2010-04-01

Things I Wouldn't Eat as a Child: Asparagus

I tried asparagus once before I was 10 years old. It was from a can and mushy and had a horrible smell. I decided to never eat it again.

In high school I heard that asparagus makes your pee (among other things) smell/taste funny. Seemed like a detriment to trying to attain a physical relationship with a girl. Another strike against asparagus.

Upon moving to Oregon, I was offered asparagus in many forms (all of them fresh, not canned) and turned down the first few offers. After some further prodding, thanks to my lovely wife, I gave asparagus another chance. I believe the first asparagus dish I tried was chopped asparagus sauteed with bacon in a shoyu sugar sauce. I was very tentative and took only a couple of peices of inch-long asparagus with some bacon. I thought it wasn't bad for asparagus.

After a few more dinners over a period of months with the same dish, my servings became bigger and bigger until I finally had to admit that I really liked it. So, new asparagus dishes were tried on me, with a pretty high success rate. So, now I have to admit that I honestly like asparagus. I prefer it with a pork product closely coupled with it, like the bacon/asparagus dish. Grilled prosciutto wrapped asparagus is also an excellent side to a meal.

I have a feeling this will be the first of many posts about "Things I Wouldn't Eat as a Child," as there were many many things I wouldn't eat... But there are now many of those things that I gladly welcome to my digestive tract.

What do you eat now, that wouldn't have as a kid?