Changing Tastes

When I was younger, the type of food I ate was, quite naturally, dictated by what was dished up. As with every other child at the time I was given two options every meal time,  take it or leave it! It still baffles me to see these families on TV who are cooking 5 different meals for 5 family members, all of whom seem to have a combination of allergies or particular foods they won’t eat, but I digress!

One thing I hated when I was younger was curry, but that was based on just one meal I had when I was a kid. It was too spicy for me at the time because we didn’t have spicy food at home or when we went out to eat on the odd occasion that happened. I absolutely love it now. Until I started cooking for myself or buying my own food in restaurants or pubs I never discovered any type of spice in my diet, but you have to remember that this was extremely common in British homes at the time. Macaroni Cheese came out of tins and Vesta Curry was the nearest thing to exoticism on the table!

Actually it’s generally been the other way. Our food included lots of things that I have never touched since. My Dad came from the East End of London and he left most of that childhood behind as he reinvented himself. One thing that remained constant was his regular meals with roast and vegetables every Sunday without fail unless we were away on Scouting weekends. Avoiding the Sunday roast which I had grown to dislike over the years was a big reason I looked forward to camping at the time! The other things that made semi-regular appearances on our plates was liver and onions 🤢 which I detested but ate, because the reaction to me wasting it was even worse than the meal itself. I also disliked sweet and savoury together in any form and I dragged myself through gammon and pineapple whenever it appeared. The combination of sweet and savoury is something I will always hate. As far as I and my taste buds are concerned they must always make up different parts of the meal. As I am in charge of cooking that has remained an unbreakable rule for over 40 years! No point trying to convince me that they can be complementary, because it’s never going to happen!