Food neuroses that drive you nuts

[George]

My wife won't eat meat with any sign of pink. As I like lamb and beef quite rare this is a problem. I end up looking for irregular shaped joints of beef - roast it so the thin end is well done and the middle of the thick end is comparatively rare.

[scubadoo97]

My wife won't eat meat with any sign of pink. As I like lamb and beef quite rare this is a problem. I end up looking for irregular shaped joints of beef - roast it so the thin end is well done and the middle of the thick end is comparatively rare.

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George my wife is the same way. We grill flank steaks a lot which have that nice tapered end so there is a range from well done to medium and I put the thin end at the hottest part of the grill.

[maggiethecat]

Someone I know likes to greet her food before eating.  It's sort of like a "Hello, I'm going to eat you now, thank you [for giving your life]."  She usually says it to herself, but sometimes says it aloud, too.

Is that a neurosis?

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To me, it's not a neurosis, it's invoking grace. I'm going to take it up.

[judiu]

Someone I know likes to greet her food before eating.  It's sort of like a "Hello, I'm going to eat you now, thank you [for giving your life]."  She usually says it to herself, but sometimes says it aloud, too.

Is that a neurosis?

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To me, it's not a neurosis, it's invoking grace. I'm going to take it up.

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You should pardon the expression, Amen!

[jsmith]

Someone I know likes to greet her food before eating.  It's sort of like a "Hello, I'm going to eat you now, thank you [for giving your life]."  She usually says it to herself, but sometimes says it aloud, too.

Is that a neurosis?

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Does she say it to vegetables, or just to meat?

[star792]

I think cooked quinoa looks like maggots and I haven't made it in awhile because of this. When I was a child I was very neurotic about food. If it had a speck of anything on it(seasoning) I wouldn't eat it. No sauces and nothing touching. Red sauce was a big no. Yellow rice was too. I ate mostly plain noodles with butter.It was strange but I got over it when I met my husband. He literally forced me to try foods and then I got over my ridiculous gag reflex and began to eat all kinds of foods. I would say I still have a hard time with pickled things and gelatinized foods. I am a member of this site and that says how far I have come. Also my children are not picky and it burns my mom up because she always said she hoped my children would put me through what I did to her. ( they get me in plenty of other ways)

[R.E. Turner]

I did not realize that the spoon thing might be a neurosis... I thought I had "inherited" my love of long-handled teaspoons from my mom! It seems to me, though, that the slightly smaller bowl and the longer handle forces one to savor foods more than would be probable with more conventional spoons. (Mom, my aunts, and I all seem to eat foods out of bowls vs. plates more often, too. Easier to eat the last bits, that way, and one is forced to refill more often. I don't know about everyone else's motive, but for me, I don't tend to overeat as often if I have to make the conscious effort to refill that bowl for just "one more bite." And, on the other end of the spectrum, it doesn't look so "weird" to dip a tiny bit into a bowl for one more bite, whereas the same amount of food would look downright lonely on a dinner plate.)

As for broken treats, I subscribe to the notion that broken cookies, chips, pretzels, etc., have released their calories into the atmosphere. Thus, those are my favorites!

Like others here, I also have "texture issues" with some foods. For example, I like the flavor of onions, but can't tolerate the mouth-feel of uncooked or lightly-sauteed ones... They squeak between my teeth! Urk! Even liver tastes and smells good to me, but the mealy texture puts me off. Fortunately for my fellow diners, though, I don't have my brother's highly-developed gag reflex: Bless his heart, but he taught my mother the folly of "try a bite of everything" when confronted with cabbage and squash.

And then there are the foods that have bad associations, whether they are logical or not: I haven't eaten my grandmother's chili since I was in the fifth grade (lo! these many decades ago,) and that was the last thing I ate before exhibiting the symptoms of a truly awful flu bug that went around that year. Nor have I had the yen for chocolate milkshakes (or much of any sort of chocolate) since becoming carsick after consuming that "treat." If I recall correctly, that's been nearly 30 years of life without chocolate milkshakes. (Similar memory of a banana split, come to think of it. Is it any wonder that ice cream treats are not high on my list of things I can't live without?)

I guess that with all of my own food neuroses, I'm reasonably tolerant of others' weirdness. Many of my older relatives grew up and/or learned to cook prior to home refrigeration, so I don't mind that they want their meats charred. (I just employ low lighting at the dinner table as not to gross them out when I eat my steak bloody.) And my 7-year-old daughter likes catsup with virtually anything savory... I learned to pick my battles, and rejoice in the fact that she would try most things, and enjoy many foods, so long as I didn't mind the sight of red sauce dripping off the pork roast or Brussels sprouts.

