Me vs. Natto

     I'm always up for new culinary adventures and experiences to expand my palette. You'll never know if you like or dislike something until you have tried it (and even then, your taste buds may change over the years)!  My boyfriend constantly tries out foods he dislikes just to ensure he still doesn't like them.  Although most of the time though, he confirms what he believed prior.


     My palette has sent me on a lot of different adventures such as my search for stinky tofu, blood cakes, foie gras, fresh uni, and anything based on molecular gastronomy. I'm still on the prowl for fugu (aka puffer fish)!  Yes, I am totally aware of the effects of TTX (that was so last semester in physiology) and I still want to try fugu (for the taste, not the numbness). 


     Anyways, I digress... As part of one of my classes I was asked to expand my "cultural horizons" and I thought what a great time to try out a traditional Japanese dish called natto!  Natto is basically fermented soy beans. Which in retrospect sounds a lot like stinky tofu, but the soy beans are kept whole. 

     I didn't really mind stinky tofu when I had it in LA at Boiling Point.  I was expecting about the same taste from the natto, maybe a little bit stronger.  The smell was definitely more overpowering than I expected.  To me it smelled like a cross between durian and cheese that had been left out a little bit longer than it should have been.  Basically, the smell wasn't that appetizing and our sense of smell is one part of the mechanism through which we taste food!  I still wasn't convinced that I wasn't going to like natto though, since there are some funky smelling things out there that taste wonderful.  What was a little disconcerting however was the presence of a distinct slimy glycocalyx.

     Usually I'd associate a slime layer with a huge "do not eat me" sign, just like those toxic frogs from the rain forest who don bright neon colors.  However, I was not going to be that easily deterred!  Ok, there was a little wavering, but after some encouragement from my colleagues, I took my first bite!  And to make an already long story short, it's just not for me.  

     I find myself at a loss for words to actually describe the flavor profile...I think the word "natto" is probably the best descriptor I can give.  Natto tastes like...well natto!  I mean no offense to those who actually like natto, more power to you, it's just not for me.  The slimy outer covering imparted an "interesting" texture, one that I won't be forgetting any time soon.  The smell and texture alone nearly did me in.  X_x  I'm glad I tried it though, maybe in a few years I'll drum up the courage to give it another go.  After all I have to make sure I really don't like it, right?