Anyone else not eat fish or seafood?

Cafe Society
101

IME, anything that comes out of saltwater has a distinctly salty “ocean” taste which I do not enjoy. I have had one bite of mahi mahi that didn’t make me want to spit it out immediately, and that was on a cruise in 2001. I think the last time I ate crab was in 2002, and that was just one bite of dip. I’ve had sushi of all kinds since I was 12 years old and never liked anything that was raw. I will eat 2-3 shrimp once every couple of years, and every time I do, I’m reminded of why I don’t like them!

I don’t think I’ve ever tried freshwater fish, and I really have no interest in doing so.

102

And that joke is just as “funny” as saying to a vegetarian, “oh I’m a member of PETA. PEOPLE EATING TASTY ANIMALS! HURHUR”, or if a cashier scans something and no price comes up, saying, “I guess IT’S FREE THEN, RIGHT? HURHUR.”

Look, seafood/fish lovers: if many fish haters say that:

  • they have tried many different kinds of sea-dwelling creatures
  • in many different preparation methods
  • and they still don’t like any of it
  • and often times there is a “fishy” taste
    Maybe, just maybe, there is a coherent taste that is there, laying low, in all water-dwelling creatures? Obviously it doesn’t bother you, since you like the things. Perhaps because that underlying taste doesn’t bother you, you can then focus on the different flavor profiles of individual fish/seafood. But for those of us to whom it does bother, it overwhelms any possible tastiness.

I do not like fish or seafood. I can tolerate tuna and salmon, but I never will look forward to it or actually desire it. I dislike every single other fish I have tried (cod, mahi mahi, tilapia, perch, orange roughy and a bunch more I can’t think of at the moment). I have had everything from fishsticks to fish prepared at really nice seafood restaurants. I have tried shrimp in many many forms at many places. I tried lobster, crab, scallops (scallops are mildly okay, but again, that’s not PRAISE).

I

do

not

like

any

fish

or

seafood.

There are very few food items I actually dislike (really I can only think of seafood/fish and olives). I still will try each a few times every year to try them in different recipes, ways of preparation or serving, or whatever. I figure that maybe I’ll discover that I actually do like them when (insert whatever here) or that over time, I’ll grow to like them.

Still hasn’t happened yet. So don’t try to say I just haven’t had the right kind yet, because obviously all good, god-fearing, moral and correct people have to like the same fish you like.

103

I’m not. In Collapse, Jared Diamond wrote that cultural food taboos involving meat, fish, or shellfish are common all over the world (of course, not all of these taboos involve the same species). He theorized that this might be because meat, fish, and shellfish are more likely than plants to develop bacteria that can lead to food poisoning, or to harbor parasites that can infest humans.

Learned food aversions are common in people. That’s when you get sick after eating some food, and can’t stand the taste or smell of that food afterward. This is found in a lot of other animals as well, and probably evolved as a strategy for avoiding poisons. If fish and seafood are more prone to harbor unfriendly bacteria than other foods are, then it shouldn’t be surprising if there are a lot of people out there with aversions to fish or seafood.

There’s also the fact that shellfish and fish allergy is common. Shellfish, fish, dairy, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, and eggs are the eight most common food allergens in the US. Those are the foods that you’re likely to see “contains X” or “processed on equipment shared with Y” warnings about on packaged foods. Food allergy symptoms can include nausea or vomiting, which could trigger a food aversion. Some of the people who don’t eat shellfish because of an aversion to it might develop a shellfish allergy, if they were to eat shellfish.

Shellfish can go bad much faster than chicken or beef. Fish has the problem of going bad quickly, as well (I keep kosher, so I don’t have much experience with shellfish). I’ll buy chicken or beef a week or so ahead of when I want to use it. Fish, unless it’s frozen, I prefer to buy the day I’m going to use it, or the day before at the absolute maximum. I’ve found this is the key to avoiding that fishy taste- don’t keep the fish around in the fridge for a long time, and never buy any fish from a fish counter that smells fishy. I’ve found I need to be much pickier about where I buy my fish than I do about where I buy chicken or beef.

Shellfish also tends to be costly, per pound. If something is expensive, a cook is less likely to throw it out if it’s a little past its best. It’s much more tempting to eat something that has been around a few days and maybe smells a little off if it cost $20/pound than if it cost $5/pound.