[AmyKay]

My mother has always insisted that she doesn't like fish. And yet, EVERY TIME she eats fish that I cook, she declares with amazement "I don't like fish, but I liked that!" It's not like I am that amazing a cook when it comes to seafood. She has even been known to go to a local seafood restaurant and split a salmon dish with my father. When challenged on this behavior, she steadfastly insists, "I don't like fish, but that was good!"

God forbid my mother admits that she likes fish!

Of course, she has lately started on a strange "nothing that bleeds" kick, so I don't know where she imagines fish fit into that diet. The nothing that bleeds thing is particularly random since she has always loved steak (well, she used to anyway).

[Sugarella]

....I keep thinking about what really constitutes food neuroses? When does a food preference end and an actual food neurosis begin?

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It begins when you're halfway through a bowl of cereal, look down, and realize the cereal box had been full of dead bugs. Now I have to seal my cereal in foodsaver bags every time I open a box.

I also can't eat raisins that have been baked into anything. I can eat raisins on their own, but baked into anything and I'm methodically dissecting the baked good and checking the raisins for wings. Same reason as above.

I think some people need to draw attention to themselves with food issues.  Look how much attention kids get when the are fussy eaters.

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Exactly. I once made the mistake of serving an olive oil and lemon juice salad dressing to an acquaintance. She couldn't eat the salad because she'd "never heard of that." She could eat olive oil just fine, she could eat lemon juice just fine, but mixed together and she just couldn't do it. I later figured out it was just a manipulative, passive agressive control issue, of which she had many.

Edited August 8, 2008 by Sugarella (log)

[pepperAnn]

Where to begin.....

One of my friends frequently makes herself egg sandwiches for breakfast. She lays the eggs the same way on the bread each time, starts at a certain corner of the sandwich and cuts each bite in a certain order every time!

When I serve white rice, my three kids and I sprinkle sugar on the rice. That's the only way we eat it. My husband thinks that's disgusting, my kids think it's the only way (they're 14, 13, and 9 yrs. old).

I have NEVER eaten ketchup, mustard, or mayonnaise. Mayonnaise has to be one of the worst things on the planet. Just the thought disgusts me. Thus, I have never eaten egg salad, tuna salad, or chicken salad.

When I eat something, I spot the best french fry, potato chip, onion ring, corner of steak, crispiest edge (you get the idea) and I have to eat it last.

I have a bunch of oddities when it comes to food.

this one may not be odd, but I love vanilla ice cream with orange juice poured on it!

[Toliver]

this one may not be odd, but I love vanilla ice cream with orange juice poured on it!

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That's a deconstructed 50-50 Bar (an ice cream novelty). Get down with your bad self!

[Lisa Shock]

My hubby won't eat any yellow food and doesn't want it around. He claims that yellow is the color things turn when they are starting to rot. He will however, eat corn. He says "it isn't yellow, it's golden." This can make cooking a bit challenging at my house; no golden delicious apples, no yukon gold potatoes, no yellow split peas, no yellow tomatoes, no parsnips, no wax beans, and, curries had better be brownish, green, or red.

[vloglady]

Any new neuroses since last August?

[Shinboners]

My dad used to bring home live chickens, ducks, pigeons, etc. and slaughter them himself for dinner. My sisters never ate those dishes, saying it was horrible how it was to have the poultry alive one minute and presented on the dinner table a few hours later. Incidentally, they had no issue with eating chicken, duck, etc. when it was bought already ready for cooking from the supermarket.

And yet, when dad brought home live lobsters, crabs, and prawns to cook, my sisters had no issue with eating those dishes when put on the table.

[prasantrin]

This doesn't really qualify, but I just found out an exchange student I'll be counselling from April doesn't eat potatoes. And she's German. She's not allergic to them, but she just won't eat them.

ETA: I mention that she's German because I thought potatoes were very commonly used in German cuisine. Am I wrong? I'm not very familiar with it, so I could very well be. She's from Bonn, if that makes a difference.

Edited January 22, 2009 by prasantrin (log)

[cinghiale]

I thought potatoes were very commonly used in German cuisine.  Am I wrong?

Having lived in Germany, I can assure you that potatoes are very much a staple and are commonly served in a wide variety of preparations

I figured Germany was a high per-capita potato consumer, so I googled a bit. Though OT, the results surprised me. According to FAOSTAT, the top potato consumers in 2005 were:

Quantity (t)

1. China 47 594 193

2. Russian Fed. 18 828 000

3. India 17 380 730

4. United States 17 105 000

5. Ukraine 6 380 850

6. United Kingdom 6 169 000

7. Germany 5 572 000

8. Poland 5 000 000

9. Bangladesh 4 041 463

10.Iran (Islamic Rep.)3 991 142

Kg per capita

1. Belarus 181

2. Kyrgyzstan 143

3. Ukraine 136

4. Russian Fed. 131

5. Poland 131

6. Rwanda 125

7. Lithuania 116

8. Latvia 114

9. Kazakhstan 103

10.United Kingdom 102

This doesn't consider the use of potatoes in making vodka. And the average Brit eats more chips and mash that the average German eats Pommes and Bratkartoffeln. Go figger...

