Mealtimes were a misery when I was younger. My mother is a fabulous cook, but only cooked adventurously for grown ups. We had plain unseasoned nursery food, cooked to within an inch of it's life. When I started to cook at about 10 yrs old, the larder cupboard was a place of wonder - Mum had every conceivable flavouring and spice. I went to town and discovered I had a palette - but I won't touch offal, fatty meat or overcooked veggies, I also have a severe seafood allergy. I craved different flavours, my older brother is incredibly fussy having passed the age where he was open to new things.
I watched loads of cookery programs, took cookery to A Level school and loved every minute. If anyone had said to my child self 'One day you will crave cabbage' I would have laughed at them - but since I've discovered that it doesn't have to be boiled to a mush, I do crave it. The same goes for many vegetables, although I still don't eat enough varieties. Meat doesn't have to be roasted until it's dry as sand paper, sausages DO contain meat, potatoes come in other varieties not just boiled or chipped....there's a whole world of food out there - it isn't 'foreign muck'
I always laughed at my mother's 'foreign muck' bit as they have lived all over the world and Mum has taken recipes and techniques with her from every place they've lived - spectacular chinese food from Singapore and Malaysia, French cuisine, hearty German recipes............but if a suggestion was made that she didn't like it was 'foreign'. I think recipes became 'naturalised' as she learned to cook them!
Since we started low carbing our tastes have changed. I no longer crave sweet things, everything tastes better.
Ju