Grapes

When Erik and I first started dating, someone dismissively said, “He’s great, just sort of vanilla.” I, having just taken a class on spices that included comparing a variety of regional vanillas to synthetic vanillin, responded, “Oh, you’re right! Incredibly complex masquerading as plain and everyday.” The person rolled their eyes and chalked it up to young love. But I’m no puppy and really, they should have listened because Erik (and vanilla) is succulenté and both will make you delight. I guess it wasn’t their fault for not understanding; we’ve been fed false, unnuanced, bad-boy narratives and flavors for years.