I've always been puzzled by the different range of flavours that different people either like or can tolerate.

I can honestly say that I don't know a single* flavour in a (well cooked) food stuff or beverage that I actively dislike. That isn't to say that I enjoy a badly executed bit of cooking.

When I was young I wasn't keen on bitter flavours, but I understand this is due to the way the taste system develops with age.

I had to retrain my taste system to drink coffee though. I had always loved the smell of roasting coffee, but couldn't stand the taste. When I got to my teenage years it became clear that not drinking either tea or coffee was a major barrier to getting along in polite society

So I started drinking coffee with 4 spoons of sugar in it. I reduced the sugar down to nothing over a couple of weeks and at the end of it I liked coffee, without sugar.

I have friends and family member who have a seemingly unending list of foods that they don't like. More puzzling are the ones that also have a whole list of foods that they are convinced they won't like, despite the fact that they haven't (and often won't) tried them.

I've always wondered whether my taste system is somehow less sensitive than normal.


* until last year I didn't like tea. After spending a lot of time last year perfecting tea smoked duck breasts I decided to give tea another go. I now have at least one cup of Lapsang souchong most days.