I’ve gotten grief because I don’t like Mexican food - specifically, I don’t like chili powder, cumin, or peppers. I don’t like the taste and I don’t like the smell. In fact, I really don’t like any kind of spicy food.
I don’t think this makes me a picky eater. After all, I like most seafood (not oysters, tho), most meats, lots of veggies and fruits, and all kinds of baked goods. For the most part, I prefer to taste the food, not the seasonings - that is, the seasonings should be subtle and should complement the food.
To me, picky is my sister: She likes ONLY specific brands of soft drinks, potato chips, mac-n-cheese, ice cream, etc. She examines and sniffs her food if she didn’t prepare it herself. She refuses to try anything new. Period.
I have no problem with brand loyalties. I have a favorite peanut butter. But I’ll eat others if mine isn’t available. There are chocolates I like more than others, but very few that I’d shun altogether.
Anyway, I’d like to know what others regard as picky vs. preferences.
From my perspective, a “picky” eater is one whose preferences are limiting enough that going out to dinner with the person is difficult. My husband is a picky eater. He won’t eat fish unless it’s fried. He won’t eat chicken unless it’s fried. He won’t eat beef unless it’s a hamburger. He won’t eat vegetables.
So, if someone wants to take you out to dinner, if the conversation goes like this:
me: How about Chinese?
you: No.
me: How about Italian?
you: No.
me: How about that German place down…
you: No.
me: Er, how about Wendy’s?
you: Finally something I will eat!
I guess I would be called a picky eater. I will try anything. Once. The problem I run into is people always say I should try whatever it is I don’t like again. I’ve done that, and still didn’t like it, so I don’t try things I don’t like over and over. Some people tell my I’ll “acquire” a taste for something if I eat it enough. I’ve never understood why they think something I hate will suddenly taste good to me if I eat enough of it. I dislike Mexican food as well, though not because it is spicy.
A picky eater is a person who dismisses a certain food, whether it’s a style (ex. Italian, Chinese, etc.) or item (ex. mushrooms, eggplant, spinach, etc), in all it’s incarnations without ever having tried it or based on one bad experience.
You don’t like rappi? Fine. Don’t avoid kale, spinach, et al, just because you dislike one type of leafy grean vegetable.
Cream of mushroom soup isn’t your cup of tea (so to speak)? Don’t blame the mushroom.
Don’t like tomato sauce? Not all Italian food is slathered in marinara.
I think the line for me is crossed when a person stops saying “I don’t like [X, Y, or Z food product]” and starts saying “I only like [X, Y, or Z].” Extra demerits for specifying brand names. I don’t think it’s picky to say that as a rule you’re not fond of really hot/spicy foods, or something along those lines. (but maybe that’s just my personal bias talking, as that’s the one broad category of food I really prefer not to eat).
That is, having preferred brand names is fine, but if you’ll only eat Jif peanut butter or whatever (and you haven’t really tried other brands), you’re getting into sketchy territory.
I think there are lots of different types of picky eaters, but overall, I’d say that if eating with someone consistently significantly limits your options for cooking or picking a restaurant, they’re a picky eater. (Disclaimers about allergies, health issues, or religious restrictions apply. I’m not talking about folks who can’t eat stuff, I’m talking about people who won’t eat stuff.)
The most classic picky eater I know is my old roomie. She’s the “timid” sort of picky eater. Basically, she fears change. She’ll be damned if she’s going to try something new. It was funny (in an annoying sort of way) to go out to eat with her, because she had one standard dish for each restaurant she was willing to eat at. She’d passionately study the menu for five or ten minutes, and the order the exact same thing she always ordered there. I don’t know why she even bothered with the menu–I could have placed her order for her before we even sat down. If it was Applebee’s, she was having the cheeseburger well-done with fries and a Sprite. If it was O’Charley’s, she was having the Chicken O’Tenders with a house salad, ranch dressing, a baked potato, just butter, no sour cream, and a Sprite. I’ll never forget the day she went all wild and crazy and ordered the cheeseburger, well-done, with fries and a Sprite at O’Charley’s.
Everybody have issues…
Alot of people have food issues…
But why make everyone around you suffer?
When your with family or friends,just admit,“Hey Everybody…I have food issues!” this way, everybody wont speculate, “What’s wrong with Prudence? She doesn’t like Pizza?”
Meals will no longer become a guessing game once you’ve “Outted Yourself” everybody will appreciate your honesty and will no longer whisper, “Why is she picking out the olives from her salad?”
now they will say…
Feasters: “Prudence isn’t eating the Kabosch”
gourger : " Thats O.K., she seeing a food-Shrink, so there’s more for us"
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, because I abhor picky eaters. Nothing drives me more crazy than hearing someone rattle off a list of what they don’t eat.
And yet my boyfriend will never opt for food that isn’t meat, and diligently picks any vegetables out of the dishes he eats. Yet it doesn’t drive me nuts. We’re kind of an odd couple, because I’m vegetarian, and yet I will eat anything in the world that isn’t meat.
I think it comes down to the fact that at every restraunt we go to, he finds something to order and I find something to order. And he is always willing to try something new. At Mexican, he gets carne asada. At Indian, he gets plate after plate of tandoori chicken. It only becomes an issue if I want to go to my all-veg places or he wants to go the expensive steak place.
