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The California Table

California Cuisine with a Coastal Vibe

May 19, 2011

Please, Take My Pepper

I’d rather eat a pig’s ear than a pepper

As a food blogger, my own personal challenge is to seek out and discover new cultures through food. If I can’t travel to Morocco, at least I can prepare a savory lamb tagine. While visiting Paris every year is out of the question, making a cheese soufflé is not. And so on.

As a food eater, however, I’ve hit a roadblock: peppers. Bell peppers, red, green and yellow; jalapeño or poblano chili peppers; cayenne chile peppers; cherry chile peppers…the list is endless. If a pepper has so much as touched a mere micro-area of my food, it’s all over for me.

You’d think I could just get over it, right? After all, I can’t stand the thought of having an olive with my afternoon cocktail, but sprinkle a few on a Parmesan flat bread and I’m in heaven. The notion of eating pigeon doesn’t appeal, but if a three-star Michelin offered one up I wouldn’t say no. But there is simply nothing, nothing anyone can do with a pepper that will make me rejoice.

I do not like them cold in salads. I do not like them hot in soups. I do not want them roasted with onions over my chicken. I do not want them for crunch in a sandwich. I do not want them grilled with my cowboy steak. I do not want them sprinkled throughout my couscous. I do not want them stuffed with meat, orzo or rice.

So please, take my pepper.

The point is, there are simply foods we cannot learn to love. There is clearly something in my DNA that forbids my taste buds from appreciating the biting, hot flavor of any pepper in any way, shape or form. And that’s okay. I’ve come to terms with my distaste for all things pepper related. I don’t think it makes me less of a foodie, cook or blogger to recognize my shortcoming. After all, every personal challenge needs a hiccup here and there.

Thanks to the always sassy Mama Kat for her weekly writing workshop. If you’d like to get it on the fun, check out this week’s prompt here and submit your essay here.

Filed Under: Et cetera

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cam - Bibs & Baubles says

    May 19, 2011 at 12:25 PM

    as much as i love peppers, i know how you feel. i can’t stand eggs. i will not eat them, sam i am. 🙂

    Reply
  2. Cam - Bibs & Baubles says

    May 19, 2011 at 12:25 PM

    BTW, the pigs head is diturbing! HA!

    Reply
    • The Gonzo Gourmet says

      May 19, 2011 at 7:31 PM

      Hi Cam, thanks for stopping by! The pig’s head was less disturbing than the pics of his hooves. Shot this one in a market in Florence a few years ago.

      Reply
  3. Chris King says

    May 19, 2011 at 12:49 PM

    Okay just this once..I will take your pepper LOL..love your post even though the pic….

    Reply
    • The Gonzo Gourmet says

      May 19, 2011 at 7:33 PM

      Thanks for stopping by! I know, the pic is a bit nutty, but I didn’t have any pictures of peppers (for obvious reasons).

      Reply
  4. morgan says

    May 19, 2011 at 1:59 PM

    Your middle paragraph there reminds me of “Green Eggs on Ham” 🙂 I do not like them in a boat, I do not like with a goat …

    Visiting from Mama Kat’s 🙂

    Reply
    • The Gonzo Gourmet says

      May 19, 2011 at 7:37 PM

      Thanks! I think I have Dr. Seuss on the brain after a marathon preschool reading session!

      Reply
  5. Christy, Home-Mom says

    May 19, 2011 at 2:44 PM

    Wow, you really do not like peppers. I used to hate hot peppers just a few years ago but The Hubs slowly got me hooked and now I have to always spice my food up with cayenne or jalapenos.

    I loved reading this and I love your tag line “stirring up a whole lotta crazy…” sounds like my home .)

    Reply
    • The Gonzo Gourmet says

      May 19, 2011 at 7:48 PM

      Christy – it’s funny, I brought my car in to the shop today and our service guy told me to try peppers, just a smidge as a mash, stirred into chicken soup. So I may end up being a convert yet!

      Reply
  6. Cathy says

    May 19, 2011 at 6:51 PM

    I don’t get your dislike of peppers because I love them. Well, cooked anyway. However, I feel nearly the same as you about eggplant. I’ve come to love many more foods as I get older and appreciate more things than I ever have before, but eggplant, no matter how I’ve tried to eat it, simply spoils a dish for me. Now, pig ears? Okay, I would definitely eat eggplant over pig ears. 😉

    Reply
    • The Gonzo Gourmet says

      May 19, 2011 at 7:47 PM

      Ha! That’s funny. I wouldn’t say I LOVE eggplant, it always seems rather mushy to me, although I’ve had it a few times where I was like, wow, this rocks! Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  7. Julie says

    May 19, 2011 at 8:05 PM

    Yikes! That pig’s head was a shock to see. Beautiful blog you have though, love the photos! We have a garden full of pepper plants right now, I cook with peppers almost daily. But I love how different people’s tastes can be. Just wondering though, would you really eat a pig’s ear?

    Reply
    • The Gonzo Gourmet says

      May 19, 2011 at 8:07 PM

      I know, the poor pig! Thing was, in the market, he looked….normal. Like he, and his hooves beside him, belonged. I would try a pig’s ear if it was roasted, preferably by someone who knows what they’re doing (that wouldn’t be me). Thanks for stopping by! That’s cool that you use peppers almost daily, I guess I should really give them a second chance.

      Reply
  8. Jolene (www.everydayfoodie.ca) says

    May 19, 2011 at 11:13 PM

    I love peppers … but I will never love blue cheese – barf.

    Reply

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