This is the thread when we detail the first times we had certain kinds of food.

Yes, 'tis true: a pu-pu platter is generally speaking not made with poo. Though it could be, I guess.

Broccoli, 1996: Hiked for 4 days on the Appalachian Trail with same best friend, overnighted at hikers' hostel in TN or SC on our last night. Dinner was vegetarian and healthful/hippy and served boarding-house style to all residents at once, most of whom were older and cooler and tougher than us and were through-hiking the trail, a feat that was incomprehensible to me -- so admiring and intimidated! Imagine my dismay when C announced to the ENTIRE TABLE that I'd never tried broccoli. I was shamed into it. Got stuck in teeth but not too bad. Still like it but only the florets, not the stalks.

Italian: The Italian joints in this part of New England are often Greek-owned, and the red sauce is heavy on marjoram. I don't remember ever not having pizza, or meatballs -- my mother's (not Italian at all) family is from New Haven, sometimes claims pizza was invented there, and has been making spaghetti and meatballs (beef/veal/pork, breadcrumbs, egg, milk; browned and simmered) every Wednesday for at least a couple generations.

Mexican, Chinese: People keep not getting this when I tell them, so maybe you have to be over a certain age or from a certain kind of place, or I don't know, but we just plain didn't have fast food around when I was a kid. Sure, McDonald's and Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken, but I'd never even heard of Taco Bell until one moved into the food court at the Pheasant Lane Mall when I was a teenager. I'm sure there was one around somewhere if you looked for it -- though then again, there definitely wasn't one anywhere near our summer house, because we ate out for most meals there and I would have found it eventually.

Anyway, I had my first Chinese meal at that food court -- mall Chinese, probably teriyaki something or other -- and my first Taco Bell. There was a Mexican place in Manchester (~30 minutes away), and my mother took me there once because I "liked spicy food" (which meant I took the crushed red peppers she used on her pizza, and put it on everything).

Um ... wow, I'm having a lot of trouble remembering firsts, actually. Once college started ... well, Christ, I went to school in Western Mass, I probably had thirty firsts just in September.

wow, i know you've talked about your family a lot but somehow it escaped me that you were adopted!

what's your actual ethnicity, if not italian?

Hummus, 1996?: Went to student art opening in college with older friends, one of whom made hummus for the event, I had to try it so her feelings weren't hurt. I eat it prob four days a week now. The End.

Artichokes, 2005: Had at ex-ex-boyfriend's parents' house for holiday dinner, big Italian family that won't let you not "care for" anything, they shout at each other "PASS THE ARTICHOKES, HOW 'BOUT SECONDS? NO? ARE YOU SURE YOU'RE FEELING OKAY? ANGELA, SHE DOESN'T LIKE ARTICHOKES. WHADDYA MEAN SHE DOESN'T LIKE ARTICHOKES?? HASN'T SHE HAD THEM BEFORE? LEAVE HER ALONE, STOP EMBARRASSING OUR SON'S GIRLFRIEND. OH, JUST PASS THE MEATBALLS" The chokes were stuffed with oily breadcrumbs and twice-cooked and vaguely grey, and the part that you're supposed to scrape off was...slimy. Have not tried again.

Still never had Ethiopian food!

Indian: Definitely college. Also Jamaican, hippie, "what do you mean a burrito place, is it a Mexican place, what do you mean they just sell burritos, how is that a restaurant, that's like Herbert's Potato World," and Greek.

Southern: Quite possibly not until New Orleans. My father's from Tennessee and Alabama, but my grandmother couldn't cook a thing besides pie. I don't remember a single meal at her house, which is weird given how much time I spent in Alabama as a kid. I remember she let me try Boo Berry cereal, which was absolutely forbidden in my mother's house because it was blue and that's weird.

Blue cheese: I went to stay with another of my mother's sisters in the same 8 or 9 year old time frame. We ate dinner on tv trays in her living room and she introduced me to blue cheese via salad dressing and some extra crumbles. And Tab (which I abhor).

