Kaspar Hauser: (thinking) I’m so excited about the broccoli! It was really hard to get the recipe right, but I think it turned out OK, after several tries. I hope Guin likes it. I’m really proud of my cooking and I’m very excited to show it off to my guests, whom I’ve invited into my home with nothing expected in return. I just hope they like it, since I spent so much time preparing it.
(out loud) Guin, would you like some broccali?
Guinastasia: No, thank you. Would you please pass the potatos?
Oh. OK. No, I didn’t mean to imply that. I would bet everything I had, though, that he’s not the only person in the world (or even on this board) who feels that way, though. Even though no one else has actually said as much in this thread.
Yes, there are many, many choices for food. But think about this. What if a person said they didn’t like: onions, spices, seafood, dairy, vegetables, and rice? Looking at the statement on its face, that’s “only” six “things” they won’t eat. But all of them are either extremely common, almost to the point of ubiquity (onions, rice), very broad categories (seafood, dairy), or both (spices, vegetables). And yet, all of those things have been mentioned in this thread as things that are disliked/not tolerated. That lets out a lot of potential menu offerings (I’m speaking metaphorically here; “menu” doesn’t necessarily mean “in a restaurant”), many more than just “I don’t like Thai” or “I don’t like refried beans”. If a potential SO’s diet was that constrained (certainly not outside the realm of possibility), it would make every menu-planning and restaurant-dining experience a death march to meatloaf and mashed potatoes (which I love, by the way), and I’d have to think seriously about whether I could be in a long-term relationship with such a person. That’s all I’m saying.
Right with you here. And I know you’re not talking about me, because I never said anything like that. Also, being a “foodie” doesn’t necessarily mean you don’t like chili dogs or Ruffles or frito pie (yummy).
Most of the fanciful food dishes invented by the witty participants of this thread probably deserve a shout of “band name!” if not a :golf clap:, but as there are so many, I have compiled them here for your review:
Goat eyeballs
Dung beetles
Fried turds in ranchero sauce
The corpse of an ancient Viking
Eye of newt fried in elephant semen
Poodle goulash
Pickled goat brain
Sudanese monkey testicles in brine
Iguana fetuses
Pickled oryx pancreas
Big pot of dog shit
My favorite is pickled oryx pancreas. It sounds like something they would serve in the movie The Freshman.
Also, I think this line:
“I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them you fucking prick!”
deserves a mini-ovation. I’m sorry I haven’t ascribed any of these to the originating posters. My lists got separated.
Still waiting for the part where the rudeness comes in.
It’s certainly inconsiderate. You’re disappointing your host, who is not an automaton.
[QUOTE=enipla]
An adult, American or otherwise, understands that different people have different likes, and this is, in fact, what makes the world go round.
QUOTE]
I’m not talking about likes, I’m talking about dislikes. Strong, sneering dislike. Do you agree that children are known to be fussier eaters than adults? It’s a common trait attributed to kids, just like being prone to crying and lacking self control. That’s why we call adults who retain their food fussiness childish.
I said a million times that I have problems with people who have an exact opposite attitude towards food, i.e. afraid of it. Preferring beef over lamb is completely different than sniffing every meal before cautiously taking a bite, or sitting back, pouting about your dish for a minute because it’s sprinkled with some weird green seasoning that you didn’t expect (parsley).
Fine, here’s some porn for ya, you perv. Ooo, it’s a three way!
My husband gets around this by simply avoiding dinner parties - and pot lucks - and any food-centered gathering where he cannot be sure there will be anything he’s willing to eat. It doesn’t make him happy. It makes him miserable. He’s not enjoying flaunting his pickiness in front of people. But he simply cannot - will not, I suppose some might say, but it comes to the same thing - make himself eat something unfamiliar, or whose ingredients he cannot be sure of. Why? I don’t know. He misses out on a lot of social opportunities. But he knows he’s missing out, and he’s still rather miss out than be confronted with food that way. Not a very pleasant choice to have to make.
Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not my problem. Note I didn’t say WHY I turned down your precious food. It could be someone like my mother, who CANNOT eat certain foods, because they upset her stomach. What if you made cheeseburgers, not knowing that a person was keeping kosher. Would you be offended then?
I’m so sorry my host’s feelings are so tied up in their damned vegetable that they get offended when NOT EVERYONE LIKES THE SAME THING THEY DO.
pizzabrat, don’t you have to write letters to your congressmen so they can outlaw McDonalds?
The hell? If she’s asking for the potatoes, which you also made, then what’s the big goddamn deal? Now, if she said “No thank you. I think I’ll order pizza instead,” now that is rude. That is putting down your culinary skills and the time you spent making the dinner, rather than an individual piece of food she doesn’t care for. That you take such an action as an offense speaks volumes.
Not to mention the fact that we’re not mind readers like you apparently are, Kaspar Hauser. To you, it’s the centerpiece of your whole meal. You spent hours on the broccoli when your potatoes were an afterthought. How the fuck should your guest know that? To your guest, it’s just broccoli. They can’t or won’t eat broccoli. Therefore, they don’t. They like to eat potatoes. Therefore, they do.
If there was a tipping hat smiley, I’d use it right now.
Might I add Pyongyang-style engorged St. Bernard penis infused with kimchi juice?
Goat eyeballs are supposedly a delicacy in Jamaica – it’s an ingredient in manish
water soup – so it I would fully expect the more open-minded foodies here to eat it with gusto if they were offered it visiting the island nation. Better yet, it’s cuisine from a developing nation, so that ex-girlfriend I mentioned earlier has no excuse to turn it down. Or … would they refuse?
And neither is the guest. The host, I would assume, made the broccoli because he thought the guest would enjoy it. If the guest does not enjoy broccoli, what’s the point in making him eat it anyway? The whole reason for the exercise is already defeated.
I don’t know where you get your priorities as a host, but when I have people over (which is frequently) I want them to have a good time. If having a good time means eating broccoli, broccoli will be provided. If eating broccoli detracts from the experience of being a guest in my house, then they should leave the damn broccoli alone. The point of having people over to my house is not to stroke my fragile ego or make me feel good about my cooking. The point is for me to entertain them. If they don’t like my cooking, then I’ll order a fucking pizza. That’s how a polite host acts. He doesn’t guilt trip his guests into doing something they don’t want to do, and he doesn’t pout when people dare to have different likes and dislike than himself.
IIRC, on their trip accross Europe, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman were served testicle soup, in Mongolia. Bulls, goats, pigs, you name it. Ewan said he was able to choke down one small one, Boorman ended up puking his right back up.
shudder
[QUOTE=BayleDomon]
Not to mention the fact that we’re not mind readers like you apparently are, Kaspar Hauser.QUOTE]
You don’t have to be. How about this for an ideal scenario:
Kaskpar Hauser: Try the broccoli. I worked really hard on it.
Guest: Really? Okay. I’m a grown woman who has overcome my arbitrary food aversions during puberty, so of course I’ll make the tiny sacrifice of trying the broccoli you apparently worked so hard on.
(Bolding mine.) This is a good definition of a Picky Eater. Like I’ve said previously, I don’t care what someone else does or does not eat as long as they don’t interfere with the rest of us. I’ve dealt with some Picky Eaters. I don’t think the rest of us should be catering to them. I figure, let them fend for themselves, then. No problem. They’ll find something they like, we’ll eat what we like, we’re all happy. So when they act all insulted and hurt when you say, “Fine, you get something you like, but we’re having this [veggie sushi/hummus/whatever] instead.” then they are a pain in the ass.
I don’t consider myself that much of a “foodie.” It’s not like a religion to me (that would be my mom). But I like a little variety now and then, and I don’t like to miss out on a nice treat (night out for some greek food, Thai food, whatever) and when there’s this sullen or martyred Wet Blanket (i.e. Picky Eater) having a fit because the rest of us want to eat at a place that is outside of their particular “comfort zone.”
