What food did you hate in the past, but enjoy now?
As a kid I hated veggies but as I got older I really enjoy some veggies, especially broccoli, roasted in a drizzle of olive oil and a little seasoning.
As an American, I also used to abhor vegemite when I tried it until I learned how to properly spread it on toast during my visit over there and I’m obsessed now!
What did you hate, but gave a second chance to? I’d love to try some new stuff!
Brussel Sprouts. Absolutely hated them as a kid, which I blame my mother for. She "steamed" them in the microwave in a dish with water. Turned them into a slimy, horrible mush. My wife sautes them in a pan, with bacon. It's one of my absolute favorite dishes now.
Tomatoes or mushrooms. Both were a texture thing. I made some diet changes as an adult, so I’m not sure if that helped in changing my opinion, but now I’m fine with mushrooms and grow tomatoes in my garden every year!
I used to be a picky eater, but years ago I decided that I wanted to like more food - - that life would be better if I actually enjoyed foods that I would otherwise have to suffer/avoid.
I started by putting small amounts of different ingredients in my dishes (when it made sense) and I quickly developed a taste for all of them.
(Only found out later that this was a great way to do it as your microbiom directly impacts your cravings).
Onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, pickles, brussel sprouts, oysters, mustard are all things I now genuinely enjoy.
Brussel Sprouts: I tried them in a salad and fell in love with them instantly. Now they're included in every roast. They have to be fresh, because the frozen ones can just be mushy. And those little, crispy, flavorful leaves that fall off are just 🤌🏾
Tomatoes: I won't just bite into one, but I've been making them more prominent in my dishes. I mostly stick to the sundried variety, haven't been able to eat them raw.
Mushrooms: I love them so much I don't understand why I hated them.
Some Cheese: I general, I still would say I don't like cheese, but I've become more forgiving of mozerella, which was unheard of when I was a child. It's the only cheese that broke through.
Guldens Spicy Brown Mustard. Dad was from Brooklyn and loved it, as I kid I just wanted the neon yellow stuff all my friends had. Now, many years later, I always have it in my fridge.
Fish in general. As a kid I absolutely disliked the strong taste and oily texture.
I'm very open with my foods and like to retry everything I disliked in the past, things I still don't like are Olives (weird metallic taste I don't like), Tomatoes (slimy texture at normal size, cherry tomats are fine), unaltered boiled egg yolks (so dry, so so dry), Oatmeal (texture issue), and a couple others I can't think of at the moment. I enjoy most of the texture based ones as soon as the texture is altered.
Sweet potatoes. Something about them made me gag. Every Thanksgiving a heaping pile of them would wind up on my plate and I'd have to power though or else face the wrath of my grandmother.
Nowadays I love them. Dunno when the switch happened.
I heard that stuff like green vegetables are unpalatable to children because they taste more bitter to them.
As you grow up you become more insensitive to those flavors and start tasting the other compounds that you actually like.
For me it was eggs. My mom wasn't that great a cook and she'd only make two types of eggs: hard boiled eggs or these sort of way way overcooked sunny side up eggs. Never liked either so grew up thinking I just don't like eating eggs.
Later on as I got older I realized there are other egg dishes and I actually really like eggs. Scrambled eggs is pretty much my favorite breakfast. A close second is egg and cheese on a bagel.
I hated strawberries growing up. I would do anything and everything to not eat them. As an as adult I finally tried them again and loved them. It turns out I just hated low quality or not ripe strawberries
Bananas and potatoes. I can't say that I enjoy bananas now, but I tolerate them kinda and eat them regularly.
We ate potatoes for just about every meal when I was a kid so I started to dislike it, but now I love potatoes in every form and eat it as much as I can.
Sauerkraut was just too overwhelming as a kid, but I love it now. Some other foods were the same, but that is the one I remember.
I liked black olives as a kid, then hated them in my teen years through early 30s and find them tolerable now.
A lot of people hated vegetables as a kid if they were made bland by boiling, and like them a lot more when they have them roasted or just with some seasoning. I remember having bland steamed brussel sprouts at home which are just awful but one of my friends roasted them and they were awesome. My dad cooked up some awesome seasoned steaks and that friends parent bought the wrong cut and cooked it well done so it opened my eyes to how much of a difference preparation makes.
Gumbo. My mom made it a few times and I always hated it. Turns out she wasn’t making it correctly until I had my extended family make it the way our family did from Louisiana and now I can’t get enough of the stuff.
My family goes all out on gumbo, making a pot that will cost around $400 (pre-pandemic pricing, not sure how much it went up since) but have every little thing everyone wants from shrimp and sausage to chicken and all the little fixings in it.
Brussel sprouts used to be truly awful, made me literally wretch. Now I eagerly make and order them as a bar snack.
To be fair there are two reasons beyond my changing tastes for this. First, my mom liked to steam brussel sprouts whole and serve them with margarine, salt, and pepper, now I generally cold sear them or roast them in the oven with much better seasoning. Maybe even some bacon pieces and blue cheese mixed in. Second, brussel sprouts did actually change over time to get less bitter and awful since I was a kid.
Have always had a pretty broad palate but swiss cheese I couldn't like until I was older, and could taste its flavor relationship to good Parmesan, the nuttiness.
Wine I made a conscious effort this year, that wasn't a maturity thing, it was a project but have found several I actively enjoy rather than just barely tolerate.
Oh, and turnips - I didn't like them, then I enjoyed them raw with dips, now I do like them raw or cooked.
No, if anything it's the opposite, there are foods (mostly junk foods and beverages) I used to love as a kid but now I find revolting. Most other veg and controversial foods like olives or blue cheese were always on my yes list though.
I do have some things i didn't like that now I tolerate, but saying that I love them or like them is a stretch. I think coffee is one, I drink some and can even get addicted to it but I don't consider myself a lover. Another example is eggplant, I used to hate it as a kid and now I tolerate it without loving it.
Kale. I hated it as a kid, but that's because my parents never removed the stems, and then boiled it down into mush, neither of which is the correct way to cook kale. Now that I cook my own, I love it and eat it regularly.
Pumpernickel & rye breads. Maybe it was the "brown bready thing must be chocolate" mentality of a kid or maybe just that it wasn't white bread. But damn if that isn't the most delicious shit for toast, bagels, and sandwiches.
Hummus. I have some textural food aversions. Mushed up doesn't usually cut it and so I 100% judged hummus on its look and smell. I gave it a shot a couple of years ago and I can't get enough of it. It took me until I was like 45!