Has your palate changed as you have aged?

[bicentennial_baby]

:hi:

I know mine has! Up until my early 20s, I *hated* cheese, pepper, olives, fresh spinach, and I couldn't eat anything spicy at all.

Now, at age 31, I *adore* most cheeses, especially stinky French ones, I insist on Fresh Ground Black Pepper, could eat Kalamata olives till I burst, and prefer fresh spinach in salads/sandwiches over lettuce. I also now love salsa and Sriracha.

I'm not sure what happened between my childhood/teens and now. I do find that my palate expands a little every year now, probably b/c I love cooking so much and I love to try new/odd things.

How about you? :)

[flvegan]

1. I hated veggies when I was younger.

A salad to me would be iceburg lettuce, MAYBE a bit of onion and croutons. Now, I love most veggies I encounter.

I also hated sour cream. Now (even though it's the fake stuff) I love it. I'm a fajita fiend!

Some things don't change, though. Still hate carrots and bananas.

[bicentennial_baby]

5. I grew up on Veggies that were..unnatural.

Rarely saw a fresh tomato, my Mom loved to serve "stewed tomatoes" from a can, peas from a can, frozen then boiled spinach, etc.

I will not eat a canned veggie, unless it's lima beans or chickpeas or black beans. Peas can be frozen, but that's it.

*Disclaimer: I did love my Mom's spinach & vinegar dish. It was yummo.

[flvegan]

6. My one childhood veg oddity: I LOVED spinach!

I'd eat it at every meal if my mom would let me. Nobody else in the family really cared for it, but I couldn't get enough of it.

It's still one of my favorite foods, though I only eat it raw now.

[bicentennial_baby]

9. I have to make another batch of Spanokopita soon, but

all that Phyllo dough makes me loopy. The end result is beyond worth it though :D

[mokawanis]

2. I avoided spicey foods

until I was damn near 50, at which point I somehow quickly developed a taste for spicy foods like salsa. The other change, which happened gradually over the years, was that I began to gravitate toward a healthier diet with more fruits and veggies, with a big reduction in sweets. It wasn't so much a conscious choice as it was just a natural progression toward feeling healthier.

[bicentennial_baby]

3. Mmm, that too! I used to have a major sweet tooth, but now...

I rarely eat sweets, like cake or ice cream or anything. Also not a conscious decision, just kinda happened.

:hi:

[fizzgig]

4. zucchini and squash have started growing on me over the past ten years or so

i like a bit more fish than i did when i was younger...still hate shellfish though. i also don't have the sweet tooth i had when i was younger. i like sweets still, but i don't crave them the way i used to.

[bicentennial_baby]

8. I do want to expand my fish repertoire, but

anything that smells/tastes really strong turns me off. I can eat Haddock, Tuna, and Clams. That's it. I need to find out what the milder fishes are. I also want to try Calamari one of these days.

:hi:

[fizzgig]

11. i love salmon

i've had people who tell me they hate fish gobble it up when i make it for them. a lot of it is in how you cook it.

i've tried calamari...i am a fan, too rubbery for me

[LostinVA]

27. Flounder/sole is really mild

It pretty much tastes like whatever you cook it with. Same for tilapia.

[bicentennial_baby]

28. Nice, thanks

:)

[Callalily]

7. Oh gawd yes!

I think partly b/c my mom was a lousy cook, so when I started cooking for the family, I was amazed how the same dishes I served were so much better than hers.

Not disrespecting my mom here, her favorite saying was, if you see a restaurant that says, "cooking just like mom's - run!"

Also, now I simply adore blue cheeses, in any shape or form. I make a super beef tenderloin with blue cheese sauce!

Beets too. As a kid I hated beets. Love them now. I make this amazing shredded beet salad.

I could go on and one, but best not to bore everyone.

[bicentennial_baby]

10. Oooh, could you expound on the tenderloin with blue cheese sauce?

Please? :bounce:

I still haven't managed to like beets or radishes yet. Someday, maybe. :)

[DS1]

13. It's great for dipping

especially with buffalo sauce, of course

[grasswire]

40. I had an interesting beet salad today...

...it was diced raw beets, diced red apple, and a lemon vinaigrette made with dijon, lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar, chopped flat leaf parsley, diced celery, chopped scallion, salt & pepper.

