Judging my Dinner. Is this rude?

Okay, so when I had a roomate (and he was home), or anyone else over for that matter, I very rarely cooked for myself, because I tend to experiment, or make random combination of things in pans on the stove, etc., etc., etc…

You see, every time someone else is around, they feel like walking over and putting their face right over what I’m doing, gawking, and saying, “what is that?” or “… eh, what are you making?”

There are two kinds of negative reactions here, 1) the verbal “that looks disgusting!” reaction, which to me, is flat out rude (and usually made by one of my lesser intelligent male friends) or 2) the silent, “that looks interesting/perhaps disgusting” facial wrinkling, supplemented by a barely audible “huh” before they walk away.

Now, I don’t make anything that wierd — just not usual for a single, male guy in his 20’s, perhaps. Thinks like fish, or something in the crockpot, or my own spaghetti sauce, which is a different concoction of vegetables, meat, chicken, every single time.

My main question is whether or not the above reactions to my cooking one would consider to be rude. Personally, I find it extremely irritating, and it bothers me more than it should, but I just can’t help it.

Is this something you dopers do to others, or do you concur?

Well I certainly don’t let my 5-year-old get away with it. I guess he skipped that phase of social development.

It’s kind of rude.

But what if they had said “that looks good.” Would that be a judgement or a complement?

First I need to know if these are people you consider friends or mortal enemies.

If they are friends then let it go, they don’t mean anything by it. If you are unable to let it go, then really let them know you are pissed off by their comments. I can’t imagine guys really caring about what you are cooking. I imagine this to just be a natural reaction that people have when they see something that they are not used to. You really can’t expect people not to have these kind of reactions unless you explicitly tell them not to.

If they are your mortal enemies then they are being rude.

If the person is your friend and he’s not being an asshole about it, what he thinks of your food probably shouldn’t matter all that much. After all, friends have a certain leeway that people you don’t know just don’t have. However, if it’s hurtful and your friend knows that yet continues to do it, that’s rude.

I used to have a roommate who was also my friend who would make fun of my food, not because it was weird-looking, but because it was healthy. In the area of St. Louis where we lived, healthy food was more expensive than buying Rice a Roni, boxed Mac N Cheese or fast food. My roommate would sneer at how much money I spent on fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and stuff like that. She saw my way of eating as needlessly expensive and difficult, while I saw her way of eating as something that would potentially cause her serious health problems down the road. I thought her sneering at my food was not just rude, but silly. At first I let her comments roll off my back because I didn’t care what she thought - I knew she had chronic health problems such as IBS and high cholesterol while I didn’t and never have. I took the issue up with her a few times, but she just didn’t get it, though she did knock it off after a while.

I guess everyone has different eating habits. And there are a surprising number of people who feel compelled to call others’ food weird. But I wouldn’t let it get to you unless the person’s being an asshole about it.

Yes, it’s rude, I think. You can do what you want with it, and people probably don’t mean any harm and might not learn any lessons about it, but yes it’s rude.

Its rude, and pointless. They aren’t being asked to eat it!

I think it matters a lot how they do it.

If they are rude and implying ‘Hah! You know nothing!’, then stuff them.*

If they ask politely, for example: ‘That looks interesting. How long do you cook it for?’, then they are friendly.

*take firm hold of your stuffing in a rubber glove, then tell them to grasp their ankles and … :eek:

I love to cook, but no-one, not even Missus Case is allowed in the kitchen while I’m doing it - well, you’re allowed to fetch milk, but tiptoe. That goes double for peering into pots, asking “What are you making?”, and God forbid, offering suggestions for improvement. Yes, I am a kitchen diva.

The subject of criticism does not arise, apart from Little Case, who has sworn not to eat vegetables until he’s 5, and my parents, who regard anything more advanced than boiled potatoes as dangerously exotic, and are thus beyond salvation anyway: and even they know better than to ask anything more provocative than “What’s this?”.

My room mate likes to ramble on about what a “Terrible” cook I am.

Like the OP, I too like to experiment. And when you experiment sometimes you come up with a dud.

Unfortunately, my room mate has a selective memory where he only remembers the duds. Forget about the other 99% of the time when they come out awesome. :rolleyes:

Why just the other day I was making some grub. I asked him if he was going to want any. To which he exclaimed “No, no, no” (this said while dramaticaly putting his hands up at me as if he were trying to stop traffic or something. :rolleyes: )
Then as soon as I finished cooking the dish. He had saw what I made; then he was like. “Well, I guess I could eat.”

I’m like “Oh, thanks. The whole reason why I asked you BEFORE I started cooking was so I could make enough for two.” :rolleyes:

But yeah, I identify with the OP. It gets on my nerves as well. I just don’t ever say anything because I feel like I’m being to hyper-sensitive.

some folks just don’t know when to shut up