I’m sure many of us had an experience with some form of alcohol when we were younger, the memory of which has stayed with us and guided our drinking habits since then; perhaps that should be non-drinking habits…. Extensive research amongst friends over several pints reveals that for most of us it was a meeting with a spirit that continues to haunt us – many a plethora of ill-advised vodka and limes, brandy and babychams, rum and blacks or, in my case, a tumbler of sweet sherry, given to me at 10.30am on an empty stomach by a great aunt when sent to visit her by my well-meaning parents. Though for some, too much ‘rough’ cider figures large in the consciousness. These ‘formative’ experiences live on and colour what we say we like and will happily drink.
This can change when presented with a hitherto un-encountered drink – don’t get me started on absinthe…but I also had a ‘moment’ a few years ago with tequila, so it was with some trepidation that I approached the follow-up meal ‘entre amis’, which was to be based around tequila. Despite a love of Cointreau, I’m not a massive fan of margharitas and I am very jury’s out about ‘shots’; none of this boded well for the evening! However, I am happy to report that a successful night was (again) had by all. It went as follows:
Margharitas, paired with nibbles, including pistachios, tortilla crisps with tomato salsa and spicy empanadas.
Shots of Olmeca tequila blanco (with lime wedges and salt obviously), paired with mexican fishcakes (made with pilchard) and pineapple and prawn with chilli.
Sips of Altos reposado with beef chilli, sour cream and rice.
More sips of the reposado with a chilli and chocolate mousse.
All the above washed down with Sol as well, as clearly there wasn’t enough alcohol….
Why is the thought of re-visiting our early alcohol nightmares so strident? Is it the memory of feeling awful physically, or rather the way that those around us dealt with us to make it an even more ‘memorable’ experience? Are we taken back to that moment by the smell, the colour, place or company? Certainly our associations with these early experiences are as strong as our associations with, say, songs, so why am I surprised that it takes just a word or a smell to be right back in that moment?
What the last couple of outings described here has shown me is that it is possible, if not to ‘get over’ the strong feelings associated with our own particular bête noire, to learn to live at peace with it and stay open to changing our memory muscle to accept…Pairing with food certainly plays its part in this process.
Eating: For me, the star of the show was the prawn/pineapple combination, as I wasn’t expecting it to work.
Drinking: The Tequila reposado was a really enjoyable ‘sipper’.
Listening to: Mercury prizewinner Arlo Parks. Really good music to cook to – favourite tracks currently Creep, Hope and Eugene.
Cook.Eat.Blog.Repeat. 