I was so surprised when I took a bite to find out that the beets were raw! I had assumed they were roasted.

It was good.

[LeftyMom]

12. I've always loved spicy food, "weird" foreign foods, etc. I get that from my Dad.

I still have a weird aversion to anything really sweet and some textures bother me a lot.

[LostinVA]

29. Haruka is the same way

She'll be really picky about "normal" food, but spicy/weird foreign ingredients and she's all for it. Her dad cooked like that a lot, though.

I'm the same way about texture as you, and I adamantly refuse to eat any fake meat products, unless it's in the Autumn Rolls at Zen Palate.

[InvisibleTouch]

14. Nope.

My brother snarked at me once that I had the diet preferences of a 9-year-old. I took it as a compliment. :)

On edit: am currently eating cookies for dinner.

[Orsino]

15. Somewhere around age 40, I suddenly loved the taste of saccharin.

I like a lot of diet drinks now. I can even eat broccoli, given enough cheese sauce.

[bicentennial_baby]

16. See, I can't tolerate synthetic sweeteners...

Never have been able to. I can't even get a swallow of Diet Soda down. :shrug:

[demmiblue]

17. Tomatoes and mushrooms

Tomatoes: hated them as a child, began my love affair with them in my early 20's.

Mushrooms: freaked me out until recently! I will make and master a Portobella mushroom burger... now that I am unafraid!

Zucchini: traumatized as a child by the cuke impersonation (as in... these are cucumbers).

[harmonicon]

18. totally

When I was a kid I couldn't stand tomatoes and a few other vegetables.... I liked most of them though. I hated eggplant. Now I love the both of them. I also didn't really like pork until a few years ago, with the exception of bacon (which barely qualifies as meat), and now it's probably my favourite meat, when I do eat meat.

On the other hand, when I was really little, I ate fish, but since about age 5, I can't stand the stuff. Even being across the table from someone eating it can make me a little nauseous.

[tigereye]

19. yeah, I seem to prefer savory to sweet now

and I don't mind hot and spicy in the way that I used to....

[TreasonousBastard]

20. I can't stomach Twinkies any more.

[ScreamingMeemie]

21. Right this minute I am eating low country shrimp and grits...

which is something you would never catch me eating as a kid.

[Lil Missy]

24. Do you put cream and sugar on your grits?

I'm told that is blasphemous. But damn, it's good that way!

:hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

25. No, but the way I cook them will have some people horrified.

I use a littlest bit of bacon grease and then I stir in shredded cheese and a few sauteed garlic cloves (along with the bits of bacon). It's delicious. :hi:

[LostinVA]

30. That sounds good to me

BTW, we have a new phone # so don't be surprised if you see a strange NJ # pop up sometime this week.

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. How's it going in the new house?

BTW, they accepted my offer on the house in TX. Now I just have to sell this one. :hi:

[LostinVA]

32. Congrats on the house in TX and good luck with the one in MI

Our house is basically a construction zone right now, but other than that, things are going well. We spent the day putting in an invisible fence, so we can adopt a second border collie from one of the toughest to pass inspection rescues around. One of the most backbreaking, tedious things we've ever done. There are way too many fucking rocks around here.

[ScreamingMeemie]

33. When we first moved into this house, I moved a million

white rocks out of the front landscaping. It was horrid work. It's going to be tough to sell this one, but I've got a new kitchen countertop being installed next week and a bath vanity.

[LostinVA]

34. This house is filled with tons of "What the fuck was she thinking" type things

From what we've gathered from the neighbors, she wasn't popular either.

New countertops and vanities are always a good thing.

[ScreamingMeemie]

35. We did all the majors so I'm trying to go for a "wow" factor because

the market is so very crappy. I am listing it for what we bought it for 10 years ago, without any upgrades. Now, it's upgraded. I'm going with the high def counters so hopefully that will do it.

[Lil Missy]

37. Ooooh! I like shredded cheese, garlic, and bacon!

I may try that!

