this evolution of taste thing, it is annoying.

[lagilman]

About twenty years ago, thanks to a stint in Weight Watchers, I lost my taste for potato chips/crisps. I still remembered how much I had enjoyed them, but when I actually ate one... meh.

About ten years ago, I started losing my taste for candy bars. I could remember when a Snickers bar had been the perfect pick-me-up, but when I reached for one.... meh.

In the past few years, that mehness has spread even to the better levels of chocolate, Green & Black, etc. I have a craving, and I walk down to the grocery and stand in front of the display, and I think.... that's not what I want.

It's like when you've ended a relationship - you look at your ex and you think "yes, I remember when that was what I wanted, and it still looks good, but.... no interest at all. Huh."

I think I had a point here somewhere, but mainly it's just that I really want chocolate but there doesn't seem to be anything within reach that's the right kind of chocolate. Mrrrmph.

I foresee a trip to La Maison du Chocolat this weekend...

Has this happened to any of you?


[on the plus side, this does make it easier for me to keep my eating habits healthy...and means when I do indulge, I can do so wholeheartedly. That is a definite plus... except for right now, when I am sans eatable chocolate. Moop.]

Comments

[sillylilly-bird.livejournal.com]

I just tried a different bar and loved it. Wild Ophelia's Peanut Butter and Banana.

http://www.wildophelia.com/

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

After my last back surgery, I quit like chocolate altogether for about a year. Same reaction. Meh. I eventually started liking it again--some. Most of the time though I look at it and think, nah, not what I want. It has to be really good to want it. Like a good cake with ganache. Or a good chocolate cheesecake. Or some good chocolate. But the other night I had some Lindt Truffles (super dark) and my response was, meh. So I put them away.

I still like Cadbury carmel eggs though.

[lagilman]

except that works if you have access to that particular bar... (see: my comment about La Maison). There's quality chocolate I like... it's just not the stuff that's easily available in groceries, even in NYC.

[sillylilly-bird.livejournal.com]

yes, that's a huge factor. Good luck!

[svilleficrecs.livejournal.com]

Our taste bud can change significantly as we age, so it actually might not taste the same for reasons of science.

[lagilman]

I suspect part of it was also my exposure to really high-end chocolate when I was in my 20's. It's hard to go b ack to the farm once you've seen, etc etc....

(the potato chips thing was clearly a learned response. To this day, anything too greasy shuts down any desire to eat more. Which is kind of a shame but I suspect my arteries are thankful...)

[pbray.livejournal.com]

As I age, I've lost my taste for sweet things. Sodas were a staple of my twenties, now I can't remember the last time I drank one. I used to add sugar to my coffee, but haven't done that in years. Ten years ago I tended towards white wines, now I mostly drink reds.

But Lake Champlain dark chocolates hit the spot nicely, and go well with red wine.

And when I need a serious chocolate fix, there's always King Arthur brownies... mmm chocolate decadence in an 8x8 pan.

[lagilman]

The funny thing is, my sweet-tooth is stil in full force. I just can't satisfy it easily any more.

[katatomic.livejournal.com]

I was never a fan of Green & Black--too dry, crumbly and bitter without a redeeming upside. Michele Cluizel became the standard "store" chocolate when I could find it. But I am a chocolate tourist: I like to hunt down the high-end boutique chocolates in towns I visit and try them. Usually it's a good experience. Sometimes not so much. I have a friend from my rec.arts.mystery days who started her own confectionery in Maine, but I haven't tried them in years: http://www.boxhillconfections.com/chocolates.html. I suppose I should...

[sfmarty.livejournal.com]

I got Very ill earlier this year. Couldn't eat much at all, still can't. I suddenly got a craving for dark chocolate. Went to See's candies and got a couple of sugar free dark chockolate bars. Tasty.

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

I've noticed lately I'm just not into junk food any more, which is definitely a good thing. I'd rather eat a banana than a bag of chips. But put a plate of chocolate chip cookies in front of me ... :}

Re the chocolate thing, have you tried the out-there ones with things like chipotle and curry and candied ginger in them? I've noticed those in a lot of the higher-end delis around NYC.

