I recently purchased this classic for my 15 month old niece, Amelia Grace. Strangely, it was at the tail end of a shopping excursion at Wegmans. I used to love this book, primarily for the goofy characters and strange lingo, and not so much for the actual message it sends, but after revisiting it I have found it to have some culinary truth.
For those who are not familiar or have forgotten the story, after some serious pestering throughout, Sam-I-am finally convinces a funny little creature to eat green eggs and ham. The creature, who swore to his dislike, actually loved them.
I had an issue with beets growing up. Maybe it was the ever familiar canned and pickled variety at the local salad bar, or maybe it was the fact that they visually just didn’t “do it” for me. I always thought their color resembled the jellied cranberry sauce that sat alone on the table at my family’s Thanksgiving every year. I can remember saying I didn’t like them .. often, and to be honest, I didn’t bite into my first real beet until I was twenty.
“I would not could not in a box, I could not would not with a fox. I would not eat them here or there. I would not eat them anywhere!”
So back to when I was twenty .. I remember I was working on the Garde Manager side of the kitchen at the Lark Creek Inn one evening and a soon-to-be-great friend, Yoni, asked me if I liked beets. I said no. He laughed and just handed me one as if I were just busting his chops. I had never even eaten one before, not even in culinary school. All I could think about was that lonely jar of pickled beets that will be the only remaining thing on the planet after we’re all gone. I had some discomfort in the situation at hand. So, after a brief moment of awkwardness, I sucked it up and ate one, never mentioning that I had never had one before. It was a perfectly roasted Chiogga beet with just a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. My culinary world was rocked and forever will be. It was amazing! I couldn’t believe it.
Two things happened here: One, I am now a huge advocate of beets and two, I will forever try any sort of food that is available to me. From that day forward I have yet to find something that I’ve not liked. To be clear, I have had some things that have been poorly executed and I didn’t enjoy, but at least I tried them before I made the call. I always tell people to TASTE. Taste everything and taste it with an open mind and an interest in educating your palate. It is single-handedly the most important aspect to the art of eating and cooking. We have a loyal and beloved client at Sauced and one of our goals is to turn her “on” to beets. We are slowly making progress. I’ll keep you posted.
Happy St. Patricks Day! It’s the perfect day for green eggs and ham (and several pints of guinness!)
