Humans are fickle creatures, but it took real-life experiences for me to actually process it as a fact relevant to me. There have been a number of instances where I have been reminded of this rather negative characteristic, but I specifically want to address my discrepancies regarding tastes, and more specifically, sweet versus salty.
Probably my most interesting experiences with taste opinions were either totally random and unexplainable or related to cooking. I remember the days when I was just a little obsessed with making those three-ingredient microwave chocolate mug cakes. The first couple of times went pretty well since I followed instructions fairly closely. Since those were such a smashing success, I decided to either double or triple the amounts. That was most definitely a mistake. Despite having put in only half the sugar recommended by the recipe, it was just way too much sugar. To put this in perspective, think about eating one or two squares of a large chocolate bar versus the entire chocolate bar. Moderation is key, and sugar is an absolute killer when consumed in large quantities. I will confess that I came pretty close to throwing up.
Just in general though, going to parties is never a good idea for me. I love eating and as the previous paragraph illustrated, I have a problem with overindulgence. There have been many times where I totally regretted filling a plate full of sugary confections which ended up being disgustingly sweet. I was always on the receiving end of that “I-told-you-so” talk from my rather indignant mother. On the other hand, when I devour large portions of salty treats, I generally just end up ridiculously dehydrated. At any rate, I can handle it slightly better than too much sugar. On the flip side, there was a period of time when I suddenly had an unexpected distaste for foods I once loved. To this day, I can’t explain why that was. If my memory serves me right, chocolate (all but dark chocolate), bananas, Costco Aussie bites, and a couple of other sweet things were on the list.
For some reason, I was never able to decide between salty or sweet despite the implications that I had less tolerance for sweet things, so it wasn’t until recently that the fog cleared up. I believe that it had to do with three things: trying coffee with milk only, eating a good deal of sweets weekly after a long break, and some level of maturity. Coffee opened an almost new world to me – almost because I had previously developed a taste for chocolate dark to the point where it’s almost bitter. The first time I drank coffee with milk alone was only because I was too lazy to put sugar in it. I was a little afraid that it would be too bitter, but apparently, my fears were unfounded. As for uncontrolled sweet consumption alternated with salty for a few weeks in a row, I was able to put my maturity and basic logic to use. Looking at my past and present, I deduced that salty and bitter (specific only to chocolate and coffee for now) were definitely much better for my taste buds. Although it took me years to reach this fairly simple conclusion, I know that I never could have reached this conclusion without my own personal experience.
Photo credit: https://www.istockphoto.com/photos/lauri-patterson