A lot of people hate olives.

I certainly did, for many years. But now I love them.

They’re arguably one of the most contentious of all “common” foods.

This is a bit out of left field but has come up a couple of times at work recently.

An old cook friend of mine has a theory that you need to try olives 13 times before you can truly appreciate them. This doesn’t mean sitting down and eating 13 olives in a row — that will likely ruin any hope of future enjoyment.

Now, I don’t know if there is science behind the theory but it seems to hold.

I couldn’t stand them. It took years before I learned how delicious they are. And over that time — although I didn’t keep track — it was probably around that 10 – 20 tries where it finally kicked in.

And this is a bit of a trend. I know quite a few people who have a similar story: Absolute disgust turning to love and appreciation, right in that 13-try ballpark.

So without ranting on longer than necessary about olives. Keep that in mind.

If you hate olives, keep trying.