try try again!

So it has been awhile since my last blog, so those who were asking, sorry it took so long. I have been battling a virus in our family and it overtook our daughter and put her in the hospital, she is doing better. Since then, I was taking one of those silly Facebook quizzes about how many of the 100 food you should eat before dying, and I was proud to say that I have had the wonderful opportunity to try 94 of the 100. it got me thinking about food culture and the fact that I am always preaching to continue the traditions and family recipes, but never thought that it can also hinder you if you stay in that food culture comfort zone.
Many of my family and friends grew up eating home cooked meals that were of the all American meat and potato, casserole and pot roast. These meals are wholesome and comforting and way better for you than the processed fast food, boxed, preserved, chemical ridden frankenfood that a lot of us eat today. But The comfort of that food may lull you into a zone in which you think all food is weird or foreign, and you end up eating in a cycle that only allows you to eat different variations of the same ingredients.
I was one of those kids growing up who ate anything just to try it. I experimented with different foods and flavors and did not feign from food that were different in color, texture, smell, or shape. I loved mixing my sodas, and cereals, or even mixing different things into my cottage cheese and yogurts, from fruits to salsa, to skittles. I loved the mix of salty and sweet, sour and sweet, and even spicy and sweet long before I knew the cultures that thrive on them. I was the kid that noticed that the different leaves in my salad tasted different depending on shape and color, and how much sweeter ripe fruit was or how wonderful the smell of fresh cut cilantro smelled, and how it reminded me of fresh cut grass.  I was the "what the heck is that?!? I must try it!!!" kid.
I haven't changed much. I have been blessed to have been able to travel extensively and eat and study food cultures in many places, and much to my chagrin I never get tired of it, although it has bit me hard a couple of times in the digestive track area, but that is part of the adventure.
We must find our own food cultures and welcome and partake in others cultures. I have heard that the one thing that will unite us in the end is a well cooked meal and how universally it makes us feel. It can sustain and comfort us. Joy and excitement. Intoxicate with contentment and makes us feel at home no matter where we are. It can qualm the bitterest of enemies, and make you fall in love.
So get out there before it's too late, and start your adventure and taste life one mouthful at a time....
Keep it real, keep it fresh and keep it sustainable!

Chef Dave