(photo: a piece of Italian Gorgonzola or blue cheese that I used with our basic salad dressing recipe)
Condition Yourself to Love the Foods You Hate
I’m always surprised when folks tell me they don’t like a particular food or ingredient such as cilantro, baby goat, rabbit, blue cheese or Gorgonzola, etc. When I ask folks why they don’t like a given food the answer always centers on flavor; specifically that it’s too strong. My response is you’re not always going to love a particular food or ingredient on your first tasting and that multiple exposures may be needed in order for your mouth to hit that “like” moment (think Facebook, ok). For example, I’d probably need to rid my entire pantry and fridge if I hadn’t been persistent about learning to like foods after initially being repulsed by items such as dried cod or bacala, salt pork, runny egg yolks, lentil soup (yes!), fried sardines, etc.
(photo: completed panino with roasted peppers, blue cheese dressing, grilled chicken, and dill pickles)
Gorgonzola is a good example of a cheese I didn’t care for on first tasting and that I’m currently scrambling to incorporate into every meal of the day. My most recent Gorgonzola integration has been by way of our standard salad dressing recipe. Specifically, I take our basic vinaigrette dressing and substitute the red wine vinegar with a decent, non Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale (i.e., not the super expensive kind), balsamic and add a tiny piece of Gorgonzola and dissolve it as best as possible into the vinegar and oil. The result is a product that can be used with hearty and zesty arugula or as a base dressing for a panino. In our case, we used the dressing to add flavor to our grilled chicken, roasted pepper, and dill pickle panino or sandwich.
