Mmmm. Vinegar!

Tonight I had dinner with my uncle, my aunt and one of my aunt's nieces. This niece and I are not blood-related, but we do share a cousin in common. (What up, Penn State?)

We ate a vegetarian restaurant, which was absolutely delicious. After dinner, we were served with a small, iced pitcher of something that resembled Lipton on a poolside table. However, we didn't get tall glasses and straws, which definitely would have suggested iced tea. Instead, the waitress, who was dressed in a pink, high-necked, traditional top, set down a collection of tiny glass goblets.

I pointed. "What is this?" I asked.

My aunt gestured to the pitcher of tea-or-not-tea and told me what it was. But none of the words sounded familiar. I must have looked like a foolish foreigner beacuse it was then that the waitress cut in. "Vinegar," she said. "With a little bit of honey."

Wow! Vinegar? We were going to drink vinegar?

My aunt set a miniature goblet in front of me and filled it with the vinegar solution. I could smell it already. "Wow," I said. (Not in Chinese, in English. I wonder if I said "wow," would Chinese people understand? What if it sounds like a curse word or something? Maybe I would offend someone without even trying.) In Chinese, I added, "In the United States, we do not drink vinegar. We use it for cooking."

Her niece shook her head. "This is a little sweet," she said.

I looked down at my full goblet. Clear liquid. Bronze-colored. Icy. "Drink it slowly," said my uncle. It was a good thing he said that, because I probably would have thrown it back like it was my 21st birthday and 1999 at the same time.

I brought the goblet to my lips and took a sip. My aunt's niece was right: it was sweet, but not too sweet, and very strong-tasting. It definitely tasted like vinegar, but it wasn't as bitter as the balsamic vinegar we use on salads, nor was it as sour as Miss Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, a taste that I remember exceptionally well because I swigged from that bottle ten times a day last November when I lost my voice the week of Bernarda Alba. I swished the vinegar around in my mouth and swallowed. Actually, it was delicious! Strong, sour and sweet. What an interesting way to end the meal. And what a great idea to have something to drink for dessert instead of eat! Lower that caloric intake. Probably the sugar intake, too. Kim's Life: take notes. I gulped the rest of it down, eager to refill my little goblet.

I turned and asked my mother, "Have you ever had vinegar for dessert before?"

My mother chocked hers back and answered, "It's not dessert. It's to help you digest your food."