I used to HATE cilantro. Bleck. It tasted like pencil lead to me! I wouldn't go so far as to order a dish without it, but I would pick around it and it left a weird aftertaste. While cooking I would just sub parsley instead.
Now I enjoy it very much. I grow my own in fact. I've always grown herbs, but I didn't used to grow cilantro. I'd swear I could smell it in the window box when the kitchen window was open, yuck. Now, I LOVE the smell.
How does a person's tastes change so dramatically like that?
Beans are another thing I used to dislike. Legumes, I mean, not green beans. I would pick them out of food. Make beanless chili (like a Texan). Then in my 30s I would eat a bean or two in a dish and get through it. Now I LOVE them, I use them all the time. Which is a damn good thing considering The Man is Puerto Rican, born and raised on rice and beans and fried plantains.
My kids like cilantro AND beans, always have, which I find impressive.
So, what's a food you used to dislike and now enjoy very much?
:)
Super spicy food...lol...I swore at one point I was a "super taster" - everything was too strong and I couldn't tolerate even a slightly spicy dish - now I want everything spicy to the max.
Steak, believe it or not. I was raised by a single mom on a budget. On the rare occassion that we had steak, they were tough and chewy and fatty and veiny (is that a word???). Anyway, gross. So I was in my mid 30's before I tried one again...OMGee!!!! It was so freaking good! Now I LOVE them! Still don't get them often but love, love, love a great steak when I can get one! =)
I am told that cilantro is one of those foods. To some people it tastes like it should and to some people it tastes like soap. So perhaps your taste buds just changed/matured.
Me? Used to HATE shrimp and fish. Mom would make gumbo and pour out my serving before she added the shrimp towards the end. I hated it that much. Now I wish I could have shrimp every day. Love it. A boyfriend once kinda made me try shrimp and to my surprise I liked it. SO perhaps I was just being stubborn before or my taste buds changed. And same with shrimp. I just tasted it one day and decided it wasn't too bad. Now I love it.
Used to hate tomatoes .... now I could eat one like an apple. Love them.
Oh Theresa, thank goodness you have come to embrace cilantro! Every true foodie should! LOL!
For me, I'd say seafood. I never ate it as a kid. If we had fish for dinner, my mom made me something else. I never ever ever ate it.
Now I eat sushi, and shrimp and calamari, and fried oysters, and clams etc etc.
My husband got me into seafood and I'm glad!
Funny!
My kids also like cilantro and all kinds of beans too. It's a good thing!
Me too! I love cilantro, just bought some yesterday. :)
Okay, some stuff I used to hate but now love- guacamole, refried beans, cauliflower, carrots, yogurt, I'm sure there are others , just can't think right now.
Speaking of beans, I could eat a whole pot of ranchero beans.
Green olives w/ pimentos (so tasty in a martini), horseradish, hot sauce and hot salsa. Oh, and brussel sprouts.
Guacamole!! Or anything avocado. I learned to love it pregnant with my youngest. Now we can't go anywhere where guacamole is served and not order it! The kid goes nuts for it :).So do I!
cilantro, sushi and coffee :)
Beets!! I never would touch those things but for some reason when i was pregnant with my daughter they looked really good. Bought some, ate them and have loved them ever since!
Spinach! LOL! Used to hate it as a child, but now I love it. Even go to my local Farmers Market to buy it fresh. I think I hated so much because my father would force us to eat. Now that I'm older and more health conscious, I can't eat enough of it.
Wine. I don't drink alcohol (never liked it, tastes like medicine to me, same as sodas, yuck) but as I am aging I am actually enjoying sipping some exquisite wine with food. I only get some (no more than 1/4, maybe 1/2 a cup) when I have dinner out (so very rarely), but still, I can taste it better and I can tell it enhances the taste of food too. This makes my father especially happy, he's an expert and, being Italian and all, just could not believe I was missing out like that.
Hummus! I love it now and I never touched the stuff until recently. I'm sad that I missed out on so many years of being able to enjoy it.
Tripe soup...I know it sounds gross, and when I was little I could gag just from see it, now I could have bowls for days.
Coffee (not food, but) I use to wonder what was the "big" deal about it. Not sure if my kids have suck all my energy, I got older or what, but lately I have even thinking to get a coffee machine for my bedroom and set it up so it wakes me up with the smell, yummy!
Btw, we haven't eaten plain rice and beans for long, since I switch white rice to brown, not sure if will taste the same with brown but I want to try, the plantains got me drooling!
Potatoes. When I was a kid I hated them! Now I cant get enough. I am sooo a meat and potatoes girl!
I still cannot eat seafood though! My husband tries and tries to get me to like it but I cant. I want to! It looks so good on tv but I cant get over that fishy smell and taste. Oh well maybe one day in a few years I will love it! Only time will tell!
cooked onions, tomatoes, bell peppers. I had issue with the texture at one point, now I crave sauteed vegetables.
I also have a love of pho noodles and at one point (could have been the cook) I couldn't stand it.
Blue cheese!
Now I can't get enough of it!
I hated peas, love them now, hated beets, love them now. Many vegetables I hated I now love. I still hate cilantro though. Wish I did like it as I have to do the pick around it thing and it just ruins things for me. My favorite of all foods is Mexican and they are usually full of cilantro.
veggies of all kinds. i used to be a green-hater but i now i love most of 'em. except brussel sprounds. and asparagus. barf.
but you know what i REALLY love that i used to hate? winter!
and wouldn't you know it, we didn't get one this year.
:) khairete
S.
Coconut!
And kidney beans.....my mother (bless her heart) used to pick them out of her chili for me!
Peanut butter! I used to hate peanut butter when I was a kid, but now I love it! Ok, wait, I don't love it...I prefer Justin's with honey, regular peanut butter, by itself is not my thing.
Blue cheese, and olives used to hate them but I love them now.
I'm still not gonna go near pimento cheese or green beans.
