September 14, 2016

"I’ve never eaten a strawberry in my life. I have no desire to do that... Absolutely not."

Said Tom Brady.

Never had any coffee either.

I never ate a strawberry until I was in my 20s. My sister had told me early on that strawberries were bad — strawberries and peaches and coconut. It's like she was my taster. If she'd suffered the pain and given me the word that these things were bad, I had the advantage of avoiding the pain. Never touched it. Still won't eat coconut.

54 comments:

Carter Wood said...

It's quite refreshing if you put the lime in the coconut and drink 'em bot' up.

Original Mike said...

I detest coconut.

rhhardin said...

Strawberry shortcake and coconut layer cake are favorites.

rhhardin said...

Mounds bars can get tiresome if you buy too many; Almond joy is an alternative for variety.

Fabi said...

Tommy boy doesn't plop freshly-whipped cream on Gisele's flat belly and then dip some strawberries? What a dumbass.

rhhardin said...

You'd think Althouse would enjoy the texture of coconut, now that she can't taste.

I don't understand not liking the taste because taste in taste varies. But with no taste, that's out.

D.D. Driver said...

But when are we going to learn to defend ourselves against a pointed stick?

Darrell said...

Did anyone else think that this is one of the most ridiculous things they have ever read?

Original Mike said...

"You'd think Althouse would enjoy the texture of coconut, now that she can't taste."

Coconut has the texture of wood.

MadisonMan said...

But has Tom Brady had an egg salad sandwich?

MadisonMan said...

I didn't realize Tom Brady was 39! Wow, that's old for a QB!

Brando said...

Good fresh strawberries are nice, and even better blended into a frozen daiquiri. Coconut is at its best in pina colada form.

Wilbur said...

I never had coffee (or tea) until I was in my mid-20's. Somebody gave me a cup before a law school Property class.

For the next 90 minutes I couldn't shut up, asking questions, answering questions. It was like I had taken an amphetamine, something with which I was familiar.

The wonders of caffeine.

clint said...

Interesting philosophical conundrum.

If you've never had a strawberry can you know that you don't love strawberries?

Is the love of strawberries something preexisting to be discovered, or is it something created during the experience of tasting your first strawberry?

Does the fact that your taste buds and mental states are perfectly attuned such that you *would* love strawberries if you ever tasted one mean that you *do* love strawberries (and just don't know it) or do you actually not love them?

rehajm said...

The guy is OBSESSED with stopping inflammation. Anything in the diet remotely connected to inflammation is out- tomatoes, sugar, white flour. Out! Thinks it will let him play forever. Many defensive linemen beg to differ.

Lucien said...

One of the pleasures of growing older is to enjoy things that one did not enjoy in one's youth. Tastes (and taste buds) change -- usually by expanding in breadth. It seems odd to avoid common foods that one has never tasted, just because one has never had them. Worse still to do so based on what a sibling said in childhood.

(On the other hand, I'm passing on that Sardinian cheese that has live maggots in it -- and probably on fermented mare's milk too (unless I'm trapped in Mongolia and really need a drink).)

traditionalguy said...

He is a food bigot. But that means there is more for normal people like me.

Titus said...

I have never had coffee.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Lucien said...unless I'm trapped in Mongolia and really need a drink

Trapped in Mongolia means you'd definitely "really need a drink," right?

I thought I hated coconut and avoided it until a few years ago--turns out I hated the dry shredded junk that's called coconut and used in baked goods, etc. The farmer's markets here have "fresh" coconuts, both green and brown, and their flesh and juice is tasty. Plus, you know, you get to crack 'em open with a machete, which is fun. They don't have a very powerful flavor, but they're subtle and refreshing--depending on the thickness of the meat it can be soft, chewy, or crunchy. I still hate dry shredded coconut, though.

Tobias said...

Strawberries, peaches and coconut are the trifecta of fruits that I hated and stayed away from when I was a child. When I grew into adulthood, I tried them again, loved them, and now they're some of my favorite fruits. I've learned my favorite favorites are ones that I used to hate — whether in music, landscapes, food, and fruit. It's the acquired tastes, the ones so subtle in appreciation, that contain a complexity so full of delight.

I hated mixed textures as a child — and peaches with their fuzz, strawberries with their seeds, and dried coconut were all foreign. A tip, if you do return to these, make sure they are fresh and in season.

