The clean your plate club

[therdogg]

The axis-of-evil thread and okra thread made me wonder... how many of you out there do not have any food aversions? I'm not talking about poorly prepared or overly processed foods- just wondering if there are other folks out there like me who aren't aware of any foods they inherently dislike. Give me stinky cheese or capers or cilantro (I can't believe some of you don't like cilantro ) or kidneys or tofu or eggnog or liver- even all in the same dish, perhaps, and I'll manage to eat it. Yes, I have preferences, but I really am not aware of any food that I don't like. As a child and teenager I certainly had dislikes but worked hard to overcome my aversions and now I appreciate, even relish, foods I formerly disdained. (Can you believe I used to hate nuts? Even pecans...) Think of me as Switzerland in your dining room- I'm just wondering if there are other neutral foodies out there, who can happily dine at the same table where common "axis" foods are being served.

[Mayhaw Man]

The axis-of-evil thread and okra thread made me wonder... how many of you out there do not have any food aversions? I'm not talking about poorly prepared or overly processed foods- just wondering if there are other folks out there like me who aren't aware of any foods they inherently dislike. Give me stinky cheese or capers or cilantro (I can't believe some of you don't like cilantro ) or kidneys or tofu or eggnog or liver- even all in the same dish, perhaps, and I'll manage to eat it. Yes, I have preferences, but I really am not aware of any food that I don't like. As a child and teenager I certainly had dislikes but worked hard to overcome my aversions and now I appreciate, even relish, foods I formerly disdained. (Can you believe I used to hate nuts? Even pecans...) Think of me as Switzerland in your dining room- I'm just wondering if there are other neutral foodies out there, who can happily dine at the same table where common "axis" foods are being served.

Yes Yes Yes

As you can see from my lack of a list in the Axis Thread, I literally cannot come up with four things I hate. Certainly I like some things more than others, but I will eat just about anything put in front of me (and probably lots of it) if everybody else says it is good or some cultural tradition tells me the same thing (and just to stop all of the smartasses-no I will not jump off of a bridge just because everyone else is doing it ).

Just tonight I enjoyed several things on the hated list - cilantro (in pico de gallo I made tonight), pickled okra (just a couple before supper), avacados (both sliced and made into fresh guacamole), and really, really ripe drippy tomatoes with crushed pepper and salt.

I am a happy member of the "Clean Your Plate Club" and proud to be one because it is just too much trouble to not like stuff (except....well....nevermind, this is not a political forum )

[Susan in FL]

I can't think of any food I hate. The closest I can come to that is coconut, but still, hate or aversion would he too strong a term. I have eaten coconut shrimp. Coconut, Marzipam, jello salads... I can't think of any stronger aversions, and it's not like those things break me out in hives or anything like that.

P.S. I dislike cream-of whatever soups, but that would come under the category of poorly prepared or overly processed foods.

Therdogg, I'm with you.

[SG-]

Count me in, I eat anything, everything, any cuisine etc. In fact the weirder the better.

Have never rejected anything so far in my life (yet), maybe I'll chicken out when I do finally encounter a "balut", but so far nothing yet.

[JennyUptown]

OK, I'm on the other team. Let's call us The Haters. I was never forced to finish a meal, clean my plate or finish an unfinished meal the next day. My parents completely catered to my likes/dislikes.

BUT...I also know plenty of people who would say "my parents made me eat okra and as soon as I left for college, I vowed 'never again!'."

[tommy]

i don't know if it's an aversion, but i don't like cooked salmon very much. i'll shove it down my throat if it's raw, however.

as far as stinky, the stinkier the better (although this wasn't true a few years ago).

other than that, the smell of Southern Comfort still makes me gag. one too many chug/vomit sessions in college, i suspect.

Edited February 12, 2004 by tommy (log)

[Susan in FL]

I was never forced to finish a meal, clean my plate or finish an unfinished meal the next day. My parents completely catered to my likes/dislikes.

Nor was I ever forced to finish a meal, clean my plate, etc. etc. etc.... Food wise, my parents raised me the same way, and that is part of what I attribute to my open-mindness and wine range of food tastes. At least they got that part right.

[ExtraMSG]

No one ever had to convince me to clean my plate. I'd clean mine and the person's next to me (and the person's next to them).

I don't have any serious food aversions, though I share tommy's dislike for cooked salmon and can only actually enjoy the best wild salmon cooked and prefer it medium rare.

