Food #9--Fruitcake.

From Giovanna’s Trifles at Culinate by Giovanna Zivny

February 26, 2009

I love fruitcake. Well, good fruitcake. I absolutely don’t understand how it inspires such hatred. Dried fruit, nuts, bourbon. Aren’t those the 3 basic food groups?

When I was an exchange student living in Denmark, lonely at Christmas, my aunt sent me one. Not the really good kind--this was a very blond one, not alcohol soaked, and little to no cake surrounding the nuts. But I was homesick! I opened the box with my host family. My host sister (who’d lived in the US the year before) immediately started talking about how disgusting, dreadful, and repulsive fruitcake is. The family agreed it sounded awful.

I took the cake upstairs (they ran a neat house, everything in its place--apparently fruitcake’s place was not their kitchen). And in the next 2 days, I ate the whole thing.

On the second night, after dinner, my host sister asked me when they could sample the cake. I had to admit I’d eaten the whole thing.

I hope I’m not responsible for giving them the idea that Americans overeat and have no willpower.