A mild allergic reaction or eating some less-than-fresh seafood could easily trigger a food aversion.

Those of us who like fish shouldn’t be trying to push them on others. We’re having enough trouble harvesting enough fish for the people who like it now to have it. There really is a limited supply of fish in the world. Don’t waste it on people who don’t like it. That makes it more expensive and harder to get for us.

104

Part of it too is…I live in Arizona. I don’t trust seafood sold here. :stuck_out_tongue:

105

Shellfish is even more delicate. Traditional methods of preserving fish (drying, salting, canning) can’t be used on shellfish; many restaurants which offer bug-looking shellfish keep them alive in tanks until needed, when has anybody bothered do that with their cod?

106

That’s understating the case don’t you think? Fishing is already well beyond sustainable levels and a significant percentage of the worlds fisheries are beyond recovery and still being fished.

I don’t eat fish because it’s just about the most environmentally irresponsible things it’s possible to eat at the moment. Of course the fact that I’m not that keen on it makes it easy for me to be self-righteous :stuck_out_tongue:

107

[quote=“Lynn_Bodoni, post:22, topic:554604”]

How?

108

Sounds eerily similar to my aversion to tequila!
:smiley:

Anyway, isn’t fish farming becoming more and more prevalent, helping to buttress domestic supply? They are farming salmon, tilapia, shrimp and a whole host of things these days. There is a flavor difference between something farmed and something caught or hunted wild though due to regulated versus unregulated diets. As someone who has worked in the fine dining and wine sales industry for years (but not anymore) I have had a fairly unique opportunity to try a vast array of foods, and I can say that proper, fresh seafood, prepared in the hands of a credible chef is so markedly different from eating it just about anywhere else that it bears mentioning.

I’m not trying to be judgemental, I’m just kinda blown away that so many don’t like it.

As far as the sustainability thing goes, in a place like Japan where everyone is crazy about seafood (and they still do crap like hunt whales) its probably a major issue, which is why they suck up the entire bluefin tuna market because they will pay so much more for it than anyone else will.

There are other varieties of wild fish both foreign and domestic that are in short supply, but by and large I think the USA and its fishermen and women do a pretty good job at being responsible about their catches. Dolphin-safe nets, catch limits, size limits, regulated seasons, and so forth.

Even restaurants and chefs have been getting in on the act. I recall in the 1990’s when swordfish steak was *de rigueur * but it was being heavily overfished and many chefs refused to put it on their menus and AFAICT the species has recovered.

109

[quote=“singular1, post:107, topic:554604”]

Haven’t finished reading the thread yet, but someone may already have answered why you should not claim an allergy to something …

I am allergic to a couple things - coconut/palm/tropical oil or food products from palm trees like coconut, coconut oil, coconut milk. It gives me nausea, the runs and I break out in hives. I am also allergic to bivalves [clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, coquina] and they give me nausea and projectile vomiting. Mushrooms put me into anaphylaxis [I carry an epi pen and benedryl to keep me alive until EMS can respond]

I have had people [on separate occasions] deliberately slip coconut milk and clam juice into foods they fed me - because they told me they doubted I was actually allergic to them and they wanted to prove I was lying. They apologized profusely afterwords, but that would be cold comfort to the survivors of someone who got put into shock and died from being fed something ‘because I thought they were lying’.

Stop doing it. Be blunt, tell them to fuck off and stop trying to get you to eat something, feel perfectly free to tell them it tastes like ass, but stop lying about being allergic to something when you are not. It fucks it up for those of us who are allergic to something.

[that is why you will hear me tell someone that I will eat anything I am not allergic to, but I know I hate okra, zucchini and eggplant already so no thanks on <insert name of yucky dish> and if they persist, I will get rude and tell them that they are not my mother and i don’t have to eat anything that I don’t want to.]

110

Yeah my mom can’t stand any seafood or fish, and also highly dislikes going near the see because of that particular iodine/salty/fishy smell. She’s not a picky-eater, nor does she have an aversion to strong taste or smell (she loves the foulest smelling cheese you can find, like vieux lille, maroilles and such), but with seafood, something just triggers something.

111

Now that’s just messed up. People really did that to you? Jesus, you could have died! I mean, if you’re allergic to something…you’re allergic to it. End of story.

