On Serious Eats, one of the discussion questions from the last week was this: what food do you wish you liked, but don't? For me, a few things sprang to mind immediately:
--Sushi. I just don't like wasabi or seaweed. Both things instantly produce a gag-reflex in me, and so although I love sushi rice, and I love raw/seared/cooked fish, and I love almost all veggies, there is very little in the way of sushi/sashimi that I will eat. I once had a piece of sushi that wasn't wrapped in seaweed, and I really liked it. But those are few and far between, and one of the things those sorts of rolls are often wrapped in is:
--Salmon. Pretty much every restaurant I've ever been to has salmon on the menu, and I abhor it. I love fish, but not this one. I can't tell you the number of times I've salivated over a dish's preparation, only to be unable to order it because it was made with salmon. And, salmon is one of the most easily available fishes to buy and cook at home. But ewwww.
--Cilantro. There's that whole soapy cilantro thing, which, if I have right, is some sort of genetic thing. Some people taste cilantro as they're tasting soap. I think that's pretty disgusting, but I can't tell you that I taste soap when I eat cilantro. But I do absolutely HATE it. I never put it in recipes I cook at home, and if at all possible I avoid ordering it in general in restaurants, or ask to have it removed from a dish. I don't think this is rare. Sam doesn't like it either, and I don't think I'd be hard-pressed to easily find two handfuls of people who hate it, just in my immediate vicinity.
--Blue Cheese. You know how many delicious-looking salads come with blue cheese? A lot. And I know a TON of people who love blue cheese--my dad and mom's mom for starters--and what it adds to salads. In fact, the other night at our anniversary dinner out, there was a beet salad (yum!) with a vinegarette (yum!) garnished with blue cheese (oops, no thanks!). And any time a steak or burger comes with it, I want to cry, because I like those things, and I don't like that other thing they're putting on top of it. And there's that chopped salad at Portillo's, which is scrumpdiddilyumptious, minus the cheese of course.
I think these are things I won't ever grow into liking, either. Some things you do (like broccoli and bananas, in my case), and some things are just beyond the reach of your tastebuds. I'm convinced. I've been trying to think of other things to add to this list, but this might be the only things that I don't like that I want to like. I haven't tried enough shellfishy items to include those (I will say, scallops ew. But I don't feel particularly sad about not liking them, either.) things, and I like almost every vegetable known to man (even brussels sprouts and lima beans), so I can't really find any of those to include. I don't mind not liking mango or papaya, as there seem to be plenty of other fruits to go around, and I'm not feeling dreadful about not being able to order those things in restaurants. So, hmmm. I'll keep thinking.
Meanwhile, what do you wish you liked?
Comments