Ever had unusual strawberries?

We washed, chopped and bowled our delicious strawberries as usual, and after eating a substantial amount my partner proclaimed:
“Urgh, these strawberries taste like garlic!”

I thought it must be his imagination. I also considered that it may be left over garlic residue in his mouth from last night. He disagreed. Unfazed I chomped on, finding that I too was experiencing this strange phenomenon.

Finding ourselves amidst some culinary Bermuda Triangle in which taste was being distorted or lost, I felt eerie.

Momentary thoughts popped up:

Our boiler fumes may have polluted them?
Had I been chopping garlic and not remembered?
Were we hallucinating? (Nb. we don’t take drugs!)

I didn’t know. Then we realised that the culprit must have been our wooden chopping board. It must have been storing and transferring odours or even tiny food particles. Last night we chopped garlic: this morning we chopped strawberries. This morning the tastes interacted.

How long had our chopping board been doing this I wondered?

I did not feel as though my strawberries had been spoilt, I felt this to be an exciting opportunity to taste garlic with strawberries. This occurrence may never have happened- like many facets of life.

I felt us to be discoverers and inventors. I felt excited as though something new had been created. I considered those who had invented, discovered and created before me.

I thought of Alexander Flemming who had been cleaning up his laboratory when he discovered that the Penicillium mould had contaminated one of his old experiments. He created the anti biotic drug Penicillin.

I also considered Velcro and Post-It Notes.

I thought of Art and great Works of Literature.

I enjoyed the moment in which I discovered that new food. I enjoyed discovering. I felt delighted at this wonderful accident.

I sat back and considered the wonderful accident that is life.

Catherine