112

Not all farmed fish is created equal, though. I’ve heard bad things about salmon farming, and good things about tilapia farming (I don’t pay much attention to shrimp farming, since I keep kosher). I avoid farmed salmon, as the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainable Seafood List encourages people to do.

Even if every species of fish that is available on restaurant menus and in fish markets were sustainably fished, if we create more demand for it by getting more people to like fish, the price is going to go up. Basic economics. It’s in the interest of us fish-lovers to not create more demand for our favorite fish, so that the prices stay reasonable for us. So we should leave the non-fish-eaters to eat their chicken sandwiches, or whatever else they like to eat.

I also think it’s not anyone else’s business to try and change what I do and don’t like, unless I’m on board with the idea. I’m an adult. Adults get to choose what they eat. If we choose to eat something you don’t like, or to not eat something you do like, that’s our business and not yours. If an adult is happy not eating fish, leave them to it.

If it’s your child who won’t eat fish, and your child is under age 18, then it’s OK to try to introduce them to new foods. But that’s something for only the parents to do (or someone else to do only with the permission of the parents), and only with kids under 18. Once they’re 18, they get to make their own food choices. If you don’t like their choices, tough. Just like it’s tough for you if you don’t like their choice of religion, dating/marriage partner, decision to have or not have children, or career. They’re adults, and adults get to choose those things for themselves.

Sneaking foods into dishes I think is just a terrible thing to do. It’s just messed up, as you said. I don’t even think that’s OK to do to a child, let alone to an adult. If someone asks “does this have X in it”, you owe them an honest answer. And if you do it to “prove” that someone isn’t allergic to something they say they are, I think you ought to be charged with something serious if they get sick or die from it.

113

Yep. I had fish countless times as a kid because everyone else in my family loves it (and a Catholic family, so do the math ;)). I friggin love food and I remember being bummed (on a really low level, but still) all freaking day when I’d find out we were having… fish … for dinner. :: shudder ::

I still had to eat it because it was what was for dinner. I found that I could slather it heavily with mustard (I looove mustard) and it would mask the fishiness enough so I could wolf it down and be done with it. Still loathed it.

To her credit, though, my mom kept trying different types of fish, different prep methods, etc. to see if there were any fish I did like. It’s not her fault that they all failed. :smiley:

Of course, now that I’m 28, she tells me I shouldn’t have any fish because what if my aversion is a precursor to having a fish/seafood allergy (my aunt has a seafood allergy), so don’t tempt it. I ask her why the hell she didn’t think of that when I was a kid and had to eat it at dinner, dammit! :smiley:

114

Pretty much I agree that it is messed up. That is why I make it plain if it is something i am allergic to or just dislike. I always keep a few meal replacement bars and bottles of water in the car, so if I just plain run into a meal I cant eat I won’t go hungry.

I have no trouble when I have guests over adjusting my menu to allow for allergies, but I hate it when someone claims to be allergic to something and then tells me they always say that because they don’t like <ingredient>

115

Actually, it’s not the end of the story because –

This is so common that many people no longer take seriously a claim of allergy, because they have had experience with people claiming allergies just to support a preference, or “accidentally” eating something they’re supposedly allergic to and not suffering any serious consequences.

Lesson: Faking allergies kills.

116

Faking allergies? That seems so…childish (along with the unintended consequences you mention).

I always tell my kids that they should at least try something before they declare they don’t like it due to color/appearance/whatever issue they perceive from the food being presented to them (and they are young, so we try different things a lot). But if they just plain don’t like it, I don’t try to convince them otherwise or force them to eat it.

But these are children, not adults, and their palates aren’t completely formed yet, so sometimes when I perceive that they are just declaring they don’t like something (usually because the other child flatly refuses to eat it) I might try a couple variations before I concede they truly don’t like something.

A perfect example occurred recently with my 5 year old, who for as long as he could eat solid foods has happily eaten salad with many of his dinners, usually with Ranch or Italian dressing put on it at the table. There’s 5 of us so I break out 2-3 bottles of salad dressing and let them choose, then I put in on there for them. He decided one evening that he hated dressing and loudly refused my attempts to put it on it.

The solution was simple: put it on before putting it on the table! I just put a squirt of Italian dressing onto it before I set it in front of him and no more issues. Kids are weird anyway.

