What is your least favorite food? Maybe the smell makes you gag or the texture is too much. Perhaps the flavor is unpleasant--or maybe you can’t stand the sensation that shoots through your teeth when you take a bite. But what is at the root of your reaction? “Unappetizing: The truth behind the foods we hate” is a series of personal essays that explores what is at the core of the foods that make our stomachs turn. Maybe they’re tied to a memory or a circumstance. Maybe they’ve overstayed their welcome. Or maybe, it’s the food that doesn’t like us. From heart breaking to hilarious, “Unappetizing: The truths behind the foods we hate” covers the full spectrum of why we steer away from the dishes we detest.
Your favorite crudités are my worst nightmare. No, not the carrots, broccoli, cucumber or other assorted raw vegetables that appear alongside a tasty dip.
Cauliflower is the cause of personal mental anguish, stemming from all the way back in my teenage years. The gag-reflex-inducing cousin of broccoli creates a knot in my stomach just from the appearance alone, with its bushels resembling white cheddar popcorn — another snack I avoid — and its stalk cosplaying as a forbidden celery stick. While the flavor (or lack thereof) is repulsive to me, the diet culture its popularity has cultivated is to blame for my cauliflower displeasure. Cauliflower is tied to paleo and keto-based diets that started to grow in popularity through the late 2010s and was propelled into stardom during COVID-19′s isolation, lending the opportunity to experiment with the vegetable as a rice or bread alternative. According to the New York Times, cauliflower’s rise in American food culture is directly attached to its nutritious value and lack of carbohydrates, allowing it to become an alternative for gluten-free individuals and those suffering from Crohn’s disease. Gail Becker, CEO of Caulipower, a Cauliflower-based food brand, said, “We want to celebrate the vegetable. We’re not trying to hide it or sneak it in.”Maybe that’s where I drew the line. “Hide and Seek” with cauliflower sounds like a recipe for disaster. I know it was for me. Back home in Southern California, the trend seeped into nightly meals.
With my mother and grandmother’s cooking, which I so often love, cauliflower appeared on the dinner table. First, it was fajitas.
Steaming chicken, peppers, and onions are served alongside cauliflower rice seasoned with cilantro and lime, masquerading as the rice Chipotle would serve in its famous burritos or bowls. Then, it was pizzas, replacing the crust that people save for last, with a thin and sloppy vessel for toppings to sit on — never truly getting crispy enough to satisfy the pizza craving. It never tasted like the real thing.
Why would it?
The idea was for it to be a true vegetable alternative for people looking to cut back on carbs or switch up their diet for legitimate health-related reasons. Cauliflower-based frozen meals in grocery stores have taken on the gimmick from vegan brands, marketing itself as the meal it is not. Rice, bread, bagels, pasta and more — cauliflower has its crowd.
Unluckily for me, it was in my own home.
My family goes all in for every food craze and braves anything new to save the calories. But as my teenage years trickled on, cauliflower continued to show up uninvited to the dinner table.Knowing I would not voluntarily eat cauliflower, family members would attempt to hide the brassica oleracea in dishes.
“Is there cauliflower in this?” I would jokingly ask my mom before dinner. She’d pause and sternly respond, “Well, try it first.” Of course, I would not. My family would ultimately fess up to which aspect of supper that was once a sullen side dish was now riddled with cauliflower. What started as a food I disliked, became a mental barrier filled with fear over a vegetable I could have cared less about years earlier. If I gave cauliflower a true shot on its own, maybe I would like it.
It’s high in Vitamin C and Vitamin K, has serious nutritional benefits if it’s part of your daily diet and is probably easy to snack on when sitting on crudités. But I’ll leave cauliflower to those who want it. I know it won’t end up on my plate.