Few health food trends have ignited the nation quite like quinoa, that crumbly pseudocereal that's crept into our hearts and salads over the past few years. But while most of us have accepted the Health Gods' decree that pasta dishes be replaced with something that has a consistency similar to a bowl of ants, it appears that some people are rebelling; a recent expose on the famed chenopod suggests quinoa might actually be disgusting.
This week, the Wall Street Journal examined eaters' relationship with the quinoa and found that many people did not like it, despite the United Nation's assertion that the food will save us all, one grain at a time. "It was awful. There is literally no taste to it," Lilliane Coldwell, an Atlanta resident who started eating quinoa in an attempt to lose weight, told the WSJ.
A Twitter user referred to it as "Dickensian gruel," and even some bloggers have refused to bend to quinoa's bland charms: "To the people who love quinoa: get the hell out," blogger Owl Olive wrote in May. "See, quinoa is a bag of pebbly, icky sand. That’s it. Its sand masquerading as food."
Is all this quinoa hate misplaced? Most quinoa, after all, is delicious, provided it's slathered in siracha and all sorts of other condiments that mask its actual taste. Which, for those of us less cultured souls, is like teensy rocks sprinkled with sour milk.
Then again, whether you hate quinoa, love quinoa or just enjoy watching rabbis quibble over how kosher it is, it looks like the plant is here to stay, so you might want to study up on some recipes so your friends don't start shunning you for your plebeian palate.
