Changing Tastes the other way--loving food you once hated

[Jenise]

What foods have you learned to love lately?

I had a food epiphany last weekend: we were out to dinner with friends, and one of them ordered the evening's pasta special which was sauteed chicken livers and wild mushrooms. I thought euw! Now, I like pates, but pate is a cold food flavored by ingredients and diluted by the neutral presence of crackers or bread. It is hot, fresh liver I neither like the taste nor the idea of, although foie gras is an exception. I've certainly never met a chicken liver I liked. So when we passed our plates last weekend so that we could all taste each other's foods, it was with some trepidation that I put a tiny piece of chicken liver in my mouth.

And it was total amazement that I found the taste, and the texture which has always been another problem, entirely pleasant. Desirable, even. And when Jim, delighted with his triumph, gave me a whole piece of liver to have to myself as his dish was generously studded, I ate it this food that I have regarded with dread and disgust all my life (I can assure you that I've eaten many a rumaki for the sake of politeness) with something like rapture.

So what went right here? Tell me, you liver lovers, what's the secret to good chicken livers? Did they change or did I? Are there good and bad? Is there choice and prime? Must they come from a farm and not a supermarket? Are they like fish, mild the day they're caught but stronger on subsequent days? Do you soak them in milk first to 'tame' them? What makes good chicken liver?

Couldn’t say….I don’t like liver or any other kind of organ meat for that matter. So I’m just a curious as you are what some may come up with.

I did catch an episode of Guy Fieri’s (Food Network) new show where he visits little out of the way diners and such. He stopped at a place that ONLY served fried chicken livers. Since he said he hated those things himself…I figured that I might be missing something since he couldn’t shut up about the ones he had there. Apparently the owners pre or par boiled the livers before battering and frying.

So..maybe I have been missing something also?

Richard

What foods have you learned to love lately?

I had a food epiphany last weekend: we were out to dinner with friends, and one of them ordered the evening's pasta special which was sauteed chicken livers and wild mushrooms. I thought euw! Now, I like pates, but pate is a cold food flavored by ingredients and diluted by the neutral presence of crackers or bread. It is hot, fresh liver I neither like the taste nor the idea of, although foie gras is an exception. I've certainly never met a chicken liver I liked. So when we passed our plates last weekend so that we could all taste each other's foods, it was with some trepidation that I put a tiny piece of chicken liver in my mouth.

And it was total amazement that I found the taste, and the texture which has always been another problem, entirely pleasant. Desirable, even. And when Jim, delighted with his triumph, gave me a whole piece of liver to have to myself as his dish was generously studded, I ate it this food that I have regarded with dread and disgust all my life (I can assure you that I've eaten many a rumaki for the sake of politeness) with something like rapture.

So what went right here? Tell me, you liver lovers, what's the secret to good chicken livers? Did they change or did I? Are there good and bad? Is there choice and prime? Must they come from a farm and not a supermarket? Are they like fish, mild the day they're caught but stronger on subsequent days? Do you soak them in milk first to 'tame' them? What makes good chicken liver?

I love chicken livers, I love veal liver, can eat beef liver, can't abide pork liver. In my opinion what ruins liver of any source is overcooking. With chicken liver(s) I do think that a well peppered milk gravy is necessary to put the icing on the cake. I love liver, and I bet it's been more than 20 years since I had liver at my table. Very occasionally I will order it in a restaurant, but it is usually overcooked. Bear in mind that perfectly cooked liver is DONE, just not cooked to a point where it has any crisp to it. With beef and veal liver (there is a difference) onions should be cooked right along with the liver. YUM! I forgot to say that I am currently suffering my first ever bout of gout, so I guess that liver of any sort will be nothing more than a distant memory.

I'm definitely a liver liker... not "lover"... but liker for sure. The cliche calves liver with sauteed onions and mashed potatoes with a pat of butter, maybe with some lima beans could be a dinner suggestion from me anytime.

