I Do Not Like Cheese When I Was Young, Here’s Why
When I was a kid, I do not like cheese at all. Although now, I consume them. However, it rarely happens. I can literally count on my fingers how many times I consume cheese in like three months. But back then, I absolutely avoid it or dishes that contain it all of the time.
Cheese, as we all know, is a kind of food that can be eaten on its own or can be seen in many different famous dishes. It can be seen in pizzas, baked mac, cheesecakes, etc. which are a common staple food for many individuals.
Cheese is also an ingredient used in many different cooking cuisines. While it is pretty rare to find people who hate it in its entirety, some people may have just disliked it because of a few reasons I am about to share. Here are the two reasons why I hate cheese when I was young.
Strong Smell
I do not know about you, but the first time I encountered cheese, I already hate how strong it smells. Cheese is almost always a fermented dairy product. However, there are also cheeses that do not get fermentation. Regardless, most of them do. Fermentation means that they are usually aged to get their taste, smell, and features.
Food odor ranks highly on me. My family and friends always tell me to taste it when I was younger, but why would I taste something I find and smell disgusting? If something smells bad, then of course you will assume that it tastes bad as well. It is kind of like why you hate the smell of rotten food. It smells bad, although sometimes still edible, they are avoided because it is almost always seen to be bad for the body.
Did you know as well, that some cheese attracts mosquitoes? Apparently, because of the odor strength of some of it, mosquitoes find it identical to that of a human. Overall, that is how I view cheese from the sense of smell.
The Taste
Here we are. The moment when I gave in to social protocols and norms when people asked me to taste dishes with cheese. I tried a lot when I was young. It is my goal to get an idea of the reason why people like it so much. I tried some pizza since it intrigues me. Four cheese, pepperoni, all meat, etc., and in conclusion, I rounded my decision to two reasons. I love pizza, I think the meat and toppings taste really good but I did not enjoy it fully.
Honestly, the reason I still think why I barely eat pizza in a year when I was a kid is because of cheese. It tastes kind off odd or not to my liking. From there, I tasted more in cheeseburgers, lasagna, or packaged ones, and basically any common dishes that incorporate the ingredient. In the end, I keep on concluding the same reason.
Moving on, I consider myself just like many Filipinos to have a sweet tooth. There are a lot of desserts revolving around cheese as well. One of them is cheesecake. Maybe this is the time I might like it. After consuming it, I actually quite liked it. In fact, I find this was the first time I can tolerate cheese. Although it did not make me want cheese at all because it only passed the minimum of my tastes, it certainly is a start.
Cheese for Me Today
As I said earlier, I hated cheese when I was young. Now, I joined and accepted the social condition of cheese in our society. Although I found my acceptance of it because of the social pressure of trying it, mixed in was my curiosity.
Don’t get me wrong as well, to this day, I just find cheese tolerable because I consume more dishes that use it as an ingredient like pizza and lasagna. This also made me love pizza more because I can eat it more even though the heavenly snack contains the ingredient. However, I am still highly picky about it depending on how much cheese it contains.
I try eating a small portion of dishes besides pizza that uses cheese as an ingredient from time to time so that I would not lose my tolerance for it or build more of its taste in myself.
In conclusion, I still do not like eating cheese itself, but I am acquiring a taste for it.
Cheese is not for everyone. No matter how many people love it, it can be an acquired taste for some of us.
