Aquired Tastes

Back when I was a youngling, I'd try some sort of food or drink that I found terrible. An individual who enjoyed it would tell me, "It's an acquired taste." I always wondered how that comes about. Or, with items that may not be particularly good for you, why would anyone want to?

Yet, if you think about it we all have our 'acquired taste'. We all grew up with those foods and/or delectables that others did not grow up with. I was recently reading an article that featured a list of American foods that other countries find disgusting. One of the foods on that list was biscuits and gravy. How can anyone not like biscuits and gravy? Come on, it’s one of the most heavenly breakfast foods. Where I work, the boys often ask, "What's for breakfast?" Nearly every day, I tell them, "Biscuits and gravy." Plus, I often joke that the reason I moved to overnights was so I could get their biscuits and gravy. Perhaps it is an acquired taste, and if only I hadn't to bear the burden of loving them so...

But, why are the unhealthy tastes easier to acquire? There have been periods--few and far between--where I've gotten myself to hunker down and eat healthy foods, but I've never done so to the point where I'd be like, "Oh, I gotta get me my broccoli fix." Yes, I enjoy broccoli, but I have never obsessively craved it. And, that Big Mac (though I have not had one in years) conjures deep yearnings, as I write about it. True some can have eaten so healthy that by eating a Big Mac, they'd get sick.Yet, if those same people 'wanted' to acquire a taste for Big Macs, it wouldn't take them long.



Then there are those fancy, snooty tastes. Those that if you like it, your sophisticated, i.e. caviar, truffles, goose liver pâté, escargot, etc. They are foods that seem as if they'd be disgusting to eat, but they are supposed to taste distinguished. It's hard to know how many people actually like those foods (by like I mean have a mouth-watering lust for) or just like the idea of the foods. I am an adventurous eater. I'm willing to try nearly any food (although I don't think I could get myself to stomach balut eggs). I've tried caviar (not sure if it was good caviar) and it was ok. And, I've also tried escargot, and, yeah, that was really good... like mouth-watering good. I've yet to try truffles, but really want to, because I love mushrooms.

So, have I ever acquired a taste? As to say, has there ever been something I didn't really care for, but turned out to love? Yes. Coffee. Even into my early 20's, I never got why so many people liked coffee. I never thought it was worth acquiring a taste for, I mean it’s not good for you, right? Or, so I thought. There's still gobs of debate on that, but mostly it is bad when one adds a lot of cream and sugar. While in the Army, I went to the NCO academy. At this school, we had to endure several hours of boring classes. I like to drink something while I'm sitting (just ask my wife how many waters I go through while sitting at a restaurant). Water gets boring after long periods, and the cost of pop adds up. So, I started drinking coffee. It was something to do. Besides, there was a fellowship involved as the other soldiers and I sipped our coffees together. Coffee is an all around social drink.

At that point, coffee was ok. I could tolerate it. I didn't crave it. Then I discover a revolutionary new way to drink coffee: the iced mocha. I never really liked hot drinks, but when I discovered I could drink coffee cold, I was sold. Yet, I still needed lot of sugar, and milk. When I thought on it awhile, with as much sugar and milk as I add to it, I'd just as well drink pop... But, I had acquired a taste. If I were going to drink it as often as I wanted, I needed to get this drink healthier. So, I began to add less sugar and used almond milk. Eventually, I cut the sugar out altogether. Now, I have acquired a taste for a plain iced coffee with almond milk. Whenever I’m in the mood, I simply throw my coffee, almond milk, and ice into my mason jar, shake it up, and I'm ready to go.