I would consider myself an adventurous eater, and I love finding and trying new foods. In fact, in high school, I was seriously considering majoring in Journalism so I could become a food critic. Instead, I ended up reviewing movies for the school paper and now eat for fun.
As a kid, I was so skinny, people sometimes made comments to my mom that I wasn’t being fed properly, which was a huge insult because every Korean woman (who cooks) takes great pride in their food, and also, because my mom fed me all the time. She cooked a new and different dinner every single night, and rarely recycled a meal within the month; there was always a variety to eat. People always encouraged me to ‘eat more’, which is where my love of eating came. I don’t really know where my sense of adventure food-wise came from because until high school, I was the pickiest eater. I absolutely hated cheese, and now it’s one of my favorite food groups!
Since college, where I met and befriended a diverse group of people, I’ve only gotten more enthusiastic about food. One of my best friends is Colombian, and got me addicted to arepas. Another to dim sum, and yet another, to Greek food. I hadn’t even touched feta cheese until I met her! One of the funnest things to do is going through the entire Food Guide on washingtonian.com, which is awesome because you can find restaurants by price, location, scene, and cuisine.
I’ve been able to try escargot, beef tongue, and even live baby octopus, which is all tasty to me. I have an unhealthy obsession with sushi, and fell in love with conch fritters in the Cayman Islands. My new motto is to try and not judge a food before trying it. Well, except maybe food with bugs in it. I love me some lobster, but I don’t think I could handle a fried tarantula just yet. I love foods from all cuisines; no discrimination at all unless it contains coconut, which I can’t stand at all.
Right now, I’m reading Try This by Dannyelle Freeman, who claims it’s like “Traveling the globe without leaving the dinner table”. To an extent, that’s true! I’ve sampled all of the cuisines she mentioned at least once, and she makes sure to point you to all of the major and popular dishes, as well as some you may have never known about. Next time I go to a British gastropub, maybe I’ll order terrine with crusty bread instead of a burger.
