I don't like that

There is a disturbing trend I notice that breaks my heart. It maybe comes from complacency, from environmental conditioning, from living too long in boneless skinless America. Its the idea that people are unwilling to try things based on their own prejudices. I have heard the following said by friends and co-workers over the past year:

I don't like pork.
I don't like fish.
I don't like peas.
I don't eat meat off the bone.
I only drink Riesling.
Squid? Eww!


I guess maybe it upsets me because it goes against my whole philosophy on eating. There is a whole world of good stuff out there, all you have to do is look around a litte. But people don't want to look. They want McDonald's and Sutter Home White Zin and chicken fried rice.

I'm not saying that I absolutely love everything I have ever tried. Cantaloupe gives me an instant gag reflex, and I have no idea why anyone would ever put orange and chocolate together, it just doesn't work for me. But that doesn't mean that I am going to write off a whole genre of food because I don't take to a particular item. And I still will try cantaloupe, I try it every year.

Whats worse is the people who are willing to disregard an entire food group due to one bad experience. We've all had a bad piece of fish somewhere down the road, that doesn't mean that all fish is disgusting, or tastes even remotely the same. I was always told mackerel wasn't any good. Then last fall, the group I was with hauled about 20 pounds of it out of the Gulf of Mexico, took it back to our resort, grilled it with lemon pepper, and ate until we could no longer move. Other people at the resort were stopping by to see what smelled so good. We shared with anyone who came calling. That so-called garbage fish is now one of my greatest food memories.

So people, please, throw your predispositions out the window. I promise you won't be disappointed.