5 ways to expand your tastes and enjoy food more
Food is one of the universal joys of life and a pillar in your health and wellbeing. Unless you’re a globetrotting food blogger, then it’s unlikely you’ve tried everything – so there’s always more to experiment with when it comes to your tastebuds.
However, with the hustle and bustle of modern life, it can be challenging to find time to try new foods. Too often we rely on staples that, while nourishing, end up becoming a chore to prepare and to eat each night of the week.
To help you branch out, read on for 5 ways to expand your tastes and enjoy food more.
1. Try a meal-kit or curated meal plan service
Often, the only thing holding you back from trying new and exciting foods is a lack of time. When you get home from a tiring day of work, finding the energy and motivation to spend time cooking can be a hassle.
A great way around this is to experiment with a meal-kit delivery or a curated meal plan service. These services have become increasingly more affordable over the years and allow you to find new favourite recipes with ease.
As a bonus, these services can deliver the exact amount of fresh ingredients you need to make the dishes you want to try. This means you can spend less time running around the supermarket, and also reduce waste in your kitchen at the same time.
2. Team up with friends and family
Two heads are better than one – don’t hesitate to get in touch with family and friends to discover new ways to whet your appetite. This could mean getting some help in the kitchen or going out to try different foods at a restaurant they’ve raved to you about.
The people closest to you will have a sense for what your tastes are like and what you would likely be comfortable experimenting with. If you loathe spicy food, then your loved ones are unlikely to try to take you down that route (unless they really think they can convert you).
Not only is teaming up with friends and family a great way to expand your tastes, but it also gives you the benefit of quality time with them as well. Nothing connects people quite like a good meal, so organise a dinner party or quick brekky catch up and enjoy the company of loved ones.
3. Do some travel
While this isn’t always easy to find time and money for, travel is a great way to expand your taste buds. If you want to get the most authentic experience of foreign cuisine, then nothing beats actually travelling to that region of the world.
However, you don’t necessarily need to book an overseas holiday. Travelling interstate or to another region in your own state can give you plenty of new food options to sample. For example, if you live inland, then travelling to the coast will expose you to many more seafood dishes.
4. Buy some cookbooks
You can always turn to the ever-reliable cookbook to give you some inspiration on new types of food to try. There’s a wide range of cookbooks available that cater to all kinds of needs, and there’s no doubt plenty that can help expose you to new tastes that you might never have tried before.
Sometimes getting insight into the way food is prepared is the best way to get you excited about trying it. You might be pleasantly surprised to discover that a dish you thought was too elaborate for you to make isn’t that complicated.
5. Watch some cooking shows/vlogs
If you’re really strapped for time and cash, then watching a cooking show on TV (there’s plenty) or food vlogs on sites like YouTube is a way you can go. There’s no shortage of influencers out there in the food media space that you can turn to for ideas, and a lot of them can be quite entertaining too.