You Can't Make Mistakes.

and Delicious

I have always hated coconuts. The flavor, the texture: all of it. Even thinking about it right now makes me a little queasy.

Yesterday, though, I accidentally bought some fresh coconut juice—subia in Arabic—because at the time I didn’t know what it was, but it looked like it might be tasty. When I got it home, I smelled it: definitely coconut. But, I decided to go for it anyway and took a drink.

It was delicious. I just finished off the bottle a few minutes ago. It is cool and refreshing: one of the best things that I have tasted in ages.

This just goes to show that if you don’t challenge the tastes that you have developed over the years, you might be missing out: a phenomenon that I have been experiencing quite regularly since coming to this country.

Take bell peppers, for instance. I have always disliked them. I link this back to my youth, when my mother would make stuffed bell peppers, the thought of which still turns my stomach—sorry Mom. I’m sure they were delicious, but something about them made me completely nauseous. I would have to leave the house. It got to the point where she would only make them if I wasn’t around—thank you Mom.

I went years without going anywhere near a bell pepper. Finally I started eating them in things that were cooked, though I always tried to avoid the green variety. This went on for a long time.

Then I come to Egypt. I was at the vegetable market one afternoon loading up for the week and I thought, “What the hell?” and asked for some yellow and red bell peppers. I didn’t know what to do with them except cook them in chili and other things, so I cut them up in a salad with tomatoes and cucumbers.

They were so sweet and flavorful. It was like an explosion of gustatory joy in my mouth. I couldn’t believe that I had gone all these years without eating these juicy, delicious things the way that nature had intended. I was amazed.

Since then, I have been buying everything that I see that I have always thought that I do not like to eat, and—not surprisingly—I haven’t been disappointed yet.

I had kebda [liver] sandwiches the other day. I ate steak and kidney pie at the British club. Raw juice of all types regularly finds its way into my gullet. My recent favorites are carrot with orange, and the subia.

There are still some things that I am leery of though, but I will try them all eventually. I am currently working my way up to having mokh sandwiches at the place where I get my kebda. Wish me luck.

Oh yah, mokh means “brains,” by the way.

So Dry.

I have noticed a phenomenon recently since I have been relegated to the Second Cup in my neighborhood for internet access. A great many of the people that I see here do something that I absolutely cannot do. They eat dry-looking pastries without the aid of a coffee. It is customary to see someone come in, order a croissant with chocolate, sit down, eat it (with a fork), and then either order some sort of juice or just leave.

Now, I like my pastry and coffee. I will walk in, order a chocolate-chip or blueberry muffin, a double americano (black) and enjoy the pastry by dipping it in the coffee. This is the custom where I’m from. I understand that it is definitely not here, as the Second Cup barristas are always attempting to trick me into putting sugar and milk in my coffee. I have never noticed the dry-pastry phenomenon until now. However, now that I have noticed it in one place, I see it everywhere. People eating sick-sweet, dry pastries and cakes without the aid of a beverage. I can’t do it. I’ll either choke or pass out from the sugar.

Any thoughts? Does anyone out there eat without drinking?