# Strange eating restrictions. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2012, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327 "2012-10-10T16:47:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/41 "2012-10-12T17:06:21Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Back in grade school the hot lunch for the day was either “pasta and sauce” or “[tortellini](http://www.mreinfo.com/images/mrestar/Tortellini.jpg) and sauce” and my mom told me it was just a shape of noodle. Coming from an Italian family the concept of ‘it’s just another shape of noodle’ wasn’t a big deal, it all tastes the same, so I opted for the hot lunch that day. Imagine my horror when I got a big plate of sauce covered _ears_ on my tray. Bleh. Couldn’t eat them, they looked like _ears_. It was, literally, at least 20 years before I got myself to eat tortellini again because it looked like ears. And at that point, don’t get me wrong, it was still very much on my mind, but this was in a white soup and they were filled with cheese. So even though I was still thinking back to that day in grade school, it was a very different context then ears covered in cheap red sauce. Funnily enough, my ex-wife even said to me “Are you eating the tortellini soup?” knowing full well that I never eat tortellini. > > Thinking about it, I’m not sure if it was tortellini or something a bit more earlike. If I ever ran across it, I might still have a hard time eating it. Either way, it turned into a dislike of tortellini. I suppose actual [ears](https://vivajoyhealthclub.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/pig20ear20for20real1.jpg) are out of the question? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/42 "2012-10-12T17:07:24Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > When I was a child I would avoid eating the bottom crust of the bread. I don’t mean cutting off all the crusts. I liked that bit. Just the bottom. When eating a sandwich or toast etc. I’d leave the bottom crust like the “pizza bones” the one fella mentioned in another thread. I’m like that now. I threw away sandwich bones not 20 minutes ago. I have a friend who, while lovely, is a pain in the ass to eat with. No sugar, no bread, no sauces, no nothing. Wait staff must hate her. Sadly, after my last doctor’s visit, I may have to copy her diet. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/43 "2012-10-12T17:15:38Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I loves me some tomato soup, juice, sauce, paste, ketchup, but tomatoes - ick! Something about the texture, I think. I’m the same way, but for me it’s just the raw tomato taste that I don’t like. And I’ve tried dozens varieties of raw tomato to see if I can overcome it. Dry them or cook them up or process them and I’m fine with them. Even just marinate them in some vinegar or citrus juice for a bit and I’m cool with the raw tomato. I love freshly made tomato salsa. But fresh and untreated, I just don’t care for. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/44 "2012-10-12T20:52:32Z")
I love tomatoes in every form except stewed chunks. Chunks are fine - as long as they’re not stewed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/45 "2012-10-12T21:10:17Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I figured that would come up. I’ve actually never had it, but it wouldn’t bother me. I know what it means, but it doesn’t really look like ears, at least not like tortellini does. Interesting. Along with pierogi, Polish cuisine has stuffed pasta called _uszka_, meaning “little ears.” They look a good bit like Italian tortellini. I never saw the connection between the name and the shape–neither they, nor tortellini, really reminded me of ears. But I guess the name is apt. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/46 "2012-10-12T21:33:34Z")
I find yogurt to be the most noxious and revolting concoction ever devised by mankind. Even the putrid, fetid, rancid odor can make me heave from across the room. Oddly, I enjoy the ice-cream like frozen stuff just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/47 "2012-10-13T00:25:54Z")
I had a roommate in college who literally would not eat anything green. This not only included vegetables (but only green ones - he’d eat red and yellow bell peppers, but not green ones) but also things like green Jell-o. It was very odd. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/48 "2012-10-13T00:34:30Z")
I would be interested to see how many of these food aversions would go out the window if any of you were starving and had no other options. I will eat just about anything, at least once. Seriously, I have tried Balut, raw sea urchin, and just about anything else that I have had a chance to try. I haven’t liked it all, but I don’t have aversions to them. My husband will not eat mushrooms, olives, or most seafood. It’s a pain trying to cook for him sometimes LOL ---
**Author:** ![Frosty\_Camel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c67d28/32.png) [@Frosty\_Camel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosty_Camel)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/49 "2012-10-13T00:40:29Z")
I love nuts. Any kind of nut. Peanut, walnut, almond, cashew, you name it. I also love fudge brownies. But if you put any kind of a nut on fudge brownies I won’t touch it. Not even to pick the nuts off and eat each separately. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/50 "2012-10-13T00:40:44Z")
