Picky eaters...

In My Humble Opinion
41

I’m a very picky eater. I won’t eat chicken, with the exception of it being ground very fine and put in brunswick stew. The only pork product I’ll eat is sausage, and on very rare occasions, bacon. The only beef product i eat is ground beef. The only fish is tuna. (The kind in the can.) I’ll also eat ground deer. That’s it for meat for me.

The reason is simple. Any of the meats I don’t eat, if I eat them, will make me physically ill, to the point of appearing to have severe food poisoning. It’s not from the meat being spoiled either, as others can eat from the exact same serving as I do and not get sick.

It annoys me to no end either, because I love the taste of bbq’d pork chops, honey glazed ham, honey bbq chicken, and a myriad of other meats that I simply cannot eat.

42

Is it cilantro? I don’t dislike the taste of cilantro, but once it gets into my tummy it makes me queasy. Otherwise I can generally eat just about anything. Good ol’ cast iron stomach.

43

The wacked out taste buds just showed me how much what I eat was tied into the flavor which is obviously capable of a lot more range than I ever thought possible. I’m sure most persons won’t experience such as range, but I credit them as a little variance meaning they really can’t stand something. I could eat almost anything at one point, including the stuff I normally hated. It was strange when potatoes actually tasted good without a topping. They had been this starchy base good for toppings. Now they have a good flavor and I don’t like the old toppings.

44

I’d say the only good thing to come out of my parent’s use of the “disciplining” belt was that none of their kids turned into picky eaters.

If you looked like you were going to gag at the dinner table, out came the belt.

Which also meant that none of us kids were really allowed to say anything about what was being served. There was no special entree prepared for the kid who didn’t like fish or spaghetti, for instance. There also wasn’t any “you won’t get dessert” business. It was either eat whatever was prepared or eat whatever was prepared. Except when it was a meal that was just thrown together for the kids because the adults were going to out to eat. Chicken pot pies were reserved for these nights. No one ever fussed at me for not eating them. My siblings would fight over who got my crust.

Good times, good times.

But now I have an aversion to vegetables since I was force-fed canned asparagus and green beans through my formative years. But I’ll eat them if they’re served (and I promise I won’t gag!). That’s what I don’t get about picky eaters. I understand not eating stuff on your own, but when someone makes something for you, you should at least try it and put on a happy face.

45

A gag reflex is hard to hide, so I don’t see where putting on a happy face works in this case.

46

Oh yeah they do. The jerk that sits next to me at work asks me most days what I’m having for lunch. And, if it’s anything more exotic than a bologna sandwich (like heaven forbid sushi or a tuna casserole :rolleyes: ) she starts making gaging noises and yelling “That’s gross! How can you put that in your mouth? I’d throw up on your plate if you ate that near me!” (I finally wised up and I try not to let her see the container and just tell her “bologna” every day :smiley: )

47

Retching is just laughter turned upside down.

48

What I don’t get is the gagging over other people’s food. You don’t like tuna or broccoli or mushrooms? Fine, I don’t care, really. I am not asking you to eat them. So stop with the comments and the gagging and everything else trying to ruin my lunch, because I do like them. Because if one more person comments on how gross sushi is the next time I’m eating it and I going to bitch slap them.

49

My younger brother was a mildly picky eater as a child. He would not eat red meat. At all. Ever. Well, that was what was one the table five nights out of seven. Those nights, he usually got hot dogs, which he liked just fine.

Our mom fussed about it until one of the doctors she knew said, “he’s probably unable to digest some specific protein in red meat, so eating it will make him extremely uncomfortable. Let him eat hot dogs.”

He’s still, so far as I know, relatively picky. Won’t eat salad. Won’t eat vegetables unless it’s corn or potatoes. But, as adults, we’re allowed our idiosyncrasies, and he’s never been rude about it.

50

My husband is a picky eater, while I am somewhat more adventurous. I admit, I refuse to eat mustard, mushrooms or olives, but those are my limits. He eats meat, potatoes, pasta, and occasionally a green bean or two.

