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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Asparagus! I hated that shit when I was 12. And now I can’t wait for asparagus season.
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.
Probably not. I never watched them, but I’m guessing that my parents probably just got a cheap pork chop and covered in shake n bake, then put it in the oven for a certain amount of time.
Maybe I’ll give one a try some time.
I find it (pork chop) difficult to cook, it’s like undercooked, undercooked, undercooked, then suddenly overcooked without seeming to pass cooked.
Steak we have to get two because the penultimate child and I like that quite rare but youngest and the husband like it much more cooked. So to please anyone we just buy two, and pull one off when seared, let the other one sit in the pan until hotter inside.
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
I’ve tried this before in my shots of espresso, but I haven’t noticed a difference. Are you getting more of the chocolatey notes or the nutty or the fruity ones?
I generally notice the fruity flavors more but that might just be my palette. I’m not sure how well it works with espresso. Never tried that but now I’m curious
Oh yes, black is my go to and I used to hate coffee.
Corn! Wait, no, still hate it.
Gentlemen! I bring you …
Ohhh, no… I remember last time…
PopCorn?..
- 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.
Still don’t like bacon though 🤷🏿♀️
Brussels sprouts used to taste different: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brussels_sprout#Contemporary_Brussels_sprouts
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!
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
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.
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 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.This is something that I’ve read about as well
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.
Yessss!!! Another one that I love roasted or with some butter and light salt.
Next time, squeeze a lemon over them. Thank me later.
Yes this and also try adding some garlic pressed or diced.
This is how I usually cook em. (Optionally blanch for like 30 seconds if they’re big or you find em bitter til they’re emerald green) Toss em in some olive oil with a bit of white pepper and garlic, grill or roast to desired doneness, squeeze of lemon. Delicious with a steak or alongside mushrooms.
Welp. I know I what I’m trying tonight!
Another one that I love roasted
Just don’t try that with white asparagus, that really needs to be cooked IMHO.
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.
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.
