Had a fairly bland-ish rotation of foods growing up…things started to expand in the 90’s when my mom became a bit more adventurous with her recipes. I would say that picking crabs with Old Bay as a kid, and eating at American Chinese restaurants are what set the stage for later. Tried sushi in college and became obsessed, that combined with needing to cook for myself and roommates and not wanting to make anything “pedestrian” is how I got really into cooking. Married a guy who likes really spicy food from all over the world, and here we are.

My kid is really picky, but she’ll eat crabs with Old Bay…so we’ll see.

I grew up in a smallish city in southwest MI. My mother never seasoned anything, veggies were from cans, salads were iceberg lettuce with bottled dressing, and the closest we got to cuisine from other countries was Ortega taco kits and the occasional lasagna.

I moved to Chicago at 19. I remember sitting in a lounge area my first semester of school in Chi, and seeing a girl eat a falafel sandwich. I had no idea what it was. I asked her, and she said "falafel?" as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I was embarrassed that I didn't know what it was and vowed to try it ASAP. I then began trying all the ethnic foods Chicago had to offer -- I'd never had Thai, never had Greek, never had Indian, etc. I love it all, and still do.

I grew up in the Northeast and our menu was pretty basic, plus I was a picky eater as a kid. It was a big deal when I started eating Taco Bell in high school. But I didn't really expand my palate until college and after, when I started eating more international and/or spicy cuisine. My H is Indian and for a long time I couldn't get into Indian food...fortunately I kept trying and now I love it. I didn't start eating falafel until about 15 years ago, and now I love Mediterranean food also. At this point in my life I'd probably prefer almost anything over the meat/potato/veg meals of my youth!

P.S. I will say I grew up in a fairly rural area where the only International food place was a Chinese place in town, so access was a contributing factor as well.

My husband grew up eating like that and is still a very picky eater. He does like spicy foods now, but is very limited in what kind of vegetables he will eat.

I grew up in a city in the Midwest. We were always allowed to choose whatever we wanted from any menu. One of my cousins would ALWAYS order something crazy and we’d all try it. I specifically remember a cousin ordering escargot. We all LOVED it.

My hometown area had a lot of shawarma, Chinese food places and a lot of Greek places. Not much Indian, Thai, or other cuisines.

The minute new food flood the market. We ate only when food was in front of us which was about 3 times a day. It was hardly enough for growing teenagers. Never said no to anything in front of me. Newer food came with my host family, but nothing spectacular. Oodles and noodles on regular day, Chinese on special occasions.
Food is food. Not tied to what I ate before.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically, when my older brother went off to college. He came home and was like "It looks like our local chinese place also has sushi- let's get some!" and my father was like "I had sushi once in the 80's in NYC with a Japanese client" and my mother was like "Raw fish will KILL us!" and I was like "Um, I hate tuna fish." Then at an aunt's house she was ordering in Chinese food from a different place than us and I didn't know what to eat and she said "Have lo mein; it's like spaghetti" so I did. I had dim sum for the first time in my late 20's and a bento box in my early 30's. Have tried (possibly americanized) Mexican food a few times in different variations over the decades and never liked it. Had a crepe for the first time in my mid 20's when I had a roommate from France who made them.

No shit, one time I was looking at the spices at Trader Joe's and another girl around my age walked up and confidently plucked a few spice jars from the shelf, I looked at her and thought "She seems cool; I'd be friends with her" and I bought three of the same spices she'd taken, and figured out how to cook with them. I'm 46 and my palate is still overall bland, but still expanding. My rosacea flares if I eat spicy food so I don't push that, but I would like to eat more flavorful food than I grew up with.

I have to ask - what were the three spices??

Basil, thyme, oregano.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grew up in the Midwest. I have always tried everything. We just didn’t have a lot of options in the 80s. As the options expanded, so did my consumption.

I haven't been back in 25 years - is iceberg lettuce still the only lettuce option?

No

Anonymous wrote:Basically, when my older brother went off to college. He came home and was like "It looks like our local chinese place also has sushi- let's get some!" and my father was like "I had sushi once in the 80's in NYC with a Japanese client" and my mother was like "Raw fish will KILL us!" and I was like "Um, I hate tuna fish." Then at an aunt's house she was ordering in Chinese food from a different place than us and I didn't know what to eat and she said "Have lo mein; it's like spaghetti" so I did. I had dim sum for the first time in my late 20's and a bento box in my early 30's. Have tried (possibly americanized) Mexican food a few times in different variations over the decades and never liked it. Had a crepe for the first time in my mid 20's when I had a roommate from France who made them.

No shit, one time I was looking at the spices at Trader Joe's and another girl around my age walked up and confidently plucked a few spice jars from the shelf, I looked at her and thought "She seems cool; I'd be friends with her" and I bought three of the same spices she'd taken, and figured out how to cook with them. I'm 46 and my palate is still overall bland, but still expanding. My rosacea flares if I eat spicy food so I don't push that, but I would like to eat more flavorful food than I grew up with.

I have to ask - what were the three spices??

Anonymous wrote:Grew up in the Midwest. I have always tried everything. We just didn’t have a lot of options in the 80s. As the options expanded, so did my consumption.

I haven't been back in 25 years - is iceberg lettuce still the only lettuce option?

Basically, when my older brother went off to college. He came home and was like "It looks like our local chinese place also has sushi- let's get some!" and my father was like "I had sushi once in the 80's in NYC with a Japanese client" and my mother was like "Raw fish will KILL us!" and I was like "Um, I hate tuna fish." Then at an aunt's house she was ordering in Chinese food from a different place than us and I didn't know what to eat and she said "Have lo mein; it's like spaghetti" so I did. I had dim sum for the first time in my late 20's and a bento box in my early 30's. Have tried (possibly americanized) Mexican food a few times in different variations over the decades and never liked it. Had a crepe for the first time in my mid 20's when I had a roommate from France who made them.

No shit, one time I was looking at the spices at Trader Joe's and another girl around my age walked up and confidently plucked a few spice jars from the shelf, I looked at her and thought "She seems cool; I'd be friends with her" and I bought three of the same spices she'd taken, and figured out how to cook with them. I'm 46 and my palate is still overall bland, but still expanding. My rosacea flares if I eat spicy food so I don't push that, but I would like to eat more flavorful food than I grew up with.

Grew up in the Midwest. I have always tried everything. We just didn’t have a lot of options in the 80s. As the options expanded, so did my consumption.

With each boyfriend, starting in college. I went from eating mainly chicken, pizza, and burgers to eating sushi, thai food, indian food, alligator, jellyfish, spicy food, and anything new I could try from about ages 18 to 24.

I grew up in an international household eating Asian and Western foods, but nothing spicy, because my mother wanted everything super bland. It's only when I met my husband that he introduced me to hot dishes. I am amazed to see my teens digging into spicy curries, etc, of the sort that I never had as a child. I had non-spicy versions. The authentic ones are best!

Having said that, young children have more sensitive tastebuds. I wouldn't expect little kids to like very spicy or bitter foods.

Spinoff to the threads about what people ate growing up and the Midwestern palate...

If you did grow up with a more bland meat and potatoes diet, but now eat more broadly, when did you expand?

I ate basic meat and a side (canned/frozen veggies/lettuce, potatoes) growing up, a lot of basic Italian (pasta and jarred sauce). The only main seasonings were garlic and italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Occasionally made tacos in those hard shells - basically ground beef and the seasoning packet.

I remember trying Chinese food for the first time at a friend's sleepover around 4th or 5th grade and not knowing what to order. Then loving it.

By late middle school and early highschool, had tried more Chinese and other types of Asian style takeout, but stir fry and those flavors weren't eaten much at home.

I tried Indian food for the first time in college and remember being so blown away by how delicious it was.

By my 20s, I wanted to try everything and cook anything.

I met my now DH in his mid-20s and he barely ate vegetables besides potatoes... generally was meat and potatoes/rice, maybe a salad, and would try different flavors, but focused on the meat. His parents never required him to eat the vegetables growing up (mine was the sit there and eat it kind). He now loves vegetables of all kinds and also will try just about anything now.

Just kind of curious, especially as I have young kids who eat a variety for a sufficient diet, but still prefer things served on the 'bland' side.