Yo Figure...

The very first time I remember eating yogurt I was at Southside Hospital on Long Island.  My grandmother had just had a stroke and was being treated.  The yogurt was at the hospital's cafeteria.

I think it was plain, or even peach, I'm not sure which (I was 7 or so) but I ate it begrudgingly.  From that point on, any time I'd see yogurt or think "hmm I should eat this" -- I tasted the stale antiseptic chemicals from the hospital.  I just couldn't do it.

In 2002/2003ish, I got a new roommate (Katie) who introduced me to lots of different kinds of food.  Among those foods was Indian food and I instantly fell in love.  I never knew beans could taste so good (my mom would only make Campbell's Pork & Beans-- with maple syrup, brown sugar, pineapple or sometimes marshmallows).  I fell in love with the heat and texture of the food.

One of the things I couldn't get enough of was raita (a yogurt sauce that is similar to Greek tzatziki or Persian mast-o kheyar).  I couldn't believe what I was tasting.  It wasn't sweet, but it was savory.  It wasn't chalky, but it was sensuously palatable.  I realized that I didn't hate yogurt, I just didn't like certain kinds -- i.e., the overly sweet kinds with artificial flavorings.  In other words, I actually liked the yogurt but hated the things that masked its goodness.

I started playing around with yogurt -- sometimes straining out the whey (which I now know is bad, because that's where the nutrients live) and making a "cheese" spread, or adding spices, adding in fresh fruit or cereals.  I started trying different brands and figuring out what I liked instead of thinking I was going to have the same bad experience that I had the first time.

Yogurt (namely Chobani (raspberry, lemon, and mango are my favorites), but sometimes I stray to other kinds) is now a staple of my diet.  I eat it almost every day.  The daily ritual of eating my yogurt with breakfast (as it is my favorite way to get the protein that I need) always reminds me of how (1) food prejudices aren't always logical, (2) taste changes over time, and (3) that you can't lump all products together.

Go figure, right?