# Anyone else not eat fish or seafood? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604 "2010-09-22T01:52:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/81 "2010-09-24T08:03:29Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > [@norinew](#): > > > > Well, all the canned tuna in our pantry is labeled “solid white”, so, I would guess that, like poultry, some cuts are white, some are dark. > > Someone will correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think individual tunas have white and dark meat. The distinction is between species of tuna. Some species, like albacores, have lighter meat than other species, like yellowfins. Some species of tuna do have different-colored meat, very-black and not-quite-white. Thanks to all the responders. ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/82 "2010-09-24T08:47:14Z")
The only seafood I can eat is nori (seaweed). The rest will make me physically ill, be it fish or crustacean. I don’t get hives or swell up, but I will get very nauseous, a headache and an upset stomach, which will last several hours. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/83 "2010-09-24T11:21:27Z")
I don’t eat any fish or seafood of any kind. I completely agree with those who have pointed out that there’s some lack of logical rigour here, in that there’s a very wide range of tastes and textures involved. Nonetheless, that’s how I am. It has never been a problem for me except during visits to Japan and Singapore, when well-meaning people kept assuming I’d just _love_ to sample some particular kind of seafood deemed to be special or wonderful for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/84 "2010-09-24T11:30:53Z")
The only fish I will eat is canned tuna, which to me tastes nothing like “real” fish. As other people have said, it’s that “fishy” taste that puts me off (I read somewhere that it comes from the iodine in the fish…?) I don’t care about most fish, but I would like to like sushi, because it looks so good. The few times I’ve tried it, however, I’ve physically struggled to swallow it, it’s so revolting. As for other seafood, even the though of eating an invertebrate sickens me. How did people even discover that those creepy-crawlies are edible? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/85 "2010-09-24T12:29:02Z")
I love it, but I can see how people can hate it. Especially if your first experiences with it are poorly-cooked or not-so-fresh fish. I went without eating shrimp for over ten years after throwing up a large plate of fried shrimp when I was four years old. But I always loved all other kinds of seafood. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/86 "2010-09-24T12:44:58Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > I love it, but I can see how people can hate it. Especially if your first experiences with it are poorly-cooked or not-so-fresh fish. Maybe this is it. I grew up hating seafood, by which I meant tuna casserole with crushed potato chips on top and fish sticks. That was the only seafood my mother made. Then, later in life, I discovered things like grilled salmon with orange sauce, and coconut-crusted shrimp, and steamed crab legs, and calamari, and talapia. I still can’t eat canned tuna or fish sticks, though. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/87 "2010-09-24T12:53:19Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > > [@salinqmind](#): > > > > You all should stop worrying that seafood is hogging 50% of your restaurant menues. There’s plenty of good hearty manly red meat and lotsa chicken on the other side of the menu. The oceans are dying, the fisheries have decimated the fish population. Pretty soon any kind of fish or shellfish will be so expensive only the ultra-rich and/or the Japanese will be able to afford it. And then someday there just won’t BE any more fish worth catching or eating. > > Yeah, except for that fish farming thingie. > :rolleyes: > > Frankly, I am quite surprised at so many testaments to aversion to seafood. A dislike for an oily, strong-flavored fish like salmon I can understand (which is why its best cold-smoked or medium-rare!) but I am getting the sense that people haven’t actually TRIED many of the variations of seafood preparations. > > For example, an oily fish like tuna or salmon tastes/smells MORE oily and fishy the more it is cooked. Seared tuna tartare when done properly is a gift from the culinary heavens, likewise salmon, scallops, lobster, etc. > > Its all in how its prepared. People that claim “I don’t eat bugs” in reference to lobster, shrimp and other crustaceans are just being silly. Its the same as a little kid saying “No Dad, I don’t like that!” > > Dad: “Have you tried it?” > > Kid: “NO! But I don’t care, I know I won’t like it!” > > I understand this won’t be the case with everyone, but some of you have had some bad fish/shellfish or had it prepared in a crappy way. I used to be like you. Now I am an utter convert. I just ate seared scallops a moment ago. They were delicious, except I over-salted them. > > Those of you that cannot appreciate sushi for all its clean, vibrant flavors (not ALL of which are derived from the fish itself, but from condiments)…I will pray the rosary for you, for you know not what you do. And there’s the judging of what other people are interested in putting in their mouths. Yes, lobster and crabs DO look like giant bugs to me - the blueberries in yogurt look like bugs to me, too. One of my rules for retaining my omnivore status is to not eat meat that still looks like the animal it started off as - if my particular quirks don’t suit you, don’t develop them. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/88 "2010-09-24T13:58:00Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > And there’s the judging of what other people are interested in putting in their mouths. Yes, lobster and crabs DO look like giant bugs to me - the blueberries in yogurt look like bugs to me, too. One of my rules for retaining my omnivore status is to not eat meat that still looks like the animal it started off as - if my particular quirks don’t suit you, don’t develop them. In that case, how do you feel about crab cakes or lobster roll? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/89 "2010-09-24T16:53:07Z")
