Julia Altshuler wrote:
>
> My mother tells the story of learning to drink coffee during the
> Depression. You could sit in a warm restaurant, order one cup of
> coffee, and have them keep refilling it for as long as you liked. Mom
> hated coffee, but liked milk. She discovered that she could order her
> coffee with only a quarter cup of coffee and the rest milk. In time,
> she was drinking it black and loving every sip.
>
> I never felt compelled to drink coffee and don't like it to this day.

I like coffee. I don't see any point in putting milk and sugar in it.


> (If I'm feeling really comfortable, I'll ask for a tall glass of skim
> milk at the end of a meal in a fancy restaurant.) The same goes for
> olives and caviar.

I did not like olives for a long time. It is probably more accurate to
stay that I would not try them for a long time. Then one hot summer day I
had a case of the munchies and a nice cold drink and there was a bowl of
olives sitting in front of me, so I tried one. Not bad, and they were from
a jar. I was advised to get fresh <?> olives from the delicatessen. They
are now a regular item for me. I love them. I am still not crazy about
canned or bottled olives, especially canned black olives.


> I learned to like calamari on a date so we can call that one peer pressure.


My son acquired a taste for calamari on a sort of peer pressure. I had it
in a restaurant and he asked to try one just so that he could tell his
friends he had eaten something really disgusting. He ended up getting an
order of it for himself and now eats it regularly.


> Peer pressure also for scotch and other hard liquors. I don't handle
> alcohol well. Even when something is reportedly smoothe, I don't like
> the taste. There are times, however, when I'm in a bar (usually
> listening to jazz) and want to order a drink. In that case, I order
> scotch or cognac neat, and sip on one drink all night.

I could save a lot of money if I could learn to nurse a drink for a few
hours.

> I never hated wine, but I did learn to love it by doggedly staying with it.
>
> And I learned to appreciate arugula and mustard greens by dousing them
> in vinegary dressing.


There is an age factor in taste. Children go through a stage where they
like bitter and sour tastes. Toddlers seem to like to chew on pickles and
really enjoy beer. Then their tastes change and they avoid those tastes.
Later on they re-acquire a taste for those things.