Stephen Taylor said...

Coconut is handy. I have a yeast infection on my face, and nothing pharmaceutical seemed to help. I'm putting Lou Ann Coconut Oil on it every night , and it's fast vanishing. Good stuff.

richardsson said...

In my early childhood, we lived in what is now the Superior National Forest in Northern Minnesota. My Grandma took me wild berry picking in summers---blueberries and strawberries. Never had strawberries since quite as good since---sweet and tart at the same time. I began drinking coffee at 10; began drinking it black at 16. Coconut tastes like soap to me. Peaches tasted good to me when I was a child but in recent years they seem to go from green to rotten without getting ripe. For what it's worth.

mockturtle said...

Did T.S. Eliot not ask, "Do I dare to eat a peach?"

Wilbur said...

The Allman Brothers answered ol' T.S. in the affirmative.

Etienne said...

Having picked strawberry's in my youth, I can say I have eaten a lot of them.

It will be news to some people, that there are good strawberry's and bad strawberries. By bad I mean, tasteless.

When you get a good strawberry, you know it. It's delicious. It's so delicious you nearly pee your pants.

So the trick is to bite off half the strawberry, and if it is tasteless, spit it out and toss the remaining half. If you do this in the store, you can save money by not buying them.

Walmart is king of the shit strawberry's. Never seen a good strawberry at Walmart. We have a store here called "Sprouts" that sells quality vegetables and fruit. Alas, at a higher price.

eddie willers said...

I've never liked peaches...which makes me an anathema in Georgia.

Kyzer SoSay said...

I've never had coffee, except for a sip here and there. I don't like it. My wife does, and drinks her fair share. But she doesn't get to kiss me after until she's at least had a glass of water. Coffee is bad, but coffeemouth is worse.

Geoff Matthews said...

If you don't like peaches, you haven't had a ripe peach.
Don't buy them from the grocery store. Buy them from the farmer. If possible, pick them yourself. Ripe peaches don't keep long, and they don't ripen enough after being picked.

Brando said...

"He is a food bigot. But that means there is more for normal people like me."

That's how I feel about vegetarians--I'm glad for them, as they keep down the demand for steak.

Joe said...

Fresh strawberries are overrated. Strawberry Jam, on the other hand....

Titus said...

I also don't eat any red meat. Not because I am a food snob-I just am not into the taste much.

I love chicken and turkey and seafood...tits.

Gospace said...

One of my sons was 22 and visiting home with his wife as I cut up a Dragonfruit extolling it's taste and explaining what other fruits had a similar taste, having read them from the sign at Wegmans. As I gave a sample to everyone at the table, he suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, you're not having any." Followed by a pause, then, "You've never had any. All that time growing up the papaya, star fruit, kiwi, and other things. You never tried any of them, did you?"

No, I didn't. He had me dead to rights. I grew up not eating them, and find them odd tasting and don't really like them if I do taste them. But, just because I didn't ever have them doesn't mean they couldn't have them. All five of my kids eat a larger variety of foods then I do.

As far as peaches discussed above go, I've had fresh peaches that others have oohed and aahed about. I prefer canned cling peaches. Cling, not freestone. It's what I grew up with, what I'm used to. They even eat lamb, which I detest. No accounting for tastes.

Bob Ellison said...

I didn't like fish much as a youngster, because I grew up in a land-locked state, Arizona.

Some fresh foods, like strawberries, peaches, and especially fish, are fantastic when they're really fresh, and tend to be awful when they're not. Other foods, like raisins, nuts, and beef, can withstand the unfreshness. Some things, like coffee, can be good fresh or not, but then when you get them fresh for the first time, you go, whoa, that's way better than I thought it could be.

The best strawberries are the tiny ones you pick from the ground in the mountains in the western USA.

mockturtle said...

If you don't like peaches, you haven't had a ripe peach.
Don't buy them from the grocery store. Buy them from the farmer. If possible, pick them yourself. Ripe peaches don't keep long, and they don't ripen enough after being picked.


True! I've never had a decent peach from a supermarket. Ever. Buy them right from the orchard or nearby fruit stand or not at all.

Freeman Hunt said...

Coconut is delicious. Sort of like a fruit, sort of like a nut.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

mockturtle...True! I've never had a decent peach from a supermarket. Ever. Buy them right from the orchard or nearby fruit stand or not at all.

