Food Phases
April 5, 2005
When I was kid, whenever my family and I would go on vacation I’d always order the same thing at restaurants we’d eat at. I had my Roast Beef Sandwich phase where I’d order nothing but Roast Beef Sandwiches with a side order of fries, sometimes seasoned and sometimes not. Before that there was the Grilled Cheese phase, golden brown on both sides with a huge dollop of ketchup on one corner for dipping.
It became something of an inside joke; “What will Erik have this trip? Will he succumb to the same kinds of food or will he try something different to mix things up a little?”. Never one to disappoint I’d rarely break the pattern of not ordering the same thing at meal time but on occassion I’d try something different. That was then, this is now, but I’ve found that childhood quirks stay with you, no matter how much time passes.
Even to this day I’ve noticed patterns in what I’ll order at restaurants and most of the time it’s just food I’ve become comfortable eating, like Clam Chowder for instance. Nothing adds to a meal — at least in my opinion — like the soothing warmth and taste of thick chowder topped with soup crackers and a dash of salt and pepper. Eventually I might grow tired of ordering clam chowder with every meal but most likely it’ll be replaced with a different phase.
Do you have any food phases?
18 comments
This is a tough one, because I like food
But, I have to say in the past few years I’ve craved more Japanese food than anything. I don’t know why, but I could eat cucumber/seaweed salad, a huge plate of sashimi, and a hot bowl of miso soup every day of my life.
by Molly E. Holzschlag on April 5, 2005 at 11:16 am. #
on family trips specifically, it was also beef jerky and pepperoni for me. which made me stinky, and not very popular on long car rides.
haha.
by kris on April 5, 2005 at 11:21 am. #
If I got to TGIFriday’s I order a JD Burger and a cup of French Onion soup. Is that a phase?
by Colin D. Devroe on April 5, 2005 at 11:47 am. #
I tend to prefer turkey with peppersauce, but my family insists I vary. I did have my phase where I wouldn’t vary, so yes, that was an obvious turkey phase.
by Rob Mientjes on April 5, 2005 at 12:21 pm. #
Pickles and bacon bits while at camp one summer. Big dill pickles smothered in bacon bits…mmm…
by Scott on April 5, 2005 at 12:37 pm. #
I go through the same phases. Sometimes I simply eat so much of something that I can’t face it again for a year. Other times I surprise myself by really enjoying something that I used to eat all the time, but stopped eating for a couple of years.
I go through seasonal changes too. In Winter I drink a lot of hot chocolate and eat heavier foods. In Summer, I switch to apple juice and lighter foods like cereal.
by Jim on April 5, 2005 at 1:00 pm. #
I tend to have pasta phases, where all I want to eat is pasta, pasta and more pasta.
by Kitta on April 5, 2005 at 1:03 pm. #
For me, there is only one significant food phase. The cheeseburger is manna from heaven. I’m quite partial to chicken with cashewnuts too.
by Simon Jessey on April 5, 2005 at 1:06 pm. #
I dont really go through food phases, but Im in the middle of a several week long Root Beer addiction. Itll morph into a tea phase, and then a water phase, and so on.
by Greg on April 5, 2005 at 1:15 pm. #
I’m going through the try new things food phase. However, this is not when I go to a restaurant, in fact I tend to order the same couple dishes at each of my favorite restaurants.
I picked up the cookbook Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen from my local library and was inspired to try new things, its superbly designed. It has a nice section on grilling too, which is perfect this time of year. Grilled mushrooms on a skewer are fantastic. I tried roasted onion with balsamic, wow just delicious, and many other great foods. That’s my food phase. New! Hopefully improved cooking.
by Mike on April 5, 2005 at 3:44 pm. #
As I kid I had phases too, one of particular note was cucumber and tomato ketchup sandwiches on brown bread. These days it tends to be things like a veggie phase, were I try and fool myself that I can live without bacon, shortly followed by a bacon phase where I try to convince myself I can live without veggies.
Summers coming though, which means the Asparagus and new potato thing will start.… yummm!
by John Oxton on April 5, 2005 at 4:51 pm. #
Ha…if I didn’t read Oxton’s site and know he’s a Brit, I might think there was something strange about those cucumber and ketchup sandwiches.
by Greg on April 5, 2005 at 4:56 pm. #
Molly: I absolutely adore asian cuisine and especially towards the end of the meal when your palette is cleansed and your belly is full. Off topic, but when I was younger I bought a box of Dieter’s Green Tea and assumed it was “de-a-teers”. Boy did I feel like a complete idiot when my Dad nudged me, telling me it was tea for dieting folk.