I’m a vegetarian. I don’t eat fish. I cannot eat shellfish. It always tastes like something that went bad to me. A co-worker once swore to me there was no fish in her pasta salad. I took one bite, spit it out, and said “There is so fish in here. Shellfish.” Her response? “Oh, you can’t really taste the tiny bit of crab in there.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/90 "2010-09-24T17:06:49Z")
That’s what really annoys me about “that sort of person.” If you can’t taste it **in any way** , why is it an ingredient? And if you can, then don’t say there isn’t any in the dish. Enhancers affect taste, therefore you taste them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/91 "2010-09-24T17:35:47Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > I am a vegetarian but was never a fan of seafood even when I ate meat. I think the big thing for me is that I discovered it is fairly common for certain kinds of fish to have worms and other parasites in them. The idea of eating a roundworm in a fish filet totally grosses me out even if it is dead and not going to cause health problems. Then you should probably not read the next part.I was in a supermarket and I went by their seafood department. And there was a cut of some kind of whitefish. It had been caught, gutted, transported to market, cut up into a fillet, and packed in a styrofoam tray and plastic wrap. And yet there, poking its head out, was a very obviously live worm. Who was no doubt thinking “What the hell was that all about?” ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/92 "2010-09-24T17:44:39Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I checked the menu of the place I am going tomorrow and of 16 main dishes, 11 are fish or seafood. They also have a vegetarian menu with about 7 items. So that’s about 1/2 fish or seafood. > > I have no allergies, just can’t stand the taste of fish or seafood. I also really hate onions but those are easy to avoid. **Bijou Drains** , you’re my soul mate! > [@pulykamell](#): > > Onions are easy to avoid? I’m surprised. Onions are everywhere. I think about 80-90% of my recipes have an onion involved somewhere. (ETA: And I’d be hard pressed to find a restaurant where most of the non-dessert dishes do not have onions [or shallots] as an ingredient.) Onions \*\*are \*\*everywhere. My mother tried to hide them in every way possible, but I could always tell they were there. It’s not the taste so much as the texture. I can’t stand the crunch. Even when cooked beyond recognition I can still crunch on them. If I have to use 'em in a recipe for the flavor, I’ll chop ‘em up HUGE so I can search-and-destroy when eatin’ time comes around. On the fish issue, I grew up in a strict Catholic household, and the only time we ever age fish was on Fridays during Lent. And then it was Mom’s creamed tuna or tuna casserole. {shudder} On occasion it was fish sticks. My brother grew up thinking he hated macaroni & cheese. Then he tried it by itself. Turns out he associated it with the accompanying fish sticks, which he loathed. As a kid if the family went out to a nice restaurant for dinner I’d have fried shrimp. Maybe it was because it was finger food & kid-friendly, or because I could share it with my oldest brother, I don’t know. I still like scallops, but try to keep away from fried anything if I can help it. As an adult (or what passes for an adult!) I won’t cringe if served fish, but it wouldn’t be my choice. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/93 "2010-09-24T17:45:02Z")
Wow, how did I miss this thread for the last 3 days? I don’t eat any seafood. I can be coaxed into sushi and I have enjoyed the occasional fish taco, but on the whole my rule for meat is “no less than 2 and no more than 4 legs.” ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/94 "2010-09-24T17:59:36Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I guarantee that a piece of bacon-wrapped grilled shrimp will cure the lot of you. In my experience wrapping things I find repulsive (and anything that comes out of the water falls into that category for me) in bacon or cheese just puts me off of bacon or cheese for a while. I don’t like seafood in any way and I am glad to leave my share of it for those of you who enjoy it. > [@Skammer](#): > > To each his own, but I don’t understand people who say “I don’t like anything that comes out of the water.” (Meaning any fish or shellfish). I have to believe it’s a mental thing and not really a taste/texture thing, because there is sooo much variety. > > There is firm, steak-like fish and soft, flaky fish. There is mild fish and strong-tasting fish. White fish and red fish. Saltwater and freshwater. A walleye, which I love, tastes nothing like salmon, which I hate. Tuna does not taste like talapia, which does not tase like