Quick story - I used to talk to a guy that worked in my building quite a lot about the food we ate. He told me that growing up he absolutely hated food. When he went to university his housemates decided to go to a Michelin starred restaurant and invited him. After a lot of turning them down (because "what's the point, food is grossly overpriced, I don't care for it," etc etc), he finally agreed. He said "coming home that night I realised my mother was a terrible, terrible, terrible cook." From then on it was like a whole new world opened up to him...
I always loved that. A) it's funny how our past experiences can completely (and sometimes incorrectly) shape our perceptions of the now. B) food can be such a wonderful thing - the smallest thing can make you so absolutely happy. And when someone just nails it (simple or not!), it really is quite the experience.
I have the exact opposite story: I can't really eat anywhere because my dad was an astonishing cook growing up. I've tried various places with varying amounts of stars, and nothing has come close to what my father used to cook.
On top of that, I'm also a terrible cook so eating has become a chore, something that I have to do to survive.
Gah! Disaster! Was he a professional, or just a very good hobbyist?
My baseline is somewhat in the middle. Mum was a good cook, she did everything _well_. There's always room for excellence and new(?) flavours, but I know what isn't good.
I was kind of similar to this person. My dad worked at buffets and within the restaurant industry, but he always managed them - never cooked at them (does one actually ever cook at a buffet?). He prided himself on being the cook of the family but he only really excels at a couple of dishes. My mom's a decent enough cook, but just decent enough. Steaks were cooked well, and paired with ketchup.
So, I grew up picky as hell. I'm 34, and I can still remember my third date with my wife when we were both 21. I ordered a turkey pesto sandwich and said, "with no vegetables". My then-barely-GF blurted out, "NO VEGETABLES!?" without even thinking about it, which sorta shamed me but not in a way, obviously, that put me off from seeing her again, lol.
Turns out her dad loves to cook, and her entire family loves going out to eat. My restaurant experiences were, by and large, limited to Applebee's and other crappy chain restaurants up to that point in my life. So, I started giving things chances; I started branching out culturally while still trying to find meat-focused dishes within that cuisine. Eventually, we started eating at nicer restaurants.
Going back to what I said about steaks above, I made it to my mid-20's absolutely hating steak. I thought people were idiots for loving it so much. I went to a steakhouse (Kevin Rathbun Steak in ATL) for my SIL's birthday one year and avoided the steak because of those misgivings. I opted for the lamb, and chose "rare" when asked how I wanted it cooked because I figured I'd never had anything rare and I may as well try it. I immediately fell in love, and ended up trying a rare steak a few months later. Now, I'm all about that 30+-day dry-aged, incredibly well-marbled ribeye!
I also forced myself to stop picking everything off. Don't like something because of it's texture? Try a smaller piece of it and see if you like the taste and how that taste pairs with the rest of the dish. Slowly, things fell into place for me and I began to appreciate more. Then, we moved to the Bay Area and it's gigantic concentration of Michelin-level restaurants.
My first Michelin joint had a tasting menu, and I told myself that the food at Michelin restaurants is definitely going to be good. Whatever is on that plate is going to highlight what makes that ingredient so good, why people like it, etc.. So my mantra was, "just eat it". Don't normally like it? Don't care, because if I'm ever going to have it at it's best, now is the time to see what the fuss is all about.
Holy shit did my world change. At this point, I'll eat anything. Texture is where I still struggle just a bit, but I'm keenly aware of what I do and don't react to in certain ways. So these foods can't be the focus of a dish, but I'll never shy away from eating them if their purpose of the dish is more 'complimentary', for lack of a better word. Taking this approach has allowed me to teach myself to appreciate the flavor, which then prompts me to eat it again, which gets me used to the texture, and ultimately gets me towards not being bothered so much by it.
All that rambling is to say - YES, I completely understand where your friend is coming from and I have thoroughly enjoyed having a similar experience.
Rumor has it that the affinity for well done meat came from what US slaves had to eat in that region and the conditioning never left.
So US slave descendants inherit this and many people have made it a whole identity, with deviation being seen as an absurdity reserved for a risk taking culture that slave descendants believe they can't afford to be a part of, often with concerns about food born illness. These are overblown and irrational phobias, especially when perpetuating a continually worse dining experience.
(A lot of African Caribbean culture are also slave descendents but some of those cultures have since gone a different cooking direction, either way resulting in a lot of the same outcome of well done and overcooked meat)
But reconditioning is possible, put more people onto it! There are lots of people that don't know what they are missing.
> He said "coming home that night I realised my mother was a terrible, terrible, terrible cook." From then on it was like a whole new world opened up to him...
I always loved that. A) it's funny how our past experiences can completely (and sometimes incorrectly) shape our perceptions of the now. B) food can be such a wonderful thing - the smallest thing can make you so absolutely happy. And when someone just nails it (simple or not!), it really is quite the experience.