I am not picky and will eat almost anything - and fortunately, I’m pretty good at eating the few foods I dislike without making a fuss.
Oddly enough, twice in recent weeks I’ve been served pears and bleu cheese by hosts who were convinced they were serving me the world’s most delicious treat. Sadly, bleu cheese is one of the few foods I find really revolting. Well, I enjoy a nice gnocchi with a creamy gorgonzola, but straight-up strong bleu cheese turns my stomach. Adding in the graininess of a pear just makes it more nauseating.
I’m happy to say that on both occasions I ate the pears and bleu cheese with enough fake gusto to pass muster, but it wasn’t easy. Good manners and respect for my hosts managed (barely) to triumph.
Have you had to pretend to like a food you really can’t stand recently?
Closest I can think of was a few weeks ago when there was a cake at work and I don’t eat whole slices of cake because their sugar to taste ratio is not worth it. So I took a big lump of the leftover frosting instead because it’s the tastiest part. Back when I was drinking Mountain Dew I would have simply refused to eat any of it at all because sweet stuff actively tasted bad to me because any extra sugar on top of the Mountain Dew would push me straight into a high/crash cycle.
At work yesterday, I was offered a Chips Ahoy. Never was there a more vile concoction attempting to pass itself off as the Greatest Cookie Ever. But, the offerer loves them, bless his misguided heart.
I don’t mind chips ahoy chunky with a glass of milk… granted my favorite food outside of steak are sour gummy worms so not the most refined palate but…
As for me, my SO and I sometimes have different taste in food. the only things I can’t stand though are olives, her favorite food, and ranch dressing. These and ricotta cheese are probably the only three foods I wouldn’t eat if I were starving. The rest I will politely eat and to be fair it has opened me up to things I thought I didn’t like, swordfish and oysters being notable examples.
It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten something I don’t like; I’m simply not willing to do it. To save face in a professional setting I once tried calamari. Holy crap was that vile. Luckily the people I was with knew I had never tried it so it was easier to take just the one bite and say something like “that’s different” or whatever. Ditto portabella mushroom. I was able to gag down one bite and give a reaction that did not belie my disgust but no way would I have eaten a plate of it. I think the most I ever ate of something revolting was when a date cooked swordfish. Did not like but I didn’t want to look like a weenie so I ate about half of it. There are some things that I absolutely will not put in my mouth no matter what, but if it doesn’t fall into that category and somebody asks me to try it, I can usually mange to choke down a bite. No way am I eating a whole serving of something I don’t like.
T-bone steak. I’m not a huge fan of beef in general, but I particularly dislike steak- would literally rather have a piece of hamburger than steak. I grew up on a cattle farm where we always had choice cuts in the freezer and this was supposed to be such a wonderful thing and I couldn’t stand them and would slip them to the dog whenever I could.
To this day I groan if I go to a dinner party and the host/ess proudly offers up what most people would apparently be honored to receive but I can’t stand.
Most wines. I’ve told my friends “Don’t waste wine on me, I have no palate, the only ones I like at all are the ones that taste like grape juice or the ones in sangria”. I particularly hate liquid sand such as Merlot, but will down it for politeness sake upon occasion.
If I’m providing food for someone, I ask if they like whatever it is first. I don’t assume they like the same things as me. To me, not asking first is way ruder than refusing food you dislike.
I was invited to a Lunar New Year festival by a neighbor who had emigrated to the US from China. He brought me to a restaurant in a back street in our city’s Chinatown. “You’ll like this restaurant,” he promised. “It’s where we Chinese eat. The food is very authentic.” The menu was in Chinese and my neighbor ordered for us, speaking Cantonese (? I think) to the waiter and I had no inkling what he’d ordered.
Soup was the first course, and it was delicious. (Those of you who know more about the real cuisine of China than I did at the time may guess where this is going.) “Great soup!” I said, digging in enthusiastically. “What’s it called?” “Bird’s nest soup,” said my neighbor. “Oh, that’s a nice fanciful name,” said I. “I suppose it’s because these noodles look like the twigs in a nest?” “No, those are twigs,” he replied. “The soup is made with real birds’ nests. It’s a great delicacy. I’m glad to see you’re enjoying it.” :eek:
I ate the rest of the soup but it took every ounce of self-control I had not to run out into the street and vomit in the gutter. I thought it best not to ask about the ingredients in the subsequent courses.
I once went to a very nice old mansion in New Orleans since they were hoping the company I worked for would book a corporate event there. The sampling menu included everything they offered for finger food, including a Portabello and steak skewer. Both my boss and I hated mushrooms, so it was paper rock scissors to decide. I lost. That was a GIANT piece of mushroom.
I also ate a piece of bull testicle in a creamy mushroom broth from the S&M Café in Lviv. It wasn’t out of politeness, the Belarussians and the Canadians were egging each other on and I could NOT let my countrymen down.
It was gross, but the worst part was the mushroom flavouring.
Depends on your definition of “recent” but about a year or so ago I was at a job interview and we went to a sushi place. I don’t like sushi (I don’t haaate it but still…).
I ate a cookie the other day at some school function and I can’t stand cookies.
… I know, I know - this tale of woe and sacrifice, truly earned, will be doubted as long as I tell it - but I still was able to eat that cookie. My confidence now knows no bounds.
So it was a swallow’s nest that I swallowed? Complete with swallow droppings and Giardia and flukes. Yeah, that’s a good friend all right.
But it’s churlish of me to be ungrateful. You’re right, moojja, he was a generous host. And he is a good guy and a good neighbor. He invited me out to dinner to thank me for letting him use a flat I own in another city rent-free on weekends for several months. I realize that he truly thought that I’d relish the guano-infused soup as much as he did.
THE SUGARHILL GANGHave you ever went over a friends house to eat
And the food just ain’t no good?
The macaroni’s soggy, the peas are mushed,
And the chicken tastes like wood
PlumBob, thank you for the link. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll put off reading it until I start my next diet. It’s sure to help by taking my appetite away.
Bleu cheese is made with Beelzebub’s jock itch fungus. Fact. Stinky cheese, artificial sweeteners, shellfish of any sort , and pork belly I will not eat ( just the thought of eating pork belly gives me the dry heaves), even to be polite. I will refuse very very politely, but very very firmly.
The last time I had to make do with something I don’t like was a few weeks ago at a funeral luncheon. The only meat was chicken legs and thighs with skin and bones, which are three things I don’t like in a chicken dish, but I didn’t want to hurt my cousin’s feelings since she’d ordered the food and was already dealing with a death in the family.
