Don't Let Bad Versions of a Food Turn You Off to That Food

I was fortunate to grow up in the U.S. as part of a family from another country. That means I was automatically exposed to multiple foods. But back when I was a child in Northeast Ohio, there wasn’t so much ethnic food variety beside Italian food and Chinese food. There were hardly any Thai or Middle-Eastern or Greek restaurants around. Fancy “boutique” fruits and veggies weren’t available fresh and we somehow made do. I grew up eating mostly regular American food interspersed with dinners of Gujarati Indian food. Now that I know how good of a cook my mom is, I should never have complained. As I kid, I may have done so anyway. I preferred chicken nuggets over home-cooked Indian food. My parents policy was that we had to try everything. We did so, (even if accompanied by a chaser of Coca-Cola or orange juice that hid the flavor of foods we found unpalatable.)

There were some foods I tried but didn’t like not because the food item was bad, but because of the quality, type of that item, or way it was prepared. And it kept me from eating other variations of those foods for a long time. I still remember the horribly corn-syrup sweetened blueberry pies of the 70’s that tasted unblueberry like. Pecan pie was disgustingly sweet as well making me think I didn’t like pecans. Unfortunately, the only olives I was able to taste were the overly-salted canned generic black olives. Those were not easy to acquire a taste for. Blue cheese was introduced to me through Kraft Blue Cheese salad dressing, a dressing my parents loved, but I despised. Lastly, I was seemingly forever turned off to eggplant because of its consistency and the spices it was cooked with when made Gujarati style. Weirdly, I’ve always liked broccoli.

But now, I love blueberries, pecans, olives of all kinds, blue cheese and especially eggplant. It may be partially be true because taste buds become less sensitive as we get older but I attribute this new-found love for these foods on the fact that I ate fresher, higher quality versions or the foods in recipes that I just like better. I can eat a pint of fresh blueberries in two days. Pecans are good on lots of things minus that oversweetened store bakery gelatinous pie filling. There is a wonderful world of what I call “free range olives,” ones that aren’t canned or jarred and come fresh at a Middle-Eastern or high end super market. They are just so delicious. Gorgonzola on pizzas got me into liking stronger blue cheeses, especially on salads. As for eggplant, it is just so good in so many ways with so many different ethnic dishes and on sandwiches. It is now one my favorite vegetables.

I’m dedicating this post to readers who swear off certain types of food just because they tried it once and didn’t like it. Give a type of food at least two chances and try it in different ways. It could lead to a lifetime of taste satisfaction.

+ Atul

Comments

[Kayla J]

This post spoke to me because I either A. won't try something or B. I try it once and will never try anything like it again. My parents tell me to continue trying new things but I just get turned off and can't do it again. I know that eventually I should try it again and this post made it clear that I should.

[Ryan L]

This post reminds me of my sister. She can love a certain dinner or even restaurant and always want to eat it. But even if she has one bad meal, she will never eat it again. She is very stubborn like that. She can go from loving a food to never wanting it again just because there was something wrong with it that one time.

[David C.]

I couldn’t agree more! Growing up in a very French home, as a child I hated so many of the meats and delicacies. As I grew older, I now realize just how spectacular, and unique much of the food is in our culture, and even more so, what an amazing chef my Mother and Grandparents are. Side note: Also, I have a friend who claims she will never eat guacamole ever again because she has tried it before and hated it… so I ask her where she tried it… Taco Bell! No wonder! It just goes to prove that we all need to use discretion when picking and choosing where and what we eat when attempting to expand our palettes! -David C.

[Kayla R.]

After reading your post I think I'm going to start trying new foods. I probably am considered as some what of a picky eater, so maybe if i try those foods that I once didn't like I might find out that it isn't half bad. Lately I had been giving some types of foods a shot and I've realized they aren't all that bad.