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Food

I wouldn't consider myself a foodie by any stretch. I like food - I like good food, that is - and I have a fairly choosy palate (I'm a supertaster - or alternately this link here). So, when I got my mission call to Korea (lo, these many years ago!) I was worried. I mean, really, really worried. There are some things I just don't care for. Here's a short list:

1. Fresh tomatoes. I can eat salsa, ketchup, marinara sauce, etc. But there's something about the texture of tomatoes that I just can't stand.
2. Pickles. Too sour.
3. Eggs. And this one may be the worst - the eggy texture and flavor causes an immediate and very extreme reaction. Please, don't serve me eggs. This does not apply to things with eggs in them, like cookies or cakes or some breads, although quiche and crepes and french toast are out.
4. Fish. Just don't love it. I do enjoy fish and chips (battered and fried/baked fish is OK) on occasion, and some very mild fish is OK as well (tuna is good, and cod/whitefish is alright). But salmon is out, for example. It's not that it's a bad taste, it's just overwhelming... I'd say it's not dissimilar to when you walk through the cosmetics section of the department store and someone unexpectedly (and unpleasantly) sprays perfume in your face. The difference is, that smell eventually mellows out - with fish, you're smelling that for a while...
6. Other seafood. I do enjoy shrimp on occasion, and clam chowder is always good. And, interestingly, I do like squid (more on that later). But other stuff? No thank you.
7. Grapefruit. It's the most bitter, nasty stuff on the planet. I can't even handle a drop of the juice. Pass.
8. Cottage cheese. Gross. Just. Gross.

I'm sure there's more. :)

Anyway, so I read this article this morning about Korean food:

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/02/17/466577536/welcome-to-koreatown-a-cookbook-to-tempt-american-tastebuds

It was interesting. Some of the foods they talk about are things I'm familiar with - bibimbap is of course a staple, and soleungtang is one of my faves, especially with really good kimchi. I just can't eat doenjang chiggae - or doenjang in any form - the flavor is just too strong for me, and the smell will peel the paint off your car. I knew many people who just love it - including many foreigners - but I just can't have it.

And what's interesting to me is that I can eat it at all. I'm not an adventurous eater - I like to order the same things all the time, once I find something I like - but Korean food tends to be definitely outside of the normal realm of things you'd think someone like me would like. There's a lot of interesting and unusual combinations of things, with influences from other Asian cultures and cuisines. Turns out, I really like a lot of the foods from Asia - Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, etc. Who knew?!?

So, if you get a hankering for a bit of a culinary adventure, try some Korean. You might really like it!


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