Bangers

 I went to London when I was 24. I had just broken up with my boyfriend (who later ended up becoming my current ex-husband) and felt I needed a fresh start. My coworker at a local restaurant here on Cape Cod was from Ireland and was moving to London to go to school. She invited me to tag along. She went there a month before me, and secured our flat in Edmonton, a so-so suburb of London. By the time I got there, she had gotten herself a job, started college, and met a boyfriend (now her husband.) I went there with only a few hundred dollars in my pocket, assuming I'd figure it out. Turns out, I went at the start of the rainy season, missed my ex terribly, and felt like the third wheel with my roommate. I couldn't find a job because you need a visa and went through my cash pretty quickly. I lasted three weeks before I came home.

However, I packed a lot into those three weeks. I was really excited to try authentic fish and chips. Having grown up on Cape Cod, I'd eaten fish and chips my entire life, but I'd heard so much about the British version. I remember my roommate and I going to a pub and ordering up some, and I wasn't disappointed. It was beer battered, and amazing. The fish wasn't cod, like I was used to. I'm not really sure which kind of fish it was, but it was a bit meatier. Still, amazing.

We went out to breakfast, and that's when I lost my appetite. My roommate, Sarah, told me "bangers" were sausages. Well, I loved sausages. I ate Italian sausage subs my entire life. So, imagine my surprise when these giant, swollen links arrived on my plate. No grill marks, very fleshy textured. Totally not my thing.

While Sarah worked, I explored London. I mastered the Tube and saw the sights. Minding my money, I shopped at the local market. It was actually more like an Indian market. Maybe not all Indian, but that's how I remember it. Lot's of spices I'd never heard of, and lots of curry and things like that. Turns out, I don't care for curry. I ended up making toasted pita pockets with tomatoes and feta on them. I seriously ate this almost every day. It was cheap and easy and palatable. Lame, I know.

Another appetite suppressant was the potato chip aisles of the regular markets. The flavors were INSANE...prawns, roast beef, mustard, pickles...COME ON! I called across the store, "Sarah! Get a look at this!!!" I was laughing, and she had no idea why. 

My last week there, her dad came in from Dublin and took a big group of his friends out to dinner, including me. It was to a fancy french restaurant. Well, it started out at a pub, but by the time everyone finished drinking, they had stopped serving food. I was starving. It was around 10pm and I skipped lunch that day because I had run out of funds. We walked down the street to the french restaurant and it was the fanciest place I'd ever been. I didn't understand much of what I was ordering, and her dad did a lot of the ordering for us. I was a bit nervous about it, but he was paying, so what could I do? He started us out with mushroom soup. I didn't like mushrooms. Well, that's what I had always thought. To be honest, I'd never tried mushrooms before. I just got it in my head as a kid that I didn't like them, so I believed it. Anyway, at 11pm at night, with no lunch, you'll eat just about anything. This was dining and feeding combined. And I'll tell you what... I LOVED the mushroom soup. And all the other "weird" things he had sent to the table. Was it the hunger? Was it just me growing up and realizing it's ok to try new things? Was it just well prepared food? Maybe all. I don't know. But what I do know is that after that experience, I became more open to trying new things. No, it doesn't always work out, but that's ok. I'd rather have an iffy experience than possibly miss out on the best mushroom soup of my life!

Full disclosure: I still have never eaten bangers...