Personal Taste

[Tonyfinch]

I don't actively detest any foods,though naturally I prefer some to others.However I can understand most of the loathings on "Best Food You Don't Eat Thread" in that I can see why people might hate those particular foods.

However I am baffled and perplexed by three:

honey,melons,fresh tarragon.

The fact that there are people out there who actively loathe these foods begs the question of where does our taste come from. Is it a traumatic childhood experience with a particular food?(fresh tarragon?) or the consuming of one particularly bad example that taints the whole genre? I mean how do people come to detest melons,for goodness sake?

Any ideas?

[macrosan]

I think there are two distinct issues here, Tony.

The first is a physical reaction to certain foods, akin to an allergic reaction. I know many people who are allergic to melon, for example. Generally not water melon, but honeydew, ogen, canteloupe, etc. They report an unpleasant tickling sensation in their mouth and tongue. I sometimes get that from unusually strong kiwi fruit.

Honey, of course, is derived from pollen, and I could readily understand allergic reactions to that. I suppose any pollinating vegetable or flower would equally cause selective reactions.

Allergy to wheat or milk products or eggs are also well documented. Salmon is a common reaction-causer, altho I'm not sure this is strictly an allergic reaction.

Food allergies seem to be becoming a new growth industry. Un the UK, shops are popping up all over the place which will run a same-day series of tests on you to tell you exactly what elementary food allergies you have. While I am a natural cycnic regarding such things, there is no doubt that there is a fundamentally valid basis for them.

The second issue is, as you suggest, the environmental experience. I cannot eat raw fat, because as a child I was trained to remove it from meat and leave it on the plate. If I accidentally put some in my mouth, it actually makes my nose wrinkle in distaste (not a pretty sight, because my nose is already plenty wrinkly enough).

My pet hates are spinach, mackerel and tinned tuna. These are not foods I was brought up to dislike, nor do I recall any traumatic experience with any of them. So I guess I've just taught myself to hate them. I've always assumed it's just a tongue thing (altho Simon would be more expert on that anatomical connotation)  

[Lord Michael Lewis]

Honey, of course, is derived from pollen,...

Of course, of course.

[Adam_Balic]

Honey, of course, is derived from pollen, and I could readily understand allergic reactions to that. I suppose any pollinating vegetable or flower would equally cause selective reactions.

.

Food allergies seem to be becoming a new growth industry. Un the UK, shops are popping up all over the place which will run a same-day series of tests on you to tell you exactly what elementary food allergies you have. While I am a natural cycnic regarding such things, there is no doubt that there is a fundamentally valid basis for them.

Slight clarification. Honey is rarely associated with allergic reactions. Actually, the opposite is true, in that is has been shown to suppress some types of pollen associated allergies. There is an immune phenomena know as "oral tolerence", basically so you don't develop immune responses to everything you eat, the immune system "deletes" cells that react. Obviously, this isn't 100%, but it is thought that the small amounts of pollen present in honey, results in the deletion of pollen reactive immune cells, so therefore decrease in allergic symptoms. This will only work if you have honey whci contains the same type of pollen as what you are allergic to, so it is best to buy localy made honey.

I think that Macrosans two component system hits the nail on the head. I would just add that a great many people confuse "allergic" with personal preference due to experience. I once ate a sausage roll as a child, which gave me terrible food poisoning. It is my first ever memory of vomiting. The thought of eating a sausage roll made me feel physicaly ill for years after this. However, I wasn't allergic to them. This confusion seems to be pretty common with seafood. Some people are allergic to some types of seafood, but many just don't like seafood and say they are allergic. Then in people that are allergic to seafood, mostly it will be against one type (eg. Shrimp), but they will say they are allergic to all seafood.

[macrosan]

Honey is rarely associated with allergic reactions. Actually, the opposite is true, in that is has been shown to suppress some types of pollen associated allergies. .. but it is thought that the small amounts of pollen present in honey, results in the deletion of pollen reactive immune cells, so therefore decrease in allergic symptoms

Thanks for that info, Adam. I'm going to try that, since we have an excellent local producer of honey, and I'm going thru my sneezing period right now  

[Wilfrid]

I once ate a sausage roll as a child, which gave me terrible food poisoning. It is my first ever memory of vomiting. The thought of eating a sausage roll made me feel physicaly ill for years after this.

I had a similar experience with a bottle of kirsch, a drink I eschew to this day.

[John Whiting]

Honey is rarely associated with allergic reactions. Actually, the opposite is true, in that is has been shown to suppress some types of pollen associated allergies.

This, I presume, is an aspect of homeopathy.

[Sandra Levine]

I once ate a sausage roll as a child, which gave me terrible food poisoning. It is my first ever memory of vomiting. The thought of eating a sausage roll made me feel physicaly ill for years after this.

I had a similar experience with a bottle of kirsch, a drink I eschew to this day.

Same experience with pineapple upside down cake.

[stefanyb]

Would you all cut out the honey talk, you're making me feel nauseated.

BTW, honey cannot be given to infants because it has a naturally high bacteria level.  Nature may know more than we do.

[=Mark]

I always thought the reason you could store honey for decades without refrigeration was due to it's lack of moisture it is unable to support bacterial growth...

Hmmmm...

[tommy]

not sure about that moisture bit.  i was under the impression that it's a hostile envirnoment for bacteria overall (acidity?), but that a few harmless types *might* grow in it.  harmless to healthy adults, but dangerous to infants.

disclaimer:  i am not a honeyologist, but i am damned sweet.