And I like chicken livers, especially pate. And I like, but have not made, chicken liver appetizers wrapped in bacon. Haven't had it, but I think the chicken livers and pasta dish would be great.

To your question, I really love eggs over easy (sunny side up?). As a kid I could not tolerate "fried eggs" to the point of gagging. I went so far as to sneak them off of my plate and hide them in the drawer of our formica-ish and chrome kitchen table until I could retrieve and pitch them. It probably had a lot to do with the hard, brown over-doneness around the edges.

Now, I love eggs pretty much any way - as long as they're not overdone. Jenise, your "froaching" method is one of the best ever. I also love Robin's method of very low heat in a pool of butter (what's not to like?). I generally cook them through by putting an aluminum foil "lid" on the skillet.

I love, love, love chicken and calf livers, can't recall ever trying pig liver. I made the mistake recently of trying lamb's kidneys, thinking that they would be similar. I never try and cook offal, guess I should. But then I'd eat them more often, and I'm not sure I want to do that. For me, they're a french restaurant treat...

Greens. Collards, chard, mustard, etc. Wasn't much for them years ago. Now I can't get enough.

I've always liked chicken livers.

Beets. Wouldn't touch the durned things... till I turned 40. Then, suddenly, I noticed that they're sweet and earthy and crunchy and sometimes a bit pickled and....

Pickled okra. Never knew why my relatives liked it so much, until I found out a few years ago that it is pretty darned good.

Livers are still on the banished list. Pate made it off the list about 28 years ago. We lived in Chicago, went to dinner at The Bakery, a fixed-price, limited menu restaurant owned and operated by Chef Louis Szathmary. Every dinner included pate. I loved it!!! Now, its illegal to sell pate in Chicago!

Believe it or not, lamb was on the list at one time. Never had it growing up. Cindy and I bought some in Chicago when we were first married. Can't remember how we cooked it, but the taste was awful. Took me about 20 years to try it again and then only because it was part of a mixed grill I was having at a restaurant. I liked it and eventually got Cindy back on board too!

When I was a kid, would not eat fried eggs. Scrambled or omelet only. That changed long ago.

Also as a kid, we had stuffed green peppers regularly, my dad loved them. I did not, the cooked pepper was too bitter for me. So I just ate the stuffing. Later on I came to like them. Unfortunately, Cindy does not so I rarely see them.

When I was growing up I detested fish and seafood (exceptions - canned tuna and fish sticks). That all changed when I was in my early 20s. The exception being scallops, which I am allergic to.

Sweet potatos. As a kid, I hated them, but looking back, it was probably because I only encountered canned, and even worse, with marshmallows. Once I had a fresh-baked one, there was no turning back. Hmm, time to go to the store and buy some!

Also - asparagus. Hated it for years, now I eat it all the time.

Mushrooms. It was a mouth feel thing.

Then I went to college where they were locally grown, and therefore inexpensive, and the dining hall put them in everything. They were impossible to avoid, and I grew to like them after a while. Now I regularly have several varieties on hand.

Brussels sprouts. I used to loathe them. In my opinion, they took all of the obnoxious characteristics of a whole head of cabbage and concentrated them into something just large enough that you must bite into it at least once before swallowing it.

Then I found out that if you don't overcook them, they don't smell bad, the revolting texture is gone, and they're really quite pleasant.

I still don't ever cook them myself, but they're not an automatic "no" anymore if they appear on a menu.

-Paul W.

Couldn’t say….I don’t like liver or any other kind of organ meat for that matter. So I’m just a curious as you are what some may come up with.

I did catch an episode of Guy Fieri’s (Food Network) new show where he visits little out of the way diners and such. He stopped at a place that ONLY served fried chicken livers. Since he said he hated those things himself…I figured that I might be missing something since he couldn’t shut up about the ones he had there. Apparently the owners pre or par boiled the livers before battering and frying.

So..maybe I have been missing something also?

