SC - Sweet and Savory

[Nicholas Sasso]

>>> <WyteRayven at aol.com> 9/13/00 10:36:03 AM >>>
This must be why I dont care for many period foods.( I keep trying! But I am now trying to focus on the things that I find that are not savory/sweet.) I just don't like sweet and savory together. The only thing I do like on the list is the bar b que.

I really dont think that its just a cultural thing. I havent liked my food 'mixing' since I was a baby. . . . . I think it is still a matter of individual tastes rather than just a cultural thing.....though I know that what you grew up and is what you are familiar  with does play a strong part in it. >>>>>>

Modern science suggests that food aversions are among the most enduring behaviors in humans.  We determine preferences against foods for some various reasons and do not test these aversions over time, we just don;t eat the foods.  Our palates and food pleasures change over time, but are not matched to the old avoided foods, so we never appreciate them.  To this day, I cannot eat mushrooms because (I firmly believe) they were an item of contention one evening when I refused to eat them at age 5.  Then there are the chemotherapy patients who develop aversions to foods eaten just before the treatments and impending nausia/malaise that follows.  Other creatures have this food aversion thing as a survival tactic.

It takes time and effort to change food aversions in people, but it can be done.  Making sure that it stays away from the realm of power struggle is one key.  Let the food and taste do the work and leave the choice totally to the persons in question.  Offer the opportunity and make no pretense to force or play "I told you so!".  You may be actually able to get folks to try new things if they do not lose face or pride in the process.  It often is a part of the underlying issue, at least for my sophomoric food aversions <g>.

niccolo difrancesco.