Hi, friends! Sadly, it’s Sunday night already, the fuckin workweek starts again soon.
So tonight’s theme is about things that functioned as gateway drugs. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it was used to scare US children in drug use prevention programs away from trying weed. Weed was the gateway drug and if you even touched the devil’s lettuce omg it was downhill from there and you’d end up a crackhead dead in the street. Obviously, that isn’t how it works. We all know people who have enjoyed pot for years and years and years. Also, we know people who haven’t touched pot but use other substances.
But there are things where we try it once, and go ohhhh okay I need more of that in my life. I suspect a lot of people in the US were introduced to Rugby 7s watching the Olympics and are now thinking ok, that’s fucking cool.
So internet friends, what was something that hooked you from the first? That made you develop a long-term love for something?
For me, it was champagne vinegar. I’d been so-so on vinaigrettes – they were okay, but the amount of sugar or honey needed to make them palatable for me was annoying. Then I was making a recipe I found online for a salad* and the recipe called for sherry vinegar. I’d never heard of that, but okay I got some. Game changer. Gateway drug.
Then I found a recipe singing the praises of champagne vinegar for salad dressings. It’s amazing. Then I got good balsamic vinegar, calamansi vinegar, lilikoi balsamic vinegar, and more. Last week I got red currant balsamic vinegar. I, uh, might have a problem.
In case you were wondering, it was this salad – https://www.thekitchn.com/thanksgiving-lentil-salad-250967#post-recipe-12922 – and this is still one of my fall and winter go-to meals. If you need something that is vegan, gluten-free, and can easily be made nut-free, and is so fucking delicious, this one is for you. I make it for a meal, not a side salad.
After the first 40-50 coke/heroin speedballs, I found myself starting to drink coffee.
But besides that, I remember the first Sam Adams I had after college suddenly got me thinking beer could be a lot more than Bud.
Well, the nice thing is coffee is a lot more affordable than speedballing.
I’m with you on that. NZ beer made me realize American beer sucked until I visited Seattle & had Red Hook. I was blown away until I moved here & it just got better as I went down the rabbit hole. After I found my hero Bert Grant, I could never drink shitty beer again. Same thing happened with wine. Now I can’t drink shitty wine. It is not about being snobby it is like trying to eat Taco Bell after finding out what Mexican food should taste like.
Agreed on all of it.
When I was a young student cheap anything was all I could afford. Now as a working man I have money (sort of) so why not enjoy the finer things?
Curry Village in Kingston ON (it still exists afaik)
Was the gateway to Indian cooking and Indian cuisine some 34 years ago.
Also ironic where I live is now the population is 30-40% Indian descent.
Yeah the first time I had dal I was like holy fuck mind blown.
It’s a little surprising but also makes a lot of sense that all kinds of pubs and little restaurants in the UK now have some kind of curry to go with cheap sandwiches and meat pies.
The Moonglows, The Orioles, and The Ravens were my gateway to doo-wop. I found them at an absolute bottom in my life and they brought a little bit of light into my soul. Since then, it’s been 25+ years of a deep dive into the world of doo-wop.
Indie nailpolish. Everything in the drug store is boring. You gotta get yourself a Holo Taco, Mooncat, Starrily, Cadillacquer, Fancy Gloss, FUN Lacquer, Cirque Colors, Emily de Molly, or a Polish Me Silly. Then you’re really living.