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

[TPO]

I cannot eat liver nor can I stand the smell of it cooking no matter what goes into the preparation. To me, anything cut from the blade of a cow smells like liver when it cooks, so I can't go near that either. I don't care for the blade of any animal really, so I think it may harbor the same smell or texture as beef blade.

[HKDave]

yay for today's internet connected world! we all get to geek out with full bellies, on whether or not you'd eat something even if you were starving.

but since this is a site which reaches people from all around the world, (i mean unless they don't have internet access), i want to know if anybody here has ever actually ever been starving?

like, seriously. have you ever been starving?

what was "off the table" in those desparate moments of yours?

Got close at one point. Decades ago, as a teenager doing useless volunteer work in the most fucked up country in South America. Got back home weighing about 100 pounds and had open running sores on my legs from malnourishment. I ate plenty of stuff on that gig that I would not eat now. Ever had chicken feet on rice for a week? A month?

Later on in life and location, I felt that as a polite guest I had to eat whatever was put in front of me. So I've had whale and horse sashimi, fugu from an unlicensed fugu cook, snake, turtle, pig snout (any food where you can still see the nostril hairs...), blood, tripe, bugs, durian and several other things I'm blocking from my memory. Put it in front of me and I can probably get in down.

There are plenty of things I'm glad nobody has offered me yet. I'm in Guangdong Province, the heart of Cantonese cooking, every week, and everything is considered food here. Everything. Rat restaurants? Got 'em. Endangered species? The more endangered, the better. There are even restaurants still selling live (banned) civit cat, the animal thought responsible for the jump of the SARS virus to humans. Would you like a global epidemic with your meal?

But last year I discovered my absolute, can't do it, even getting one bite down is impossible limit. In a French restaurant in Saigon. The culprit?

Andouillette.

The horror...

[Mooshmouse]

Duck/chicken embryo semiformed in the egg (I forget the exact name). I saw it being eaten on a foodnetwork tv show.

In the Philippines, it's called pulutan. And no, I never ate it. Very popular there, though, especially as a bar snack. Also sold in bus stations as road food <shudder>.

From what I can recall, it's called balut (it's pronounced like the "u" in "put"). Men consider it an aphrodesiac and verility enhancer... good Lord.

As a child, I'd be getting ready for bed when I'd hear the street vendor shouting, "Baluuuuut, baluuuuut." Clearly sold at night for a reason... who wants to look at an embryo while you're eating it? I've always seen it semi-hard-cooked; in other words, when you crack the top of the shell open and sprinkle some salt in to taste, you tip the egg up to drink the broth before consuming the tasty treat inside... aaaaaaaaaack.

And, no, absolutely no. I never ate it. Vaguely remember drinking the broth once but would've been completely horrified if the embryo had touched my lips.

Edited to add that my food aversions can be summed up in one simple statement: No feet, faces, or organs. Especially at dim sum. Duck tongues. Chicken feet. Tripe. Not even a hope. However, I do love pate...

Edited June 13, 2004 by Mooshmouse (log)

[daw]

Baby birds on sticks - grilled whole at street food stalls in China.

I looked closely at one in Beijing but just couldn't do - my Chinese friend assured me they were excellent!

I guess I'd be passing on the embryonic chicks too...

David

[irodguy]

Brussel Sprouts. It's a smell thing. Other than that have eaten all kinds of other strange stuff. Live shrimp anybody ;)

[Pompollo]

Yes, I'll also second all the other mentions about bugs, embryos, brains, and even people....that are mentioned all throughout the thread. Gross things likes these, though, aren't on super market shelves, so I don't even consider them as part of the food chain even.

But when it comes to what I won't eat that is a regular food item listed on menus and sold in super-markets... my vote, hands down, goes to L I V E R ! Yuck!

[zhaneel]

In keeping with many of the other posts in this thread, I draw the line at balut, live bugs, organs, feet, things that stare back and genitalia, though I'd probably try fried/cooked bugs and brains (cooked, please, and not diseased).

But as for "normal" foods, there are three that spring to mind that I just can't stomach - the first two are any type, flavor or variety of beer and most red wines. The smell alone from a cabernet or a merlot can make me nauseous at 6 feet. I'm hoping to try port soon to see if the addition of brandy makes any difference.

