And mostly because no-one will eat them by choice, in seasons when they're not starving.
I mean it's 2021. When I was growing up Kraft singles were common. Today I can go to a supermarket and pick up a block of Gouda.
Also, I think there's degrees of lactose intolerance? I don't really take full cream milk as is anymore because of that but cream and cheese and lattes are fine...
An aged, hard cheese will have much lower levels of lactose than a fresh, soft cheese, to the point where it virtually disappears.
And don't discount the mental factor. I've eaten balut (the Vietnamese variety that is older and more developed), dog, live shrimp, fish gut soup, etc. Other than balut, which has a livery flavor (not to my personal taste, though it's more pronounced with duck than with chicken), the flavor and texture were never particularly foreign or distasteful, per se; the aversion was mostly mental and simply an artifact of cultural familiarity. The dog stew I ate was delicious, but near the bottom of the bowl, my appetite sated, disgust reared its head and I had trouble keeping it down. Later that day I learned my partner had the exact same experience. Fermenting and consuming the lactation secretions of herd animals is, on its face, kind of gross if it's not what you grew up with.
An Asian friend once told me that when she came to America as a child and someone gave her cheese, she thought they were trying to poison her. I get the sense that that's not too far off from the common sentiment for those uninitiated.
Maybe lutefisk counts, but I don't think so. Fermentation has to be done correct, else it is dangerous. That's where the gross feeling stems from; it has/had a purpose.
Lutefisk isn't fermented, and has a mild smell and tastes of unseasoned boiled white fish with a slightly 'off' aftertaste. While most people don't particularly like it, it is hardly off putting unless you find boiled fish in general off putting.
If so, I wouldn’t say it’s an acquired taste. It’s a bit fishy but even as a child I liked it.
Quite possibly. It's not the same as various jarred herring in supermarkets (which is usually... okay.); my mother in law makes hers with oil, onions, cloves, and bay leaf and it's very much the same as what I had in Warsaw. There is another approach (which I haven't go the recipe for) that is sour and a little sweet and has sour cream and green onions (and sometimes raisins, in the northwest). Those are good and a little exciting because I have them less often, but I like the oil and onions and cloves kind better.
> If so, I wouldn’t say it’s an acquired taste. It’s a bit fishy but even as a child I liked it.
Yeah, I agree, which is why I'm a little amused at how much surprise and enjoyment "lubie śledzie" seems to prompt.