For weeks now, in fact, months, people on Twitter have been slandering the great dish called Amala, while others have been waxing lyrical about it. Many of the people who slander Amala have actually never had it before. I don’t blame them; it does look like doo-doo, after all, I mean look at it:

But also a lot of people who have had Amala genuinely do not like it, like the guy on Twitter (see featured image) who did a whole presentation on how Amala should be banned.

It’s the same thing for many dishes and different types of food from avocados to mushrooms and It made me think about how taste differs from person to person and the science of innate and acquired taste that determine how people interact with food.

With innate taste, it’s pretty easy, things like chicken and chocolate are popular worldwide but it’s a lot more complicated with acquired taste and there is science that backs up the fact that several factors might affect one’s food preferences.

Here are some of the factors listed below:

Culture

You know how Yoruba people are said to like and enjoy lots of spice in their food? I even heard a lady say once that Yoruba people always eat with large pieces of meat and while I don’t know how true that is, I do know that culture plays a huge part in taste preferences. We see it in the way Igbos favour scented leaves and in the way the Northerners use milk to create many things. Flora, fauna, terrain and even weather affect our food choices, much in the same way it affects other parts of socio-cultural elements like art and architecture. 

Genetics

It’s possible that the shape of your nose and your laugh isn’t the only thing you inherited from your dad or mom. Studies have shown that genetics plays a strong role in taste preferences and food choices due to taste receptors which are what enable our taste buds to identify sweet, salty, bitter, sour and umami tastes. Other genetic factors- like the brain’s reward centre and hormones in charge of hunger- also affect our habits with food. 

Mother’s diet

Research has proven that a woman’s diet when she is pregnant greatly affects her baby’s taste preferences and ability to be experimental when it comes to trying new food. I can say this is true in my case because legend has it that my mom drank a lot of garri when she was pregnant with me and that was my absolute favourite for a long time(kinda still is) and I have the coke-bottle glasses to prove it. 

Personal preference

I like to think that previous terrible experiences with a particular food also influences one’s aversion to it, or maybe a combination of all my prior points makes this possible but there are just sometimes when you don’t like a particular dish and that’s that. Nothing anyone says would convince you because you just don’t like it. 

Allow me to be a little cheesy here and say variety is the spice of life, and I always find it so fascinating how food preferences differ from person to person and at the same times you can still find similar elements that tie these preferences to each other.

I get grossed out easily and so am not very open to trying new food; especially dishes that don’t look or sound very appealing. However, in the coming year, I have decided to try new things when it comes to food, expand my palate or something of the sort and I would like to challenge you to join me. Who knows what we might find? You might find that you actually don’t hate amala and I might realize that sushi isn’t as bad as it sounds. Who’s in?

Featured Image By Bolu Ayeye on Twitter