My edible history A-Z

I grew up in a city nowhere near the ocean or a body of water that produced fresh fish. Not that I couldn’t get fresh fish in Pittsburgh, but I couldn’t afford to buy fresh fish when I was a kid. However, I did acquire a taste for fresh breaded scallops from my neighborhood restaurant, Tambellini’s, where if I knocked on the steel door, a chef would give me the broken pieces of fried, breaded scallops that smelled and tasted of the ocean.

That was a long time ago. I’m currently attending a memoir writing class online with Molly O’Neill at CookNScribble. One of the required reading assignments is, The Art of Eating, by M.F.K. Fisher. Fisher’s, An Alphabet for Gourmets, prompted me to compiled a list of foods that have made a difference in my life, and sometimes in my waistline.

My first food memory (at about age five) was of me and my dad scrambling eggs in a Dutch oven on an electric stove. The last meal I cooked and ate, 1/17/2012, was Sautéed Cod with Mustard Seed and Pea Puree (thank you Saveur magazine) in my home with Elvis.

What follows is not an exhaustive list of foods, but rather those foods that have shaped my world and figure.

Notes:

I don’t know of any food that begins with an “X,” that I’ve eaten or want to eat.
Some would doubt that “ketchup” is a food, but I’m from Pittsburgh. Enough said.
Seafood noted in bold print.

Here’s my A-Z edible history:

Alaskan King Crab. Apples. Apple butter. Artichokes. Asparagus. Bacon. Baked potatoes. Bananas. Basil. Big Mac. Biscuits and gravy. Black Eyed Peas. Blueberry pancakes. Blue Crab. Bottarga. Broccoli. Carrots. Cauliflower. Chipped ham. Cheerios. Cheese. Chili. Cashews. Chocolate. Cinnamon buns. Cod. Conch. Corned Beef Hash. Donuts. Dried Cranberries. Egg whites. Escargot. French fries. French toast. Goulash. Grapes. Grits. Grouper. Haricot Vert. Hors d‘oeuvres. Ice cream. Jalapeno peppers. Jell-O. Ketchup. Kielbasa. Lamb. Lettuce. Lobster. Mahi-mahi. Marinara. Mashed potatoes. McDonald’s. Meatloaf. Mexican food. Mussels. Nectarines. Nilla wafers. Oatmeal. Okra. Oranges. Oysters. Peanut butter. Peas. Pickles. Pizza. Popcorn. Powdered milk. Quail. Raspberries. Red licorice. Salmon. Salsa. Sauerkraut. Sausage. Scallops. Scrambled Eggs. Shredded wheat. Shrimp. Snapper. Snickers. Spaghetti. Steak. Stone Crab Claws. Swedish fish. Sword fish. Tarragon. Taco Bell. Tomato soup. Tilapia. Trout. Tuna. Uni. Vegetable soup. Wahoo. Wheaties. White rice. Yogurt. Zucchini.