Mexican: When I was pregnant with my second child (1983), a non-chain Mexican place opened in downtown Indianapolis called Acapulco Joe's. I'm pretty sure that's the first time I ever had a burrito, or salsa. I didn't really consider trying guacamole until I had some down in Santiago Chile, in 1997. They made it at the table and it was the best thing ever.

Raw oysters and fried calamari: Got drunk with my boss at the bar in a Legal Seafood when we were in Boston for a training of some kind. Circa 1993.

Thai food: Pink Pepper in Mesa AZ, 1992. I'd decided a year or two before to put my midwestern past behind me and become a food adventurer.

Sushi: Sacramento CA, 1996. Lunch with an asian-american customer. He was gone from the table when the edamame came and returned to find me chewing them whole, like a cud. I thought they were snow pea pods.

Ethiopian: Seattle, 2002, Cafe Soliel. This was just a few blocks from us, my son was working there as a dishwasher. I'm reminded we should eat Ethiopian food more often.

Pho: Portland, 2002 or 2003, lunch with a huge group of people I was working on a project with. Had no idea what I was in for, which was: foodie heaven.

Dim sum: C-Fu Gourmet in Tempe AZ, 1997.

Cuban: A hole in the wall bar with a velvet painting of a bullfight on one wall, Ybor City, 1996.

Still want to try Peruvian!

italian: the part of brooklyn that i grew up in was pretty solidly italian-american (with pockets of other ethnicities, obviously), so i'm certain that the second i was off the baby formula, i was eating some form of italian food. the places i remember from my childhood were a pizzeria named rocco's (sadly long gone) that had a jukebox that played 45s of the latest journey songs and stuff, and the L&B spumoni gardens (still alive and well) which has the best sicilian-style pizza anywhere on earth probably including sicily, and a place somewhere in bensonhurst (can't remember the name or exact location) that had a steam table of the most wonderful italian fried seafood (this was where i had my first taste of calamari and scungilli). mind you, this is all declasse southern-italian red-sauce food, and i probably didn't have northern italian/provencal food until i was a little older.

I'm not sure when I first had real italian food. We grew up on Chef Boy-ardee boxed spaghetti dinners. Possibly in Philadelphia, in 1992 or so.

We had artichoke plants in our back yard in Stanton, so I was eating those from about the age of eight.

Indian: I had a couple of really bad experiences with Indian food because I hate cilantro so much, but one of my trips to FIMAV involved an incredible meal at La Nouvelle Delhi on Rue St. Denis in Montreal. It was so fucking good, I can't even tell you. Funny thing is, I don't remember if it was 2003 or 2005.

Lebanese: on a date, around 1997, in the Village.

somehow, this worked. after almost half an hour, just when I was ready to give up and turn around, I found it. I was one of three people in the restaurant, which was good, because it minimized the embarrassment when I stuck the whole sprig of basil in the soup and an old vietnamese woman came out to lecture me. but at any rate, it was probably the most satisfying meal I've ever had in my life. I was so happy, I think I even did that thing at the end where you pick up the bowl, pour some of the broth into your mouth, and then spit it back into the bowl.

Caviar: I was 5 or 6 and my family went to the ultra-fancy Murat buffet (Indianapolis again). My little sister and I spooned a pile of what we thought was blackberry jam onto our plates. I've never really tried it since.

We'd have chinese occasionally when dad came home late from work but it was the ordinary stuff everyone has (sweet & sour pork, prawn crackers, fried rice).

I remember when I first moved to Melbourne in 1988, living with my Italian bf's family - I had proper strong espresso coffee and figs and lentil soup ... loved all of it, but had the runs something shocking for days :(

Smoked Salmon: I think I had in Cambridge as part of my European Teen Tour From Hell. Totally inedible. I've eaten a bunch of it since then, as it's sometimes part of uneaten breakfast bagel trays cast off from company meetings.

Not-from-concentrate Grape Juice: A few years ago at one of the NYC greenmarkets. Was totally blown away at how unlike it tasted like its Welches.

Hot Pear Cider Last week, at the same greenmarket. OMG FUCKING AWESOME.

