Retired? No one told me!

Welcome to Friday Food Reviews where I will be covering a different food or product each week and looking at… what are they?  where do they grow, what can we substitute them for in a recipe, are they safe to eat, how to store them, how to use them, cook them, anything connected to that food. or product..all the why’s and the wherefores…it will, of course, be mainly my own opinion or a known fact…good or bad…there may even be a tried and tested recipe…or three…

This week it’s…the foods we hate…

This list is by no means exhaustive and is based on comments I have seen on my site or others so please feel free to add another and why…

Most of these I like/love and don’t understand why some don’t BUT it wouldn’t do for us all to be alike it would be most boring…I also think that what we didn’t like as a child as our tastebuds mature and develop our tastes change…

Beets…

I love beets pickled, warm from the oven, made into beetroot chutney or paired with orange in a smoothie…I love the earthy smell and taste of beets but some don’t…Here’s why…it’s not the soil that gives beets their earthy smell that some would liken to “dirt”… it’s the geosmin…Geosmin is an organic compound produced by the microbes in soil it is this which gives off the smell of earth after a rainstorm…I love that smell ..Human noses are very sensitive to geosmin and while I love it many don’t and turn their noses up at the smell.

Bologna…

This is one of the foods I would not let pass my lips and indeed it would not find its way into my shopping basket either…it is not the fact it is made from “parts of the animal’s body” which we may or may not normally eat but the fact it is also highly processed…

Cilantro…

Or coriander as it is also known as…I love it many do not and liken the taste to soap…It’s all in the genes!

Mushrooms…

I love shrooms and we are lucky that we have many different types of mushrooms to choose from…others for some reason do not like mushrooms…It is not like cilantro where it is in the genes or beets where your nose is sensitive to Geosmin its just a personal dislike…

Liver…

Cooked properly liver is not only healthy and full of nutrients but it is delicious…made into a pate with toast or crackers, liver and bacon with onions is a dish my mother served up every week. My mother used to use either pig’s liver or lambs’ liver and she always used to soak it in milk…soaking it in milk removes much of the gamey/bitter taste…I prefer to use chicken livers and I either cook them like my mother cooked liver with bacon and onions or I do a spicy liver with lime leaves and red curry paste with green beans which is delicious…

Apparently liver is one of Britain’s most hated foods…Do you like Liver?

Black Liquorice…

I love liquorice…my hubby likes Liquorice allsorts but doesn’t like the plain liquorice ones so I get to eat those…Because of the glycyrrhizin in liquorice, it should be eaten in moderation as it can lead to potentially serious health problems…Why do some people hate it..its in the genes just like Cilantro…

I used to love the liquorice sticks we used to get as a child..does anyone else remember these they were like little sticks of wood and also the tiny black liquorice imps.

Pickles…

In my kitchen, anything gets pickled fruit or vegetable we all love pickles…my favourite at the moment is red cabbage sauerkraut it is delicious…For some the phallic shape, their sour smell puts them of pickles plus the fact that some people can’t stand the crunch of a crisp pickled onion or wally as they are known in southern England, large gherkins pickled in vinegar are served as an accompaniment to fish and chips, and are sold from big jars on the counter at a fish and chip shop, along with pickled onions. In the Cockney dialect of London, this type of gherkin is called a “wally”…

Pineapple on Pizza…

I am not a great Pizza Eater but I do love the occasional slice and I also like pineapple on my Pizza…I have often seen debates about this and it appears that some do not think pineapple has a place on pizza…Which camp are you in?

Tomatoes…

Tomatoes I love them any which way they come raw or cooked my hubby has never ever liked tomatoes until a few years ago when he decided he would try Spaghetti Bolognese and ever since then he has eaten Spag bol or pizza anything with cooked tomatoes in he still doesn’t eat raw tomatoes which stems from childhood and lasted for a good 30 years of our marriage and now among other things he will eat tomato-based sauces…

Marzipan…

It’s that time of year when I can make a Simnel Cake which is an Easter cake topped with toasted marzipan…Again there is division in our household I love marzipan and hubby doesn’t and yet he eats almonds and it is apparently the almond smell that turns many people off marzipan…At Christmas, it is a tradition to make a fruit cake with marzipan and icing…Stollen is another popular cake with marzipan in the centre as are the lovely little marzipan fruits…Marzipan fruits are very popular on the continent as are almond/marzipan biscuits, especially in Italy.

Olives…

Olives are an acquired taste you either love them or hate them…as a child, I didn’t like them at all but as my taste buds matured I found a love for olives… Olives are quite high on the list of the most hated foods…on the continent, Olives are served before or in most meals it wouldn’t be a meal without Olives…

Blue Cheese…

Blue Cheese also divides people some love it some do not…a Connoisseur of blue cheeses will tell you that a developed palate is needed to appreciate the nuances of a delicious, matured blue cheese…with a glass of good Port, there is no better ending to a meal…

To develop a palate for blue cheese it is better to start with a milder Danish Blue or Gorgonzola then advance to a medium Stilton before partaking in the pleasures of Roquefort…

That’s all for today there are of course many more foods that are divisive some are just down to individual taste or maybe the way they were cooked others are down to our genes or a natural substance in the food which our noses take a dislike to…

As always I look forward to your comments and look forward to hearing what food you really dislike and why…x