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.
Brussel sprouts have changed just as much as you. They are less bitter than in the past due to selective breeding. https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/do-brussels-sprouts-taste-better-now-yes-here-s-why-01ghed9q8dr8
Same. I think it was popular back then to steam them 🤮 but now it’s a lot more popular, thankfully, that they’re roasted in olive oil with some light seasonings. My wife makes them just so they start to crisp up and they’re incredible. Kids love them.
This!
Exact same story here. They are also extremely good roasted:
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-brussels-sprouts-recipe2-1941953
This was the case for so many veggies for me... my parents were not amazing cooks. Spinach was the worst, just a big slimy pile, but now I love it.
I love a big slimy pile of sauteed spinach with lots of garlic!
Friend, same! I actually really like baby spinach salads.
Mush? Slime? How long was she cooking them for, for god's sake?
Saucepan. Lots of boiling salty water. Cut an X in the bottom so they cook more evenly, then drop them in for just 2-3 minutes until barely tender. They're amazing, and they actually taste like themselves.
By all means complain about overcooked vegetables, but you don't need to fry everything in bacon fat to make it taste good.
I think my mom used to do that too - steam them and it was just nasty and turned me off of a lot of vegetables. Saute is also a good one beyond roasting!
I am absolutely crushed that Brussels sprouts give me horrible gut pain. They are so good!
I like to cut them in half so they can soak up more of the flavor. Fry bacon in a pan first. Leave the grease in the pan. Take out the bacon, crumble it up. Fry Brussels sprouts in the pan.. Add butter and olive oil. Add the bacon bits back. So good.
Sounds like you don't actually like the taste of Brussels sprouts - you like bacon grease, butter, and oil.
As a kid, I thought I hated steak, but it turns out, my mom was just really bad at cooking steak.
Yes. I think that was my problem too. It’s also the cuts that matter.
On another note, I still cannot get behind pork chops.
That’s a shame. If I might ask, have you ever had a properly cooked pork chop?
I only ask because pork used to need to reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit to be safe, which makes for tough, dry pork. Fortunately the parasite that required this heat was eliminated from the US, and about 15 years ago the USDA lowered the safe temp to 145. The result is so much better.
Black coffee. Used to only drink coffee with creamer or lattes/cappuccinos, but now I drink black because I can't stand the sugar crash
Highly recommend a pinch of salt in any good black coffee.
Really opens the flavors in it.
Which is why you don't do it to bad coffee. It will open up the bouquet of garbage haha
Oh yes, black is my go to and I used to hate coffee.
Sour cream. As a kid, I didn't like it. Now it's essential on my tacos, pierogi, and chili.
You know, I still am not the biggest fan but those foods you listed are what I’d eat it with as well!
Holy shit you didn't put an s on pierogi, thank you so much
spierogi!
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!
Mushrooms are just not for me, sadly. It’s texture and taste.
The texture of garden tomatoes are so much better than the texture of the ones you get at the store, too.
So true. Both the flavor and texture of home grown are so much better.
Asparagus.
Used to hate it, had it once in season in Germany, it was so fresh and delicious, I learned how to enjoy it there.
Eggplant. I tried cooking it until just tender, like zucchini - and it was nasty as hell; I never got it and never wanted to.
Then I encountered some actually properly cooked stuff in a pasta dish when eating out and ohmygod.
Yes! My wife recently got a huge eggplant, but it into slices and then turned them into eggplant pizzas with a little sauce and cheese melted on in the oven.
Vegetables in general.
Except Lima beans. You can go FUCK YOURSELF!!
Lmao! Lima beans are definitely not the best. Although, in a vegetable soup where they are masked then it’s not so bad.
I've always despised Lima beans. One exception, Lima bean humus at Le Deauville in Lexington KY. Possibly the change in texture along with spices, it was delicious. Thought my taste had changed and tried other Lima bean dishes, nope, still despise 'em.
tomatoes. hated them as a kid. juicy burgers were may gateway into them.
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.
A lot of fish types grown on me. I still love a salmon with a slight glaze and some veggies.
I’m with you on tomatoes. I only eat them if it comes sliced on a burger or else I just do not like them.
Same with vegetables, but also steak and bacon. I hated steak and bacon as a kid idk what was wrong with me
Friend, I still don’t like steak that much but I definitely don’t balk at it like I used to!
Both chili and vegetable soup.
Never cared for either growing up, but now they're both comfort food, especially on cold days.
That sounds absolutely delicious!
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.
Olives. I still am not a fan of black olives, but I'd eat an entire jar of green.
Anchovies on pizza. Just a couple though, like fish sauce, a little goes a long way.
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.
You should try making tamagoyaki. Essentially a japanese rolled omelette.
If you need a recipe: https://www.justonecookbook.com/tamagoyaki-japanese-rolled-omelette/
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.
