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Health & Fitness

I Like Awful Nasty Food!

Everybody's taste is different. A delicacy to one is another's worst food experience.

“Marianne, If you like nasty food this is the place to go.”

This was the response I got after posting a positive review of a restaurant somebody else had not liked so much. My first reaction was to laugh out loud thinking of the advertisement slogan this comment could produce: “If you can’t cook and think your food tastes bad—come and try our nasty food. Your home-cooked meals will seem great after eating ours,” or “If you want to stay on your diet, but still enjoy an evening out—come to our restaurant. We’ll serve you nasty food, guaranteed to keep your caloric intake low.”

You get the idea ...

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Then my thoughts turned a little more serious and I reflected that many restaurants should post a warning sign reading something like that: “Caution. Our food is nasty. Full of fat, sugar and empty calories. Often deep fried with lots of salt added. We protect you from the health benefit of fresh produce by giving you lots of high-calorie dressing to counteract any unintended advantages to your well-being.”

That train of thought just felt a little too morose and I consoled myself with the fact that lots of progress is being made here in Lemon Grove to improve the offerings at local .

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But still, I was intrigued by the comment which included some particulars of the food the reviewer had tried. It clearly indicated that the dislike was not a matter of the quality of the food served, but a matter of expecting something entirely different. Here is an example of what I mean. If you love curry, let's say Thai-style curry, and are looking forward to the meal, your saliva flowing in anticipation, your tongue almost tasting the first bite already, and—finally—that first bite hits your mouth, the flavors exploding—but what you got was Indian curry—you are going to be majorly disappointed. No doubt.

Yes, it is all a matter of taste, isn’t it? That made me realize that there is no doubt in my mind that I do like awful, nasty food! Not to my taste of course, but certainly to the mind of many. I publicly admit that once in a great while, I do enjoy a hamburger or even a steak. Just imagine what the thought of eating pieces of a cow must feel like to a Hindu—or a committed vegetarian/vegan for that matter. Likewise, the complete love for bacon and other pork products of many (which I don’t share), for sure is turning many a Jew’s or Muslim’s stomach.

On the other hand, there are many foods I will not eat—such as frog legs, snails, assorted caterpillars and worms—the list goes on and, for sure, includes monkey brains, a Chinese delicacy. I have tried frog legs and snails, under the guise of escargot, and decided I can live without it. Of course, if there were nothing else to eat, I would hunt down the neighborhood snails. Probably still pass on the monkey brain.

So, what it all boils down to is that taste is something we just can’t argue about. Everybody’s is different, but we can always work on expanding our horizon and even if we don’t like it, be aware that somebody else will love it.

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