Foods you hated as a kid but love now

[One for Sorrow]

I feel sure we must have had a thread like this at some point, but damned if I can find it.

I can't get enough of asparagus lately. I just had a huge bunch of it at dinner, and I'm quite sad that I've already eaten it all. I only discovered my love for asparagus in the last 5 years or so. I can't recall anyone trying to introduce me to it when I was a kid, but I'm sure I wouldn't have eaten it willingly.

Dessert is going to be a big bowlful of strawberries fresh-picked at a farm this afternoon, which I also (inexplicably) disliked as a kid.

So, how have your taste buds changed?

Edited to add: Damn it! This was my 666th post. I should have done something better with it.

[chunksmediocrites]

I didn't like avocados much, now I love them. I didn't like olives, but I think that was because they were shitty canned black olives; as an adult I love a good olive. My parents would give me honey and lemon in hot water to help with a sore throat and I thought it was gross and would gag. Now I make it in the winter to drink when I don't wan't tea.

[Anastasia Beaverhausen]

I hated avocado and onion. Love them both now.

[Crumb]

broccoli
onions
mushrooms

[Gonzo]

Spinach, mushrooms, pineapple.

Lots of things I can't even remember disliking. When I stopped eating meat I started eating anything that was different just for variety.

[One for Sorrow]

Oh yeah, spinach. That's a good one.

Gonzo, I did the same thing. I had never even tried Greek or Indian food before giving up meat, so that's one more reason I'm glad I did it.

[irukandji]

spinach, because it was slimy nasty crap out of a can...
now i could eat a bowl of it, fresh with nothing but grit
from the garden

green peppers, which i now love raw, cut in strips, or sauteed with onions

still cant do asparagus or oysters

[viscousmemories]

I eat a lot more spicy food now than I did when I was younger, but I guess that's common.

I hated sauerkraut as a child but I like it now. Not sure I'd go as far as love, but I have a strong affection for it.

[livius drusus]

Capers. I hated them as a kid and really only began to appreciate them in the past couple of years. Oh, also arugula and radicchio. Now I heart them utterly, especially together dressed in simple oil and vinegar with a big hunk of rustic whole wheat bread on the side (which I also hated as a kid).

[erimir]

I used to think that grits were nasty.

But when you have them from a good restaurant, they're very different from the ones you see at places like Waffle House and Golden Corral.

[One for Sorrow]

I've yet to try grits. Well, I did try one spoonful of already-cold hospital grits, but I very much doubt they were a good representation.

[Brimshack]

Tomatoes. Hated them. Now I am quite fond of them, especially with any kind of beef.

[erimir]

Originally Posted by One for Sorrow

I've yet to try grits. Well, I did try one spoonful of already-cold hospital grits, but I very much doubt they were a good representation.

You're living in the Triangle, right?

I know several places that have good grits in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill...

[Miisa]

Onions. I always liked broccoli and Brussels's sprouts, as they were special holiday treats at my parent's house. Reverse psychology or some shit.

The other way around: as a kid I used to love bananas and now I can barely be in the same room as one without gagging.

[Qingdai]

Olives and pickles.

[slimshady2357]

Olives, broccoli, green beans

Also, I tend to be able to tolerate onions more than before, but still cannot stand the taste of raw onions, so they have to be well cooked into something, like a sauce or curry.

[Pinecone]

Most of the stuff I disliked as a kid and like now turned out to be just bad cooking or was canned and nasty. Mummy was a master at burning and drying out to shoe leather any type of meat product. Really I don't think there was a meal she couldn't make unpalletable in one way or another! I remember when we got older my sister and I snuck a steak out of the freezer a couple of times and broiled it to perfection knowing if she got hold of it, it could have been sold as rawhide for Bowser.



Other stuff I still dislike - cucumbers, raw onions, bell peppers etc. Also there are things I liked as a kid that I don't like now. Like soft white grocery bread, hot dogs, all those HoHo, DingDong, Twinkie and Snowball things. I use to love Pepsi, OMG I bet I couldn't drink one swallow of that stuff now.

[Dingfod]

Tomatoes and jalapenos. I never had Mexican food until I was 16 except for the Old El Paso taco kit kind, now I love it. I never ate a pizza until I was 15 or 16 either, and a good percentage of my body weight could be attributed to pizza. But, other than those, there are a bunch of foods I tolerate now that I couldn't stomach when I was young, but I don't love them.

There are a shitload of things I liked as a kid that I think suck now, but that needs its own thread.

[Kael]

I hated onions, now I love them. Same with mustard. On a broader note, I seem to have developed an appreciation for flavors that I would describe more readily as 'interesting' than 'pleasant'. Chili-infused chocolate, for example.

[Dragar]

Parsnips. They used to be a hated enemy, disguising themselves as roast potatoes at Christmas dinner. But now I think they're yummy.

[Watser?]

Spinach, asparagus, cauliflower, chicory, olives, even lettuce.

Brussels sprouts I still hate.

[Qingdai]

Food hates you, too.

Amazon.com: Food Hates You, Too and Other Poems (9781423113911): Robert Weinstock: Books

[Shake]

Onions
Garlic

[Lauri D]

My only two "hated" foods as a kid were avocado and mustard (I guess not really a food but a condiment). I still don't like plain avocado but love spicy guacamole, and have about four types of mustard in the fridge at any given time.

Oooh! I forgot one! Crab. Due to a traumatic fresh crab experience as a kid, you'd have an easier time shooting me dead than getting me to eat a crab leg. *shudder* But crab cakes, yes! I LOVE a good crab cake.

[Gonzo]

When I was very young I would eat raw ramon with the dry seasoning poured onto the square of noodles.