Couple examples from personal experience:
Spicy Food
I didn’t like spicy food for a (relatively) long time until I was 25.
2/4 of my roommates did. We’d order two pizzas, one spicy and one not. But the asshats who liked spicy would eat half the non-spicy pizza first knowing the other one was safe from us.
Well… we’d see about that!
I bought a jar of pickled little yellow banana peppers. At first all I could manage was a tiny little bit of one. But I had that tiny little bite every evening, every day. Eventually my tolerance grew until I was eating a whole one, then multiples. In a few weeks I realized I was crunching through them and loving it. (Didn’t love the first time I overindulged and found out what goes in can still burn going out, oof, lol.)
Beer
First time I had beer I did the movie-style stereotypical spit-take. Tasted like something I’d never want again. I drank when I was 18-19yrs old but it was usually Smirnoff Ice or some other “bitch-pop” as was said at the time by those around me.
When I was in my early 20s I supervised for a company that had us do a lot of traveling. Particularly three months of the year I was in a hotel more than at home.
There was a consistent crew of people who lived in a town nearby that I saw fairly frequently for those three months but not too often elsewise. As I said I was in my early 20s, 21-23ish. And they were in their late 20s to mid thirties.
They were inveterate drinkers, and they loved beer. And they undertook a self-imposed mission to teach me to love beer too. Them being older and me being impressionable, I went with it.
Every evening after work we’d hit up the local pub and I’d order three beers, based off their recommendations. One was an inveterate drinker as mentioned, the other a mid-thirties redheaded British woman I grew rather fond of and who was rather fond of me, along with some other crew. Basically, people who knew beer and in the case of the brit, someone who I would’ve listened to for a few reasons.
Didn’t take too long but I certainly “acquired” a taste for it. Eventually acquiring my own preferences to the point I was recommending them ideas.
I liked coffee, beer and spicy food right from the first time I tried them.
Anchovies were a personal challenge that I undertook - putanesca pasta was fine but the first time I tried them on pizza I thought they were unbearable. Over the decades I might get one anchovie pizza a year and each time I found them more palatable, but it was a bit of an exercise in willpower. Recently, it has paid off and I’ve found that I love them. Many pizzeria’s don’t offer them because they are so unpopular but if I get the chance I’ll eat them; has displaced peperoni as my favourite topping.
Coconut water. I didn’t care for the taste but liked its ability to hydrate. Just kept drinking until now I sorta enjoy the taste. Has to be chilled though. Warm coconut water is nope.
Tried and succeeded: Guinness. Nom nom nom.
Tried and failed: black tea and black coffee
Funnily enough, Guinness was the first beer I ever liked, and I liked it first try. I greatly dislike most other beers. Which makes sense to me, given that most people who like other beers can’t stand Guinness.
Coffee is another example I could go into actually. Did not like it the first time I tried it. “Acquired” a taste for it too, given my grandmother owned a café that I’d eventually work in, lol. That was fairly easy.
But I also eventually tried to acquire a taste for black coffee too. Succeeded in the sense I can have it and don’t hate it, but failed in the sense that I now know I vastly prefer my coffee with a bit of sugar a lot of cream.
Still, was informative. (I’m a ‘texture’ kind of person more than flavour and I like that creamy texture.)
Most days now I mix instant coffee with hot chocolate and cream in the mornings for a pseudo-mocha that’s quick and easy. Can’t be arsed to brew it. (Most days.)
Might try that last one. Definitely sounds interesting.
Happy Christmas!
Bud Ice. It’s $1 a can of 5.5% beer and I’m in poverty. Gotta drink something, so I made myself tolerate the cheapest.
you know there’s sites that track abv/$ cost for the real alcoholics out there, right?
if the purpose is to get drunk then abv/cost is the only thing that matters
Gotta drink something
Nah
Dude, just drink whiskey. A 1.5 oz spirit at 90 proof (45% ABV) is roughly the same amount of alcohol as a 12 oz can of 5.6% beer.
A 750 ml bottle of whiskey is about 16, maybe 17 1.5 oz glasses. So basically any liquor/spirit that’s cheaper than $17 for a 90 proof bottle, or like $15 for an 80 proof bottle, is a better alcohol per dollar value than Bud Ice at $1/can.
Isn’t cough medicine more cost effective per alcohol percentage? That’s what I remember the alcoholics drinking when I was younger.
Quite a few!
- Spicy food: didn’t grow up in a spicy-loving part of the world but tried a lot of Indian food in college and decided to just upping the spice level. I can handle some pretty extreme stuff, which always comes as a surprise when I meet Southern Chinese ppl
- Coffee: turns out it was less of an issue with my tolerance and just that I needed a good setup and locally-roasted beans
- Beer: surprisingly easy to get into, similar to coffee I just needed high-quality beer. I prefer the fruity ones over blondes/browns/pils though
- K-pop: unwillingly, because I play a “K-pop” game… I think I’m starting to get the appeal now though
I found out that a lot of stuff I thought I didn’t like was because it wasn’t made very well
So many people hate vegetables because they were raised on bland and over cooked soggy plant matter.
Roasted veggies are so fucking good.
I love boiled mushy Brussel sprouts way more than caramelized or roasted.
Opposite here, hated them mushy and one time I got some roasted and it was like a completely new vegetable!