hallibut. > > There’s just as much variety in shellfish. Clams, mussels, oysters and scallops are all bivalves, but scallops have a different taste and texture than the other three. Shrimp meat, crab meat and lobster meat are all very different (I love the former two but don’t care for lobster). > > So I can totally understand if you turn down clams, someone offering you talapia. Those two foods are more different than beef and chicken are to each other. It all smells like the devil’s bum. I can’t stand the smell of it at all. Any of it. Yes, even that non-fishy white fish. Yep, even clams. Even when it is fried. It all smells. I don’t eat things that smell disgusting to me and all the logical reasoning in the world about why I should is not going to change that. And if I’m wrong and fish are delicious and I am just waltzing through life being wrong about it, so what? I am fine with being wrong about that. Everybody’s wrong about something and I’m fine with my wrongness being food related. \*I will not eat shrimp, fish, or clams I will not eat them, Skam I Am. I will not eat them bacon-wrapped. I WILL NOT EAT THEM all in caps. I will not eat them fried or grilled. I don’t eat things with claws or gills! I will not eat them rolled in rice. I will not eat them chopped or diced. I will not eat them fresh or canned. I will not eat them, Skam I Am!\* ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/95 "2010-09-24T20:32:42Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I’m a vegetarian. I don’t eat fish. > > I cannot eat shellfish. It always tastes like something that went bad to me. A co-worker once swore to me there was no fish in her pasta salad. I took one bite, spit it out, and said “There is so fish in here. Shellfish.” > > Her response? “Oh, you can’t really taste the tiny bit of crab in there.” Why the hell would you bother to _add_ an ingredient (especially a pricey one!) that you ‘can’t even taste’?? :rolleyes: Seriously, anyone who will _lie_ to someone about what’s in a dish makes me all stabby! ---
**Author:** ![ladeda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ladeda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladeda)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/96 "2010-09-24T20:36:53Z")
I’m from Delaware/Eastern Shore of Maryland. I won’t eat it. I can’t stand the smell in the first place. I have to hold my breath when I walk past the fish/seafood section in the grocery store. I tried a clam once and nearly choked on it. All I can remember is how nasty and rubbery it was. Any time I’ve tried any kind of seafood I’ve been disgusted. The funny thing is, I actually will eat a tuna fish sammich about once a decade and semi-enjoy it. 😕 I’m way overdue. The last tuna sammich I had was around 1997. I’m weird. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/97 "2010-09-26T17:14:09Z")
I hate seafood, especially fish. (I used to like shrimp okay, but that’s it.) I have ever since I was a little kid. I’ve spent most of my life within 20 miles of the Pacific Ocean, so I don’t think freshness was an issue. Now I’m a vegetarian. It does bother me that people still think I will eat fish because fish doesn’t equal meat in their mind. Usually informing them that I plain old don’t like fish does the trick, though. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/98 "2010-09-26T19:25:45Z")
I’ve tried lots of seafood in my life, especially on a trip to Europe in high school. The only seafood I have ever liked is the shrimp served at Japanese steakhouses. I was sorta forced to try one because I might as well since three come with every meal, and I found I actually liked it. Something about the way it’s prepared there, it loses all of its fishy taste. While the texture (something I find important in my food) isn’t great, it’s workable and I’ve even on occasion ordered shrimp as part of my main meal. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/99 "2010-09-27T00:23:59Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > > > And there’s the judging of what other people are interested in putting in their mouths. Yes, lobster and crabs DO look like giant bugs to me - the blueberries in yogurt look like bugs to me, too. One of my rules for retaining my omnivore status is to not eat meat that still looks like the animal it started off as - if my particular quirks don’t suit you, don’t develop them. > > In that case, how do you feel about crab cakes or lobster roll? Never had lobster roll, but crab cakes aren’t too bad as long as they don’t taste fishy. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604/100 "2010-09-27T15:53:41Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > > [@UncleRojelio](#): > > > > I guarantee that a piece of bacon-wrapped grilled shrimp will cure the lot of you. > > I guarantee that it DIDN’T. It’s crap like this that I object to more than I object to the actual shrimp itself. Shrimp has a distinct flavor and texture and smell that I don’t like. I’ve had it numerous times, in all sorts of ways. I DO NOT like shrimp. I try shrimp, and other foods that I’ve previously disliked, on occasion. Voluntarily. Sometimes I find that my tastes have changed. But don’t assume that because YOU like a particular food, that everyone who states a disliking for that food will change his/her mind. Do you think it’s possible that **UncleRojello** was joking? That’s how I took it. Anyhow, more seafood for me! I love just about all of it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-not-eat-fish-or-seafood/554604.md?page=6)