The same is true of tomatoes. Canned tomatoes are fine for sauces and what not, but if you're going to slice one up it should be a tomato you grew or bought from someone nearby. Grocery store tomatoes are just a waste.
Some of those lil' cherry tomatoes sometimes have some flavor...but usually it's just chewy mush.

Smilin' Jack said...

I never ate a strawberry until I was in my 20s. My sister had told me early on that strawberries were bad — strawberries and peaches and coconut.

Hee...did she short-sheet your bed too?

mockturtle said...

Hoodlum, I totally agree. Before I took up life on the road, I grew my own tomatoes. Now I don't bother with tomatoes, except in sauces. Supermarket produce leaves a lot to be desired.

Christy said...

I had a sip of coffee once.

During my 30s a switch flipped on in my brain, and suddenly I loved garlic.

Paul Snively said...

Dr. Althouse: Still won't eat coconut.

That's because coconut is disgusting.

Paul Snively said...

mockturtle: I've never had a decent peach from a supermarket. Ever. Buy them right from the orchard or nearby fruit stand or not at all.

I'll take "not at all," thank you. Blech. Blechblechblech.

Paul Snively said...

Bob Ellison: Some things, like coffee, can be good fresh or not, but then when you get them fresh for the first time, you go, whoa, that's way better than I thought it could be.

With coffee, also, as with so many things: you get what you pay for.

About a mile from my house is a purveyor of fine coffees. No, really. You can get anything from your $7.99/lbs. Costa Rican that may or may not be any better than what you can get from Trader Joe's to your full-on $50/lbs. Jamaican Blue Mountain. I haven't yet grown the stones to go home and say "By the way, honey, I just spent $50 for a pound of coffee," but I have bought one step down from that: Jamaican High Grown, at about $22-23/lbs.

Head and shoulders, far and away the best coffee I've ever drunk, and I have drunk coffee in all 48 contiguous United States. It's not even remotely close.

Still, it's back to Trader Joe's I go until I'm rich enough that $23/lbs. doesn't sound like stark insanity, let alone over twice that much.

Anonymous said...

You go Tom Brady. F**kin' strawberries.

Who needs coconut and strawberries and peaches?

Go the distance.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Coconut shrimp is for winners, not you folks.

I take mine with cocktail sauce, booze, and loose women.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I buy my tomatoes from King Soopers, on the damn vine.

Suits me splendidly fine, every single time.

Makes y'all appear a mere mime.

mockturtle said...

Guild, many stores sell tomatoes 'on the vine' and they look great but they have no more flavor than the insipid-looking ones.

YoungHegelian said...

@Titus,

I love chicken and turkey and seafood...tits.

Neither chicken nor turkey nor seafood have tits.

rcocean said...

I eat Strawberries in a coconut, through a straw, while wearing shorts on an airplane on my way to a long, faraway vacation spot.

And love every moment.

Anonymous said...

"I didn't realize Tom Brady was 39! Wow, that's old for a QB!"

He's got a ways to go to beat George Blanda, who was still quarterbacking at age 43 and was the kicker for the Oakland Raiders for 5 more years after that, finally retiring from pro ball at age 48.

MacMacConnell said...

I'll eat any food with the exception of rhubarb pie and lemon meringue pie.

urbane legend said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
urbane legend said...

Mac McConnell, lemon meringue, done well, is close to ambrosia. If you will eat oysters, which are, well, never mind, then you should find lemon pie heaven. You do need a sweet tooth. I have one which would kill five ordinary people people.

Geoff Matthews, I got a ripe peach in 1972. Here 44 years later, she has aged nicely, like brandy.

Harry Lime said...

I'll eat almost anything: rabbit, ostrich, guinea pig, stinky French cheeses, all kinds of fruit, octopus, raw oysters, you name it. The only thing I can't stand is Brussels sprouts, but not for lack of trying. Some people I know refuse to eat unfamiliar foods. There is an interesting evolutionary trade-off at work here. Non-adventurous eaters might be less likely to eat something bad and die of food poisoning but they could also be more likely to starve when food is scarce. I wonder if openness to new foods is related to where your ancestors came from and whether they were famine survivors.

wendybar said...

I love every kind of food...I HATE the texture of coconut on my teeth, but I love coconut milk! Same with nuts...I do not like the texture of them...but love creamy peanut butter! Weird, but true!!