If your kids gag when you try to get them to eat certain vegetables, it might not be picky eaters that you’re dealing with. You might have “super-tasters” on your hands. Super-tasters are people who are genetically predisposed to taste food differently. Super-tasters are extremely sensitive to bitterness, a common characteristic of many dark green, leafy veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts. People with the “bitter gene” are 2.6 times more likely to eat fewer vegetables than people who don’t have that gene. Although food scientists are developing ways to reduce the bitterness in veggies, experts say cooking techniques such as adding a little fat, a little bit of sweetness, strong flavors like garlic or roasting them in the oven, which brings out natural sweetness, can all enhance the taste of the vegetable and block the bitterness.
(I don’t know if I’m a super-taster, but I sure get a bitter taste in my mouth when I have to eat Brussels sprouts!)
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