Foods you never thought you'd like

[prasantrin]

This has probably been covered already, but I did not find it in my search, so here I go...feel free to move this wherever it belongs...

When I was a child, the idea of maple syrup with sausages repulsed me. I had never tried it, but I knew I wouldn't like it so I never bothered. However, just last month my breakfast sausages accidentally landed in my maple syrup. I was at a friend's place for breakfast, so I could not refuse to eat them. I tried a little bite and...Wow! What a flavour combination! I now have cravings for sausage and maple syrup. Were American-style bacon not so expensive in Japan, I might even try bacon and maple syrup! And I'm wondering what other great foods of food combinations I've missed out on.

Any foods you were convinced you'd hate, but were forced to try, and loved?

[PassionateChefsDie]

This has probably been covered already, but I did not find it in my search, so here I go...feel free to move this wherever it belongs...

When I was a child, the idea of maple syrup with sausages repulsed me.  I had never tried it, but I knew I wouldn't like it so I never bothered.  However, just last month my breakfast sausages accidentally landed in my maple syrup.  I was at a friend's place for breakfast, so I could not refuse to eat them.  I tried a little bite and...Wow!  What a flavour combination!  I now have cravings for sausage and maple syrup.  Were American-style bacon not so expensive in Japan, I might even try bacon and maple syrup!  And I'm wondering what other great foods of food combinations I've missed out on.

Any foods you were convinced you'd hate, but were forced to try, and loved?

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Think this thread is what your talking about more disgusting combinations, though as you said thats quite a common one.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=62861

Mine would be smoked salmom just simply that the first time I tried to swallow I just had a gag reflex(Though being an ex-vegetarian didn't help). Never going to get my head around raw oysters and I'm a chef! I keep going back though, maybe oneday.

[Pan]

I'll answer this differently: I used to hate durian, and I used to dislike Roquefort. I now can like really top-quality durian and loved the great Roquefort I decided to try at Grand Vefour. Hmmm...I also never liked sashimi until I had some great stuff at -- ironically -- a rather inexpensive Japanese place in Paris! Anyway, the theme here is that sometimes, great quality really is the most important thing.

[jgarner53]

I never thought I'd eat fish, raw or cooked, unless it was presented in breaded stick or patty form. Sushi in particular. I remember trying it at a Japanese friend's birthday party shortly after high school and not liking it at all. Leave it to my charming husband to get me to try it again years later. Now I can't get enough!

There are probably lots of things I didn't like as a kid that I couldn't imagine eating as an adult, but that's the one that sticks out in my mind the most.

[Laughing Goddess]

I never liked barbecue (I know some of you are horrified at this!), but then I'm from New England. It wasn't until I was in grad school in Arkansas that I learned what barbecue really was.

The city: West Memphis, AR (the other side of the Mississippi from Memphis, TN)

The place: Willie Mae's Rib Haus

The ribs: Pork, meat falling off the bone, ooooooh....

But now I'm back in New England, and I don't know when I'll get real barbecue again.

[Alysha]

For some reason I thought I didn't like aspargus. I don't even know if I had ever tried it, but I thought I didn't like it. Now I love it! Maybe the last asparagus I had was canned - canned vegetables almost never appeal to me. Yuck.

Avocado. This I had tried and didn't like, but again, now I can't get enough of it. Yummy.

The jury is still out on brussel sprouts. I've only tried cooking them once and I didn't HATE them, but still not sure I like them.

I think many likes and dislikes can stem from preparation. My husband used to dislike most vegetables, but that was at least in part due to the fact that his mom would boil everything to death and not really season it. Ugh. It can also be a matter of, as I said above, fresh versus canned or even real versus fake. I used to think that I didn't like Parmesan cheese, but all I had ever had was the stuff from the green can - a far cry from the real thing.

I know there are other things, but I can't think of them now.

[WolfChef]

Sardines. Who needs crackers, last tin just dug in with a fork. Now I look at everything in the grocery store, just trying to find something new I havn't tried yet.

[andiesenji]

The first time I tried moussaka I thought it was vile. The "lamb" was so gamey I couldn't swallow it. The oil in which the food was cooked seemed to be rancid.

I didn't eat this dish for 20 years.

Then I had the dish at a real Greek restaurant after my hosts convinced me that my earlier experience was an aberration by someone who had no respect for their cultural heritage.

I was agreeably impressed with the complex flavors in the dish, the sweetness of the lamb and the wonderful combination of spices.

Now I give a particular dish several tries, at different restaurants or at the homes of friends, before I rule it out of my list of preferences.

[peppyre]

This is an easy one and a recent love too. I used to be horrified at the smell of stinky cheese and never ever thought I could touch it. I even had a hard time with blue cheese dressing. Then in November, at the big Vancouver event, one of my tables mates had a plate of Stilton and offered me a piece. It was a revelation!!! Glorious, simply glorious! I know make sure that I always have stinky cheeses in my fridge and the stinkier the better!!