Please read thoroughly – above, I said “disregarding religious, ethical, and medical reasons.” And as I’ve also said several times, THE HOST SHOULD NOT MAKE AN ISSUE IF IT.
Ever been proud of anything? Ever showed that to someone and they go, “meh?”
Jesus Christ, is eating a piece – just a piece! – of food you don’t like (not food that’s gonna kill you, not food that’s gonna send you to Hell, not food that’s gonna make you hurl all over your host’s centerpiece) merely for the sake of showing a little gratitude to someone who has spent the time to prepare an entire meal for you and the rest of the guests that much of a fucking hardship?
How many times do I have to say, “THE HOST SHOULD NOT MAKE AN ISSUE OF IT?”
Great googly moogly, and it’s people who won’t eat certain foods that are getting called annoying, childish, mentally unstable, and passive aggressive?
If I cooked some broccoli for a dinner party and one of my guests politely refused to eat any, my feelings would not be hurt at all. That’s because I’m a rational adult and I realize that other people’s preferences differ from mine and that this is not a personal insult to me. The only bad feeling I might have would be embarassment that I didn’t do a better job of finding out about my guest’s preferences ahead of time. My heart is not going to be broken because someone for some unstated reason declines my offer of broccoli.
Were you to offer me shrimp, I’d have to say “No, thank you.” If you’d wind up crying yourself to sleep because I gave a polite “No” rather than smilingly choke down a food that makes me vomit, you’re the one with issues, not me.
I’d say the former.
Please understand, I’m not slamming anyone with having food preferences, or even one or two things that they’ll not eat- I am talking about people that categorically refuse to go beyond their safe zone, because usually this safe zone consists of a very small selection of food. Upon reflection, I’ve also found this selection of food to trend toward the unhealthy- fried and processed foods.
I think that LindyHopper’s post bears re-reading. She is describing the sort of person I can’t stand to be around- the person that can’t stand a ubiquitous item that effectively steers the meal choices to the same places every time. No onions? wtf? (I’ve also noticed that it refers to no *visible * onions in most cases…there are few foods that you can get at either a restaurant or pre-packaged that doesn’t have onion powder as an ingredient)
I like all sorts of food- I am pretty much a ‘food slut’ in that while I enjoy making food from scratch and experimenting, i also love fast food and lots of simple dishes. If eating with you effectively means eating at the same place every time, or it means that no matter where we eat, the ordering process is going to be painful, then I’ll have to pass.
and btw- thank you, Rufus Xavier, for pointing out the straw men in this thread. People act like foodies are into some really weird stuff, but that’s simply not the case.
Gratitude? Gratitude? Mercy, Kaspar, if you need people to express gratitude to you for condescending to cook for them, you’ve got bigger problems than they have for choosing not to eat.
You know what we say around my house, if I cook something and child A or child E or husband doesn’t want to eat it? “Hey, that’s cool. More for me!” And they can fend for themselves.
I don’t like asparagus. If I went to a dinner, and asparagus were served, I suppose I’d still eat a stalk or two out of courtesy, but I wouldn’t like it. And I bet you, if the host asked me about it, and I said “I don’t like it,” they would be horrified and say “Oh, my goodness, then don’t eat any, that’s fine.” But nobody asks, so I get to eat it anyway, and smile, and pretend I actually do like it. Ah, courtesy.
Personally, I prefer communication.
And - oh, the horrors. My children love broccoli and brussels sprouts, but one of them can’t stand lima beans. At first, she threw fits if they showed up in her mixed vegetables, but now I have her trained to politely, and quietly, sort out the limas and set them aside, and eat the rest of her vegetables. I will not, will not, force her to eat a vegetable that visibly makes her gag. Life is too short to make people miserable over food. Politely declining to eat this, while proceeding to eat that, is good enough for me.