[equesgal.livejournal.com]

About five years ago I couldn't drink soft drinks anymore. Too sugary. Occassionaly I have a fountain coke, but that's about it.

[lagilman]

In general, if it's a mass-produced-and-shipped bar, it doesn't hit my tastebuds right any more. I know chocolate has a decent shelf life, but I swear, things that are shipped/stored/shelved taste different....

(I had good luck with some of the local chocolatiers in Seattle, but, wel, Seattle.)


And having the add-ins is nice, but sometimes all I want is the proper bitter-creamy mouthfeel of good chocolate.

In retrospect, I'm also going to blame my sister's ex, who used to use us as test subjects for his homemade chocolates....

[lagilman]

*checks out site*

Oh dear.

[threeoutside.livejournal.com]

For no reason that I could discern, my chocolate addiction diminished significantly a few years ago. Snicker's was my drug of choice (in chocolate, anyway), and one day I realized I had no desire for them any more. I used to go through a whole (small) sampler box of chocs on those rare occasions someone gave me one. Now I'll nibble at one, eat half of another, and either toss the rest or leave it for later.

Same with chips. I love them - at about 1/8th the amount I used to. I hardly ever buy them any more (never bought them often in any case), and when I do, nowadays I surprise myself by discovering them off in the corner of the counter, forgotten, several days later.

I only ever liked aspartame-sweetend soft drinks; sugar drinks leave a sour taste in my mouth. When I found out the aspartame crap causes me to crave sweets MORE, I virtually quit those, too. Don't miss them, either.

As we age, all our sins leave us, is that it? I quit drinking in 1986, quit the sugar soft drinks in the late 90s, quit smoking in 2009, lost most of my taste for chocolate and potato chips somewhere in between...well, I still knit. Some. LOL

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

I only like the aspartame soft drinks too! I thought I was the only one. I just quit aspartame though. I hadn't realized all the things it could do to me, and this little tidbit of news is another I didn't know.

[damiana-swan.livejournal.com]

Well yes, but you'll be here in just a couple more months. :-)

Have you tried Theo's (http://www.theochocolate.com/)? They're the only organic, free-trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in the US, and ohhhh do they ever do good work. I particularly like their chai, coconut curry, and bread and chocolate bars.

(And while you're here, you should definitely go on a factory tour!)

[lagilman]

oh yes, my twinling hooked me on those. The coconut curry and salted bars are to nom (and the chipotle cocoa is my winter go-to with almond milk. It's almost obscene)

[mtlawson.livejournal.com]

Are you sure you still like any chocolate? I can foresee a day when that happens, and I'd imagine it will be full of ambivalence.

[saruby.livejournal.com]

I find my taste for chocolate is seasonal. I crave fruity tastes in summer and avoid chocolate. In winter...

[janetl.livejournal.com]

If you do a reading in Portland, I shall bring you some Alma's chocolates. It's the least a minion can do!

I have lost my taste for most mass-produced baked goods. My theory is that if it's shelf-stable, it was made with shortening, and my taste buds now demand butter.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

I lost my taste for most candy years ago. (I can give you the exact date I last had a bite of a Snickers bar.) Recently I've lost my taste for dark chocolate, which astounds me. In fact, most commercial junk food is Not What I Want.

But I'm so fucking *stupid* I keep eating it anyway.

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

I like chocolate, but it can stay on the shelf for months before either of us eat it. I am much less into it than I used to be and I suspect that the reason is probably hormonal.

[mikaela-l.livejournal.com]

I have a love hate relationship with sweets. I love them, but I hate the fact that they go straight to my hips. So I don't have any at home. And that's the reason I love seasalt chocolate. I want one, two pieces- and that's enough for me.


If you ever come to Stockholm, I recommend Robert's chocolate located at the subway floor of Åhlens City. Especially their thin, flaky chocolate. Mmm.

[lagilman]

yeah, I don't keep cookies in the house because I can - especially early in the morning - indulge when a craving hits, rather than thinking it through.

And hrm. Finances allowing, 2014 may be the year I romp through Over There.... (buy more books, world! Buy LOTS more books!)

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Good chocolate does tend to ruin the rest.