I do fine if i order my own plate at a vegan place, but when someone is putting in a group order and trying to accommodate the vegetarians, they often dis-accommodate me.
Actually, you’re right. They do have totally different flavors, and ripe olives taste nothing like green olives.
The ability to taste PTC is carried on a dominant gene. (I am a nontaster.) I’ve heard that people who are homozygous for the PTC taster gene, meaning they got it from both parents, REALLY get a walloping nasty taste from it.
PTC is a nontoxic chemical, at least at the sample amount that at some point, scientists figured out that some people could (not) taste, and why.
I saw a story one time about a woman who had the most feared of pregnancy complications, hyperemesis gravidarum, and at some point figured out that she could eat canned carrots. Her husband was buying a #10 can of them every day, and she turned orange from all that beta-carotene, and her doctors all said, “If it’s edible, and you can keep it down, stuff yourself with it!” (Until it didn’t any more.)
Over the years, I’ve heard of everything from ginger snaps, to lemonade and Pringles, to (are you ready for this?) those cheapo microwaved burritos, used as pregnancy nausea relief. Whatever works!
Basically every vegetable that isn’t a botanical fruit is bitter, and some of the fruits are, too. That this is obvious to me and that you dispute it is probably due to a biological difference in our taste receptors.
There is a guy, Jerry Rosa on YouTube with a guitar channel, that has the gene for Supertasters.
It’s a curse. He tastes bitterness in all vegetables. He had a “finish your plate” father that made him eat.
I’m not sure what he eats besides meats. I’m sure he’s found a few other foods he likes.
He appears healthy and an older man now.
I haven’t been tested, but I’m pretty sure i am also a Supertaster, as I match all the symptoms.
What are people that prefer bitter or sour called?
I prefer dark chocolate, lemon pie, almonds. I like the tannin in tea up to a point. Some English teas need cream.
Pineapple, oranges and Grapefruits are delicious.
Anything a little tart.
I developed sensitive teeth in my twenties by using too much real lemon juice in my ice tea. Two years of Sensodyne toothpaste corrected the problem. I reluctantly gave up lemon juice in my ice tea.
I recently started drinking lemonade and cranberry juice occasionally. My urologist recommended it to avoid kidney stones.
There are super, sour, hard candy. I don’t like, but that’s not a natural food.
I don’t notice bitterness in vegetables. I’m thankful for it.
Asparagus and artichoke are exceptions in my case. You?
I’m sure there is. But I do not think that your perception is the majority one.
It is also true that individuals can share the perception but differ on whether or not that is something good or bad. I taste bitter … but like @aceplace57 I like the taste, and tart/sour flavors as well. Sweet is okay but not too much. Some vegetables are bitter - some bitter greens for example - and I love them. Especially with a little sweet and sour and a little olive oil. Some are on the sweet side - carrots, and beets for example - and they’re good too. Some neither sweet or bitter - like peas. Also fine.
Weirdly, I just watched this video from Joe Hanson about flavours that has an answer to this. They are average-tasters and non-tasters.
I’m not watching a video - they are saying that those of us who enjoy bitter and sour are called average-tasters and non-tasters?
If so -
That may be actually what is going on for some who enjoy foods that “super tasters” (of bitter) dislike - because we are not hypersensitive to bitter compounds we can appreciate the other flavors and textures of foods they won’t eat, and a milder bitter edge just adds complexity …
But again among those of us who taste bitter (and sour) the average amount some of us enjoy the experience and some do not.
As somebody who loves bitter, if it’s mostly genetic, it’s not for me. My affection for bitter only occured over repeated exposure to the flavor. Kind of like hot peppers and Scoville. I remember when Tabasco tasted extremely hot to me. Now, it just tastes like flavored vinegar. Similarly, my parents used to drink a wormwood tea that was absolutely, disgustingly atrocious. But, over time, I grew to enjoy the extreme bitter flavor. Cilantro? Soap at first. Not much anymore, though there still is a hint of it. Peaty scotch? Yuck, then yum. Same with gin. It ended up becoming my favorite alcoholic drink, along with Islay malts. Or maybe all my flavor senses have simply dulled over time. I don’t know. (But when I cook for people, I seem to get the flavorings right, so I can’t be too far off.)
I love spicy food too but it doesn’t agree with me anymore. So many people (not you) take ridiculous pride in how spicy they can tolerate and the rest of us are wimps. I just don’t want to spend the next five hours in the bathroom.
I’m getting close to that age, I can feel it. I had a Dave’s Hot Chicken Carolina reaper a month or two ago and I woke up with my stomach absolutely on fire — not a usual reaction for me. But normal hot like habanero is still fine for the time being.
I never liked jalapeños (too bitter haha) but I loved habaneros. I miss them.
Both UK Marmite and Vegemite pale in comparison to Sanitarium Marmite, in NZ. Fully black, and a stronger flavour than either of those. Shortages during the Covid lockdowns almost caused the collapse of the social fabric.
The red jalapenos were good if you didn’t enjoy the bitterness. They’re pretty regularly availble around me (I’d say half the year they have them on the shelves–but I understand they’re not uniquitous eleswhere. I make a type of chili paste out of them, most often). Don’t have the tropical taste of habaneros, but they also don’t have that chlorophyll bitterness. Think green bell vs red bell, but with heat.
I’ve been meaning to get a hold of the NZ stuff. On my tierlist, Vegemite >> Marmite, but I’ve never had the NZ stuff.
Exactly. I can’t stand green bells. I like red and yellow ones.