I guess the point of all this is that in addition to being irresponsible towards people with real allergies, can’t someone that fakes allergies just be assertive and say “no thank you, I don’t care for that” or something?

People that do that are as weird as the people that continually try to get someone to eat something when they already know they don’t like it.

I do stand by my assertion that there are people that would claim they never eat certain things because they hate them that would like them if they weren’t told what it was and it was prepared/presented in a different way. Not everyone of course.

117

In fact, if I went to a fish counter, and it smelled fishy, not only would I not buy anything there that day, it would probably take several months of never smelling fishy before I would buy anything there again. I buy more of my fish frozen than not (non-frozen fish is not always fresh, it’s often been frozen and thawed). I find the quality is generally more reliable that way. If the smell of a fish counter makes you want to fan your nose, why would you eat anything that had been sitting around in that stench?

There is a distinct smell associated with not-so-fresh fish. I’d be willing to believe that some people are more sensitive to that odor than others are, and that some people can smell or taste a trace of it even in fresh fish.

That said, if you do dislike fish because of the fishy odor or taste, you might want to try being pickier about where you buy fish, or buying frozen fish instead of non-frozen, or being more careful when you cook fish at home (thaw it quickly, under running water, and don’t thaw it until right before you’re going to cook it, for example). The fishy smell is made worse by improper handling.

Don’t think fish counters in supermarkets won’t have species that are not being sustainably fished or farmed in an environmentally responsible manner. I’ve seen Chilean seabass, farmed Atlantic salmon, and orange roughy at fish counters around here. All of those are on the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch “Avoid” list. Orange roughy and Chilean seabass are both severely overfished.

And yes, people should not fake allergies. People should speak up about dislikes and food choices, and others should honor those choices.

And not for all foods. Some people just don’t like some foods the way that food is supposed to be. It’s not the case that everybody who dislikes food X has just never had a good one.

I agree with you, but I think that you should only give an adult a food they don’t like if they have agreed to try it. And you should never tamper with someone’s choices not to eat certain foods on religious, ethical, or health grounds (this would include allergies).

118

That’s part of it, the other part is people being so childish that they can’t stand to eat something they don’t like very much. Sometimes you have to eat something that might not be your preference, so be and adult and not a spoiled brat about it.

119

I completely agree about fish freshness. Fresh seafood should smell mostly like ocean and not a whole lot else except a slight whiff of whatever it might be (a fish is going to smell a little like a fish, I find fresh scallops have a mineral-like aroma to them that you can also taste, and so forth).

120

There are parts of the grocery store that it is OK or even good if you can find them by smell. The bakery, for instance. The fish counter is not one of these. If you can find it by smell, something’s wrong. I had that unfortunate experience at Whole Foods recently. Our Whole Foods kind of sucks. I miss the one I used to go to in California. :frowning: Don’t think that, just because a grocer is upscale, they must have good fish. It’s more often the upscale supermarkets that have better fish, but not always.

Fish is something where you don’t always get what you pay for. It’s not as much of an ironclad rule, the way it is with fresh fruits and vegetables, but don’t think that the $19.99/lb orange roughy is always going to be better than the $9.99/lb rainbow trout. It’s the other way around, most of the time.

If you’re cooking fish at home, don’t try to make extra and have leftovers. It declines in quality after the first day (and it can smell up the microwave when you reheat it). Sometimes you can get away with this with batter-fried fish, but not generally with fish cooked any other way. Likewise, fish isn’t generally a good thing to cook and keep warm. It should be eaten right after it is finished cooking.

I would be reluctant to eat fish from a buffet or cafeteria-style restaurant, unless it was one of those buffets that serve sushi and have people constantly behind the buffet, putting fresh stuff out. It most likely won’t hurt you, but I’ve had some awful fishy fish at buffets. Again, I don’t know if this applies to shellfish, since I don’t eat it, but I’d be suspicious. I thought I didn’t like haddock until recently, because I’d eaten some very fishy haddock at a buffet restaurant. But then I got some at a good fish counter, and it was totally different. If I were at a buffet or cafeteria and fish were the only choice, I’d get it fried. That seems to be harder for them to screw up, somehow.

Some people say the fishy taste can be covered up with sourness. Hence the popularity of serving fish with lemon. I don’t really think that works. That fishy taste can cut through other flavors. Better to buy good, fresh fish and cook it right.