how do acquired tastes work?

Question

Things like mouldy cheese are awful initially, but after a while they become sought-after delicacies for many people. How does this work?

In: 38

Answer 1

I’m going to be honest. As a former picky eater, most “acquired tastes” (spicy food, certain vegetables, blue cheese, wine) are things I tried once, hated, then craved inexplicably years later and found I liked. The rest are things I tried as an adult and liked immediately. I think many things that are “acquired tastes” are rather just *strong* tastes. Kids, even teens, hate them, but adult taste buds are less sensitive and can find complexity where kids just found “yuck.”