I won't eat... What are your food limits?

[phage]

Well, I’ve eaten most of the “wouldn’t-eat” foods of people who have written so far. Some of them I really like. Balut, okra, insects, eyeballs (fish ones, at least), internal organs, durian, snakes, natto, tea with rancid yak butter, fermented fish guts, silkworm pupae, vegemite, meongge or sea squirt, etc. Usually I avoid Brussells Sprouts but am not totally adverse to them. And, someone mentioned three-bean salad. Now, that is TRULY an odd concoction. I'd only eat it in a pinch. But, two things I just won't eat:

-Raw Eggs, plain, right out of the shell....

-BREAD. Spaghetti. Pizza. I'm allergic to wheat so forget the bread unless it's made from spelt, or with something that needs a lot of xantham gum to cohere. Won't eat anything else with wheat - cookies, pies, cakes, biscuits, gravy, (I'd weigh a lot more by now if I didn't have to avoid these items.) Can't eat the majority of prepared foods, so I usually cook from scratch. It's healthier and I've become a better cook.

++phage

Edited September 24, 2006 by phage (log)

[Taubear]

Pumpkin = pigs swill

[christine007]

To myself, and my daughter, Cilantro tastes like the way kitty litter smells.

I forgot that one, probably in self-defense! yuck!

[hungryCAT]

Sauerkraut - vile weed!!

[miladyinsanity]

I don't like offal. I really don't like offal.

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I gather that you feel offal is awful.

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Ba-dum ching.

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You got it right, Milt.

I don't like wintermelon. The smell of Shitake mushrooms sends me running.

OMG, how could I have forgotten? I hate beansprouts with a passion. And in Singapore, they put beansprouts in everything!

[francie]

Beets!

They taste like dirt.

But they're the only abhorred-food-from-childhood that I still cannot tolerate, so that's a plus. I guess.

[dansch]

To myself, and my daughter, Cilantro tastes like the way kitty litter smells.

I forgot that one, probably in self-defense! yuck!

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cilantro. I loathe...no that's too kind, i would fist-rape in anger (whoa I gotta cut back on the espresso's) cilantro.

yeah, cilantro just tastes like SOAP to me.

To all you cilantro haters,

Are you all aware of I Hate Cilantro - an anti-cilantro community ? I love the stuff, but a close friend and food buddy can't stand it.

Cheers,

-Dan

[SuzySushi]

To myself, and my daughter, Cilantro tastes like the way kitty litter smells.

I forgot that one, probably in self-defense! yuck!

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cilantro. I loathe...no that's too kind, i would fist-rape in anger (whoa I gotta cut back on the espresso's) cilantro.

yeah, cilantro just tastes like SOAP to me.

To all you cilantro haters,

Are you all aware of I Hate Cilantro - an anti-cilantro community ? I love the stuff, but a close friend and food buddy can't stand it.

Cheers,

-Dan

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Hey, all of you guys who hate cilantro... you can send it to me!!!

[Milagai]

Question for cilantro haters:

Did the people who hate cilantro grow up

in cultures / with foodways where cilantro

is not used?

Flip side: are there any cilantro haters

from Thailand, India, Mexico, etc. where cilantro

is very integral?

Milagai

[emilyr]

I try to not say that there are things that I WON'T eat - I'll try (almos) anything once. That being said, I've never been offered much offal, brains, eyeballs, live animals, etc. I was the only person in my Girl Scout troop (leaders included) who'd try the alligator steak at one of the get togethers we went to, but that's about as out there as I've been. I just like to think I wouldn't poo-poo such choices out of hand.

BUT - I hate zucchini and summer squash. It's a texture thing, I think. Every year or so, I try it when it comes as the ubiquitous late summer side dish at EVERY restaurant around here, but I just can't stand it. Ick.

[bleachboy]

Green olives. I won't even try.

[Philanthrophobe]

Live critters and pets top my list for reasons discussed earlier in this thread. Don't care for offal at all, particularly brains--it's primarily a texture thing. And for the same reason, I can't stand mealy, un-juicy fruit.

[Reefpimp]

Kim Chee. I spent a year in Korea courtesy of the United States Army and I never did get it past my nose. If you could find me a reliable source for food-grade human, I would braise (say) Debby shanks every night for a month before I could eat kim chee.

Oddly enough, I had dog (Kae go gi) more than once and wasn't grossed out; and I've been damned poor, poor enough to eat Alpo and be glad for the calories; but that concoction of pickled urine and hate is just a little to much for me.

[Bunny Man]

I try to be as open minded as possible about anything considered edible. I assume that if people eat it, it should be tasty. I think that if it is fresh and prepared well I'll try it. I'll even try it a few times because some things are so different that it takes a while to understand what it is that you are eating. Sushi was this way for me, as was all beers more complex than a simple lager and vinagres certainly took a while for me go understand and then love - I stock 6 kinds in my pantry. At first taste Thai stews with lemon grass and coconut milk were disgusting but now they are super yummy.

I find it interesting to see the things that people refuse to eat as they are often some of my favorites. Olives, beets, liver, cilantro, mushrooms ... all wonderful to me.

I draw the line at something that is still alive and aware that I'm eating it. Freshly killed and then eaten, like say sushi or even a raw oyster, it fine with me. I just don't like the idea of something struggling in my mouth while I'm chewing it. I'm just not that much of a barbarian.

But then, I'm not exactly right in the head either.

