My father recently had some dental work done that left him very sore in the mouth. The pain was bad enough that he was on a diet of mostly mush for a few days!
Luckily, he’s a fan of certain mushy foods; for as long as I can remember, my dad has loved Cream of Wheat hot cereal. (I like it with accessories like dried fruit or maple syrup, personally!) So he ate a lot of Cream of Wheat while his mouth was recovering.
But when my mom served up the first bowl, it prompted this comment from my father: “Don’t we have any white foods in the house anymore?” Because what she’d offered him wasn’t classic Cream of Wheat, I guess, but some whole grain “brown” variety. And to my dad, it just wasn’t the same.
That comment sent me into hysterics for a good long while, by the way — because I understand exactly what he means. My mom is a big fan of “brown” foods over “white” foods — also known as whole grains, rather than processed white flour foods. She serves whole wheat pasta, multigrain bread, and “brown” versions of anything she can get her hands on.
And while I know that whole grains are good for me, sometimes the whole grain versions of foods just don’t taste like the foods I know and love. I love whole grain and multigrain bread — but find the taste of whole grain pasta kind of unappealing. It just doesn’t taste like “normal” pasta to me! No amount of sauce can disguise the taste of the whole wheat pasta, either.
I like to enjoy my food. So there are some “brown” foods that I enjoy — and I eat them. But when the “brown” version just isn’t as tasty as the “white” version? Once in a while, I think it’s okay to substitute the thing that tastes good for the thing that’s better for you. If I ate pasta on a daily basis, maybe I’d worry more about switching over… but I don’t think I eat pasta often enough that it’s an issue.
Another option I’ve seen (and tried) is “half and half” pasta — pasta made with half whole wheat flour and half white flour. To my taste buds, the flavor of half and half pasta is closer to “real” pasta… so it’s a good, healthy, whole grain compromise!