Picky eaters

[Jaxom 1974]

You live in Carolina. Chances are, you've never actually eaten pizza. As such, your opinion is null.

Do they actually have pizza in Massachusetts? Or is that "pizza" from New York you refer to due to proximity to that city..?

[GoN]

I'm in the middle camp. I don't think husband should be dictating what's eaten in his presence, and I don't he should be forcefed or secretly fed things he doesn't like. I know loads of people who don't like olives or vinegar or eggs, so its definitely not the weirdest thing I've ever heard of.

I'm not too picky, and really enjoy trying new things. I did have a younger sibling growing up who had a complete mental block about onions and would go hungry versus eating something that had even been touched by the offending item in question. Sadly, I had a grandmother who cooked everything with onions.

Oh and there is no such place as Carolina :P

[Mack Kilimaro]

Yeah, when we run into people on the street I just tell everyone he's some random guy.

Now I know why you let that guy run up the tab in your name. It just didn't make any sense, but I never wanted to ask.

(Disclaimer: The preceding two sentences were intended for comic effect. Yours truly is well aware of Raidne's marriage.)

[lessthanluke]

I'm a fairly picky eater. Don't like gravy which people think is weird.

[Tyrellius]

Also a pet peeve. Its difficult to make a relationship work when you bitch about your SO to all of your friends about what an asshole he is. The image the friends have is negative and that gives them less than no incentive to give encouragement to stay in the relationship and honestly, just causes extra SO & friend drama.

Haha. Pot.

[HarmaDogsHead]

Haha. Pot.

?? Kettle? I am not aware of the cooking utensil game.

[The_BlauerDragon]

I'm not sure if I would call myself a picky eater... but some may choose to disagree.

Things I don't eat:

Anything containing wheat or gluten: Reason, violent food allergy.

Anything containing tomatoes (except for salsa, which I eat grudgingly): Reason, Moral and ethical objection (plus I hate the taste, and tomatoes have also been known to occasionally trigger my gluten allergy).

Avocados (in any form): Reason, really bad experience from youth which is relived at the slightest taste.

Grapefruit: Reason, I just hate the taste.

Sour Cream: Reason, I hate the taste.

Cottage Cheese: Reason, it's curdled milk and I hate the taste.

Plain Yogurt: Reason, I REALLY hate the taste.

Mushrooms: Reason, it's a fungus and I hate the taste.

That about sums it up. So, am I too picky?

[Stego]

Do they actually have pizza in Massachusetts? Or is that "pizza" from New York you refer to due to proximity to that city..?

Whatever you say, Louisiana Purchase. We had Italians before you had a state, never mind a city, and we know enough to know that deep dish Chicago pies suck, and that Greeks actually make the best pizza. By far.(But the shit I had in Sicily was edible. In Rome, not so much. In Naples it was horrid. In Chicago, it was sauce and cheese on a slab of bread.)

You poor, sad central time zone people. Primetime was 7pm or you, wasn't it? :( It's ok Jaxom, I'll hold you close.

[Stego]

Oh and there is no such place as Carolina :P

Yeah huh. On 95 from Richmond on down to Atlanta on 95 and from Wilmington to where they start painting everything that annoying orange color on 40.

[Stego]

Stego,

So, the pizza I ate in Foxboro (from a local place who's name I forget) back in 1995 doesn't count? What about the Chicago pizza I've had does that count?

I said 'chances are,' Robert E! I dint know your Civil War Re-enactors made it all the way up here!

[mashiara]

I used to consider myself a moderately picky eater but I've gotten a lot better with the years and now I eat a lot more things than I did when I was younger. Maybe it was because I was never exposed to them, dunno. There are still a few things that I won't eat because the taste or the smell or the texture make me gag but I will try most things once though, before I turn them down.

The fact that I don't like a few things doesn't mean I can dictate to my husband what he can and cannot eat. I wouldn't even dream of it. Other people eating things I don't like doesn't bother me at all. I can't eat mushrooms, that doesn't mean we never have mushrooms in this home, just that I'll be the ridiculous one picking them out of my plate when the time comes to eat. (I fully realize how silly this sounds but it's a better alternative to omitting them from the recipe altogether).

[Eyelesbarrow]

I was raised as an only child and was a very picky eater, mainly because my mother let me get away with it.

As an adult the only shit I wont touch:

Soups with beaks/chicken feet (tried - hated)

Offal (tried - hated)

This (wont even go near it)

Tyrellius, I eat all of these stuff. These are AZN food stuffs. ;) And they're yummy. The other day, I was even thinking of ordering congee with century eggs and pork floss for lunch.

Offal gets a bad name around here. It is good, if you know how to cook it. Spanish tripe stew? Fantastic. But it is so rich, I can only eat it in small doses. Sometimes, I ask my mom to make this pork stew with different kinds of offal mixed with pig blood. It's delicious. If you ever come by our corner of the earth, I'll make you change your mind about offal. Of course, I wouldn't tell you beforehand that it's entrails. :P

My own situation was very much the reverse. My brother is 8 years older than me. Couldn't cook to save his life. I learned to cook when I was young because I was a latchkey kid. Whenever he was home from college I'd be the one cooking or heating up meals for him.

Hurray for latchkey kids and their survival skillz. Me and my bro were latchkey kids, too. To compound the problem, my mom worked abroad for two years when I was 9 or 10, so we were on our own with a dad who doesn't know how to cook (except offals.) We eventually got tired of it and took matters to our own hands: we learned how to cook. Simple things like frying, boiling eggs, etc can lead to making your own pasta. :thumbsup:

Knowing how to cook made by brother less a picky eater. Going to the market and doing the grocery shopping made me appreciate provedores and good produce so over time, I got over my dislike of certain vegetables.