[Adam_Balic]

Honey, may have bacterial spores, which means you shouldn't give it to children less then one year of age. But, it lasts indefinately (I think that some people have eaten honey from found in Aegyptian tombs).

[Wilfrid]

i am not a honeyologist, but i am damned sweet.

You are my candy girl, and you've got me wanting you.

I love honey.  These questions are all very mysterious.  I do have a "reaction" to some fruits, especially avocado - I develop temporary sore, swollen patches on my tongue and soft palate.  No big deal, and wouldn't stop me eating the fruit if I liked it.  I never get this reaction from tropical fruit, and a scientist friend once explained that there were some important chemical differences there - no, I can't remember any detail.

I am aware that an "allergic" reaction is a quite specific physiological response - although the term is used more widely in everyday conversation  - so I hesitate to say that I am allergic to these things.  But it's raw tomatoes I really hate, and they don't make me sore or sick or nauseous.  I just find the flavor very aversive.

[Tonyfinch]

Would you all cut out the honey talk, you're making me feel nausiated.

Stefany,  Someone deep in your past  subjected you to endless playings of Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey (I Miss You)",undoubtedly THE most nauseating song ever written.You have transferred this nausea onto the substance itself.It's called "Misplaced Projection". You'll be glad to know you really like honey after all but you're just a little f....d up.

Got that?  

Then that'll be a hundred pounds please. Same time next week?

[stefanyb]

Then that'll be a hundred pounds please. Same time next week?

Is that what a shrink costs in London?  Yikes.  No wonder all you Brits are walking around with your neuroses hanging out.

But, you're such a honey, anyway.

[tommy]

i've read that the widespread phenomenon of cilantro tasting like soap to some people is a factor of the chemicals in ones mouth that react with the cilantro forming compounds that might be found in some soaps.  one would think these might be basic compounds, as opposed to acidic, as soap is basic by design, and i think that generally we don't eat foods that are basic on the acidity scale.  then again, i could be talking out of my arse.

[Wilfrid]

We don't have shrinks.  Nor are we neurotic.  Tony was simply angling for a gratuity.

Tommy's point is actually borderline interesting.  My basic grasp of the science is that pH is a measurement of the acidity (or non-acidity) of a liquid.  The pH scale runs from basic or alkaline through neutral to acidic.  It's obvious that we consume plenty of liquids with an acidic pH.  I had assumed that we also consume plenty of basic liquids.  Dairy products are pretty basic, no?

I am harping on the term "liquid", because I know there is some controversy about applying the concept of pH to gases.  Can it be applied to solid food?  Where are the whitecoats when you need them?

But the explanation of why cilantro tastes soapy to some people is plausible.  I noticed yesterday, through sampling, that Baby's dinner, when home-cooked, is packed with cilantro in true Dominican style.  So Baby may grow up with a taste for soap.  

[Tonyfinch]

 Yikes.  No wonder all you Brits are walking around with your neuroses hanging out.

Excuse me? Given the crackpot antics of some of you Americans on the Nazi thread and still carrying on in other threads that strikes me as just a tad rich-a bit like my boobahs honey cake(lovely with a slice of canteloupe and a sprig of fresh tarragon)

[tommy]

Excuse me? Given the crackpot antics of some of you Americans on the Nazi thread and still carrying on in other threads that strikes me as just a tad rich-a bit like my boobahs honey cake

surely you wouldn't judge an entire country based on a handful of people.  (read:  don't make me mention the spice girls)

[stefanyb]

a bit like my boobahs honey cake(lovely with a slice of canteloupe and a sprig of fresh tarragon)

Is boobah the same as bubbeh, aka grannie?  Oy vey, where did she come to tarragon?  Certainly not in the land of milk and honey.

[Tonyfinch]

surely you wouldn't judge an entire country based on a handful of people.  

Of course I would. What,are we supposed to judge a country based on ALL of the people. How would we ever get round to meeting them?

[tommy]

Of course I would. What,are we supposed to judge a country based on ALL of the people. How would we ever get round to meeting them?

i'm just sayin', ya know?

[Wilfrid]

What's wrong with the Spice Girls?

[macrosan]

I just find the flavor very aversive.

Are you absolutely sure, Wilfrid ?

Aversionary, or maybe aversitive, perhaps even averting.

But aversive ?

Are you there, John ? Or Adam ? Or even LML ?

[stellabella]

Tony, it is I who dislikes fresh tarragon.  My answer to your original question is that, yes, once I had a bad experience with it--I threw way too much of into a soup in which it had absolutely no business.  It reacted badly to the other ingredients and it turned my stomach.  Because I have fresh oregano and rosemary growing in my yard nearly year round, and annual herbs throughout the summer, I make do without it.  I love cilantro but I know many people who don't--this blows my mind as I find it to be one of the most refreshing flavors on earth.

My dad won't eat squash or watermelon--well, really, he won't eat any gourd.  He HATES pumpkin pie.  My mother says it is because he was very poor as a boy and the squash was cheap so they fed him a lot of it.  Sometimes I think about this and I feel like peeing my pants laughing and smacking my mother silly [with all due apology to the woman who borned and raised me].

Dad says he ate so much watermelon at a church picnic he threw up and has never eaten it since.

What the first thread indicates is that everyone dislikes something.  And everyone is entitled to dislike something.  I actually find myself becoming extraordinarily picky, and it embarasses me--I don't want to become one of THOSE people.  I am heartened to read that the wonderful foodologists who populate this site still enjoy fast food and junk food and cheap processed convenient food--on occasion.  I confess that I don't eat certain foods [hot dogs] on principle, but I secretly crave them.  What to do?