By Scott Heiner
Let me introduce myself.
I am an incurable, intrepid, unabashed foodie. In April 2016 we bought a home in Sweetwater
and now live here year-round. My wife loves
the area for her nature There are scores of folks around here
making their own specialty foods for the tourist industry such as jams,
jellies, salsas, baked goods, candies, cheeses, and so forth. I’m curious about almost everything,
especially food.
I grew up in the small farming community of Morgan, Utah. It’s similar to Garden city, where everybody
knows everybody (that could be good or bad).
Everyone ate standard American fare: meat and potatoes, fried chicken,
peas, beans, corn, and of course green Jell-O salad with shredded carrots.
My first experience with ethnic food was at age 8 or 9 in
Cub Scouts when we were introduced to tacos.
The two Den Mothers were diligently trying to make taco shells by frying
corn tortillas and then folding them in half, but almost all broke on the
attempt. I remember thinking what a
strange food this was and how impossible it seemed to ever produce a proper
taco shell in one piece. I don’t
remember if my taco shell was one of the rare ones in one piece or a broken one,
but the filling was hamburger, shredded cheese, lettuce with ketchup for the
salsa. That experience planted in me a
budding curiosity in trying different foods.
My introduction to unusual foods was fast-tracked when I
served an LDS mission in Japan where I learned to eat weird foods beyond
imagination. If that wasn’t enough, I
had to use chopsticks to boot--I had to learn fast or starve. I actually loved the experience and developed
a life-long passion for trying out new foods.
In a future column, I’ll discuss some of the more interesting things I
ate in Japan. (Most of the things I
liked, but I confess, a few items were……an acquired taste.)
Since Japan, I now travel the whole world—not literally, but
through trying ethnic food right here in America. I’ve got to say, it’s quite an
adventure. Before I die, my dream is to
try every kind of food there is in the world—that is if something I eat doesn’t
kill me first.
Now, when I go grocery shopping, I’m always on the lookout
for something unusual; if I see an item that I’m unfamiliar with, I’ll
definitely buy it just to find out what it is.
When we eat out, I first seek an interesting or
ethnic restaurant, but if we end up at a more conventional restaurant, I
invariably look on the menu for the most unusual or interesting item. At any given time, my favorite food is
whatever I haven’t tried yet.
I propose to write a regular column about interesting food
for the Rich Civic Times. In particular
I’d like to review the establishments in Bear Lake Valley and share my
impressions. I welcome any feedback
including suggestions on what to try, comments or questions about my articles. My email is ScottSHeiner@gmail.com.
Until next time, happy eating!
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