. The omelet was the perfect vehicle for the bell pepper and it shaped my love for the bell pepper.

Once this occurred to me, I started thinking about other foods that I learned to love because of the way they were prepared. I love asparagus because my first asparagus shoot was basically saturated with garlic (Stockton asparagus festival). I love leeks because I had delicious leek soup from the Wine and Roses restaurant and Inn in Lodi. I adore cardamom because of baagh-lava. The list goes on and on.

Then something else occurred to me: this might be a great way to introduce traditionally unpopular foods to children! So, to that end, this thread is here to list foods and spices that you love because of the dish they were first introduced to you as a part of. Did you learn to love eggs because of french toast? Did you learn to love cranberries because of granola? Did you learn to love lamb at an Indian restaurant? By some miracle, do you love brussels sprouts?