Thursday, October 05, 2006 - when i wasn't looking

when i was like 8, i refused to eat cauliflower. i suffered through every other vegetable there was, in fact i even liked brussel sprouts. but cauliflower, i vividly remember sitting at the diner table for at least two hours (though it seemed WAY longer at the time) to out last my parents, who couldn't police the kitchen anymore and finally let me just not eat it. it was the only vegetable i hated enough to walk away from vindicated.

but then twenty years later, i worked for a chef who was astounded by that. "how could you not like cauliflower", she asked, astonished. it was an order of priority to make me a soup of cauliflower. it was delicious. i couldn't believe this vegetable which had been my adversary in youth was, gasp, enjoyable.

after the soup she served it to me as a side dish, roasted with curry. i was in love. it was this unbelievable complex flavor. a few weeks after that, this other avant-garde client served me a spoon filed with cauliflower puree and white chocolate. it was delicious; the chocolate took the funk out of the cauliflower.

as amazed as i was, i was hooked. this is good? good?

i had a few friends over for dinner last week. we were all pretty broke ass, in fact, no one could even bring wine, we resorted to drinking the bottle of persecco i perpetually have in my fridge for occasions just like this. the cheapest meal i could make was a cauliflower ($2.79 at key foods) risotto (rice and saffron in the house) and a pork loin had in the freezer. christo came over early, to ostensibly help me cook. he helped me by eating the raw cauliflower i had broken up into popcorn size pieces like, well, popcorn. i actually had to take out the rest of head of cauliflower and ask him to break off some more. another new concept, cauliflower eaten, gulp, raw? he made me taste it, and not only was it palatable; it was in fact, scrumptious.

the pork loin, although good, was almost ignored as we all went sick over the risotto.

the bane of my childhood had transcended at last. not only do i like cauliflower, but also I liked it enough to serve it to others. is it possible? i think this may be a sign of maturity.

yikes.