One minor annoyance here is that as a foreigner i must eat every special, odd, or even terrible food that Taiwan has to offer. If I do not eat it than I am labeled as not open minded. This really isn't a problem as when I came over I was happy to give any and everything a try. Now I have a pretty clear cut list of what I do and don't like. However this doesn't appease most Taiwanese and if there is something I don't like than it's because I haven't tried their favorite place for that, so I must constantly continue to eat foods I don't like, or be labeled as a stubborn foreigner who is unwilling to try things.
The annoyance comes from the fact that most Taiwanese are not so open minded when it comes to food. Many will say that it doesn't matter what they eat, but really this only means that they can eat anything from the selection of food which they are comfortable with. There are many unique foreigner restaurants selling great meals and snacks, but many Taiwanese are too scared to give it a try, judging it before they even try it. However there is this huge double standard where it's fine for them to judge something without having tried it, while if us foreigners do that we are lectured. Yay hypocrisy!
As much as I am usually disappointed, I will continue to try the foods i don't like. Partially to appease my friends (or is it so i can throw it back in their face when they refuse to try something, sigh...i'm such a joy to be around!), and partially to see if truly there is a version of it i like. Recently I did discover something I like.
Picture above is a "bun." It started out as just a big soft, chewy bread bun, but over time there were more and more flavors. There are ones with fillings such as meat or vegetables or various pastes. Also there are other variants where the bread itself is flavored such as brown sugar bread. I've had these buns time and time again over the years, but since they are quite bland and chewy I never really liked them. So those times I do have them are usually as a last resort.
Well near my home is a special shop that just sells these buns. But they are quite famous because they sell over 30 flavors of them. Every time I passed by i would just scoff as the picture was always of a nut infested one with cheese in it that just seemed like a nightmare come to life. It wasn't until one day a friend stopped by that shop on her way to visit. When she arrived she had a huge bag full of what seemed like an endless supply of those buns. She immediately piqued my interest when I asked her how much it cost for all those and I think it was less than five bucks. The reason for this is because not only is each bun pretty cheap, but depending on the flavors some are buy one get one free, or buy two get one free, and up.
So for that price and it's close location, I had to give them a try. I first tried the caramel swirl one. It was so horrible that it swore me off of them all together. That is, until another day when she got a huge bag again and i was starving. That time on her recommendation I tried the cheese and it was a close battle between the caramel swirl for worst flavor. However I was so starving that day so I had to try another flavor, taro....
Success! we had found one I actually liked. Pictured above is the innocent looking taro bun. Inside is a kind of taro flavored paste. To be honest it's not that great, but it is good enough, cheap enough, and convenient enough that since that day I did go to get some on my own another time. Mostly likely I will go again as well. Who knows perhaps they will replace costco's baked goods as my typhoon day supplies of choice. Well probably not, but still it's a good moral to keep on trying those things you don't like cause you never know if one day you may discover something that turns it around for you. But...probably not.