I hated sauerkraut until a waiter at a German restaurant talked me into trying their house made stuff on a bratwurst. It was amazing. Now I like certain brands, but the cheap brands are still gross
I am a quarter German and sauerkraut was always gross to me, but dammit if it isn’t amazing now! Especially when it’s cooked the entire time with some meat and soaks up the juices.
Black olives are tolerable, agreed there. I think new for me are green olives and stuffed olives. Never would’ve touched that when I was younger.
Still don't like bacon though 🤷🏿♀️
Brussels sprouts used to taste different: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_sprout#Contemporary_Brussels_sprouts
I fucking love Cauliflower, I thought I didn't like it because I grew up poor and didn't really get fancy veggies
Onions
Ditto. Hated them as a kid, then as a young adult I could tolerate them cooked, now I could eat them raw (on/in something). Tastes change, man.
Same thing with mushrooms and mustard.
Onions, mushrooms, & mustard...
Sounds like my Philly steak order
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.
Spicy brown mustard is amazing!
i used to hate peanut butter. idk why
I have always loved peanut butter, but it’s gotta be creamy.
i prefer crunchy but i have a large gap between two molars and one time a peanut got stuck there and wouldnt come out so i cant do crunchy anymore
Pig and chicken feet. Fat is so good.
I hated sea food as a kid, and still mostly do, but now I can stand shrimps and mussels.
And vegetables too, like a lot of people (apart from pumpkins and stuff like that, those are still nightmare for me)
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.
I’ve never had a real gumbo, but it’s something I absolutely want to try!
It’s one of those things you have to try homemade, unfortunately. The only restaurant I somewhat trust is my aunt’s restaurant and even then it’s still not as good as homemade! But it comes close.
I’ll send you an invite next time we have one lol
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.
Beets, hated em growing up, absolutely love em these days
Don’t mind them in certain ways, like on a burger. I haven’t really tried them on their own though.
Buy some raw beets, throw em in a pot whole for 40 min, remove, take to a sink run cold water and pull the skin off. Enjoy!!
Borscht is pretty damn good too
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.
Interesting! I’m like that with many sodas and candy - too sweet. Blech!
Pickles. They were too strong and sour for me. Now I love 'em.
I’ve been making wraps for lunch with a chicken strip, some baby spinach, a small amount of Caesar dressing, and hamburger chip pickles. It’s delicious!
I’ll just the pickles on their own too, though, and I used to hate pickles as well.
Swiss cheese
Wine
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.
Ditto here for swiss cheese and wine. I do enjoy both now!
Bananas, pickles, onions, mustard. Now it’s like, “Whatever, just shove it down my throat.”
Mustard, onions, and pickles I can agree with. I have come into loving all of that myself. Bananas in interesting to me but I can understand it - they need to be just perfect because not ripe and they are tart and after? They are just rotting.
grits. the way my mother made them when I was a kid was plain and kind of unpleasant. I add sausage and cheese to mine.
I don’t know that I’ve ever had grits. I know my dad loved them though so maybe I’ll give them a shot some time.
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.
I don’t know that I’ve ever truly had kale. I’ve always heard it tastes like dirt but I’d be willing to give it a try.
How do you recommend making it?
This is my favorite way to cook it: Beans & Greens
Or just saute it in a little olive oil with some garlic. The key is to remove the leaves from the stems and only cover the pan for like 5 minutes. You don't want it overcooked, that's when it gets nasty. I feel like too many people think kale should be cooked down like spinach and it just comes out a mushy mess.
Most fish. I always liked salmon, but didn't like most other fish; now I like all fish I'm aware of.
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.
Ranch dressing. I hated it for years, but I moved to the suburbs and suddenly it tasted good (seriously). 🤷
Blue cheese
Brussel sprouts
Cauliflower soup
Green peas
Brocoli
Olives
Cauliflower soup? I am guessing it’s a creamy soup? I’ve never heard of that one before.
I agree with the rest, especially blue cheese!
Not 100% sure of the ingredients, but yes, it's creamy. Involves a lot of milk, that'sall I know as I make it from these portioned bags with powder. Topped with a litte bit of bacon.
Asparagus! I hated that shit when I was 12. And now I can't wait for asparagus season.
Some different vegetables and mushrooms.
Italian cured ham, I used to hate the taste and texture, but now, it's great!
Corn! Wait, no, still hate it.
Gentlemen! I bring you ...
PopCorn?...
Ohhh, no... I remember last time...
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.
True, true. I also roast mine now, usually with just salt and olive oil. This is true for broccoli, as well. In this case, not boiling frozen garbage broccoli and instead steaming it just until bright green made a huge difference. The only thing that just changed for me was cilantro. Even as an adult I used to hate it but now love it. That one I have no explanation for.
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
For sure. There is a big difference when you get them in season and perfectly ripe. So sweet!
I used to and still kind of hate most fruits, because I'm way up north. But once we get stock from Florida I get like 10 pounds of the stuff
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!