I Hate Anchovies, Part Deux

I had to make an emergency trip to the store on Sunday because we were running dangerously low on anchovies.  This is not an acceptable situation in our house.  I love anchovies.  I love them salty and brown.  I love them vinegary and white.  Those little fishies rock my world and they need to be available at all times.

You may recall a conversation I had with my dad about anchovies and how much he despises them, despite loving Caesar salad.  Interesting.  So, I decided to further test the hypothesis that my dad is crazy.  I gave him some beet soup to bring home, soup that was laced with a certain secret ingredient. 

Let’s see what our taster thought:

Me:  How did you like the soup?

Him: It was good.

Me:   Really?  You liked it?

Him: Yes.

Me:   You ate all three servings?

Him:  I like beets.

Me:   Then you like anchovies, too.

Him: What?

Me:   That’s right.  I put anchovies in your soup.  HA HA.  Take that.

Him: You know, I’m not going to keep eating the food you give me if you keep sneaking things in that I don’t like.

Me:   Yeah, right.  The point is that you DO like these things.  You just don’t know that you do.

Him:  I know I hate anchovies.

Me:   Uh-huh, sure.

Him: Anything tastes good in a million to one ratio.

Me:   Eight percent.  It was 8% anchovy.

Him: I know ratios.  I’m a scientist.  I’ve been working with solutions all my life.

Me:   Right.

Him: I hate anchovies.

You may not have noticed, but in these conversations, the same person always has to have the last word.  However, it’s worth pointing out that his last word was not that he hated the soup.

Comments

[Dad]

OK, that's it! I will no longer accept soups or salads from you. You are clearly out of control on this anchovy fetish of yours! However, I am not unreasonable. You can still make me baklava, chocolate mousse cake, baklava, key lime pie, baklava, fudge, baklava, smoothie shakes and, oh yea, baklava. But heaven help you if you put anchovies in any of them!!!

[cookiecrumb]

Oh, I'm going to be naughty here.
Why are scientists so dumb-headedly stubborn?
Cranky's dad was a scientist (at WHOI, to get in my local cred), and boy -- was he stubborn about food. Wouldn't eat chicken. Raisins. Salad.
Hmmph.
Hey, no disrespect, Mr. Tammy's Dad. I got a lot more Cranky's-Dad stories. Probably make you look pretty good.

[ilva]

I do the same with my kids,I'm always sneaking in things they don't like in the food but I don't tell them. I just gloat in silence, gloat and enjoy and think that one day, one day I will tell them about all the things they have eaten without knowing it...

[Tammy]

Ah, gloating in SILENCE. That must be where I'm going wrong.

CC, scientists don't like to be wrong. Neither do engineers.

Dad, I hear you loud and clear. One order of anchovy baklava coming right up.

[Sally]

Ha! Reminds me of the time I fed left-over beef liver disguised as beef stroganoff to the kids. Carmen ate three helpings! I did tell them why it "tasted funny" afterwards. For a long time afterwards they would poke, prod, smell and nibble anything served them that they couldn't immediately recognize.

I'm a baaaad momma....hee!

[longtime reader]

Al. C'mon. Is there no compromising here? Clearly you can (I didn't say *want to*) acknowledge that you (like me) do NOT like anchovies in their whole, salty, fishy state. But ground up and detected only by their salty earthiness in perfect balance with other items of less-contentious deliciousness? Yum. Even I, lover of Caesar salad, puttanesca sauce, and most likely Tammy's beet soup, admit that I will eschew anything that pulls up the status of the anchovy to more than background. Keep it back there and you keep me loving you, little salty one. So Al, give Tammy a little so that you might have more. Because I think you win in that one, ye who is gifted with Tammy food.

[Dad]

Compromise!?! No way!!
Alright, alright .... at dilutions of 1:100 or greater I can tolerate anchovies. That's the best I can do!