Edited January 22, 2009 by cinghiale (log)

[ChristinaM]

I love this thread! I feel so much better about myself now, so much to identify with...

I can't eat M&M's, they commit the dreadful sin of being 'not smarties' - which needless to say I have to eat by colour. Skittles, conversely, do not have to be eaten in pairs because they are fruit flavoured and I don't eat fruit in pairs

Those white bits on egg yolks...aaaargh. THE most revolting thing in the universe. To the extent that at age 2 I invented a name for them: they are called 'lawlers' (goodness knows why). And they DON'T disappear when cooked, they just get firmer (I am retching as I type this). Any scrambled eggs or omelets in this house have to be seived before cooking - even after being mixed with a stick blender, just in case.

I won't eat quail or whole pigeon as they are too small and it seems unfair on them. Partridge is pushing the envelope but I can just about eat them

My daughters all have their own little quirks, eldest won't have any food touching on her plate, and it's getting worse. The other day I had made swedish meatballs and she got hysterical when I said she couldn't have the sauce in a seperate bowl. She's 24! I gave in that time, on condition that she tries to get her head round it for next time.

Middle daughter (21) is a chef and also the fussiest person I know. The list of things she won't eat is so long that it's easier to make a list of things she will eat: pasta, prime fillet steak, overcooked chips, mash, overcooked fried eggs, baby corn (but only if it's been cooked in a Thai curry), Yorkshire pudding and gravy, runner beans, spinach, parmesan, mild cheddar, toast. That's about it. She's a good chef and tastes all the food she prepares...go figure!

Youngest (18) isn't bad, she hates mince and the summer before last refused to eat anything other than dried mango and sliced chicken breast, I was glad when that stopped. Her fiance makes up for it, he claims he will eat anything as he's very polite (bless) but then starts retching...he also eats only one thing at a time, first potatoes (or other starch), then meat, then veg, except he usually doesn't eat the veg and hides it under his fork/napkin/juice container even though he knows I know he does it

Family mealtimes at our house are a hoot

[RunBe4UFly]

One cowork will not eat chicken if she prepares it, or will not prepares the chicken if she will eat it later. Eat and preparation can't go together.

[prasantrin]

Back to my German exchange student, yesterday she told me that she gained 5 lbs before coming to Japan, just in case she didn't like the food here (so she'd have a bit of cushion). One month later, those 5 lbs are gone, and she doesn't have much more than she can safely lose.

It's going to be a long year, not to mention that I have very little patience regarding picky eaters (but I never have to eat with her, so it's not so bad).

[chemprof]

Back to my German exchange student, yesterday she told me that she gained 5 lbs before coming to Japan, just in case she didn't like the food here (so she'd have a bit of cushion).  One month later, those 5 lbs are gone, and she doesn't have much more than she can safely lose.

It's going to be a long year, not to mention that I have very little patience regarding picky eaters (but I never have to eat with her, so it's not so bad).

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Rona,

What does she like to eat? When I first went to Japan I thought I'd lose weight eating sashimi and bits of rice, but then I found the wonder of tonkatsu, not to mention all the great bakeries. And that's just the tip of the iceberg! I thought the variety of food, both japanese and non-japanese was pretty impressive. So yes, you sometimes eat salad for breakfast at a hotel buffet, but you can get used to that!

Anne

[Dianabanana]

Good lord, if you can't find something you like to eat in Japan, then . . . well, I don't know what. That is crazy. Japan has the best of everything, as far as I could tell! Prasantrin, you must be a saint.

[tupac17616]

Back to my German exchange student, yesterday she told me that she gained 5 lbs before coming to Japan, just in case she didn't like the food here (so she'd have a bit of cushion).  One month later, those 5 lbs are gone, and she doesn't have much more than she can safely lose.

It's going to be a long year, not to mention that I have very little patience regarding picky eaters (but I never have to eat with her, so it's not so bad).

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Now if there's a Japanese student staying with this German student's family in Germany, did he/she do the same? Somehow I think not.

I'll do my best to make up for what this girl did not eat the next time I'm able to go to Japan.

[Peter B Wolf]

I will never ever eat any kind of Baked Goods, even if it is a 'Birthday Cake', that has icing or decorations made in BLUE color

[BarbaraY]

My eldest recently asked me to stop using minced parsley as it gets stuck in her teeth. I have been referred to as "The Parsley Kid" by a co-worker and have been feeding my child parsley for well over 50 years and now she can't eat it.

[Toliver]

My eldest recently asked me to stop using minced parsley as it gets stuck in her teeth. I have been referred to as "The Parsley Kid" by a co-worker and have been feeding my child parsley for well over 50 years and now she can't eat it.

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Hand her a toothpick or some floss and keep using it.