Feel free to answer the questions of this interesting (I hope), self-centered little „interview“ and post them here!
Foods you hated when you were a child?I used to be an incredibly picky eater. As a child, foods I disliked were mainly cooked vegetables; and I guess that's because in my family they were rarely served in an appealing way: Spinach was finely chopped and cooked until it resembled a green mush with a bland-bitter taste. A combination of broccoli, carrot and cauliflower was cooked in butter and broth until they were limp and soggy. Red cabbage and lentils were equally cooked to mush; pea soup looked like it had been previously eaten; and tomatoes were rare. Even worse, my grandparents sometimes force-fed me the stuff I didn't like („You stay here until your plate is empty!“ ) – whatever the reasoning behind this, the effect was that I disliked the particular foods even less.
To be fair, my mother mostly didn't mind and made sure I got a ton of raw vegetables such as carrot, bell peppers, celery, salads etc. which I liked (and still do).
Your eating habits as a child?Children commonly have weird eating habits. I was no exception. For years, I would often eat exactly four buttered slices of toast for a meal: one with brie, one with bologna, one with salami, and one with nutella. This changed when I became a teenager and completely stopped liking sausage; now my toast slices were topped mainly with grated Emmentaler cheese. I ate cheese toast both for breakfast and dinner. When I went to Texas as an exchange student in 2005, I discovered different foods and my eating habits changed completely. (To be fair, those millions of toast slices I've consumed were all whole grain XD)
Also, as a child I disliked soft drinks and sodas. I tried them several times, but the combination of sugary-sweet and sparkly was off-putting to me, and I still can't stand soda, lemonade and many fruit juices or drinks today.
Let's talk about CHEESE! How did your preferences evolve?Because my mother always bought and ate Camembert, Brie and Emmentaler, I ate a lot of them as a child, but didn't know or like other cheeses. Over time, I began to discover Mozzarella, feta, Parmesan (the real hard cheese!), Mascarpone; and they all are favorites now. Only recently I also discovered Gruyere, Pecorino and ricotta – instant love!
I still remember when I was in Texas, the supermarkets had mainly three kinds of cheese: bright orange Cheddar, a pale Monterey Jack, and a hard, pale yellow conoction named Mozzarella – nevermind the fact that real Mozzarella is white, soft, ball-shaped and has to be stored in salt water. I was flabbergasted about this „mozzarella“; but by now I know that in the USA there are at least as many great cheese varieties to be found as in Europe.
Which foods do you dislike today?Mostly German food - and I'm born and raised in Germany. I think it is because of my negative associations with it – overcooked vegetables, strange sausages, repulsive pea soup, weird sauerkraut and red cabbage, a potato salad that gave half my family food poisoning; and a pair of strict grandparents who made me eat soggy vegetables and – worst of all! - the slippery, tough, jelly-like lard edges of a piece of sauerbraten which made me dread visiting them for lunch.
Other foods I dislike today include olives, umeboshi pickled plums, gorgonzola, okra, brussels' sprouts, but these are more a matter of personal taste than negative memories and grandparent-drama – most people either love these foods or hate them.
Also: fruit yogurts (they're just the wrong kind of „sweet“ for my taste), many salty snacks, white „chocolate“, coffee, many cakes topped with fruit; whipped cream, potato puree, ketchup.
Okay, enough of the hate! Let's spread some love! What are your favorite foods? Of which category? Let's start with my favorite dishes! These are, um, pretty much everything I have ever eaten and loved! But if I had to name just a few, they would be: Pancakes and rice pudding in many variations, moussaka, curries, sushi, pasta with pesto, chili con carne, pizza, oyako-don (chicken and egg on rice), and some more.
Most of these I didn't become crazy about until I was a teenager.
A „key moment“ in your relationship with food?My exchange year in Texas has changed my eating habits totally: in the USA I discovered tons and tons of new, interesting food. My host parents cooked a lot and often healthy too, so I always got to try something new. Things I discovered in the USA were: cornbread, Spam, pecan pie, enchiladas, tacos, barbecued chicken, tofu, Thanksgiving dinner, bagels, instant oatmeal in little brown bags, Chinese moon cakes, raisin bran cereal, skim milk, chicken pot pie, and a stupendous diversity of so-called TV dinners, processed „health“ foods, and weight-loss foods (which my host parents luckily didn't eat). The school lunches, however, were terrible; I mostly remember mushy, oversalted enchiladas and corn dogs; the only healthy thing served there being apples.
Now, my eating habits didn't really change to focus on typical American dishes and foods; these are uncommon in Europe. The real change was that I became more open to try new things, which continued when I returned to Germany after my exchange year. Since then (2006) I eat a much larger variety of foods.
Now I'm a student and cook for myself all the time, so I'm still in the progress of experimenting and discovering (and loving it!)
Favorite Ingredients 1: What vegetables do you mainly use today?I use mainly tomatoes, garlic, onions, mushrooms, mixed frozen vegetables, carrots, eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, leeks, green salads and leaf spinach, whenever any of that is in season. My favorite are tomatoes – the small date-shaped ones taste best to me.
Favorite Ingredients 2: What fruit do you eat?Mainly apples, regardless of season – I eat them all the time. They are one of the very few foods I grew up with AND that I still love today.
I also eat, depending on the season: oranges and tangerines, mirabelles, strawberries, cherries, mangoes, papayas, persimmons, kiwis, grapefruit, avocado, blueberries, grapes, apricots and peaches.
Favorite Ingredients 2: What do you often cook?Pasta and rice. I try different kinds when it comes to pasta, and prefer the whole-grain version. Since I'm studying in Italy I have a nearly infinite number of pasta varieties at my disposal, and it absolutely rocks.
As for rice, I prefer the fluffy Asian kind – especially the fragrant Basmati and jasmine rice. I even use a rice cooker. Brown rice isn't my kind of thing – it may be supposedly healthier, but doesn't taste as good to me.
I also use couscous (tried it for the first time just recently!)
Other favorite ingredients?Beans! They were rare at home when I grew up. Same goes for spices such as cumin, coriander, ginger, turmeric... also: wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, olive oil, sesame oil, butter. Herbs I use often are basil, oregano and rosemary. I've just discovered cilantro (a rarity in Germany). I also love nuts: almonds, hazelnuts, pistachios and walnuts.
What do you eat for breakfast?It varies a lot!
1)Something I've baked previously, because I bake all the time (brownies, spice cookies, banana bread, honey bread...) and even the stomachs of family, roommates and boyfriend have their limits, so I end up having delicious breakfast with homemade baked goods.
2)Muesli with milk! There isn't much premixed muesli out there in Italy so I make my own by mixing oats with pieces of dried fruits and nuts. I've eaten it regularly since about 2006.
3)Pancakes. Just delicious!
4)Sweets. In Italy, I discovered torrone (chewy white nougat bars with nuts and honey), and panforte (heavy, dense cake made from dried fruit and nuts), and had these for breakfast quite a few times. Sometimes I eat half a bar of chocolate together with fruit. Sometimes it's store-bought but nonetheless yummy Tiramisu or Profiteroles.
And sometimes it's whatever unhealthy but oh-so-delicious stuff I just happened to find!
Granted, my breakfast is often relatively unhealthy, but enjoyable! ;> Altogether I'm feel very healthy though. Perhaps it's because I eat little processed food, no fastfood (tried a Big Mac once in my life, didn't like it), and no sweetened drinks simply because I'm not crazy about them.
5) Something my roommate baked.
6) Yogurt, my favorite being Greek yogurt topped with honey and nuts. (Of course it has to be whole milk yogurt!)
Let's talk about... FOOD! 
Bliss
