Taste Bud Macarena

Oh, what a variety of food flavors we have in the great American melting pot!  And what an incredible array of reactions we have to that flavorful fare!  It's always surprising to watch the reaction of new guests and friends and watch to see where they fall on the taste bud spectrum.

No one is any one thing.  It's a bit like snowflakes - every one's palate is never completely identical.  But I do think you can fall generally into certain categories,  Here are few of the most common taste types I see:

Spicy Girl (Guy) - this is by far the most common type I run across.  People who like really spicy hot foods. This has exploded with the popularity of Tex Mex, and other spicy fare.  I can't hardly get a chicken sandwich anymore without worrying that they might give me the spicy version by mistake.  Often this type will have macho rhetoric about how hot they really like their foods.  This isn't all bad.  I have heard that spicy foods may actually help speed metabolism, or aid you somehow in hot weather.  Me?  It just burns the living heck out of my mouth and lips, makes it where it's all I can taste of what I eat, where I slug huge amounts of beverage trying to stop the burning.  Even my young son Benjamin likes to put a little hot sauce on his Quesadilla.

Saucy Guy (Girl) - I'm afraid I fall more into this category.  I have trouble eating food that has been not sauced up with something (except no spicy sauces, please).  I'm a huge fan of ketchup, but there are other condiments that I use depending on the food.  I use ketchup with Mexican food, which freaks everybody out, but makes infinite sense to me.  The sweetness in the ketchup combats the natural spiciness that is often in that kind of food.  But depending on the food, I also like mustard, BBQ sauces, Miracle Whip, salad dressings, etc.  I just find it hard eating dry food, which brings me to the next group -

Dry Chuckers - the polar opposite of the saucy guys 'n' gals.  These are people who find sauces a distraction and just like the flavor of food as is.  They may have spices/salts on foods, as long as the food remains relatively dry.  They prefer meats well done - the ones who send their meat back to be cooked some more.  When they get salads, they might have a tiny bit of dressing but not much.  One technique I've seen is to dip their fork in some dressing and then take a huge amount of salad, and that teeny, tiny bit of dressing is enough for them. Hamburgers, hot dogs and such will be eaten relatively plain, no condiments or very minimal, often without cheese, which brings me to....

Cheeseheads - these are people who love cheese on their cheese.  There is almost nothing that these people think wouldn't taste better without more cheese.  And yes, I am pretty much in their number.  Most people I meet are either passionately for or against cheese (and some are poor unfortunates who are lactose intolerant), but I've met very few that are nonchalant or neutralists about cheese.  Another similar group passionate about one type of food would be Bacon Lovers, wanting bacon in almost everything they have. There is even a fast food chain that has promoted a Bacon Sundae!

Rich People - This is a very rare group that I also tend to fall into.  I have often heard friends react to some sweets and desserts that, "Oh, that is too rich!"  I have no idea what they're talking about.  rich foods just taste good to me.  I seem to have no richness threshold that I can't go beyond.

Well, this is just cutting the surface of the types that I have seen.  And yes, we all vary and are mixture of these types, both in combination and degree.  I myself, am kind of a Saucy, Rich,  Cheesehead!

More food types and foodie talk to come!