Lots of things can cause someone to love one food and hate another. It could be the texture of the food, the smell or look of the food, or a cultural preference for a food because it reminds you of family traditions.
Scientists have found that people have a preference for creamy sensations as well as for foods that start off solid and melt in the mouth such as ice cream and chocolate.
Another factor in food preferences: People vary—probably based on genetics—in their ability to detect other textures, such as fat, and bitter and sweet tastes. Valerie Duffy, a registered dietitian and professor in the department of allied health science at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn., has shown in her research that adults with a gene that makes bitter tastes more intense consume fewer vegetables containing bitter compounds, such as kale or spinach.
So you can see that taste preferences are really a very complex topic and you would be hard pressed to find a friend who had exactly the same favorite food as you do.
Source: Wall Street Journal 11/8/10
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