Raw

When I was little, I always preferred raw carrots to cooked ones. I loved the crispness, the snap, the full flavor of that little orange vegetable.

In contrast, I didn't go so nuts over the green beans my mom cooked in the typical southern fashion. See, my dad was from Kentucky. It's not technically part of the South...but it is. My dad wanted his meat and three at the table every night. And if we were to do green beans, they were cooked for a loooong time with ham hocks, cooked until they were mushy, green, ham flavored things instead of the vegetables they were long before they were slammed into the pot.

It's not that I never liked mushy veggies. For some reason, as a young one--and even to this day--I like canned asparagus. You can't get more soft than that. But generally, I like my veggies to snap and burst with flavor in my mouth. Anything I cook that way, I like to be lightly cooked and flavored so I can experience all that it has to offer. For instance, when I get zucchini, my favorite way to prepare it is to slice it up, saute it in oil, add a little salt and pepper, and then grate some REAL parm-reg. on top. Yum! Simple, barely cooked food excites my tastebuds.

Even as a child, I spread this love onto meat. Whenever I had a steak as a child, I wanted it to be medium rare. My mom and dad liked it cooked medium, but I liked it with that bit o' red left. Then, as a teen, I discovered rare meat...oh yum! I understand fully why professional cooks sneer at folks who want their beef at well done or medium well. What's left but leather at that point? The flavor has been heated out of it!

In my early 20s, I discovered sushi. Ooohhh...good stuff! Sure, I eat the sushi that has completely cooked items in it, but my preferred pieces are really fatty tuna or young yellowtail all nice and raw. One time, at a restaurant that Grant took us to in Atlanta, I had this unusual piece of sushi that had a raw quail egg in it with some sort of fish roe. The yolk burst onto the eggs, covering it with a creamy richness, and the explosion of flavor was almost too much. Wow.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that although I understand why we should be concerned about food poisoning issues...I still want a lot of my food raw. I will always snack on raw cookie dough (although using Davidson's pasteurized eggs DOES make me able to let the kids snack on it too without conscious) and use uncooked egg yolks in some of my homemade icings. I like the full taste of it, the dancing bursts of individual sensations on my tongue. Cooked can be nice, but give me raw anyday!