When I was a kid, I was the pickiest eater. I wouldn't eat chocolate (as a 7 year old, WTF), mayonnaise, cream cheese (strawberry or plain), avocados, cucumbers, onions (still kind of true), pork (not ham, chops, or even bacon - no, I'm not Jewish), bell peppers, beans...I could go on and on. As I grew older, my fear of strange foods melted away with each palate-opening episode.
California Rolls aren't my favorite roll. Per contra, I appreciate it for how it changed my life towards avocados (black-listed) and cucumbers (black-listed). My mom's friends own a sushi restaurant back in Texas. I worked there as a sixteen year-old for two weeks to earn money for my trip to Europe. Not wanting to embarrass my family (so Korean of me), I dutifully ate whatever was put in front of me. It's a sushi restaurant. Obviously, I was obligated to eat that avocado and cucumber stuffed contrivance. I honestly felt like they had plunked down a platter of boar testicles for me to eat. I ate it (the cali roll, not the testicles). I loved it. Avocados and cucumbers pardoned from the blacklist.
