My Scandihoovian mother who grew up in the relatively white bread Pacific Northwest made awful curry. It involved one can of Coleman's curry that was in the cupboard, and though I lived in NYC for several years and ate in Indian restaurants, I need to work on developing an interest in anything called "curry" because of those early years. You don't want to know what her chili tasted like (think spaghetti sauce over beans). There were several other attempts at international cooking, more or less successful, but usually mispronounced. My Puerto Rican husband was in stitches when I told him about growing up with Mom's 'Arrows con polo' (pronounced that way).

How mild was the Northwestern diet? I remember what a big deal it was when you could finally buy bagels.

There was a lot of Asian food, primarily Chinese and occasional Japanese, when I was growing up in said Pacific Northwest, but not a lot of curry (not in those places.)

I've had a lot of interest in the wide range of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean foods, and most of the ingredients are easy to get here (so is Indian and Asian, because this is a highly multicultural area in urban North Texas).

This isn't to say there was nothing good to eat there. After all, when the tide is out the table IS set. Clams, oysters, crabs, mussels, etc., and lots of fresh and saltwater fish.