[Milt]

I try to be as open minded as possible about anything considered edible. I assume that if people eat it, it should be tasty. I think that if it is fresh and prepared well I'll try it. I'll even try it a few times because some things are so different that it takes a while to understand what it is that you are eating. Sushi was this way for me, as was all beers more complex than a simple lager and vinagres certainly took a while for me go understand and then love - I stock 6 kinds in my pantry. At first taste Thai stews with lemon grass and coconut milk were disgusting but now they are super yummy.

I find it interesting to see the things that people refuse to eat as they are often some of my favorites. Olives, beets, liver, cilantro, mushrooms ... all wonderful to me.

I draw the line at something that is still alive and aware that I'm eating it. Freshly killed and then eaten, like say sushi or even a raw oyster, it fine with me. I just don't like the idea of something struggling in my mouth while I'm chewing it. I'm just not that much of a barbarian.

But then, I'm not exactly right in the head either.

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Welcome to eGullet Bunny Man. Great first post. You stated quite well what I tried to say some time back - only better.

[C_Ruark]

Microwaved popcorn of any kind; any organ of significance to an animal's nervous, pulmonary or reproductive systems; shellfish (an unfortunate allergy); agaric mushrooms.

[GTO]

My dad is a fishmonger, so it seems somewhat ridiculous that I can't stand strong fish, or even mildly fishy fish. I like tuna, I can tolerate salmon but Lord knows I've tried to like all else but I just can't hack it - It's mostly the smell but also the aftertaste of fish.

That's my main gripe but I also draw the line at certain offal like heart and intenstine - If it pumps blood for a living, or transports poo, in my view, it shouldn't be eaten.

Third and finally, celery - I don't know how celery has remained legal, it tastes like a science experiment to me.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

fish eggs of any kind

herring in a jar

balut

organ meats

brazil nuts

red cabbage

shark fin or birds nest (not into that boogery texture)

crayfish

any meat you could buy in a pet store (cat, dog, rodents, turtle, frog) with the exception of rabbit

natto

[Patrick S]

Celery. Dill and fennel seeds.

[alanamoana]

...If it pumps blood for a living, or transports poo, in my view, it shouldn't be eaten...

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please allow me to use this for my first sig line on eGullet...

[GTO]

herring in a jar

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Haha, some things are just designed to repel by name alone. There are some things that rather than throw away, companies jar, pickle or dehydrate but don't expect people to actually eat outside of a nuclear war scenario.

Herring in jar, is not particularly fun sounding. It's grouped alongside it's abomnable brothers and sisters such as "stewed steak in a can" and "Pickled fish offal"

Delicacies such as fish cheeks I can understand but when you start to pickle fish offal, get help.

[shrek]

Baked beans.

No way, no how, not for anything in the world, will I put baked beans in my mouth. I don't care who made them or how they were made, the smell alone makes me gag. The very words "baked beans" bring back horrifying childhood memories. Blech.

[pintchow]

I try to be as open minded as possible about anything considered edible. I assume that if people eat it, it should be tasty. I think that if it is fresh and prepared well I'll try it. I'll even try it a few times because some things are so different that it takes a while to understand what it is that you are eating. Sushi was this way for me, as was all beers more complex than a simple lager and vinagres certainly took a while for me go understand and then love - I stock 6 kinds in my pantry. At first taste Thai stews with lemon grass and coconut milk were disgusting but now they are super yummy.

I find it interesting to see the things that people refuse to eat as they are often some of my favorites. Olives, beets, liver, cilantro, mushrooms ... all wonderful to me.

I draw the line at something that is still alive and aware that I'm eating it. Freshly killed and then eaten, like say sushi or even a raw oyster, it fine with me. I just don't like the idea of something struggling in my mouth while I'm chewing it. I'm just not that much of a barbarian.

But then, I'm not exactly right in the head either.

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Welcome to eGullet Bunny Man. Great first post. You stated quite well what I tried to say some time back - only better.

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Yes, I would agree with you both. Love beets, especially when roasted with balsamic vinegar and served with goat cheese. Sushi is also a thing of beauty. Offal, intestines, YUM especially when deep fried and served in congee, garnished with well-scented cilantro!

I have to think very hard about what I wouldn't eat, even if life depended on it...

I guess I would eat just about anything. Those huge wriggly glistening palm grubs may be a bit problematic on first look, but I hear, it develops a 'nice crust with a soft interior', once roasted over a fire.

..ooh and maybe pickled herring. Had that at a Dutch wedding, and it had this slimy chewy over-accentuated, in your face flavor, that I remember to this day. And really, I would almost eat anything and try and try again. If you want to torture me, make me eat Dutch pickled herring!

[SheenaGreena]

Those huge wriggly glistening palm grubs may be a bit problematic on first look, but I hear, it develops a 'nice crust with a soft interior', once roasted over a fire.

Its amazing how huge those things get. Perhaps the name "palm grubs" serves as a double entendre. I don't think I would eat those either, seeing how they are usually eaten while they are still alive and all wriggly

[IgnatzH]

I'll eat, and have eaten anything that's fresh. That includes insects (only dependable protein source over much of the world, sorry) and all manor of other beasties unpalatable to most. However, I can't abide by anything that tastes spoiled or moldy such as many types of very expensive cheeses. The most horrible thing I've ever eaten was fermented shark in Iceland. Horrible...disgusting beyond words.

The Invasive Species Cookbook: www.bradfordstreetpress.com