I’m proud to say that he recently took me to a restaurant that offered “Pacific fusion” cuisine, and we both tried a raw appetizer of Kobe beef, tuna and I forget what the other thing was, and he even tasted my tempura lobster. He tried wasabi mashed potatoes (interesting, I thought), and some of my ungodly hot Japanese chili sauce. Even I was a little startled with the raw appetizer, but it was delicious. And he stepped outside of his comfort zone for an evening, and found some new things that he likes.

It meant a lot to me, that he was willing to step into my territory of food-love for the night. I suppose it means something to him that I go camping with him every year or so.

At home, I cook mostly for his tastes, but I introduce new dishes frequently. Some are hits, some are not. It’s no personal offense if he hates it. I know he’s a picky eater, and I’ve always known that. It doesn’t mean that I have to curtail my love of foods, even new and possibly exotic ones. It’s no big deal to grill a burger for him when I want Thai food that he doesn’t like.

I only have an issue with rude picky eaters, who require creamy peanut butter on white bread. (I know someone who demands this, at every single family gathering. I don’t have white bread, and I’m not driving to the store to buy it in the middle of a party.) If you don’t want to eat, then don’t eat, but don’t demand that I cater to your personal preference.

I like Brussels sprouts. Steamed or sauteed, with a little celery salt…

51

Nice line! Mind if I steal it?

52

I used to think I was a picky eater. In fact, my youngest sister and I used to compare which of us had the longest list of foods we wouldn’t eat. However, based on some of the lists I’ve seen in “picky eater” threads (like the one in the OP), I’m not that picky.

Some of the foods on my “won’t eat” list are, in fact, foods that I will eat but prefer not to. Like fish (hate the texture, don’t mind the taste)–I’ll eat fish it it’s served to me (i.e. put on my plate, not passed on a dish) but seldom voluntarily serve it to myself, although I go through periods of trying to “learn” to like it.

Some things I just hate the taste of, though (like pineapple). Some things, to be honest, I can’t eat for psychological reasons. I remember liking cherries as a kid, but because of the one time I was forced to eat them when sick, I can’t eat them now without gagging.

But, since I have never been to a restaurant or a party or any sort of occasion where I haven’t been able to easily find multiple things for me to eat, I’ve decided I’m not really that bad, compared to the doper-friends and family members I’ve read about, who restrict their friends/family from going to countless restaurants, or that one guy who needed a special meal made for him because he wouldn’t eat Indian food.

What bugs me about people is:
(1) People who have the nerve to sneer at me for politely avoiding a few dishes, and then throwing a fit because they were served a meal that contained an ingredient they don’t like*
(2) People who do #1 and claim it’s because they’re allergic to said ingredient (okay, it was onions) and yet they regularly eat onion rings and those Blooming Onion/Awesome Blossom appetizers*
(3) People who do #1 and #2 and yet the meal that they had ordered almost always includes onions IME (General Tsao’s Chicken), and she didn’t inquire if it came with onions or if she could get them left out*
(4) People who beg and plead like it’s hurting them that I don’t want to eat one or two out of a dozen or more dishes. Hell, if someone else doesn’t want to eat my favorite dish, that’s just more for me! We’ve already got 14 people trying to eat 2 dozen deviled eggs, so get that slimy thing out of my face. If you don’t want to eat it, give it to one of the under 10 crowd; they’ve already had 3 each and have been forbidden any more so that the adults can have a chance at them.

*This was my sister-in-law. She’d have gotten more respect from my family if she just admitted she doesn’t like onions cooked that way. Everyone in my family has foods they feel that way about. Don’t even get me started on the “Won’t go to a seafood restaurant because she dislikes fish, even after she was informed they served chicken and beef dishes” or the “Makes gagging noises when I order rare steak, because steak that’s not cooked well-done is swarming with disease”.

53

I want to say it’s either cilantro or cumin or something like that. I’m not too familiar with spices in general, so I could be way off.

54

Not edited to add:

I will point out that I do try new foods. I used to not eat Chinese or Mexican food, now I will eat them happily, with some restrictions (no refried beans, for instance). I’ve been working to build up the nerve to try Thai food, but haven’t quite made it yet.

