Bitterness

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Do you like bitter fruits and vegetables? I remember that even in my childhood, I started to like the bitter melon leaves. My mother usually puts it in a dish with fish and lots of soup. I enjoyed eating that and it became my favorite while I was growing up. Another recipe of my mother is this pickled bitter melon. I think you know how bitter it gets when you eat bitter melon together with vinegar. The vinegar enhances the bitter taste and so I usually avoid vinegar when eating bitter melon. But what about soaking bitter melon in vinegar? That's quite different. I had seen my mother making this even when I was a kid and she puts it in glass jars. She makes use of the smaller variety of bitter melon and she adds onions and cloves of garlic. She then adds a little salt and pepper to taste. I didn't like it the first time that I tasted it, but after a while, I already liked it. After a few days that it is soaked in vinegar and with all those spices, the bitter melon becomes crunchy and the bitter taste is lessened. Actually, it tastes a little sweet already. When I see those little bitter melons at the market, I let my mother make that pickled bitter melon and I eat it as appetizer. Have you tried this recipe? Can you stand its bitter taste? Hmmm!