Exotic

I remember looking at this strange thing, about the size of a plum, or a small hamster on the counter. My mother had brought it home from the grocery store for us to try. We didn't know what it was, but we watched intently. It was brown, with short hairs all over it. It had a nub on one end, like you see on an orange. If anything, before the knife cut through the surface, it was dull looking.

The blade of the white handled knife cut, after just a little tension, through the thin furry skin. I could imagine it bleeding drops of dark blood, but it didn't, it was quite the opposite, The inside was a vibrant green, darker toward the skin, and becoming almost white near the center. In the somewhat jelly like flesh of the fruit, tiny black seeds were suspended. It was an inside out green strawberry, fruit. Wide eyed, I wanted to try it.

I did learn it was called a kiwi and that the skin, while edible, was not very good to eat. This new, sweet, tart, strange fruit instantly became one of my favorites. To my mouth, at the time, it was not just good, but rare.

This wasn't the last time as a kid I was introduced to something which, at the time had increased value because it seemed rare. A couple years later, I had expressed my dislike for cheese. Weird, right? I have since outgrown this strangeness, but I do recall the conversation. My mom, probably recognizing how strange this was, took me somewhere, a shop in Plymouth, where I could try different cheeses and see which, if any of them, I would like. I don't remember exactly why, but I think the idea was for me to have something I like.

Anyway, I tried little bits of Swiss and cheddar, and mozzarella. There were smoked cheeses and cheeses with red wax rinds. There was this one, though, which looked like it was made of stone. It was kind of a dirty white color. It crumbled when you tried to get a piece, it had little veins of a dark color through it. When it was passed over the counter, I could smell it had a tang to it. It was salty and crumbly, not creamy and not like any cheese I had had before, ever. It was, as you might have guessed, blue cheese. It has been my favorite since then. Since it was an alien flavor.

It has been a long time since kiwis or blue cheese have been exotic discoveries, new favorites, but there is a part of me still looking for that rush of the new. Experience, though, is the enemy of the exotic. It is not exotic anymore to try liver or squirrel, escargot or ostrich. Kiwis were the gateway fruit to mangos and pomegranates, plantains and dragon fruit. The pool of things which seem exotic, that pool of the new, is shrinking.

So, close your eyes and think back, what were your exotic discoveries? What is the exotic thing you are looking for next?