I like more kinds of food now than I did in the past. Why is that?
When I was growing up(*), I wouldn’t eat:
My, how the times have changed. For whatever reason, I am hopelessly in love with mushrooms and asparagus. I buy asparagus at the Celebration Farmers Market almost every week and either grill it or roast it. For the mushrooms, they are purchased weekly, as well, and make their way into either homemade spaghetti sauce, caramelized onions & mushrooms for steak topping, chicken marsala, or whatever else I can work them in to. The mushroom smell as they start to cook is music to my nose. Squash & zucchini… well, I don’t seek it out… but I certainly don’t abhor it like I did before.
So what changed? I can’t rightly say. I don’t think I was simply being difficult before. That takes a lot of work, and honestly… who has the energy? I truly think my palate has adapted to more foods. This leaves me wondering what I’m consciously or subconsciously avoiding because I didn’t like it when I was 5 years old.
Yes, I’ve tried oysters recently… and yes, they still taste like sand and death. And don’t even get me started on soapy cilantro.
* — for the purposes of this entry, “growing up” is from 1974 to 2005.
Originally published at bbhart.com on June 1, 2010.