Until you try it, you never know what you’re missing

As a kid, I was one of the pickiest eaters around. Aside from mass quantities of cookies,… As a kid, I was one of the pickiest eaters around. Aside from mass quantities of cookies, candy and Burger King chicken tenders, there wasn’t much food that would reach my stomach. I knew what I liked and simply wasn’t willing to waste my time trying other foods.

This stubborn and artery-clogging phase lasted until eighth grade when I spent spring break in New York City with my family. Night after night, I ordered dinner off menus from restaurants that were slightly nicer than Burger King.

Normally I had no problem ordering dinner, picking at it and then compensating with Oreos later, but once I saw the prices at the New York City restaurants, my guilt wouldn’t allow such behavior. Since everything was more pricey than in good ol’ Pittsburgh, I decided to put careful consideration into what I ordered and made genuine efforts to clean my plate.

What started as an attempt not to waste food or money ended with a revelation. I couldn’t believe how good everything tasted. Steak, mushrooms, asparagus, baked potatoes and even – gasp – steamed broccoli! I thought back to how many opportunities I had to try new foods but passed. That week I realized that I had been severely limiting myself, and there were so many more foods to try and fall in love with.

If I never branched out, I never would have realized how much I was missing out on. And since they don’t serve calamari, shrimp alfredo or eggplant parmesan at Burger King, I would have never discovered some of my favorite foods.

Aside from crazy things like dog feet or alligator eyes, I’m willing to try just about anything once. Since my revelation, however, I’ve become shocked by the number of people who still have my adolescent attitude about eating.

Over the summer I had dinner plans with a friend. I had heard great things about Thai food and asked him if he wanted to go to a Thai restaurant. Instead of being excited for the opportunity, he acted as though I said, “Hey, do you want to eat some mold for dinner?”

After I successfully made him feel guilty, he agreed to embark on the Thai food journey with me. After cleaning his plate and licking his fork he praised the delicious cashew chicken. Now when we go to dinner, Thai food is always on our option list.

When I asked him why he was so reluctant at first, he admitted that it was because he had never tried it before or heard much about it. Instead of being so quick to pass on what we don’t know, we should embrace and discover – or at least try – the unique foods that different parts of the world have to offer.

A friend of mine who waitresses at a country club told me about a party she worked at that was catered with Indian food. In the most polite way possible, she told me that the food looked like throw-up on a plate. When I asked her if she ever tried it, she said no.

Maybe the reason why it looked disgusting was that it was unknown. Really, there’s only one way to make an accurate and credible claim about a food: to taste it. After all, when we eat food, we’re not concerned with how it looks; we’re concerned with how it tastes.

If an alien came to Earth and saw a bowl of brownie mix, it may think that the substance looked like something that came from a sick animal’s rear end, not the heavenly chocolate goodness that it really is.

In a world with so many delectable cuisines, refusing to try anything new and branch out seems very limiting. Not only could it cause someone to miss out on what could become her favorite foods, but it prevents her from further broadening her horizons to see how things are done in other cultures.

Living in Oakland, especially, there is no excuse to not at least try something new. We’re lucky enough to have several diverse food choices in walking distance; for those of us in a rush or looking to save money, we even have outside vendors that offer delicious and authentic foreign cuisine at unbeatable prices.

Keep in mind, this is all coming from a girl who used to eat Oreos for breakfast because she didn’t like eggs or pancakes. I used to refuse to eat my salads with any dressing other than ranch, I only liked my potatoes in fried form and I was basically afraid of ketchup. If I can branch out and experiment, anyone can – and should. Worst case, you can always spit it out in a napkin, hop in the car and drive to Burger King.

E-mail Anjali at amn17@pitt.edu.