Adventures in Eating

I used to be a very picky eater. When I was a kid, I almost never would try new things. Broccoli? Nope. Brussels sprouts? Not a chance. The only vegetables I'd eat were peas and corn. If my mom made a salad, I would eat around anything that wasn't lettuce, carrots or croutons. Tomatoes and cucumbers didn't interest me. My default answer for food that looked gross to me was always "I don't like that." Did I ever try any of the food I professed not to like? No way. I probably thought that if I tried something and didn't like it, I'd drop dead or projectile vomit or something horrible like that.

Not to put too much emphasis on one particular event, but I've always suspected that a particular incident I had in day care when I was a kid contributed to my picky eating. I remember them serving us lunch one day and the vegetable was this really gross smelling cooked spinach. One of the ladies who worked at the day care basically forced me to eat the spinach even though I said I didn't like it and it smelled like death. I ended up throwing up a few minutes later. Needless to say, I'm still not a huge fan of cooked spinach.

"When you get older, you'll like food that you don't like now."

That was always my mom's response to me when I would say I didn't like something. I always thought, "How can that be? How can getting older make me like (insert any number of foods I thought were gross)." Well, imagine my surprise when I ended up expanding my horizons when it came to food as I got older. Suddenly, the idea of trying something new was exciting to me. (It must be said that a big reason I am a bit more adventurous these days is due to my lovely wife. She is very adventurous when it comes to food and is always pushing me to try new things.) I love broccoli now. I can handle Brussels sprouts. I'm still not much of a fan of tomatoes or cucumbers, but at least I'll try them now. And guess what? If I try something and don't like it, the sensation only lasts for a minute and there's usually a glass of wine to wash the taste away. So bring on the rabbit livers or goat cheese stuffed dates or chicken gizzards. I'll try anything once.