Quote:
Originally posted by Macheath
Saying "you can't even taste it" in regard to food is bizarre. Texture and "mouth-feel" is just as important as taste, sometimes even more important. If its cooked or steamed that you don't like then it really seems like a texture issue and your mothers claim about "taste" has nothing to do with anything.
And that's why I hate brussel sprouts...
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Although I love brussel sprouts, I agree with you 100 percent. That mom saying "you can't even taste it" about cooked zucchini is missing the point; you can _feel_ its slimy weirdness. My mother used to put kale in soup -- sure, it's got no taste, but it's slimy and gritty at the same time. Sure, it's our ancestral food -- our ancestors were _dirt poor_ and couldn't get anything better. Eggplant, the same way, unless it's fried and breaded within an inch of its life.
My mom could also take vegetables that had pretty good mouthfeel and boil them until they were soft and slimy. I remember once finding a full head of brocolli on my plate, and I cut straight through it with my butter knife, like it was JELLO. I choked down overcooked, slimy vegetables all my young life and thought I hated vegetables -- until I went away to college and found out that you could eat them raw, chopped, in dining commons salad bars. It was great, and I've been big on vegetables ever since. (It helped that raw veggies was about the only thing that that dining commons could make edible.)
Another one was bacon in the string beans. I could never understand why I liked string beans at other people's houses but hated them at home. Finally, I figured it out. It took years, but she finally dropped the bacon. I mean, it was easier to cook them without the bacon than with.... and my father didn't really care.