What foods or flavors did you HATE as a child that you absolutely LOVE now?

[BurtWorm]

Me: Raw tomatoes, mushrooms of any kind, beer, olives, liver, fish, raw onions and scallions and radishes

Of all the above, the most radical change for me is olives. I am NUTS about olives!

[flvegan]

1. Vegetables. Almost all of them.

My how things have changed.

[BurtWorm]

6. My daughter has been a vegetarian for about three or four years

and her repertoire of vegetables is rather limited. She won't even try mushrooms (which aren't actually even plants, of course), olives, beets, squashes, beans other than black and red... (I'm getting hungry all of a sudden). I try to tell her to expand the menu and just have to trust she will in time.

[flvegan]

8. I was 27 or so

when I initially went vegetarian (vegan followed very shortly after). I can remember telling my mother and her response was "but you don't like vegetables" Of course, she hadn't been cooking for me for the prior 10 years, so she didn't realize my palate had changed so much. I'm sure that in time, hers will as well.

[BurtWorm]

9. Maybe it was her cooking?

[flvegan]

10. LOL

Nah. If I hadn't gone away to college when I was 17, I'd be big as a house. When my brother comes down to visit her, I'll bet he gains 5 lbs.

[jp11]

19. +1

I didn't want anything to do with them, would rather have sugary sweets junk/etc, then around my early 20's my sugar lust decreased and I started to try and love vegetables, mmm....broccoli.

[SunnySong]

2. Coffee nt

[LNM]

3. bleu cheese

I could eat it every day.

[libnnc]

4. cheese...

coffee, mushrooms, olives, mayo, onions, asparagus, peanuts.

Had really boring tastes as a kid. I enjoy food way more now.

[myrna minx]

5. Green beans and well, I guess, all vegetables.

I had thought that green beans (as well as carrots etc) were mushy & anemic and existed only in the likes of Campbell's soup etc, only to discover fresh green beans as an adult. Yum!

[tk2kewl]

7. pretty much all of them

I only ate pasta with tomato sauce and no garlic, meats, potatoes and corn as a kid.

[LynneSin]

11. Garlic - wouldn't touch it as a kid

When we has Spaghetti or Lasgnana, my mom would make garlic bread out of old hamburger rolls. I insisted she make me the bread without the garlic.

Now I smother garlic on EVERYTHING.

[BurtWorm]

13. Maybe you should try that on watermelon.

(You knew I was going to say that.)

[LynneSin]

14. You seem a bit obsessed over watermelon

Do you smother it all over yourself before you master your domain?

[BurtWorm]

16. Hmmm.....

[pokerfan]

12. Brussels sprouts

The secret is not overcooking them.

[HipChick]

15. Potato's..rice..Pizza..mac and cheese..milk

I was so skinny as a child that I looked like I was mal nourished...on top of that I was a picky eater and drove my parents nuts..so they would try me with all kinds of fattening food...of course, I dont have that problem now..

[Mike 03]

17. Unfortunately, Cheese.

But my dad gave me an early love for nuts and protein powder, fortunately, which hopefully makes up for the tragedy (to my arteries) of liking cheese.

[BarbaRosa]

18. Corned beef,

now I'll take a Ruben sandwich anyday.

[Dr Morbius]

20. Onions. I converted about age nine. As I recall, it involved hot dogs. (nt)

[BurtWorm]

21. I can see that!

I think I had a sauerkraut conversion around a hotdog, myself.

[nuxvomica]

22. Cauliflower

I refused to eat it until my vegetarian period in my 20s. I had always thought it was foul smelling, gas producing and brainlike in appearance. I still think that but plain, cooked cauliflower is now one of my favorite foods.

[WinkyDink]

23. Cheese.

[Chan790]

24. Some:

Pickles, mayonnaise, pasta sauce, feta cheese, iced tea*, fruit, tofu, blue cheese of any variety.

*-this stems from southern relatives of mine giving me sweet tea repeatedly and calling it "iced tea". I still hate sweet tea...I would go so far as to say the only three capital crimes I believe in are espionage, treason and serving me sweet tea while calling it iced tea.

[Tabasco_Dave]

25. Fish

but has to be fresh.

[GoCubsGo]

49. Me, too.

The only fish I liked as a kid was tuna. Now, I love just about every kind, including anchovies. In fact, I eat far more fish than beef, pork and chicken put together.

[Duer 157099]

26. Yogurt. And I thought cheese was a condiment.

Cheese, to me as a kid, was a thin slice of American that came individually wrapped, and that was the absolute maximum that anybody should eat at any one time.