Richard

Richard, wasn't that gizzards? Unless I missed one that was all livers, but the prep you described was the same. It's up here by me, SW of Lansing, MI, and it's high on my list of places to go in the not too distant future.

For me I think it's curry. I couldn't ever get past the smell when it was cooking. But an introduction to really good curry (read: not McCormick "Curry" Powder) mixes has really changed my thinking. I've been finding myself craving the stuff lately.

[Jenise]

Beets. Wouldn't touch the durned things... till I turned 40. Then, suddenly, I noticed that they're sweet and earthy and crunchy and sometimes a bit pickled and....

Ditto. I was well into adulthood before I discovered fresh beets--as a child, they were always canned, and had the most annoying way of showing up julienned atop restaurant salads sending sweet and ugly magenta stains onto the precious lettuce below--blech!

Just about every veggie. And it's not about all those slaps on my forehead!

Sauerkraut - When I was a kid it was served probably three days per week in school. I can still smell it stewing all morning long before they served it to us at lunch. It was gag inducing, but in those days we had to clean our plates. Now I love it. If given the choice between a grilled beer brat with plenty of sauerkraut or a lobster tail, I would take the brat 'n kraut in a second.

Duck - Hated duck as a kid but I think that was because it was wild duck that ate and drank out of swamps. The new farm raised duckies that have never seen a swamp are excellent.

Any type of "Chinese" food - We didn't have any "Chinese" restaurants in town and what I thought was Chinese was what my Mother would make. It was worse than a La Choy bi-pack dinner. It was not until I was in college that I tried authentic Asian and it was love at first bite. Now my parents do an impressive job of recreating dishes from Slanted Door. Better late than never, I guess.

Others would be sweetbreads, oysters and escargot.

Others would be sweetbreads, oysters and escargot.

Still don't like those.

Bloody Marys. Yeh, I know it's not a food--although, I'd be willing to bet there's a vegetable serving in there--but I use to hate them. Couldn't even look at tomato juice. Every time I served one I would think, "How fun this looks! I wish I liked them!"

Then, one day I had one at Boon Fly cafe in Carneros. Been hooked every since. So bad it's part of lunch around here on the weekends.

Bloody Marys. Yeh, I know it's not a food--although, I'd be willing to bet there's a vegetable serving in there--but I use to hate them. Couldn't even look at tomato juice. Every time I served one I would think, "How fun this looks! I wish I liked them!"

Then, one day I had one at Boon Fly cafe in Carneros. Been hooked every since. So bad it's part of lunch around here on the weekends.

Even better with V-8 (and look at all the vegetables!).

Well if we're including alcoholic beverages, for me its gin and tonic. Really could not get past the smell when I was younger so I drank vodka and tonic. Somewhere along the way, that changed. Now, on a hot summer day or after golf or when at the beach in Hilton Head, gotta have a G&T.

Bloody Marys. Yeh, I know it's not a food--

What do you mean "not a food"? Check out the Bloodies at the place where we go...

Bloody Marys. Yeh, I know it's not a food--

What do you mean "not a food"? Check out the Bloodies at the place where we go...

Impressive!!!! To quote Will Smith, "I gotta get me one of these!"

Livers are still on the banished list.

Apropos this, and the Mason Williams discussion in the "Friends and Fun" forum, is this poem by Mason Williams.

THEM HOG LIVER LIKERS

How about Them Hog Liver Likers, ain't they funny guys?
Eatin' hog liver soup, eatin' hog liver pies.
Eatin' them cooked, eatin' them raw,
Eatin' them hog livers suits they craw.

Look at Them Hog Liver Likers, ain't they a disgrace?
Hog liver juice all over they face.
Them
pig lickin',
high-falootin',
big hunka french fried Hog Liver Likers,
Ain't they a sight?
Serve 'em up a hog liver, 's gonna get liked.

How to be a Hog Liver Liker? Don't try to psyche it.
Eat yerself a hog liver, see if you like it!


-Paul W.