Malin Norman: Unpopular opinions about flavour

Flavour is highly personal, as I’ve discovered on my beer-tasting journey. And your preference might not always be appreciated by others. There may even be sneering or eye-rolling when I say that I prefer a mainstream lager or an alcohol-free beer. The same goes for food. Some people just can’t believe it when you don’t like their favourite dish. Here are my unpopular opinions about some much-loved foods. Trash me all you want; I stand my ground.

No matter how many health gurus or ultra-runners say they “fuel with oats”, porridge makes me queasy. I loathe oats with a passion, there is something unpleasant and unnatural going on with the texture. What I do love in the morning though is Greek yogurt and banana. Smooth, soft, with some lovely sweetness. But never with honey or granola, regardless of what the influencers say.

On to paella. Having lived a few years in Spain, I’ve been forced to eat paella on a number of occasions. Not so much in restaurants, but rather at family festivities and get-togethers. Paella with seafood is the worst, with little body parts popping up in the rice; a tentacle here, a prawn eye there, and grains of sand from the mussels crunching between the teeth. By the way, the best version comes from Valencia, the home of paella, with just chicken and rabbit.

And because everything comes in threes, one more food I vehemently dislike is red meat. I mean the kind of meat that’s dripping with blood. Some people eat meat almost raw, just fried for a few seconds on each side. Atrocious! I need my meat well done, with a nice almost-burnt crust. Just throw the steak back on that grill.

What are your unpopular opinions about food or drinks?