[purplewiz]

Olives. I HATED olives when I was growing up - slimy, salty, metallic, disgusting. I couldn't imagine how anyone would voluntarily eat these things.

Turns out it's only the canned common olives I hate. I had one of the Mt. Athos Garlic olives at Whole Foods, and was instantly addicted. I've grown to love kalamata olives, and the ones that are brined with chilies, and many other kinds.

Except the canned. I still don't like them, even on cobb salads and pizza.

Marcia.

[Susan G]

Spicy food. Any spicy food. Count me among the converted.

[Chris Amirault]

Cooked vegetables. I grew up in New England, where my Yankee forebears boiled broccoli, "green" beans, and spinach until grey and stankified.... Who knew vegetables made a noise when bitten?

[petite tête de chou]

Beets. My parents didn't like them so they were never served.

But owing to my ornery nature, I gave them another chance and I love them. So earthy... and red. Amazingly red. Almost gory. Gory is good.

[divalasvegas]

Beets. My parents didn't like them so they were never served.

But owing to my ornery nature, I gave them another chance and I love them. So earthy... and red. Amazingly red. Almost gory. Gory is good.

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Avocado -- I think I thought it was too rich, greasy, and couldn't percieve any discernable taste. Not any more. Now, it's rich, creamy, vegetal, and buttery.

Olives -- same as purplewiz upthread. I had only tasted canned olives. Now, I'm an olive fanatic, except canned olives, of course.

Green Peas -- I really hated them, but love them now. Sorry for any heresy regarding fresh peas which I would love to lay my hands on at will, but I love cooking and eating frozen green peas.

Oysters -- I know that I should be burned at the stake for that one. But the first time I tried oysters was a long time ago. I was a college student and out to dinner with fellow classmates and faculty. I put one in my mouth. Suddenly everyone was staring at me. It felt cold, slimey, and disgusting. I couldn't imagine actually swallowing it, but because all eyes were on me, I did, and I vowed to never do that again. Flash forward years later and for whatever reason I decided to try them again and I loved them. I was in some restaurant in in Northern Virginia--Alexandria maybe?--and the oysters were a type called Pine Island, from New York I believe. Oh my God, they were wonderful and I've been a convert ever since.

Olive oil -- I remember thinking this was just awful. Why oh why would someone want to actually have their have a taste present in their oil? Of course, now I love olive oil along with many other oils with flavor such as sesame, walnut, hazelnut.

Beets -- Same as petite tête de chou , and for the same reasons as the canned olives. I still don't like the canned ones, but I still like the jarred ones, and of course the roasted ones are fabulous.

Sushi -- This is actually about my first anniversary of trying and loving sushi. Again, I had said to myself over the years, "why oh why wouldn't anyone in their right mind eat and enjoy raw fish?" I realized that I was being a hypocrite since I loved oysters and clams on the half shell and ate medium rare roast beef, so why not sushi? I tried it for the first time at Sushi Taro in downtown DC and loved. Still working on my ugly chopstick skills.

There are many more, but that's all for now.

THINGS THAT THE JURY IS STILL OUT ON:

As andiesenji said upthread, for me the jury is still out on:

Brussel Sprouts -- Really intense, stinky little cabbages. I actually like "normal size" cabbages. Probably a throwback to restaurant trauma in that I have on more than one occasion been served these things whole boilded and barely cooked without any seasoning, on a plate, tried to cut them only to have them fly off the table because I CAN'T BELIEVE ANY RESTAURANT WOULD SERVE A HARD, ROUND COOKED VEGETABLE THAT A FORK CAN'T EVEN PENETRATE ON A FLAT PLATE!!! I mean, that's just stupid.

White Grapefruit -- The bitter component to this fruit is just insurmountable for me. For whatever reason every now and then I get a craving for pink/ruby red grapfruit. I add a bit of sugar and it's fine.

Cilantro -- Really does taste like soap to me. I believe I can recreate the qualities that people have told me they adore--citrusy, herbal-- but using combinations of various herbs and citrus, flat leaf parsley and lemon, for example. I can tolerate it in small doses, but wouldn't miss it if I never tasted it again in life. The best culture to make use of cilantro: Mexican people, IMHO.

[Syrah]

Cilantro -- Really does taste like soap to me.  I believe I can recreate the qualities that people have told me they adore--citrusy, herbal-- but using combinations of various herbs and citrus, flat leaf parsley and lemon, for example.  I can tolerate it in small doses, but wouldn't miss it if I never tasted it again in life.  The best culture to make use of cilantro:  Mexican people, IMHO.

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No matter how much I try it, I still HATE it. I cannot imagine getting over this at all.

[Grub]

Indian food. First curry I tasted, I thought the food was bad -- like, rotten. Refused to eat it. This was in college, and since students ate in cheap Indian restaurants all the time (the other alternative being English food at the student hall), I eventually grew to love it. Indian became my fave "ethnic" food, in all its wonderful variety...

