Trying tastes and textures

I was fortunate, in that my Dad having lived in a few places, some as a result of World War II, years later used to bring home things for us to try, that he had experienced.  Foods which exploded my curiosity of flavours and textures, that were just not part of normal life at the time.


Most of the spices used in cooking that surrounded us in the early years that I remember in the late 1950s, were devoid of any real flavour, probably as a result of having sat in a warehouse for a few years. At least that is my best guess after now trying things that go pow when you taste. Ginger was some dried powder, that I did not have a clue what it really looked like until many years later. Homemade ginger snaps were really the only way I remember it being used. Paprika was just a color.  We did not have chillies, we had sweet peppers (summertime anyways)


There was fish in the summer such as pickeral, pike, and perch.  Hunting in the fall was critical.  Somewhere between eight and ten we knew how to clean, and fillet fish. I remember gagging when cleaning my first bird though. If you caught it, you cleaned it.


Most of our vegetables came from our garden with the exception of potatoes; those were bought from a farmer in the fall - three 75lb bags usually.  By spring the dregs were small rubbery thing with long white tendrils.  More on gardening another time.


I remember trying octopus before there were any sushi restaurants.  It was in a can, similar to a can of sardines, with a texture of overcooked rubber, but with an amazing flavour. 


Store bought pickles did not exist for us growing up, until we were older. I remember green tomato pickles (whole with a little garlic) - was a way to use up all those little tomatoes that would just never ripen in time at the end of summer. mustard pickles, dill pickles, sweet pickles, all lovingly homemade.


Fruit in the winter was a rarity, oh there was apples in the fall around Halloween, with some that kept into the new year if you wrapped them right.  The expression one bad apple spoils the barrel was true. If you took the time to monitor the apples they could last a while.  But of course there was applesauce, and spiced canned crab-apples. Occasionally some cherries from B.C. would be canned, ending up as a tasty part of a meal.


Raisins and dried fruit used to appear in the late fall in time for making holiday cakes. 


Pumpkin was baked in a pie not cooked in a soup.


There was nothing, and probably still isn’t anything more comforting than a bowl of homemade soup, with a lump of fresh bread.


That is in the next post: