It’s no great revelation that our tastes change as we, uh… mature.
Think about the first wine you drank. Pink right? Or peach
or strawberry or whatever Boone’s Farm blend you could get your hand on.
White zinfandel, which is pink, is still popular with
novices. In fairness to white zin, it’s still popular with girls and gay guys,
too. No offense intended; I have girl friends and gay guy friends. I know what
they like.
My own wine experience started with sauterne, which is a
dessert wine. I recall drinking it over pizza with a girlfriend. It’s really
sweet and a terrible choice with pizza, but it’s where your taste buds are. Or
were.
These days, I prefer syrahs, zins (not white), and
cabernets: rich, hardy, almost heavy wines with lots of big tannins and a warm
alcohol feel.
Coffee is another good example of changing tastes. It’s
pretty common to start drinking it with lots of milk and sugar which, except
for it being hot, makes it more like a coffee milk shake. I’m a late-in-life
coffee drinker, but I only want it one way: black and strong.
Chocolate: I will eat creamy milk chocolate if you offer it,
but I would marry a Hershey’s Special Dark bar if the law allowed and it could say
“I do”.
Syrup: Aunt Jemima is for sissies. Give me a buttered
biscuit and some blackstrap molasses - or sorghum, and get out of my way!
Anchovies: Like most folks, I grew up thinking they were
yucky. Now, I routinely use anchovy paste in certain dishes. Sardines? Nothing
but big anchovies. Open a can and let’s eat.
Spices and herbs: more, more, more! Pepper, cumin, and
cilantro. Garlic could duke it out with dark chocolate for my deepest affections.
But you see the trend, yes?
Bigger, bolder, richer... words already used. Here’s another word that applies:
stinkier. I want my cheese to stink.
Bleu, gorgonzola… give me any cheese with mold in it. That seems odd to even
say.
But ‘stinky’ seems like a good place to stop and begin to address
the elephant in the room. And that is how all of this affects us. More
importantly, how it affects the people around us. Or we could just ignore
it.