The third? Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. I'm sorry, but that doesn't qualify as cheese, pasta or food. The cheese-food just tastes... weird. And plasticky.

[daw]

If we're doing normal stuff you buy in a supermarket rather than the afore mentioned baby birds on sticks etc, then my vote goes for rice pudding which I cannot stomach.

I also don't do coffee in any way, shape or form be that to drink, coffee cake etc.

David

Edited June 24, 2004 by daw (log)

[irodguy]

Oops forgot to mention Coffee. Can't stand the stuff, except to cook with. I do use it for brownies and for roast.

[klc14]

Non-deveined shrimp.

Yes, I KNOW it's edible and I KNOW it won't hurt me but psychologically, I just cannot force myself to eat shrimp if I see even a bit of black. I've tried, and my throat physically refused to swallow it - and I realized that if I kept trying, it was going to come right back up anyway.

I concur. I ate shrimp that were not deveined ONCE. Got sick--it didn't come back up, it went straight thru. NEVER AGAIN.

[klc14]

If it is offered to me, I would try just to satisfy my curious mind. I am sure some of you ate earthworm during your childhood....... it wasn't too bad or was it?

Wow. No, never even THOUGHT of it. It's BIRD food, man! You can tell I was not the adventurous type.

If you ever chance to try the egg with fish intestine dish you mentioned, let us know how it was. For better or for worse.

[Julia'sChild]

Dog and the "monkey's brain scooped out of his freshly cut off head" dish.

You should probably draw the line somewhere.

[whippy]

"monkey's brain scooped out of his freshly cut off head" dish

i have a hunch the main place this dish is served is hollywood.

[tryska]

and maybe north korea.

[eunny jang]

and maybe north korea.

?? people actually eat this?

[tryska]

i don't know. it just sort of reminds me of the anecdote that kim jong-il eats sashimi straight off a still-living fish.

Edited July 22, 2004 by tryska (log)

[cakes]

And you think that oysters are humanly killed?

Cakes

[mags]

i don't know. it just sort of reminds me of the anecdote that kim jong-il eats sashimi straight off a still-living fish.

I'm pretty sure this is available -- even to folks other than Dear Leader -- in Japan as well.

[JumpinJude]

Kidneys - had them once, that was more than enough.

Okra as star ingredient.

Raw tomatoes in anything bigger than a fine dice, and not by themselves.

[linlee]

Surprised that it has not come up -- PUMPKIN!! In any way shape or form. I try every year but I can't swallow. I love squash - butternut. acorn, kabocha - but pumpkin tastes rotten.

Ants, bees, grasshoppers fried are fine. Snake and alligator are yummy.

[AzRaeL]

But when it comes to what I won't eat that is a regular food item listed on menus and sold in super-markets... my vote, hands down, goes to L I V E R ! Yuck!

Not even Foie Gras?

[AzRaeL]

Baby birds on sticks - grilled whole at street food stalls in China.

I looked closely at one in Beijing but just couldn't do - my Chinese friend assured me they were excellent!

I guess I'd be passing on the embryonic chicks too...

David

those are Quails and they're delicious

[eunny jang]

i don't know.  it just sort of reminds me of the anecdote that kim jong-il eats sashimi straight off a still-living fish.

I'm pretty sure this is available -- even to folks other than Dear Leader -- in Japan as well.

Sashimi cut off "living" fish is available in some mainstream sashimi restaurants in the U.S. as well. I know of at least two in Northern Virginia.

[judiu]

What I can't stand (be kind, I'm new) is melon of any sort.

It has a background flavor of, well, pastel.

Oh my gawd, I'm NOT alone! I (until now) thought that I was the only person in the world that didn't care for melons! Not only do I not like them, they don't like me; I'm reminded of them for up to three days afterward ! Have disliked raw, unpeeled bell peppers for life, yet I love roasted peppers. Beets yuck. Overcooked celery (think beef stew or pot roast). Don't think I could eat cat, even if I did't know what it was. Mountain oysters, lamb fries,calf fries (same idea, different critters). There's more, that I'm sure of, but I can't think of them now.

[bazaz13]

Milk