Today's "topic" in the "Best of 2009 Challenge" is an interesting one for me. You see, I've been a fairly adventurous eater most of my life. From asking my parents to take me to sushi for my 13th birthday to discovering (and becoming addicted to) Ethiopian food my freshman year of college, I can't think of a time when I wasn't willing to try something new. There are the rare exceptions, of course, now mostly limited to runny egg yolks and fish with tiny bones.
But the one flavor profile I never really developed a taste for until this year? Spicy. By which I mean hot-pepper-spice, not horseradish heat. Despite years of eating everything from Mexican to Indian, I was still ordering all my food "mild" when given the choice.
I'm not exactly sure when this changed. Not sure which dish or meal first introduced me to the endorphin rush that so often accompanies the delicious heat of capsicum. Or when I realized that, properly used, peppers have a delicate and beautiful flavor that keeps you coming back for more, despite the pain.
I recently made a Penne alla Vodka that I finished with vodka we'd infused with Rancho Gordo Chiles de Arbol. It was... scorchingly hot. It was bite after bite of intensely-building heat. Even C, who is generally immune to extreme heat, commented that it was crazy-hot. And yet, I couldn't stop eating it. That meal was a new milestone for me.
So what was my delicious discovery this year? Tortuous, flavorful, nervous-system-awakening heat.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- This post is part of the Best of 2009 Challenge.