Food aversions seem like an extreme form of [first world problems](http://first-world-problems.com/). In other countries, or even in certain socio-economic strata you eat whatever is available and you love it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/51 "2012-10-13T01:18:38Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > Food aversions seem like an extreme form of [first world problems](http://first-world-problems.com/). In other countries, or even in certain socio-economic strata you eat whatever is available and you love it. Untrue. Watch **Bizarre Foods** with Andrew Zimmern and you’ll see lots of 3rd world locals avoiding the noted dishes our adventurous foodie is sampling. Lots of local folks won’t eat durian or balut or stir-fried bat. “Third world” does _not_ equal “starving”. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/52 "2012-10-13T03:23:05Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I cannot eat peanut butter or jello because that texture makes me gag. That’s interesting…because to me those two foods have vastly different textures. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/53 "2012-10-13T08:24:11Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I would be interested to see how many of these food aversions would go out the window if any of you were starving and had no other options. I will eat just about anything, at least once. Seriously, I have tried Balut, raw sea urchin, and just about anything else that I have had a chance to try. I haven’t liked it all, but I don’t have aversions to them. Well, aren’t you special? ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/54 "2012-10-13T10:55:59Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > I would be interested to see how many of these food aversions would go out the window if any of you were starving and had no other options. I will eat just about anything, at least once. Seriously, I have tried Balut, raw sea urchin, and just about anything else that I have had a chance to try. I haven’t liked it all, but I don’t have aversions to them. I hate to pile on but. . . people who are starving have been known to eat shoes and other people. Good thing is, we aren’t starving. Although I do find that people who won’t eat something because of its color are, well, we’ll just say “high maintenance.” ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/55 "2012-10-13T14:47:44Z")
> [@April\_R](#): > > Food aversions seem like an extreme form of [first world problems](http://first-world-problems.com/). In other countries, or even in certain socio-economic strata you eat whatever is available and you love it. Its actually a funny observation. Avoiding bad, unhealthy, unnatural food is a legitimate 1st world problem. Sure those who avoid fruits and vegetables are more what you speak of… ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/56 "2012-10-13T21:27:56Z")
Way back, when I was a teen I think, I read a story in the news about a woman who subsisted for decades on nothing other than than white wine and egg whites. In the process, she managed to contract a vitamin deficiency disease that was apparently unique to her; the vitamin in question is so common and needed in so small an amount that only someone who had such a restricted diet for so long would run out of it. Even the occasional glass of _red_ wine or egg _yolk_ would have been enough. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/57 "2012-10-13T23:02:48Z")
I generally don’t like chunks of fruits, such as in yogurt or in fruit salad, and I don’t like canned fruit. Mainly because I perceive it to be less than fresh. Also, I’m vegetarian because I don’t like to eat meat. Another thing I avoid is any food that has been landed on by flies. When I’m at an outdoor picnic, I seem to be the only one with this restriction. ---
**Author:** ![Renton\_lvr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7feea3/32.png) [@Renton\_lvr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renton_lvr)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/58 "2012-10-14T04:38:47Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I had a friend in college who would not eat the ends on french fries. She’d bite into the middle part and then leave the ends in a pile on her plate. Wow. I can’t believe there is another. I know a guy who does this (he tears the ends off first and discards them). He claims the ends are too sharp. I woulda bet $500 I would never hear of this food quirk from anyone else on the planet. Guess I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/43a26b/32.png) [@Pine\_Fresh\_Scent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pine_Fresh_Scent)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/59 "2012-10-14T06:53:36Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Even the occasional glass of _red_ wine or egg _yolk_ would have been enough. Zach Galifianakis: [Guess what I had for breakfast.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hYgZfMX2KTo#t=222s) Ben Stiller; Umm, egg yellows? No? Galifianakis: Two waffles and a pancake. Stiller: Two waffles and a pancake. Galifianakis: Do you wish you had ever followed your parents into comedy? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327/60 "2012-10-14T21:45:31Z")
I hate drinking anything out of a can. All I can taste is the metallic taste. It’s like putting your tongue on the ends of a 9-volt battery to me. Coconut makes me ill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-eating-restrictions/637327.md?page=4)