Back when my brother was in kindergarten (or was it Grade 1?) I remember him learning this crazy thing about tastebuds. Apparently, his teacher taught him, they die as we age. This, the story goes, is why grown-ups love vegetables and children, well, don't.
I don't know whether or not this is true, but I do know one thing that gives me consternation: food that was once vile and despicable to me is now, well, not so bad.
Take onions. Obviously not raw, but I can now eat an entire pizza without removing one. Not possible 20 years ago.
Just the smell of fish was once enough to induce vomiting, I kid you not. Today, I love salmon, halibut, even tuna.
I refuse to try lima beans, just in case there's been no improvement (why risk it?) so no real report on progress there.
The crowning achievement, though, has got to be marmite. Marmite, I once thought, was evil incarnate. Until. Last month, in England, my friend Pete convinced me to just try a bite of a cheese and marmite panini from Starbucks. And guess what? It was so delicious I got home and bought myself a jar of marmite and have been eating cheese and marmite paninis ever since.
What else could explain it but my brother's crazy theory? The old, marmite-hating tastebuds have withered up and died, leaving much weaker, more agreeable buds who, like every younger generation, are lazy, unambitious and ambivalent. What else could it be?
Perhaps there's hope for avocado after all.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Things I used to hate but now love:
asparagus
cottage cheese
blue cheese (in moderation)
artichoke
mushrooms (in VERY VERY small pieces and VERY VERY well-cooked)
onions (cooked a LOT)
avocado (fruit of the gods)
sweet potato
Things which are still vile vileness:
raw tomatoes
celery
walnuts
dead animals
relish
okra
For me, the previously disgusting items crossed the line as I crossed the Atlantic: when you're hungry, on an 8-hour flight, and handed a tiny plastic tray of vegetarian fare, you take what you can get and you EAT it, 'cause there ain't nothing else. It's helped me to get over many a food aversion.
I think there is something to this. I used to hate more then anything else brussel sprouts. I like them now as long as they have a little lemon juice, or cheese sauce on them. I'm with Amanda on the avocadoes. I simply don't know what to do with them though. (besides using them in wraps salads, or guacamole)
Hmm... I guess I just haven't hit that age yet (wink), no matter how many times I try, I just can't get green, red or yellow peppers down. Nothing has changed since my youth. Everything else so far (including marmite and vegemite in the smallest dose with cheese, I admit, is tolerable) is fair game.
Post a Comment