Sandy Supposes....

Fudge

PROMPT November 27th

Do you have any "weird" tastes in food? Carrots and ketchup? Peanut butter and ice cream? Watermelon and salt? Can you convince us to try your odd food combo?

         I've often wondered about our early foodstuff pioneers. Obviously, they wandered in search of strange new items to eat. Perhaps they operated on the dare system as in, I dare you to put that in your mouth and swallow it. Who waded out into the ocean, scooped up a clam, pried it open, stared at the pale, mucousy contents and thought to him or herself, I bet I can force this down. It just needs a bit of butter. Someone had to be the first to trap a lobster. Did this adventurous gourmand then look past the shell, the claws / pincers. and antenna to envision something to savour? Ah, of course, served with butter it had to be delicious. The same is true of snails. They're not all that remarkable, or noticeable. They slither along on a trail of slime and they tote their hard-shelled homes on their backs. What about their appearance screamed, eat me, you know you want to? Huh, with a dip into melted butter these would be marvelous.

         What drew these scavengers / gatherers to pull fungus from the ground? Oh, wait, it was the pretense of sautéing these mushrooms in butter. Who experimented with ears of corn and decided to dry each and every kernel for future consumption? Yes, it was the allure of reheating this popcorn with butter. So, butter seems to be the one ingredient that makes anything palatable.

Butter is slathered on bread, buns, muffins, pancakes and more. Years ago, senior clients insisted upon a pat of butter atop their bowls of cream soup. Again, who discovered that butter could be created from milk? Careful, don't shake that fresh milk, it'll solidify. And this leads me to contemplate cheese. Most cheeses are aged. This is a fancy term meaning it's left to its own devices. In the process, cheese acquires a distinctive aroma. Despite this, cheese is a sought after delicacy.

         No, I don't believe I eat any weird food combinations. The person who paired chocolate and peanut butter is a genius , as is the clever one who combined salt with caramel. Now my mouth is watering as I recall fabulous pairings. Strawberry and rhubarb are fantastic. One of my newest discoveries is Chicago mix popcorn. Cheese and caramel are a wonderful taste. Oh, I'm dreaming of other delectable chocolate combos: chocolate and caramel, chocolate and mint, chocolate and orange. Ah, chocolate is as important as butter. You know if you mix chocolate with butter, and introduce heat, you create fudge. Now this is the ultimate combination!