An Intoxicating Taste Bud Dance

I have had an extremely tiring week traveling from Orlando to Miami to New York. Working, working, working and playing. Fortunately, between work stops, my taste buds were introduced to some new tasty dishes. Don’t you just love it when you give your taste buds a chance to dance? And this isn’t any ol’ dancing…its the kind of taste bud dancing that causes your eyes to close, your lips to sing and your mouth to savor every new flavor that caresses your tongue. With a beautiful preparation before my eyes, I inquisitively took the first bite. Within seconds, I was immediately enticed with the dish. I wanted to relive that first bite over and over again. That first bite of warm goat cheese delicately mixed with exotic spices and fiery sauce. My head was telling me no (swim suit season) but my mouth was screaming yes. The intoxicating flavors had awoken my sleeping buds and there was no turning back. The dish was teasing me, tempting me to take another bite. “But it’s swim suit season,” I thought. “I have been so good, come so far…I can’t do this now.” As that thought lingered, the aromas enticed me more. The temptation was too great. I closed my eyes, and relinquished myself to the silver fork. The second bite was just as good as the first…just as savory , just as intoxicating. I gave myself up to the dish and indulged. With every bite, the choreographed dance developed. My buds were engulfed in the arms of these new Brazilian spices, dancing daringly close to the seasoned morsel. The dance was savory, lustful and intoxicating. I didn’t want it to end but the last bite was inevitable. With the last of the flavors lingering on my tongue, I allowed the dance to slowly subside. The plate was clean; the music had stopped. My taste buds were abandoned once more. I was satisfied for the night but nostalgia gained momentum while reliving the dance over a mushy bowl of corn flakes the next morning. Sporadic memories of creamy goat cheese, seasoned morsels and fiery sauces were just an illusion in my bowl of mush. The thought of salad for lunch and lean cuisine for dinner didn’t amount to the flavors of the previous night. But with swim suit season here, I must digress. Maybe someday my buds will toy in this dance again. Maybe they will find a new dance. Whatever the case may be, they were grateful.