Those things called lychee nuts? Apparently, they are dried lychee fruit.

You may be the only ILXor who's tried caltrops, Jaq.

Yogurt, again, was something I've had as far back as I can remember. My grandparents might've been a reason why -- they were big believers in health food guru Gayelord Hauser, who used to preach about the virtues of things like wheat germ, brewers' yeast, things like that.

Not recommended eating really, though great looking little gargoyles!

http://www.theilliterate.com/archives/illiterati/caltrop.JPG

my mom too. that was her lunch most days -- i'm not sure she realized how much sugar it had in it.

and she was right! I love that stuff to death! hell, I'd eat some right now for a midnight snack if I could

they can be! you can put any filling in a blintz. it's like a crepe.

I forget what it's called, but they had this dish with shrimp served with honey, almond, and apricots, and it was probably the best thing I've ever eaten.

this reminds me of one of the weirder trends of the american 1970s -- pizza parlors with live pipe-organ entertainment. i never knew about this until a couple of years ago, when i did a little research and found out there were hundreds of pizza/organ parlors all across the country.

i also would like to spend quality time with filipino cuisine. one of my flickr contacts is filipino and has been posting pics of some outstanding-looking pinoy food lately. i want.

and i want to learn more about the various variations of aus/nz/pacific islander food.

Italian: Ever since I was small, the American approximation of what Italian food is has been my favorite type of ethnic food. I loved spaghetti and meatballs, take-out pizza, and my mom's lasagna. So my first experience with what I reckon is REAL Italian happened during my 12th birthday, when my parents took me out to eat at this little Italian restaurant close to the house. It was very cozy. That is where I learned about this sauce called "marinara" that tasted very similar to the saucy tomato-based topping I'd grown up with simply as "Ragu" (the brand of spaghetti sauce I was raised on). I also had my first bite of fetuccine alfredo there (on a later visit) and tried their pizza (which I haven't had bested yet).

Chinese: I think I might've been about nine years old, at a Chinese restaurant in Seattle. My first experience with Chinese food and it was with lo mein noodles. Later on, back in S.A., I latched onto the all-American lemon chicken plate, before venturing out to more authentic (or "authentic") Chinese dishes.

McDonald's: Ever-present throughout my early childhood, though mainly a special treat that I only ended up going to once a month or so, maybe even less. I didn't even end up growing up in neighborhoods that had McDonald's in them. The first neighborhood I lived in that had a McDonald's in it was when I was almost 14 and we moved to the part of town I ended up living in for 12 years. By that time I was out of McDonald's primary demographic.

Japanese: When I was 19 and trying to be sophisticated, I tried out a sushi place near the school I was attending at the time. I was surprised by how much I liked it. It still hasn't become a regular or even occasional part of my diet, but I do view it as a wonderful treat for very special occasions.

Mexican: I grew up with it, duh. The real stuff, too. When I became old enough to have a less myopic view of the ways of the world, I was distressed to find out that people actually view Taco Bell as "authentic". Mexican food (or food influenced by Mexican food) has always meant "home cooking" for me. I'm actually kinda tired of it, to tell you the truth.

Indian: My first experience with that wasn't that long ago -- maybe three years ago. On a dare. I dared myself to walk in to an Indian buffet and try out their food and was surprised by how much it reminded me of Mexican food -- both are spicy cuisines with lots of hearty food and served with a floury flat bread. I can't believe how much naan reminded me of homemade flour tortillas. I would love to go back to an Indian restaurant again. Maybe I should ask some of my new work colleagues if they want to meet up at one....

Oh, and I came late to the whole egg roll thing. At first I thought it had real egg in it and when I was younger I didn't like eggs so I was really not keen on trying egg rolls out. It was only when my mom was able to convince me that egg rolls don't actually have eggs in them that I was able to try out and enjoy egg rolls. And it wasn't until I fixed my own eggs (first thing I learned how to make in the kitchen) that I began to like eggs.

