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It's an acquired taste. Here's an easy one: POI. You'd have to be Hawaiian to love poi. To the rest of us it's what we imagine wallpaper paste would taste like, after it's gone off.

My own nominee, however, is not geographical. I think you have to have more than a few drops of Jewish blood in you to appreciate noodle kugel/pudding. I've tasted many of them and not once was I ever inspired to ask for the recipe, take seconds, or even finish what was on my plate. Dry, yet somehow soggy too, overcooked noodles with very little flavoring, not nearly sweet enough to be considered a sweet dish like applesauce or sweet potatoes. I've heard there are savory ones, but haven't happened upon one.

Anyone have a recipe that will change my mind? Otherwise, gimme that pastrami and the blintzes and the matzo ball soup--yeah, and the tzimmes, too--but keep the kugel.

SOOOOOO, what's your nominee for acquired taste?

Ruth Dondanville aka "ruthcooks"

“Are you making a statement, or are you making dinner?” Mario Batali

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natto!

the Japanese fermented soy beans, I love them now but it did take several years. At the beginning I couldn't even be in the same room with them....

Of course almost half of the Jaapnese population can't stand them either.

the natto thread

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

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My own nominee, however, is not geographical.  I think you have to have more than a few drops of Jewish blood in you to appreciate noodle kugel/pudding.  I've tasted many of them and not once was I ever inspired to ask for the recipe, take seconds, or even finish what was on my plate.  Dry, yet somehow soggy too, overcooked noodles with very little flavoring, not nearly sweet enough to be considered a sweet dish like applesauce or sweet potatoes.

:shock:

Are we talking about kugel with lots of sour cream, eggs, sugar, cottage cheese, cinnamon?

:wub:

But, but...I'm not Jewish!

I'm trying to think of Indian foods that are acquired tastes...bitter gourd, maybe?

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For the Dutch it is black licorice. Double-salted, intensely flavored small bricks of hardcore licorice-ness. It assaults your tastebuds and slowly melts in your mouth, releasing salty licorice all the way. I grew up eating the stuff and emigrated to Canada. Whenever I get a hold of some I try it on my unsuspecting Canadian friends who are used to the sweet semi-aniseedy tasting stuff they call licorice. So far I have met very few who can eat a single piece without cringing and running for the nearest receptacle for suitable licorice disposal.

In Holland there are specialised shops that sell nothing but licorice and it is a ritual for the Dutch child to save up some allowance money and visit the licorice shop for a 1/4 pound baggie of mixed licorice (all black, in many shapes and densities but all intensely flavored) that gets devoured within the usual 30 minutes, usually resulting in a slightly upset tummy and that telltale hint of blackness around the mouth. My mother could tell from a mile away if I had indulged in a bag (which was often) and would postpone dinner a bit, knowing I would be having trouble...

Nowadays my licorice fixes are few and far between. Whenever I visit Holland I stock up on the stuff, filling up every nook in my suitcases with baggies from the licorice shop.

It's been a while. The cravings are hard to bear...

Stefan Posthuma

Beer - Chocolate - Cheese

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I don't know anyone who's acquired a taste for Marmite or Vegemite as an adult, having grown up without exposure to it. But that's an easy one.

Coming from the east coast, I'd say that the glory of fish 'n' brewis eludes most "come from aways." Salt cod, poached hardtack, rendered pork fat, and maybe some raw onion and a drizzle of vinegar. Cod cheeks and tongues won't usually have outsiders slavering, either. Present company probably excepted.

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

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I wonder whether there are many non-Jews who like gefilte fish. Sure, they like quenelles and other stuff that's similar, but what about gefilte fish? For the record, I think it can be pretty nice when home made.

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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I used to think lutefisk fit this description, but then a buddy of mine got hooked on it and brought a bunch of it home from Norway. Poor wife was in tears over the stench... That exception aside, it is a mystery to me, that anyone can eat that vile crap without being brainwashed from childhood...

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Very rare the non-Southerner who would willingly tuck into a plate of fried okra. Okra has really gotten a nasty rep for being slimey but crisply fried okra is pure heaven. How about corn bread crumbled into a glass of milk? Or green beans with fat back that have cooked all day til they are moosh. O god! now I've done it, but where will I get these things here in the North?

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Kugel

Gefillte fish

Haggis

Black pudding

Tripes

Sourkraut

Soups

Smelly smoked fish (herrings etc.)

Sugar in savoury dishes

Fatty cold cuts

Deep fried foods

Sweet salads served with main courses

Overboiled, watery vegs

English sausages

Baked beans

Gummy cheese, (Cheddar, American, Edam...)

Jap traditional desserts

Chinese creepy-crawlies

All fast foods... and the list goes on and on...

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I don't know anyone who's acquired a taste for Marmite or Vegemite as an adult, having grown up without exposure to it.  But that's an easy one.

Weirdly, I used to hate Marmite. The taste, the smell, the irritating glee with which its fans would consume it... And then, about three months ago, I tried some again (purely for medicinal reasons: I'd heard that eating it would make my skin less palatable to mosquito bites - which I could easily believe). And... I really liked it. The yeasty flavour that I used to find overpowering seemed somehow mellowed by the saltiness and the brown toast I was eating it on. So I suppose that makes me a Marmite convert.

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Grits. I have never had edible grits, and I don't care how much cheese and garlic you add.

