Supertaster

D is definitely a supertaster, we did the blue dye test. We'd love to try the chemical strip one, but it's not really necessary.


One of the most persistent annoyances of our marriage has been a fundamental disconnect on food. When only cooking for two becomes cooking for one - twice as much. Our tastes have always been different, attempts to find common foods have been only somewhat successful, and have not always stuck. Eating healthy, a habit I need to maintain, is a constant struggle. That I never really learned to cook fresh food makes it all worse.

Oh, I've learned how not to ruin good ingredients, and I can do a good meal on occasion. D likewise. I've grown accustomed to hotter spices - preferring actually. Throwing out my mother's Canadian standard - Irish cuisine - cooking - heavy on desserts-baked, was simple. Replacing it with better was hard. When the women at work marvel at people who don't know how to cook a roast or squash, I have to put up my hand and inform them I am one of those. Never cooked a chop, nor made potato salad neither.

I grew up on hamburgers, hot dogs, fried or baked chicken(coated in crushed corn flakes and Lowry Season Salt,) potatoes in all forms - mashed, baked and fried. Canned corn, occasional iceberg lettuce salad. White bread and margarine, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, cinnamon sugar toast, french toast, grilled cheese. Salmon patties, tuna, frozen perch fried, fish sticks, on Fridays. Roast beef, meat pie, always dry and tasteless, saved only by lots of ketchup. Jiffy mix pizza, baked spaghetti, spaghetti-os, rice-a-roni. Canned tomato soup, canned chicken soup. Vanilla wafers. Sliced american cheese.

If I listed all the baked desserts, it would more than double this list, easily.

So, on my own, I made a lot of quick breads, because I could. I learned to steam vegetables - usually frozen. Lived on eggs and ramen and steamed veggies. Once I started going to restaurants, I learned to add lemon, parsley, spices other than salt and pepper.

With D, I got used to onions and tomatoes and chili peppers as a normal. Eventually had to reduce the onions and completely avoid the (evil) garlic - as I react badly to alliums. Still steam frozen peas and green beans, but prefer when I can get them fresh. Recently finding it easier to get salad greens. A lot of Tex-Mex style - bell peppers (red, green and yellow) stir fried with chicken or steak, tortillas, jalapeños and pepperoncini, all sorts of cheeses (that aren't american slices), rice - basmati mixed with brown and short grain. Whatever we can find, and put together, a lot of Asian styled stuff, always with whatever we can throw in together. We still order different dishes at restaurants, we have to adjust what we cook, but we've found a middle ground. Most of the time. Some days, we still just make our own meals.

Still learning, still adding variety.