I’ve been reminiscing lately about the first time I had a particular food.

It was peanut butter the other day. Today it’s coffee with cream. When we were both young teenagers my brother and I went to Tauranga on the ferry for the day.

We decided to splash our hard earned cash on going to a café on The Strand. As part of it we got a cup of coffee, which we never drank at home (we were a tea house). It had whipped cream on it, and I think cinnamon, which I guess makes it a cappuccino.

We felt very sophisticated.

A cup of frothy coffee sits on a coaster on a wooden table.
Caption: A cup of frothy coffee sits on a coaster on a wooden table.

Pickles The other surprise food as an adult was pickles. I was working in Gisborne and had gone back to Palmerston North for the weekend to see my girlfriend and brother. I was on a decent salary so I decided to shout them a meal. We went to The Grand Hotel on the Square. An old fashioned place with dark wood and low lighting.

We got a plate of antipasto with all the usual ingredients. I picked up a pickle, crunched into it, and was blown away. Why had I never had one of these before? Delicious!

And the meal? If I remember right it cost $85 for the three of us!