I still haven't had homemade chicken & dumplings, BTW. I had them a few times from the frozen foods section, but I haven't tried the authentic thing yet. And my childhood was pretty bereft of casseroles because my dad deeply disliked casseroles. So I'm trying to catch up on that. That's why cooking with those canned creamy soups is still kinda exotic to me, because I didn't grow up with that kind of cooking.

Polish: as soon as I was on solids, the big event being Thursday-night dinners at my grandparents'. There'd always be soup, some kind or roast, fried, or stewed pork (ok, sometimes beef or chicken, but mainly pork), potatoes or potato noodles, salad, and in the summer, kompot, a kind of lukewarm stewed fruit drink. All from scratch.

Chinese: must have been at age 6 or so, as we were still in Poland. I can't remember if I really wanted to try the food or was just interested in using chopsticks, but I got my dad to take me to the House of Polish-Chinese Friendship, a commie cultural exchange joint that included a Chinese restaurant -- one of 2 in the country at the time, I think. I don't remember much about the food, or whether it was even particularly Chinese. I didn't have it again until we were in the US, when my extended family would go out to the local Chinese place once a month or so. Crispy fried shrimp was an early favorite. Looking back, I think I didn't have really amazing Chinese food, close to the kind I've since tasted in China, until I moved to Boston in 2001. Or possibly when visiting family in San Francisco in 1990.

Southern: 1987, when we moved to NC. I was at a summer camp, age 7, barely spoke any English and remember trying hush puppies, and another time,fried chicken from Bojangles. The latter was so incredibly spicy to my palate at the time that I ran for the water hose after two bites. I can't remember when I first had real BBQ -- I think at some point during the 2nd grade school year that started after the summer, when I also made the acquaintance of American school cafeteria classics: sloppy joes, corndogs, etc.

Mexican: No idea. The Old El Paso taco kits were a staple at our house for a while, but I don't know if that came before or after a trip to Taco Bell. Later, there was a Tex-Mex kind of place called El Rodeo, also big for extended family outings. In high school, a little hole in the wall called the Burrito Bunker was a lunch staple. Now that I'm no longer in Chapel Hill, there are actually a bunch of really good, authentic Mexican places, but they've all appeared in the last 5-10 years.

Japanese: If the stakehouse variety counts, it was sometime in late elementary school, but my first taste of sushi was at one of my mom's work parties, during middle school, when one of her Japanese coworkers brought a platter. In high scool, a buffet-style Chinese restaurant I'd go to with my then gf served a few rolls, but I don't think I really had a full meal of it until college in 97.

Indian: I'd been obsessed with India as a little kid for some reason, but didn't try the food until late elementary school or early middle school. I think I tried cooking vindaloo from a recipe, in the very early days of the interweb, before ever going to a restaurant. The results were unbelievably spicy. Somehow, my family persevered though that meal, but afterwards, I had to work on my parents for a while about going out for Indian. My dad came around fairly quickly once we did and got into getting us Indian takeout when my mom was out of town and he felt like abandoning his diet. (In high school, that indulgence became steaks and beer.)

Raw mussels, oysters : When KROQ was still in Pasadena they had a "Sushi Fest" (mid-80s?) in their parking lot that I went to. They had free samples of a lot of stuff and I had these for the first time. I was proud of myself that I didn’t gag or puke, they were pretty good, though I don’t know if I’ve had them more than once or twice since.

Bagels: I lived in the dorms my first year of college (age 18) and had bagels and cream cheese (not likely, but they may have had smoked salmon then, but I wasn’t ready for that) for the first time. Perfect with coffee, which I had started drinking seriously then. I used to spread the cheese on top of the bagel rather than slice it - it was quite a while into the school year when I discovered you were supposed to slice it and put the cheese inside. I love smoked salmon now, but can’t remember when I had it first.

Frog’s legs: At a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta Mexico, when I was 32. Later at a Korean place in Pasadena. They really do taste like chicken.

Steak tartare: At an Italian restaurant (Greco’s) in Pasadena. It was wrapped around something (melon?). Didn’t like it enough to order it again.

