Super Taster

I always knew my taste buds were different from the average person. During biology class in 9th grade, I remember the teacher handing out small strips of paper that she told us to put in our mouth. About half the class immediately ran to the drinking fountain due to the horrid taste while the other half looked at each other confused. Reason: half the class has a gene which makes them able to taste a chemical that the majority of people cannot taste. I was among the tasters.

Sometime later, I had forgotten about this incident and I was watching a TV show, maybe the discovery channel, about how some people are super tasters. These people often find foods like broccoli to have a bitter taste. At that time, I was thinking, "That's it! That's why I'm so picky. I'm a super-taster!" Over time, I forgot about the show. As time passed during college, I decided I needed to get over my pickiness, and I've slowly started liking foods like onions and peppers. To this day, however, I do not like olives. Yuck.

A couple nights ago, I had some homemade enchiladas with fresh cilantro as a key ingredient. While the enchiladas themselves were really quite good, the cilantro had a flowery flavor I did not like. This bothered me, so I decided to read about it on Wikipedia. Sure enough, many people avoid cilantro leaves due to a "soapy" flavor! After some more research I read about supertasters, and finally put the two stories together. It's official. I'm a supertaster! Finally, I have a scientific excuse when I tell people that I don't like olives, dark chocolate, spicy food or when I add extra sugar to my lemonade and grapefruit. I've also figured out why I much dislike those sugar cookies you buy from the store that some people love. Apparently, supertasters don't like things overly sweet. Suddenly I don't feel as bad about my pickiness. Although, I think I'm learning to enjoy that extra flavor. Maybe our taste buds change over time.