Colin: A cup (or bowl) of onion soup at TGIF’s is certainly a phase. Have you had it in a bread bowl? Man, that is good. The best soup in a bread bowl is in San Francisco, down by Fisherman’s Wharf.
Rob: Turkey with peppersauce? Sounds good. Turkey phases are good, especially right after Thanksgiving — stockpiling the slices of turkey on bread? Mmm. Good stuff.
Scott: Pickles and bacon bits sounds like an odd combo, but hey, I’ll try it sometime.
Jim: Yeah, certain seasons will change your tastes.
Kitta: I married into an Italian family so that’s all I ever eat; pasta, pasta, pasta! It used to be a delicacy for me or a treat, but now it’s just an everyday thing!
Simon: Oh yeah! Chicken with cashew nuts is delicious. Now I’m feeling a bit hungry.
Greg: I go through my Root Beer phases as well. My grandparents owned an A&W (Ants and Worms) in Iowa during the 1940s and then another drive-thru in the 1970s in East Moline, IL. Since that time the A&W has been converted into a beauty shop — a rather dingy one at that.
Mike: Believe me, I’m trying to try new things but I tend to come back to the foods I’m familiar with or enjoy on a regular basis.
John: Cucumber and ketchup sandwiches? Wow, I’ve never heard of that combination. I too go through the veggie vs. bacon and the bacon vs. veggie phase.
Greg: John has a tendency to throw you for a loop. I don’t always think it’s because he’s a Brit, it’s mainly because he’s slighty crazy (in that ‘Crazy Cook’ kind of way.) I can’t wait until he interviews me though because, yeah, I’m going to refrain from being coherent.
by kartooner on April 5, 2005 at 8:24 pm. #
Lesst not us forget your ‘grilled chesse’ phase.…every meal for two weeks one vacation time.
ugh.
Dad
by dad on April 5, 2005 at 9:54 pm. #
Food phases? Um… not really. Anything that looks tasty and interesting enough is fair game with me.
However, I have had my drink phases — Until recently, I was on something of a Scotch phase. I used to “wind up” after each day with a glass of the stuff “on the rocks”. I even hit a Scotch tasting course, and there began an affair with pure single malt whisky. For some reason, after a while scotch and my stomach just weren’t getting along as they used to. I guess I just have had too many shots of the stuff… let’s see if I pick it up again in the future
by beto on April 5, 2005 at 10:53 pm. #
I was the same way as a kid, always ordering the same safe thing over and over. It wasn’t until the past year that I started appreciating food more, especially ones that I have no idea about.
Alton Brown had an episode talking about how most people always buy the same things for most of their life at the grocery store, and we should take more risks and try new things in life. I agreed so much, that I decided that everytime I go out, I will try something new, because I can have safe food when I’m home, but when I go out, I can afford to be adventurous.
Today, for example, I had brie for the first time. Sure, it isn’t real French brie, and it was a bit underripe, but it was still pretty good stuffed in a baked potato with chives and butter. I grew up on 4 cheeses, American, cheedar, mozzerella, and parmesan, it’s time for me to explore the wonderful world of cheeses, and so many other foods I never had.
by Matt Burris on April 5, 2005 at 11:55 pm. #
Oh yes, I remember going on vacation with the great Kartooner and have him order grilled cheese the whole freakin time. I also remember that time when you ran out of the car and started throwing up, and grandma offered you sprite. I have no idea why I remember that.
Love ya man..
~Spoiler: At the end of Star Wars III, Anakin becomes Darth Vader!
by Matt (brother) on April 7, 2005 at 3:25 pm. #
My son has practiced the vacation food phase approach since he was about 8. He changes the preferred food for each trip, but eats the same thing for the entire trip as much as he can. We think it’s his way of seeking comfort in an unfamiliar locale.
Here are some of his phases
Age 9 Washington DC — chicken wings
Age 10 Ireland — chicken fingers
Age 11 Spain — hamburgers and fried potatoes
Age 13 Italy — Margherita pizza
Age 14 Puerto Rico — Giant burritos
So is this a guy thing? I don’t know, but we indulge him, and he really enjoys his food!!
by Sally on June 29, 2005 at 12:12 pm. #