Salad Nicoise: At a place in Montreal in ’96. Very good. I had had anchovies before this, and I think the first time was at a pizza place where one of the guys there challenged us to get an anchovy pizza. I like them, but in small doses.

Artichokes: My first year in college I lived in a fraternity (not a member, they rented out rooms) and they had steamed chokes one night. I can’t remember what I dipped the leaves in, but I liked them. I remember being pleased the first time I steamed an artichoke myself.

Kangaroo: A friend came back from Australia with some ‘Roo jerky, which I had a piece of. Not unusual tasting, kind of beefy, I guess.

Sushi: I started working in a Japanese restaurant when I was 14, but I mostly had teriyaki and tempura. They had California roll or some precursor (early 70s) that I liked well enough. First tofu here too, in sukiyaki. I didn’t like fish until I worked here.

German: When I lived there we were at a friend of my father’s wife’s family’s house, and we had some German food. Her father ate raw hamburger, which was one of the grossest things I’d seen eaten at that point.

Ethiopian: Early 90s there was a place called Ibis in Pasadena that I tried. Wasn’t too impressed. I’m not sure I’ve had any Ethiopian since, and I’m always intrigued that people rave about it so much.

Indian: Don’t remember, but it must have been after college.

Chinese: Possibly at the Rice Bowl, a Chinese restaurant in Merced, California, when I was 11. Probably canned/frozen Chung King before that, but that may not count.

Thai: Not sure, but may have been at a place in the Eastern San Gabriel valley called Thai Teak. Still the best Pad Thai I’ve had.

Taiwanese wine: In the early 90s some Taiwanese clients of my company brought a special ("purple label") bottle of wine to a meal we had. Horrible, horrible stuff. I think I had a lychee dessert here too, was not impressed.

Italian: My mother’s parents were from Sicily, so we had this at home. She wasn’t the greatest cook and didn’t have much of a repertoire, so I’ve had much better since. I once made a Bisquick pizza when I was probably in my early teens (recipe on the box!). I ate the whole thing myself.

Mexican: lived in California from age 10, so can’t really remember.

Age 49 and I still haven’t tried caviar. I can’t image liking it enough to justify the expense.

I had a kangaroo steak the other day and it was distinctly unbeefy! Not gamey either, very much its own flavour. Recommended.

Mexican: Same area, same age. We went to this fusion (?) restaurant which did TexMex food. I only remember getting a plastic bead necklace.

Italian food: Honestly, I can't remember. Ever since being a kid, I remember my mom boasting my dad making the bestest spaghetti bolognese.

Fried food: My mom tells me I didn't like eating french fries as a young kid, even though it's a typical dish for Belgian people. I just didn't like it as a kid, nor did I like chocolate or other candy. But I think from the time we opened up our own shop, I remember going for frikandellen, fries and stoverij. Apparently I discovered the fatty joy of frikandellen and fries. With lots of mayonaise.

Frog’s legs and escargots (read: snails): Every week we would go to a restaurant and I would order the same things. Either it was frog's legs or escargots (in garlic sauce). I think I suddenly realized I was eating frigging SNAILS and that was that. Same thing for blood sausages. I was so crazy about'em until I was maybe four years old and asked my dad, while holding a piece on my fork, what it was made of. "Pig's blood of course." The piece never reached my mouth.

Chinese: In my twenties probably .

Indian: Hmm, I think in my midtwenties? Probably in England but I can't remember it very well.

Banana bread: When I stayed in Hawaii in my late twenties. I still remember ordering a big plate of fruit and banana bread. This is what prmpted me to buy my first (?) cook book. I wanted to make it again cause I was obsessed with it.

Ophelia has already tried lots of things. She's one years old and loves pineapple, avocado, pasta, cookies, chocolate, yoghurt, rhum-raisin bread (only one spoon of rhum in the bread, so I think she hardly had a drop),...

Pizza: not til mid-teens! Was completely put off the look of it at a young age and refused to try it until I was at a bowling lanes party!! Where it was the only thing there! And I decided it wasn't so bad after all. Subsquent pizza experiences involved "Chicago Town" frozen pizzas and then it took YEARS for me to actually try a thin crust pizza.