[ScreamingMeemie]

39. It is really, really good.

:)

[LostinVA]

46. You are dead to me

:cry:

[LostinVA]

47. btw -- I LOVE shrimp and grits -- yum!

If you come visit, I'll make you some: I use scallions, garlic, and crisped bacon with the shrimp.

[DarkTirade]

22. Yep. For the first time in my life the last few years I've had times when I tasted something and

immediately thought, "That's too sweet."

For the first twenty or so years of my life, I would NEVER have thought that. EVER. I would eat sugar or honey straight up.

[libnnc]

23. I'm much more willing to try new things now

As a youngster I never ventured beyond the typical "mountain country" food. Now, I eat it ALL. Anything that isn't nailed down. I'm craving Indian food at the moment

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. My sweet tooth has diminished noticeably

I gag when I think of what I used to eat, especially on road trips with the family: a hamburger and root beer, with apple pie for dessert, followed by a candy bar bought on the way out. Today I would eat no more than ONE of those, and usually none.

I still dislike seafood, though. I'll eat if there's no graceful way to escape it, but I don't seek it out.

[speedoo]

36. Oh, most definitely.

When I was younger, I did not experiment very much at all.

But these days, I really enjoy ethnic foods... thai, indian, middle eastern, and of course sushi and other Japanese, all kinds of chinese and other asian foods, including philippino. Living in NYC makes it a lot easier to find these foods. The texture of food is very important to me... bland foods and food that has little texture have very little appeal.

And my palate for wine and beer has become much more refined (I can't drink crappy beer like bud any more).

I think the change for me might have been when I spent some time in Greece a long time ago... got hooked on that greek food and that led me down this path.

[Left Is Write]

38. Yes. I like many more foods now than I did twenty years ago.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

41. Oh hell yeah.

I am 25 and up until a few years ago, I ate like a damn 15 year old. My diet was sugary cereal, fast food, mac and cheese, soda, etc. I never consumed any type of veggie or whole grain or anything like that.

That changed when I started watching the Food Network and I actually started buying fresh ingredients. Now I like all types of fresh veggies, homemade chicken and fish dishes, fruits, and all kinds of "ethnic" restaurants that I hated in the past. Needless to say, I'm a lot healthier than I was back then. My one vice remains sugary sodas. I still have to have my daily can of Dr. Pepper.

[ChoralScholar]

42. I can only think of one thing that has changed drastically.

When I was younger, and my parents cooked steak, they would cut the fat off the steak. I LOOOVED to eat the fat. Now I can't even dream of it.

[wickerwoman]

43. Yep, went from sweet to sour

I hated pickles, olives, coleslaw, vinegar, etc. when I was a kid and can't get enough now. Also, I hated mushrooms until I was about 25 and totally love them now. I just had to get away from the awful rubbery button ones you get in the US.

I used to eat tons of cake and ice cream but now I have to force myself to eat it and more than four or five bites makes me feel really nauseous. I'm the only person I know who gets intense cravings for broccoli and other green veggies.

I've gone through two extended periods of serious malnutrition (six weeks in the Czech Republic where if you don't like cabbage, you don't eat veggies and three months in Peru eating nothing but bread, cheese and pork) and now if I don't eat four or five fruits and veggies a day, I get immediate, intense cravings for them.

Still don't like mayo and salad dressing though...

[malta blue]

44. I hated cheese until my midteens when someone offered me

brie and on a whim I tried it. Needless to say, I love cheese now - although I still don't particularly care for cheddar. I am all about stinky, soft cheeses.

I still don't do olives though. I haven't taken the plunge on them yet, and I still can taste them in my mind in foods that my grandma cooked - she used to try to make sure I got no olives on my plate and even tried to make sure I got no rice that TOUCHED the olives. :rofl:

[Enthusiast]

45. Several have remarked on their early dislike of cheese.

I was the same as a young child. I wonder why this is. Now I am a cheese freak. Our favorites are old and very sharp cheddar and tart blues.

[mainegreen]

48. I used to like sweet milky coffee. Now I drink paint stripper coffee.

I like it dark and strong