Medium-rare steak is, to a kid, pretty gross. Properly prepared, the thing is bleeding when you cut into it. That's closer to aliveness than most of us are willing to get around ages five or six. When you start getting older, society starts gently nudging you towards medium-rare. Sure, it may be a little unpleasant at first: The steak is chewier and there's the whole blood thing. But you pretty quickly figure out that if you compromise your initial discomfort with something that you'll open up whole new worlds of quality and taste for yourself. It's like eating sea urchin, which looks pretty gross and has a strange texture and distinct taste (like you're swallowing the essence of the ocean) that becomes something you seek out after you convince yourself to like it.