The first time I had yogurt I hated it. I was maybe 4 years old, and my sister-in-law Teri gave me some when we lived in Ephraim. It was bitter, and strangely textured, and I swore it was the nastiest thing I'd ever tasted. I may have tried it once or twice after that, but I pretty much avoided it like the plague for many, many years.
My second encounter with yogurt came after I graduated from high school. I went on a two-week tour of Europe with a group from my school. We arrived in Spain, and every night at dinner they served us french fries, dry burgers, or for me a dry salad. They apparently didn't have high esteem of our palates as American high school students. After dinner they would always give us a cup of yogurt. Since dinner was dismal and not very filling, I always downed my yogurt, and was surprised to find that I actually like it. I came home and tried to eat yogurt again. It wasn't as nasty as my four-year-old self remembered, but it still wasn't all that fabulous, and I ended up throwing a lot of cups away that went bad in the fridge, because they just didn't appeal to me.
The summer of 2009 I did a study abroad living in France. I stayed with a strange older woman who was very cynical, and set in her ways. She had her prejudices, and nothing I could say would change her closed mind. Madame was a bit stand-offish but she was an amazing cook. Dinner was always wonderful, and included a salad course, a main course, a cheese course, and dessert which was almost always yogurt. She bought the most fabulous yogurt, and every flavor I tried just hit the spot perfectly. Sure there were the normal Strawberry, Raspberry, and Peach, but there was also Apricot, Black Cherry, and my favorite Pineapple. I loved them, and when she was going to be gone for a few days, and was leaving me food, I asked if she could leave some yogurt for breakfast. The look she gave me was one of complete and utter bewilderment. She tried to explain to me that yogurt was a dessert, not a breakfast food, and I, with my limited skills, tried to tell her that in the US it was very normal for people to eat yogurt for breakfast. She ultimately gave in, but thought I was very weird for it. I chalked it up to a regional thing, from the way she was talking, and enjoyed my breakfast while she was gone.
A few weeks later I went with my church's local institute group based out of Geneva to the temple in Bern, Switzerland. Because of bus schedules, and driving to Bern, I ended up spending the night before at the house of one of the other girls from the institute. Before we left early in the morning we got up and had some breakfast. She asked if I wanted some yogurt, and I of course was thrilled. I told her about Madame, and our conversation, and she was totally shocked. She thought Madame was off her rocker, and said it was definitely not a regional thing (Geneva is only about 40 minutes from Annecy).
I learned from that trip that the Europeans make yogurt with real ingredients like milk, and yogurt cultures, and not all of the corn starch, and sugars that Americans do. I came home, and after some searching found some fruit yogurt, Kroger brand actually, that doesn't have fillers as its main ingredient, and have somewhat enjoyed them. When we got to Canada a few days ago, and did some grocery shopping I decided to see if their yogurt was more like that of Europe. It is, and it is glorious. It was something I didn't realize how much I was missing, until I had it back again. Yesterday as I was eating breakfast I told my mother not to buy me any yogurt when we got back to Utah. I don't know if I can go back, at least for a few weeks. I have been eating at least 1 or 2 cups of yogurt a day while we've been here, and I love it.
If I move to Canada someday the yogurt won't be my driving force, but it would be a nice side benefit. In the meantime, I think I will be looking at vacationing here more often. Because it's a beautiful city of course! (and because the yogurt is fabulous).
1 comment:
We have this brand in Texas. Just saying if you want to come visit! It is awesome!
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