[NulloModo]

Add me to the list of people who hated Indian food on the first try. I think I was around 11 or 12, at a local Indian place that, in retrospect, was either having a bad night or was genuinely bad. I was physically sick later that evening from it, but even while eating it it just all seemed off to me. Now, I absolutely love Indian cuisine, and can't get enough of it, or any other spicey food.

My first experiences with Okra were also not incredibly positive. My father only prepared it one way - stewed with tomatoes. I could just never get into it, but every time he cooked it I was forced to have some. I am grateful for this however because one day it just clicked, and I started to like it. Now I love Okra in any fashion, stewed, roasted, Indian style, deep fried, in gumbo, you name it.

[prasantrin]

I thought of another one. I had never tried pate until I was in my early 30's. It looked like really bad cat food--who would want to eat that? But after I had started on a culinary self-improvement program, I decided I should give it a try. Yum! I'm sure it depends on the pate, but I've had pretty good luck so far!

Looking over the things others have mentioned, I used to hate olives, too. Then I spent three months in Morocco, and now I have a new appreciation of them. A good olive is a wonderful thing. A bad olive, however, is enough to turn you off them for life!

[Shalmanese]

Cilantro -- Really does taste like soap to me.  I believe I can recreate the qualities that people have told me they adore--citrusy, herbal-- but using combinations of various herbs and citrus, flat leaf parsley and lemon, for example.  I can tolerate it in small doses, but wouldn't miss it if I never tasted it again in life.  The best culture to make use of cilantro:  Mexican people, IMHO.

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No matter how much I try it, I still HATE it. I cannot imagine getting over this at all.

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Nobody has to feel guilty about hating cilantro. It's a genetic thing. Some people's tastebuds are just wired in such a way that cilantro tastes soapy.

[Milagai]

celery.

i had never had it until i came to the US as a young adult

and it seemed to be everywhere.

it was too exotic, and the flavor seemed too strong and wierd.

now i'm used to it and like it just fine.

i don't think i'll go out of my way to eat it, but

i don't avoid it either.

now of course, the more exotic a veggie, the more eager

i am to try it

milagai

[mpav]

Tongue. I like the taste of tongue, but had (sometimes still do) hate the concept of the tongue of anyone or anything being sliced up in a meat slicer. MAkes me very protective of my own tongue.

Side note: When I was a wee girl I knew a very old woman who had emigrated from Ireland as a wee girl. She had never eaten a tomato. One day she was given a whole tomato, only it was called a "love apple." She bit in, expecting the texture of an apple. The resulting experience of juice and seeds and squishiness horrified her so that she never tried tomatoes again.

[Tess]

I was in college before I would touch mayonnaise or any mayonnaise-like sauces, because I'd had the stuff out of a jar and it tasted really weird and metallic to me. Then I had to eat a vegetable salad at someone's house, for the sake of politeness. It was made with homemade mayonnaise, and I never looked back.

[Alysha]

I thought of another one: foie gras.

We were having a chef's tasting at Striped Bass in Philly and this was one of the courses he served. I had never tried it and didn't particularly want to, but I then I decided that if I was going to try it anywhere, this was the place. I actually liked it pretty well, but it was very rich and I didn't eat much of it.

It's not something that I am likely to eat again, but I was surprised that it didn't repulse me the way I imagined it would.

I'm another one who has tried to like cilantro but am having a hard time - it tastes almost metallic to me.

I've also tried to like beets, but I don't know if there is anyway for me to get around the fact that they taste like dirt. I'm not likely to try to prepare them again myself (we threw them all out), but I would try them if someone prepared them for me.

[acautrell]

I never liked strong tasting vegetables as a child: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage. And I don't remember ever being served beets, brussel sprouts, spinach or any sort of salad green that wasn't iceberg lettuce.

Now--I love all of the above vegetables, especially since I've learned to do something besides boil them into a gray mushy mess. I can make a meal off a head of cauliflower.

I used to hate steak too, mainly cause I'd never had it properly cooked.

My next goal is to learn to like stinky cheese.

[SuzySushi]

I've also tried to like beets, but I don't know if there is anyway for me to get around the fact that they taste like dirt.  I'm not likely to try to prepare them again myself (we threw them all out), but I would try them if someone prepared them for me.

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They don't taste like dirt if they're prepared properly!!! They're sweet and even a little juicy -- a revelation to me after growing up with (and hating!) canned beets.

And they're very easy to make. Just scrub (don't peel before cooking) and bake (wrap in foil first), steam, or cook in the microwave until tender. Timing will vary with size; I usually steam or microwave mine for about 8 minutes, baking takes longer. Let cool enough to handle and use a paring knife to slip off the skins (easiest under running water).

For the sweetest, least woody taste, look for young beets that have bright green leaves attached. The greens can be stir-fried or steamed, too.