Everyone can have their own preferences of course.
Personally, I also found that it’s something you have to get used to. I used to barely eat greens and wouldn’t feel terribly great, if I did.
Then, earlier this year, I spent a month eating lots of greens. I’m guessing my gut microbiome adjusted, because yeah, now I can eat a whole salad bowl for a meal and if I don’t have greens at home for a few days, I will start to feel unwell.
When I started college, I still had somewhat of a picky palette. Would pick a lot off my meals and stick to safer foods. My partner at the time started coercing me to try foods or ingredients I didn’t like, for example sliced raw tomato on a deli sandwich. This ended up working very well for many things: tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, pineapple, and a few others. This could’ve been attributed to me “growing up” or finally being exposed to better preparations than what I had before college, but I like to think she had the largest influence.
The only one that wouldn’t work is pickles. Couldn’t stand them despite liking cucumbers and vinegar. For all other foods, I’d forcibly eat them until one day I’d form a “craving”, somewhat Stockholm syndrome-ing myself. Pickles never worked. At least, not for 9 years from when this venture began. During this past August, while grocery shopping I finally got my craving so I bought a jar and finished it within 2 days.
Next up, maybe red wine or beer.
Coffee and beer, my two favorite drinks
Olives. I’ve really learned to like the ones at the local Portuguese restaurant that they cure themselves, and serve with crusty bread that you dip in olive oil and vinegar. My friend also marinated olives herself with this insanely good olive oil and herb mix.
Yes, those squishy store bought olives in oil are not nice. It’s a bad taste bomb for me. But I loooove the firm and salty olives in Spain and Greece.
I worked very hard to like beer when I was in high school. It didn’t help that I was “borrowing” warm Old Milwaukee from my dad’s case in the basement.
Bourbon/scotch, but a bigger problem is that most is made poorly
Yes for black coffee and tapioca pearls, as well as hot food because good lord the dopamine is so nice.
And in reverse I’ve conditioned myself to be disgusted by alcohol.
Yeah I hate the pearls, my wife loves them.
Black cofee can be really great from a good place. Mink Cafe was the best black coffee I’ve had, where milk took away from it.
Like… all hot food?
Sorry, I mean like adding a ton of spices. Make my mouth fight for its life a bit before a ton of flavor. So good.
Oh yeah, probably should’ve been able to figure that one out on my own (although I’ve heard the opposite, where people don’t like food that’s supposed to be served hot once it’s cooled off)
It’s perfectly valid to get confused there. Temperature does change how palatable some food is as well. Cold soup isn’t that awesome.
Yes. I tried mangoes every year untill I liked them, avocado too. Raw tomatoes I keep trying, can tolerate, can’t like.
Last year I made a deal with my coworker, who is a wine person but such a picky eater he went to Japan and just ate chicken tenders, same in the middle east. I told him if he honestly tried eating new foods I would try wines. He found some foods he likes, and I found I like dry elegant white wines (nothing sweet) and most wines made of Nebbiolo grapes, like instead of just sort of holding my nose and tolerating them, I can affirmatively like them .
I truly believe a wide palate is a positive quality, I gave my kids lots of different tasting foods when they were little and that helped them to enjoy more flavors. I think technically I’m picky (have strong likes and dislikes) but like so, so many foods it’s not limiting. And yes, I do try to like some of the foods I don’t.
I’ve never been a fan of mushrooms. I did attempt to tolerate them though.
Turns out, canned mushrooms are the problem. Those are basically large boogers and not fit for human consumption. Fresh mushrooms don’t have much flavor and I’m relatively indifferent to those. They are now just something I chop up with onion and garlic sometimes now.
I’ve tried so hard with celery and onions. Turns out I like the flavors just fine, it’s the textures I can’t handle. So I just have to chop them up into the tiniest pieces so they don’t squeak when I bite down. Food shouldn’t squeak when I bite down.
I still barely fuck with raw onions, but grilled onions are great, and were the gateway drug to my appreciation for Onions in general. When I was a kid, I’d pick them out of everything. Had a burger unknowingly with grilled onions. Shit changed my life. Started to appreciate the flavor and even incorporate it into my cooking. Now, most things I cook have onions in them in some way, shape or form.
Hmmm. Do they still squeak like a mouse tho? 😂
Onions can have all kinds of textures and tastes depending on the type, condition and cooking method you use. Try raw red onions in a salad or caramelized for half an hour to put on a burger. Also I suggest removing the first layer (after the skin) as it’s often tougher than the rest.
The cheese curds in poutine must squeek when you bite down.
I prefer them melty from the fries / gravy. I hate when it’s just a hunk of unmelted ass cheese.
Some melted, some hunk of unmelted ass cheese is the way to go.
Haahaha, ew, no! J/k, thanks for letting me know something I should never try 😂💜
A squeaky onion is an undercooked onion imo, same for celery and carrots. I give those vegetables a big headstart on everything else. They’re basically impossible to overcook and their best flavors come out when they’re soft through and through.
For sure! I can handle them cut up small and cooked forever, but it took a lot of willpower on my part to get to that point 😂
I love onions and prefer raw onions on burgers and sandwiches. I usually snack on them when I’m cutting the onion. But I absolutely can’t stand raw tomatos or pickles.