So in my mind, a picky eater is someone that writes off whole catagories of food, makes eating with them difficult, and (most importantly) only sticks to a few “safe” food items. I think this is a bit pathalogical and is something parents should work hard to prevent.
I had a bit of a rant around here about that a couple years ago. Somehow discriminating taste became a negative thing. It drives me crazy when pretentious foodies start acting like they are superior because they like everything including fried llama turds from a tribe in the Andes. Having good taste involves being able to differentiate enjoyability of different foods. I feel sorry for people who like everything, becuase their taste buds must not be able to identify and judge the complex taste that make each food differently, and by extension, makes some objectionable.
It’s just another one of the shades of grey areas. Non-discriminating tastes is a sad way to live life, as is fear of trying new things. Ultra picky drives me just as crazy as no-taste loudmouths.
I recognize two groups here: “picky eaters” and “timid eaters.”
I have two sisters who are “timid eaters.” They will eagerly go into new restaurants, but when it comes to actually ordering, they get really uptight. They don’t want to order dishes they don’t recognize or haven’t tried before. This is true even if they know they like the constituents individually and even if they think they sound good together. They are just terrified of getting something they won’t like. Often times, when I’m eating with them, I have to recommend something so that we can actually get around to ordering. They almost always love what they get, so they’re not really “picky.”
My third sister is a “picky eater.” When we go into a restaurant, she has a hard time ordering, too. But this is because she won’t eat anything with cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, or onions (among others). This is almost always a problem. Frequently, there is only one thing on the menu that doesn’t contain these items (especially if we’re out someplace nice for dinner). This leads to a kind of paralysis that can seriously delay our ordering. (She’s also pathologically shy and won’t ask for substitutions or special orders.)
Being in the restaurant biz I have a particular problem with people who are never able to order something off the menu. They always have to create their own dish from the ingredients they see on the menu. Stay home and cook for yourself, I say.
I do think pickiness is relative and not that easy to define. I personally avoid organ meat, although I will eat sweetbreads and some forms of liver. Basically no kidney, tongue, brains, etc. To some that makes me a picky eater.
I really don’t understand why you’re assuming people liking essentially everything aren’t able to identify and appreciate the taste of each food. It only means that there are few tastes they find offensive. They could very well appreciate the subtleties, possibly better than you.
And the reverse is true : it’s not because one is picky eater that one necessarily appreciates much what one eats. Actually, I know one of these people (an ex) who is a picky eater and don’t even like the few food items she’s willing to eat. It’s all just food for her (apart from desserts, that she enjoys). The blander, the better.
Anyway, the pickiest eater I have ever met was this girl I used to be friends with. She, like me, was a vegetarian, but she has also cut carbs from her diet. So she basically ate lettuce. Also, she would get offended when anyone else around her would eat meat or gelatin products, and she made her boyfriend stop eating meat. THAT is picky.
Indeed… I fall into the category of someone who can appreciate the subtleties of different foods, but also likes (or at least doesn’t dislike) damn near everything. My dislikes are few and specific (grapefruit, chocolate ice cream, and artificial grape flavoring are near the top of the list), but my likes range from the savoury creaminess of calf brains to the sweet earthiness of beets, and cabbage in all its forms, which vegetable should need no more elucidation of its deliciousness.
I have a sister who’s very picky. She claims she likes “Italian food”, but then will go to a shower or wedding with an Italian menu, and there’s nothing she will eat. Because what she really means is she likes pasta with a very plain tomato sauce. She’ll eat that, fried veal or chicken cutlets , fried flounder, pizza and a steak or hamburger every now and then. But that’s it. She won’t even eat turkey on Thankgiving- brings macaroni and sauce.
I guess I’d say that picky people are those who cause difficulties, either because of the limited number of foods they eat, or because of a refusal to eat anything containing some common ingredient.
Someone who won’t order anything with cheese, onions, mushrooms or tomatoes is going to have a difficult time ordering, and would qualify as picky in my book. Someone who doesn’t like cheese, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes,and won’t order anything with cheese but simply pushes the tomatoes, onions and mushrooms to the side wouldn’t be picky in my book.
I’m a picky eater, I’ll admit it. One of the best things about being an adult is that I can choose what I put into my mouth. I only drink Coke. I don’t eat shellfish. I don’t eat mushrooms. But if I do share a pizza, for example, I just pick off the pizza yucks. I will try new foods, if they sound appetizing. I have texture issues, so if I don’t like the way something feels in my mouth, or the way it smells, or looks, I don’t eat it. And if that bothers you, tough. It’s my meal, I’ll eat what I like.
i come from a family that eats about everything. i love to cook and eat, and every ethnic food i’ve ever tried i’ve liked. i can’t really think of one type of food i dislike. that said, i was always known as the picky one as a kid because i hated cottage cheese. that’s it.
so now i get a little bit frustrated when i have to hang out with people who are picky eaters. trying to go out to dinner with 6-8 friends is an exercise in futility. we’ll invariably end up at some hole like applebee’s. i know people who will not try anyhting new under any circumstances. i have friends that will only eat beef, and maybe french fries. my ex-girlfriend would not eat any kind of seafood. our vacation a couple years ago in new orleans really sucked, because not only did she refuse to eat seafood, but she bitched at me about how disgusting it was. i just ordered more oysters.