I also have several trustworthy sisters who get to play the “Will I like this thing I’ve never eaten before?” game. The really good ones know to play using the “Don’t say what’s in it because that might ruin the whole thing” rules, which enables me to try (and sometimes enjoy) food that has an ingredient that I don’t like.

55

Cumin is that chili-powder smell. Cilantro might taste a bit citrusy or, if you’re unlucky, like soap.

56

I missed the last picky eater thread there was here so I figure I may as well participate in this one.

God bless you! I can’t speak for all picky eaters, but if everyone in the world was able to just be okay with me not eating at a meal from time to time (or not eating much), my life would be much easier. That’s all I ask. :slight_smile:

It seems to me that there’s some remarkably rude and bizarre behaviour surrounding meal times, from both sides. In fact, possibly I am included in the ‘bizarre’ part of that equation but hopefully not the other. I sometimes suspect that there is a big gulf of understanding in how other people experience food - a lot of the problems people have with each other seem to come in the form of either picky eaters just not getting why it matters if they don’t want to eat something, or non-picky eaters just not getting why they wouldn’t just eat it out of politeness or whatever.

Incidentally… does anyone else absolutely loathe sweet corn and peas (not together necessarily)? I have observed that hatred, or love, of those two foods seem to go hand in hand.

57

In the past six months or so, I’ve gotten to be a picky eater in the “how’s it prepared?” area of food. I love fresh, homemade from scratch food, especially when the veggies are still a bit crisp and the bread is hearty and the meat still tastes like meat (spiced or not). However, it’s always a bummer for me to eat something at a lot of restaurants, fast food joints, or out of the freezer section of the grocery store. Maybe it’s that the stuff is overcooked, or the fact that almost every restaurant in the area seems to have a limited selection of vegetables, or that they have decided that every meat entree must be smothered in some sort of sauce (why on earth do I need fish coated in sickly sweet syrupy stuff?), but it just does not make for an enjoyable eating experience for me. I also feel guilty because sometimes I’m the only person in the group that feels this way about the food, and I’m not about to complain to the waitstaff that I don’t like the way the restaurant designed their menu-- after all, if I didn’t want the food as it was offered, I shouldn’t have gone there. Lately it’s become more of a problem, as I just don’t want to go out to eat much because I know I’m unlikely to get something that I really enjoy. However, I’m still learning to make everything in a way that pleases me completely; it may be good, but it’s not “just right” for me all the time. :frowning: I’ll often go through the motions and eat what’s in front of me, but I mostly get no enjoyment out of food these days.

On the flipside, I’ll try just about anything, even if it seems gross when put in front of me. Gefilte fish is not my friend, and made me gag (despite my best efforts to hide it), but I swallowed down a few bites at a friend’s house one Passover just to show an openness to their traditions. Those couple of bites didn’t kill me, but I sure didn’t enjoy them. In the future, I’m not likely to accept an offer of it, but I’m not going to make a nasty face about it either.

58

I’ve also refused food that wasn’t exceptional, because I do not need to eat your cheap fattening food. I would rather eat a great treat, than stuff in the calories for no reason. I already weigh to much, I don’t want your candy corn, you eat it.

59

I can definitely agree with this - I’d rather choose to splurge on something that’s going to taste fabulous to me rather than something that tastes good to someone else but only ok or worse to me. My mom often does this to me - tries to feed me stuff I don’t like much because she loves it but doesn’t have a reason to cook it more frequently. I’ll eat a bit because it makes her happy, but I draw the line when she starts trying to stuff me like a turkey.

And speaking of picky eaters, my cousin is the pickiest eater I’ve ever met. For years, he refused to eat anything but vienna sausages straight out of the jar. He’d eat those and ritz crackers for most meals. The kid smelled like a zoo - I can’t imagine that was good for his insides. He was the type who would throw an absolute fit if not permitted to have his usual sausage/cracker meal - his parents let that continue until he was about 13 or so. I have no idea how it stopped (perhaps he just grew out of it or took enough crap for it at school?), but I was so glad it did. It made holidays much less tense.

60

Wrong thread