Food Meme

[rugessnome]

via ursula; list of foods originally provided by brainwane

• oatmeal: I have mixed feelings about it. I grew up eating the packet kind (of which bananas and cream is probably my only unacceptable major flavor) on a semi-regular basis and based on something in some childhood book I tried eating plain oatmeal with sugar and cream, which was only sort of good--the texture is tricky for me if it doesn't taste "right". Unfortunately my willingness to eat packet oatmeal has now become somewhat inconsistent, particularly if I'm trying to make it with hot water instead of in a microwave. Steel cut oats and oat groats are sort of more tolerable on a textural basis, but I'm not always in the mood for such a chewy breakfast. Currently I will have quick oats now and then with mandatory peanut butter and either banana or cocoa powder and sugar (or all three)--the peanut butter much improves the texture for me. I've also done a somewhat pared down version of Edward Lee's chile oatmeal, via the Liana Krisoff book Whole Grains for a New Generation, which involves almond butter that similarly improves the texture. (I do love oats in cookies (even if I'm not always in the mood for raisins) and bread though!)    
• miso (soup or otherwise): I didn't grow up eating miso, and I've still only had miso soup proper a handful of times, but I am generally favorable towards the flavor. I've committed and enjoyed a couple of miso sauces from Mollie Katzen's Still Life with Menu, and I am pretty sure that I enjoyed the results from a somewhat eclectic suggestion in Bean by Bean (Crescent Dragonwagon) to flavor the vegetarian version of a fairly plain white bean soup ala the US Senate restaurant with mostly onion, ancho chile, and a finishing spoonful of miso... (I forget if I also added carrots, garlic, or possibly celery as well as those things.)
• licorice (black or red): I used to like strawberry twizzlers, but I don't eat candy as much any more. I have had a couple pieces of a Dutch black licorice that I understood to be salted (admittedly I don't think it was dubbelzoute) and didn't find it as horrible as many Americans say, and I went through a phase of chewing Blackjack gum now and then, but I'm not generally a black licorice enjoyer per se. I kinda like fennel; I think it's the glycyrrhizin in particular that I tend to dislike. (I LOVE dill though and I don't understand why I've seen it described as anise-y)  
• hollandaise sauce: ...technically I'm not sure. I've had it maybe twice, and if I remember correctly I was very unimpressed. Other than melted butter(/garlic butter!) itself, I'm pretty picky when it comes to rich sauces. And Hollandaise is supposed to have lemon in it, but that seemed like a setup for disappointment as I don't believe it tasted like lemon... I have thought sometimes about trying eggs benedict, but I fear it would just result in disappointment. (Eggs are iffy for me, particularly when they are cooked without mixing the yolk and white...but I also don't entirely see the appeal of runny yolks. So poached eggs sound probably bad, and hollandaise doesn't seem like it would improve the experience) If I wanted to give it a chance the best idea would probably be trying it with asparagus or similar. 
• coconut milk: I would say I generally like it, though I don't have much experience trying to drink straight coconut milk, and I'm not sure how well I'd like that?