Fussing Over Food

Let's talk about foods you don't like.

For Me:

hot dogs 

olives

peanut butter

caesar salad

yellow mustard

anise

root beer

dr. pepper

fennel 

licorice

pimento cheese

sesame oil

pickles

tarragon 

anchovies 

beer

bonito 

American cheese singles

coconut 

foie gras 

frisee 

lavender 

lychee

malt balls

raw onions

pheasant 

sun dried tomatoes

A lot of items are grouped together, for instance if you don't enjoy licorice that includes anise, fennel, and tarragon. Why don't we like certain foods? And when is the appropriate time to try new things?

I stick to my list, but this doesn't mean that I don't eat a salad if it has frisee in it, in fact I recently had a pretty good salad with frisee in it. I also enjoy some things that include coconut I just don't like something that focuses on coconut- like coconut cream pie. Another example of a food on my list that  is an exception is foie gras. Probably 7/10 people would agree that they dislike foie. How many of those 10 people have tried foie gras more than five times? I will not order a menu selection focused on foie gras, but that doesn't mean that when Chris secretly puts some foie in with my popcorn that I refuse to eat it. I actually enjoy it. Some items I will only eat some ways: I don't like yellow mustard but especially when people put it on sandwiches! Yellow mustard is a condiment for hot dogs and hamburgers, not smeared on white bread to compliment a turkey sandwich. That's what dijon is for. I also enjoy olives when mixed in my salad. I will not eat the olives but I like the flavor that they add to the salad.

Your tastebuds are constantly changing. The life span of a taste bud is anywhere from one to two weeks before they are replaced with new buds. Hopefully this not only encourages you to test out new flavors but to inspire your children to as well. A lot of the reason we like certain foods and dislike others has to do with our surroundings. Our parents, friends, and those we admire play a role in the flavors we lean towards and away from. If a family member makes a face when eating a pickle, we might shy away from it because of the memory. If your mother brings you up on tuna noodle casserole you might enjoy it into your adult years because you ate it once a week. The opposite could be true as well. I don't favor cranberry juice because when I was small all I drank was cranberry juice, non stop.

I think that people get wrapped up in the foods that they don't like and they allow that to dictate what they try and more often what they don't. I will admit that my list is pretty long, and I am not proud of it. As a food lover, I am obligated and willing to try all new foods whenever they are presented to me. And most often I find that I can thankfully cross a dislike off of my list. Sure, there will be items that might be on my list forever, but that can be attributed to my profound stubbornness. The list of foods I like is a lot longer than the list of foods that I don't like, thankfully. Restaurants might be the best place to give your tastebuds a chance. Instead of asking for the chefs to omit a certain ingredient you disapprove of, trust them and you may be surprised!

Top Ten Most Hated Foods

                                                               1. Brussels Sprouts

                                                               2. Broccoli

                                                               3. Fish 

                                                               4. Turnips

                                                               5. Beets

                                                               6. Liver

                                                               7. Spinach

                                                               8. Avocado 

                                                               9. Cottage Cheese

                                                              10. Eggplant