When it comes to food, I’ve already experienced so many firsts in my life: my first ice cream, pizza, steak, sushi, etc. Some were more memorable than others. For example, I still remember, quite vividly, biting into my first sea cucumber in southern China in July 2006. I know there are still firsts to come, such as my first meal during my first trip to Europe or the first time I’ll dine at a famous chef’s restaurant.

However, I’m very excited about the prospect of revisiting my many previous firsts by living vicariously through my newborn son. Each time I share a cherished staple in my diet with him for the first time, I will get a chance to watch the discovery play out on his little face and remember what it was like for me at his age. I can’t wait to introduce him to popcorn, or jello, or “paskeddy”. There is so much food diversity he’ll be able to explore from all over the world, right in our own backyard. I’m a little jealous, thinking about all the cuisines he can explore early on that weren’t even on my radar until my adult years, such as sushi, middle eastern, thai, or peruvian.

In the end, the “first” I most want to be there to share with him, is when he first discovers a passion for food, not just as a consumer, but as a creator as well. I can’t wait for the first time we make something great in the kitchen, together. I might just cry a little when he takes his first bite of something he made and knows that it’s good, not just because Mommy and Daddy said so, but because his own mouth is being more honest with him than ours could ever be. That might be my favorite “first” yet. Enjoy!