Food you hated as a child

[lurok]

but you love now

Blue cheese
Yoghurt
Mushrooms
Swedes, turnips and parsnips

I never understood how people hated tomatoes and pineapples, but I hear it's very common. I'm sure there's interesting science stuff in here about taste buds, bitterness, etc.

[cultcross]

A paediatrician once explained to me that children learn what is 'food' in their first year of eating, so tend to dislike flavours and textures they didn't encounter during this period. This is why children in different parts of the world like different things - they are simply fed differently in very early life. And also why in our country kids tend not to like 'hot' or 'spicy' food, because baby food is never hot or spicy so its a bewildering new concept to them. To have a non fussy child, you have to get them eating a wide variety as early as possible.

[Miss Chicken]

I can't think of a single food that I hated as a child that I like now. Most of the things I hated back then I still hate.

However there are several foods that I didn't liked cooked because of my mother's cooking. She used to overboil vegetables until the were absolutely horrible to eat. Though I hated them cooedk many of these vegetables (i.e. peas, beans, carrots, cabbage, turnips) I was quite content to eat raw. I used to raid my Dad's vegetable garden whenever I could. My mother used to scold me for this saying there would be none left for her to cook.

[Relayer1]

Δ Not so - my sons tastes got narrower as he passed infancy. He's 15 now and more of a food problem than he used to be. He's still a definite vegetarian though - thought he might have ditched that by now, just to be different from his Mom and I...

[lurok]

cultcross

Miss Chicken wrote:

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I can't think of a single food that I hated as a child that I like now. Most of the things I hated back then I still hate.

The only thing I still have a problem with is offal. But can eat if prepared well (St Johns in London's Clerkenwell excels at that). That's why genuinely interested in changing palates. I couldn't stand things I cited; made me feel physically ill. But now adore

Relayer1 wrote:

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Δ Not so - my sons tastes got narrower as he passed infancy. He's 15 now and more of a food problem than he used to be. He's still a definite vegetarian though - thought he might have ditched that by now, just to be different from his Mom and I...

Do you think might be a phase he'll grow out of?

[O'Dib]

Rice
Olivier Salad
Olives
Avocado

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The foods I hated as a child, I still hate now. Which isn't much - liver, to be sure, but I can't think of much else right now.

The thing is, when I was a kid, I absolutely loved cottage cheese, but now it makes me gag.

[Miss Chicken]

^^^ The only things I can think of off-hand as hating my whole life are cantaloupes and peanut butter.

[cultcross]

Mustard and lime pickle I have hated my whole life. Olives, sushi, cheese sauces and sadly alcohol have been acquired tastes.

[Tora Ziyal]

I was never a picky eater. The only thing I can think of that I didn't like as a child but do now is avocado.

[auntiehill]

Most of the things I hated as a child I still hate--like brussel sprouts and beets (gag!) but one thing I like now that I didn't back then was spinach. I really didn't care for it, but I'd eat it--well, because I really had no choice. I now I like it---but I eat it raw, as in a spinach salad, instead of the boiled spinach my Mom used to serve.

[teacake]

Broccoli. I could eat that stuff all day now.

Most cheeses, really disliked most cheeses as a kid now I have to hold myself back. Blues in particular.

Mushrooms. One day I woke up to mushrooms and now I adore them.

Those were the things I actually hated but now love. Plenty of stuff I was meh about like avocado that I now have a fine appreciation of.

As to babies palates.. it's good to make your own baby food just from whatever you eat yourselves (mashing, blending it) complete with garlic, olive oil, mustards, spices and herbs so they are completely used to the flavours your family eats. Baby food bought in shops has none of these flavors and is deliberately bland. Once the baby is a adept with eating make sure you have plenty of textures, such as flower buds of broccoli, slimy sauteed mushrooms..

Most westerners have trouble with viscous textures because we don't experience it, but it is prized in some asian dishes.

[J. Allen]

Let's see...

Disliked then, Love now:
Avocados
Broccoli
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes
Onions
Beets

Dislike then, Still Dislike:
Mushrooms
Cauliflower
Cantaloupe

Loved then, Dislike now:
Wax Beans
Pickle Loaf
Fish
Milk
Meat in general (though I still eat it when I have to)

[lurok]

Are pickled onions popular outside UK?

[J. Allen]

jinglebellrok wrote:

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Are pickled onions popular outside UK?

They're widely available here in Ohio, so I would assume they're likely available everywhere. I love them. Then again, I also love pickled beets.