The first time I became a vegetarian was in the late 80's/early 90's and I almost never ate tofu "straight" unless it was in a restaurant. I ate a lot of vegetarian "meats" and dairy and eggs, but never tofu or soy milk. I hated the taste of soy milk
!
Then when I went back to vegetarianism two years ago, I started using tofu more, but in places where I could hide it (like a smoothie). I couldn't even stand soy lattes, though.
But in the last six months I've been using tofu more "straight", as in stir-fries and you know, I'm really loving the delicate taste! I'm picky about texture, which was one of the things that kept me from liking tofu, since it can get so rubbery, but I'm finding the non-silken extra-firm tofu (Namasoya is the brand that I find around here) isn't a problem. I don't even have to do some gymnastics to it (like freezing it, pressing it between paper towels, etc.) to get it a texture I like. I just throw it in to my sautes as is.
I'm also using soy milk more (the unsweetened and unflavored kind). I still can't drink it straight (but then I never liked cow's milk straight either) but I can tolerate it in a smoothie and latte without being bothered by the "beany" taste.
Funny how tastes change...
.
Tam