It was years before I put a whole chunk of regular cheese like cheddar or swiss into my mouth. Last week when I was at the store and I bought an 8 ounce block of extra sharp cheddar, I was lamenting how small it was and how quickly it would disappear. Two pound blocks are more the norm for me now.

[CBR]

27. Olives, steak and fish. nt

[mitchum]

28. Sweet potato

[bif]

29. Pretty much everything, especially seafood

I was a real picky eater as a child. I remember being in Florida at a seafood restaurant with my family. I wanted a hamburger. They waitress said they didn't serve meat. My dad tried to get me to order a fish sandwich. I was so stubborn I haqd french fries for dinner. Now I'll eat anything that won't eat me first.

[Old Troop]

30. Actually for me it's the opposite. As a child we were not well off so

we ate spam frequently. Mom would slice it thin (1 can made a meal for six people)and serve it with rice that she mixed with Campbell's soup concentrate. We loved it and it was filling. Many years later, out of nostalgia, I guess, I made that recipe and nearly puked!

[Kali]

31. bell peppers for flavor

I was terrible about textures (still am but not so bad as when I was a kid) much more than about flavors. Could not stand things like chopped cooked onion/celery in soups or casseroles - don't even think about putting mushrooms or olives in there! Still don't like olives or nuts in my food, although I love them plain and always have(mmmmolives!)

Still don't like food to get mixed on the plate - like when the peas get contaminated by gravy or sauce gets onto a roll (soggy bread freaks me out the most). I love separate little vegetable dishes like you get in cafeterias!

If you saw my fat ass you would never believe how picky of an eater I can be.

[tigereye]

32. spinach, olives, beer, fish

[Odin2005]

36. LOL, when I was a preschooler I was addicted to Popeye brand canned spinach!

I wanted Popeye muscles!

[tigereye]

45. that's so funny! i think a lot of guys were...

[pokerfan]

33. I never fully appreciated vanilla as a flavor until I became older

Vanilla always seemed to be the absence of flavor than a flavor in its own right. Now I prefer vanilla ice cream when I indulge and I have vanilla yogurt at least a couple of times a week.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

34. vanilla

[Odin2005]

35. Brussels sprouts. Sauerkraut.

I LOVE sauerkraut on burgers and hotdogs.

[ChoralScholar]

37. I hated steak....

because my parents bought a very low grade of meat, doused it in liquid smoke and proceeded to cook the holy fuck out of it. Charcoal is what I ate.

When I was in high school, on a band trip, my band director showed me that you can order steak that is still juicy and flavorful.

[wickerwoman]

38. Canned peaches...

really any canned/preserved fruit except for Maraschino cherries.

I went to a really cheap day care where they proceeded to put me off baked beans, canned fruit, pickles, yoghurt and frozen breaded fish or chicken fingers for life.

I do like canned peaches, cocktail onions and yoghurt now. I think the trick with the peaches was to wash the syrup off. The slimy texture was what was getting me.

I came around on mushrooms but am holding the line at olives and baked beans. Just the smell makes me nauseous.

I guess I'm a texture girl too. Slimy and mushy put me right off. Come to think of it, I *hated* bananas until I was well into my 20s.

[Roon]

39. roast

When I was told we were having roast for supper, I would say...."gross roast"

I love it now! lol

[Demoiselle]

40. Green peppers and liver.

My mother made us eat calves' liver regularly (it was GOOD for us!) Made me gag then, makes me gag now.

Another culinary torture was her stuffed green pepper. Baked, stuffed with "spanish rice", ie., rice mixed with tomato sauce, onions and MORE green peppers.
Gag then Gag now.

They were really the only things I ever hated. Still are.

[femmocrat]

41. Beets. Olives and spinach for me too.

Of course the only spinach I ever saw came from a can. Didn't eat raw spinach until much later.

There are more foods that I loved as a kid and can't stand now, though.

[Oceansaway]

42. liver....nt

[hippywife]

43. Mexican food.

Used to hate it and I never had Chinese food until I was about 18. Love them both.

Oh, and bleu cheese. Never had it until I was probably in my 30's but just the idea of it used to make me wonder why the heck would people eat THAT? Now I love, love, love it!

[MountainLaurel]

44. Spinach, broccoli, sauerkraut

Basically, a lot of the foods that school lunches ruined for me. I didn't know you could eat fresh spinach until I was in college.

[Auggie]

46. Onions and mushrooms

[applegrove]

47. Onions. Now I love them on anything. I especially love the smell of them cooking.

[Dr Morbius]

48. Oh, yeah. I'll put onions in damn near anything. (nt)

[ThomThom]

50. mushrooms