While I was born Yankee, I have spent most of my life south of the Smith and Wesson line, and love green beans cooked all day, fried cabbage, okra--but NO GRITS.

sparrowgrass
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Coming from the east coast, I'd say that the glory of fish 'n' brewis eludes most "come from aways."  Salt cod, poached hardtack, rendered pork fat, and maybe some raw onion and a drizzle of vinegar.  Cod cheeks and tongues won't usually have outsiders slavering, either.  Present company probably excepted.

chromedome makes a good point here about exceptions. I'm a huge fan of many of the things on this list, including and especially salty licorice (and their Chinese soul mates, salted dried plums -- yee-umm), and I ain't got a Dutch or Chinese bone in my body. I love intense flavors, as do, I bet, lots of folks here.

Chris Amirault

eG Ethics Signatory

Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts

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Pimiento cheese. Anyone who did not grow up with it (in the South) seems to feel revulsion on sight. It's the sight of the little red-pepper bits in the bright orange cheese-and-mayo goop that puts people off.

If people could just get past the appearance to try a little bite of heaven! I grew up on that goop and have to have a pimiento-cheese sandwich just about every day.

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Very rare the non-Southerner who would willingly tuck into a plate of fried okra.  Okra has really gotten a nasty rep for being slimey but crisply fried okra is pure heaven.  How about corn bread crumbled into a glass of milk? Or green beans with fat back that have cooked all day til they are moosh.  O god!  now I've done it, but where will I get these things here in the North?

you make them! at least that's what i do. none of the ingredients are hard to find, and for those dishes, they aren't difficult to make.

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It's an acquired taste.  Here's an easy one:  POI.  You'd have to be Hawaiian to love poi.  To the rest of us it's what we imagine wallpaper paste would taste like, after it's gone off.

My own nominee, however, is not geographical.  I think you have to have more than a few drops of Jewish blood in you to appreciate noodle kugel/pudding.  I've tasted many of them and not once was I ever inspired to ask for the recipe, take seconds, or even finish what was on my plate.  Dry, yet somehow soggy too, overcooked noodles with very little flavoring, not nearly sweet enough to be considered a sweet dish like applesauce or sweet potatoes.  I've heard there are savory ones, but haven't happened upon one.

Anyone have a recipe that will change my mind?  Otherwise, gimme that pastrami and the blintzes and the matzo ball soup--yeah, and the tzimmes, too--but keep the kugel.

SOOOOOO, what's your nominee for acquired taste?

I just made a fabulous noodle pudding 2 weeks ago. I wrote about it in my blog, its not too sweet( but you could add more sugar), and its so rich and creamy.

The recipe came from a reader of everyday food magazine.

PM me if you'd like it.

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Growing up in PA I had eaten, and still to this day when I visit PA I get nostalgic for, SCRAPPLE! But, if you don't have some "history" with this culinary treat (?) then I'm not sure if you would stomach it.

A while back there was a whole thread on CHICKEN FRIED STEAK, and for us in OK and TX, there is nothing better than chicken fried steak, mashed taters, cream gravy and black eyed peas, but folks "up north", well, they just dont' "get" chicken fried steak!

Bob R in OKC

Home Brewer, Beer & Food Lover!

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St. Louis style pizza seems to provoke a love/hate relationship between the people who grew up with it and many non-natives. St. Louis style pizza uses a craker-thin crust and a processed provelone/mozzarella cheese products called provel. Provel melts very creamy without the stringy texture of mozzarella on traditional pizza.

Most displaced St. Louisans crave the stuff (since you can't get it anywhere outside a 150 mile radius of the Gateway Arch) but, for the most part, our friends from the outside world just don't get it.

Bill Russell

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It's an acquired taste.  Here's an easy one:  POI.  You'd have to be Hawaiian to love poi.  To the rest of us it's what we imagine wallpaper paste would taste like, after it's gone off.

My own nominee, however, is not geographical.  I think you have to have more than a few drops of Jewish blood in you to appreciate noodle kugel/pudding.  I've tasted many of them and not once was I ever inspired to ask for the recipe, take seconds, or even finish what was on my plate.  Dry, yet somehow soggy too, overcooked noodles with very little flavoring, not nearly sweet enough to be considered a sweet dish like applesauce or sweet potatoes.  I've heard there are savory ones, but haven't happened upon one.

Anyone have a recipe that will change my mind?  Otherwise, gimme that pastrami and the blintzes and the matzo ball soup--yeah, and the tzimmes, too--but keep the kugel.

SOOOOOO, what's your nominee for acquired taste?

My mother's is neither soggy, overcooked nor dry. A kugel is only those things if the noodles were overcooked and the kugel was cooked to long.

Marion's Noodle Pudding

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned mountain oysters yet. From my experience, you essentially have to be a part of the "harvest" to appreciate their taste and texture... which is really interesting given the extreme chauvinistic bent of most of the "harvesters".

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

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I wonder whether there are many non-Jews who like gefilte fish. Sure, they like quenelles and other stuff that's similar, but what about gefilte fish? For the record, I think it can be pretty nice when home made.

The jarred stuff available at most supermarkets looks pretty unappetizing to me. Whenever I see it I wonder who buys the stuff. I agree homemade versions can be pretty tasty.

Anyway my late uncle who was a conservative WASP (hated so called 'ethnic' foods of all stripes) loved it and he introduced my parents to it. I'm talking about the supermarket stuff. They immediately took to it as some sore of delicacy from an exotic culture. In their Korean minds it is a form of preserved fish.

Which brings me to Korean food. Love it or hate it. I know people who find it appalling (I've never met another Asian who thinks this) and others who are addicted.

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