I've got a friend who doesn't eat vegetables. She only likes to eat pork and chicken. Not beef because it's hard to digest. Duh. If you don't have that much fiber in your body, of course you'll have digestion problems.

I do have dislikes still, but they're minimal and reasonable. I don't like eating ginger and I don't like a couple of local vegetables that smell funny. The stuff I would not eat also include frog and croc meat. No amphibians and reptiles for me. Although I suspect I can eat frog if somebody tells me it's chicken. ;) Oh, another hated food: sauerkraut. How the hell is that edible?

[tzanth]

ETA: What kind of fucking monster gets green olives on a pie?

*raises hand* Green olives are delicious. I frankly cant see why someone wouldn't want them on their pizza.

Women make it a habit in our culture to demean and degrade their spouses amongst each other. I find it reprehensible.

WTF? What possible purpose could this comment serve? Its sexist and insulting.

As for the OP, I'm sorry, but your husband is a complete lunatic. I couldn't care less what other people chose to eat or not eat, but for someone to try and force their choices on others? insane.

[Gertrude]

Not all picky eaters are just being stubborn. Yes, I'm a picky eater. I don't like a lot of things - mostly vegetables and fruits. Sucks to be me, I know. For me it's a combination of taste and/or texture. Most green vegetables are just so bitter to me. A lot of fruits too. Strawberries are bitter, even when people are going on about how sweet this particular batch is. Only the very center of a watermelon is good - halfway to the rind it starts getting icky. I want to like things that others eat - I really do - but it ain't happening.

I like strawberry flavored things, but not the fruit itself. Love orange juice (no pulp), love the citrus smell of some cleaners, but anyone peeling a fresh orange around me makes me want to gag. My college roommate and I had a deal - she wouldn't peel oranges in front of me if I didn't cook fish. Worked out fine. Like ketchup, hate tomatoes. Love salsa, but just the juicy part, not the chunks of vegetables.

I don't have a problem picking things out of food, or eating a few random bits I don't like, but green peppers are where I draw a firm line. You can have that on your half of the pizza, but don't expect me to pick it off mine cause it's vile and taints everything around it with its pungent poison. I think peppers are the one food I won't compromise on at all.

Growing up I had to taste everything and if I made an honest effort and I didn't like it, fine, I didn't have to finish it. My mom would try to sneak things in - like onions - but I would find them and spit them out like a dog with a pill hidden in it's food. She rarely snuck anything past me, and if she did, I didn't complain (much). To this day I try a ton of things thinking maybe I will like green beans prepared this way. I have added a few dishes to my diet, (like sauerkraut! I didn't like this, really?) but not many. I love the smell of sauteed mushrooms, and I think I should like them, but the taste and texture scream no way in hell, so that never turns out well.

I don't try to foist my preferences on others, but I also expect a little consideration for my tastes. Often, I will prepare something, split it, then add the crap I don't like to the other half. You can't do this all the time, but often you can and it takes just a little extra effort. I have to admit, I really hate ordering off a menu I'm not familiar with because you never know just exactly what is in it. I hate being that girl who is a pain in the ass when ordering.

tldr: Sometimes you just don't like things.

[The Progressive]

Women make it a habit in our culture to demean and degrade their spouses amongst each other. I find it reprehensible.

I'm afraid that this is an universal trait observable in all hominid cultures.

In the Paleolithic days, Neanderthal women most probably bitched to each other how hairy their husbands are.

[Eponine]

Also a pet peeve. Its difficult to make a relationship work when you bitch about your SO to all of your friends about what an asshole he is.

He's not an asshole all of the time. :)

[mashiara]

but anyone peeling a fresh orange around me makes me want to gag.

I have the exact same reaction, can't explain it. I don't remember it being like that when I was a kid but these days when I walk into a room I can tell if someone has just peeled an orange and the smell is just too much.

Like you said, sometimes you can't help your reaction to certain things, you really can't. It's not about deciding you don't like something, it's about your body emphatically making its dislike known to you.

[Gertrude]

I've never met anyone who had the same reaction to oranges - glad to know I'm not alone. All my friends make me feel like I am a just a freak.

[Aemon Stark]

I'm not a picky eater in any way. About the only things I absolutely won't eat are liver (or any organ meat) and most forms of black liquorice. Grossness. My brother growing up was another matter - for the longest time he'd refuse all veggies and fruit as well. Eventually he'd allow for Caesar salads. Now, fortunately, his tastes have matured considerably, and I'd say he'll eat most things I do (except sushi).

Oddly enough, he's also (and still) very squeamish about gore and blood. When he broke his hand playing rugby, he fainted no fewer than three times: (1) after being told that it was probably broken; (2) when he was shown his x-ray; (3) when he was told that he'd need surgery to repair it. Oh, what I'd give to have been there at that time. Meanwhile I'm assisting in huge open abdominal surgery frequently or watching lower lip resections or getting to use the blade during a thyroidectomy.

(evidently I'm excited by all that stuff to the extent that I'm mentioning it completely O/T in this thread. Anyway)

I think *reasonable* dietary preferences should be accommodated, but Raidne's husband sounds completely neurotic and *un*reasonable about all this. By all means, eat only what you want, but hard boiled eggs? Vinegar? Yeesh.

[Stego]

WTF? What possible purpose could this comment serve? Its sexist and insulting.

If I said "Men make it a habit in our culture to demean and degrade their spouses amongst each other" I wouldn't have anyone complaining I was being sexist.

Fact is, it wasn't sexist. It certainly was intended to be insulting to those who do it. I was simply pointing out a socially accepted norm.