Mes-kin (as Joe Bob Briggs calls it): I have made tacos and burritos! From "Old El Paso" kits! Tacos are just chilli, put in a taco, right? With added lettuce/cheese/salsa? Burritos involve CHICKEN and go in a wrap. Went to a Mexican restaurant age 19? Got fear from menu. Ordered a burger.

SNAILS: I had these to celebrate getting my (oh god, THIS!) current job, so that would be IN CHEZ GERARD coming up to three years ago argh.

Figs: dried figs summer last year! I got obsessed by them. Figs!! Then I tried fresh figs a little later, wrapped in parma ham. They are great too, but to be honest, the dried ones in resealable bags are more convenient for snacking purposes. Figs good for posh meals tho. Bought a big bunch of ripe figs in Spain, where they basically give them away, unfortunately they were so ripe they got so mashed up in the bag that by the time we got home all that was left was a pulp of figgy mush. CHIZ.

Indian: 15 or so? My parents decided to order in some curry and I had NO IDEA what anything on the menu was! Think I ended up with tandoori chicken, it was yum, all the curry please, all of it for me.

Dates: A couple of weeks before we moved offices, pregnant co-worker decided she had to upgrade her fruit intake, and started spending loads of money on posh M&S organical dates. I tried one reluctantly. YUM! I should eat more, dates.

Pomegranates: A week or two ago! EAT now sells pomegranate seeds! They were very nice, consider me ON BOARD this antioxidant thing.

Acai berries: September 06 - I work opposite an organical shop, you know :)

I should point out that for years I subsisted on fishfingers and Findus Crispy Pancakes so I think this is doing quite well!

sushi: while visiting my (old) boyfriend in gainesville, FL. his friend called and invited us for sushi and i thought EH, WHAT THE HELL. i was vegan, though, so could only have the cucumber and/or avocado rolls and i still thought they were horrible. one of my biggest faults is that i do not care for the taste of sushi. i am completely enamoured with watching people eat it, though.

tofu: my mother went on a big health kick around 1987 and started making tofu for dinner, except she had no idea how to cook it so she'd just serve the family uncooked cold tofu, and it was soooooo nasty.

being vegetarian precludes me from a lot of stuff, sometimes it makes me sad but I guess not sad enough. I did get drunk a couple of years back and have some sushi with smoked eel, I think I liked it!

anyway I grew up with sonoran mexican/chihuahuan mexican. quite a lot of new things I tried at "taste of" festivals and would then go to a proper resturant to follow up on, me and my mom really enjoy this type of thing.

middle eastern, 16 or so, Tucson, a place possibly called cafe jerusalem near the original Bookman's? babaganooj and falafel and some sort of rosewater custard. hooked.

Thai, embarassingly recently, I think 2003? Taste of Chicago. I just moved to st louis two years ago and this is the first place I've lived with much in the way of regional cuisines.

Sushi, around 1998 maybe? veggie rolls only of course, and tempura and green tea ice cream. I can't get the full impact because I don't eat fish, but I do enjoy avocado rolls and such.

have not had dim sum or pho. Can't remember when I first tried indian but it was certainly within the last 10 years. I'm so sure I've had ethiopian but I can't remember an actual resturant!

xposts

i can't remember the first time i tried a lot of things, but i do recall (fondly) my first experience with frogs' legs. it was at an old-school fussy french place that i went to for a special occasion with my parents, and to my 8 yr old mind they sounded so cool and grown-up. i was allowed to order them, since my mother loves them and would have eaten them if i ended up disgusted. not an issue - i loved them. they were fried and soaked with garlic butter, which would probably render anything tasty, and yes - they tasted like chicken. afterwards, i had fun marching the denuded bones around the table.

83.

Miso: I had Miso soup as early as '78 at the Shiro restaurant cited above, but I started cooking with it in 1994, buying some no-name no-label stuff from a Battery Park grocery. Made all sorts of soups with whatever I had on hand, including apples.