Bugs gross me out, though, as do seabugs if they're still in the shell with their wigglies. But I have eaten whole soft-shell crab anyway, which is about as gross as it gets. I don't know how I'd handle balut. Nasty sounding from people I've talked to.

But I haven't had anything set in front of me yet that I didn't eat. But I haven't traveled in SE Asia.

[Mayhaw Man]

I have to admit, cooked salmon is probably the last thing I will order if there are other choices. It is o.k., but generally I can find something I like more. I love smoked salmon however, especially that cold smoked stuff from Northern Europe. I can eat it by the boatload.

I wonder if this is a strange trend, plate cleaners who would rather eat something besides salmon (but who, of course, eat it if it is there and ready to be eaten )

[tommy]

that reminds me, i don't like many smoked products, especially smoked salmon.

[ExtraMSG]

tommy, it helps if you think of smoked salmon as fishy bacon. Who doesn't love bacon? Crazy people.

[therdogg]

Tommy- uh, sorry, but it sounds like you aren't "Clean Your Plate Club" material. Go find your smoked-food-hating, cooked-salmon-refusing compatriots on the "Axis" thread.

[SethG]

This is a club I'll join. I couldn't think of any aversions to list either.

I have a stomach that's slightly on the weak side-- big piles of shellfish and very rich foods somethimes make me sick. But I eat them anyway!

[Jake]

I'm with you guys. I can't think of anything I actually despise. I do hate poorly prepared food, but that has nothing to do with the ingredients!

[tommy]

Tommy- uh, sorry, but it sounds like you aren't "Clean Your Plate Club" material. Go find your smoked-food-hating, cooked-salmon-refusing compatriots on the "Axis" thread.

dratts. i missed the thrust of this thread. with all of these clubs around egullet, it's hard to know where one truly fits in.

but i'll start eating smoked salmon if that helps. only because ExtraMSG says i'm crazy if i don't.

[Mayhaw Man]

but i'll start eating smoked salmon if that helps. only because ExtraMSG says i'm crazy if i don't.

In this case I believe that the old saw, "It takes one to know one" can probably be applied.

[Knicke]

If I am hungry, no aversions that I know of. If my crappy-boxed-lunch sandwich fills me up enough, though, I will probably skip the mushy Red Delicious. Things may get left on my plate...I hate feeling too full...but they always end up in the doggie bag and in my mouth 2-3 hours later. And I look on any food considered "weird" or "gross" by anyone else as a challenge. There's a lot that I don't particularly care for, but nothing I will not eat.

I have a really strong gag reflex (gotta be careful with the toothbrush) but I don't think it's been activated in regard to food since age 12 or earlier.

At my house, we all served ourselves from the dishes on the table. I was always expected to take at least 3 bites of everything served, and to finish everything I had dished out onto my plate. I can think of only a handful of times where eating became a power struggle...anyway, I learned to eat food even if it didn't please me, and to be aware of my stomach's capacity.

[MHesse]

At this point, I'll eat just about anything one normally sees as food, except soft shell crabs - those give me the willies. I'm not including really unusual, like congee.

[ludja]

I am much more at home in this club than the 'evil axis' one. I was actually really surprised to the see the wide variety of things I really love on people's 'evil list'.

I had to think really hard to come up with margarine (which I think wouldn't count based on your starting post), licorice and calves brains. I've gotton over the childhood aversion and enjoy anise-flavored things. Calves brains we can take off also b/c they are probably not a good thing to eat in the age of 'mad cow'...

Almost all vegs that I didn't really like as a child became that way because of preparation or source (canned). My mom was a great cook, but in that time and place she relied more on canned things for some vegetables--like beets. We had great fresh vegetables in the summer though. Other revelations were eventually having olives other than jarred with pimento or canned black ones (ugh).

[jsolomon]

I slow my steady gorging when it comes to hominy; however, I haven't turned hominy away for quite a while.

Normal things people don't like? Beets, bring 'em on. Liver? More! MRE's? I'll trade my jalapeno cheese. Steak tartare? Please!

I love food.

[bleachboy]

Yeah, the okra thread brought me here. I probably have an aversion to okra because, growing up, my parents taught me well to eat the food you're given -- maybe I won't clean the plate, but I'll eat enough to appear polite.

Growing up, my mom served boiled-until-mucusy okra at least once a week. As such, I can't stand okra. Next time I'm in New Orleans, though, I think I'm going to ask Mayhaw Man to find me some tasty okra, because I want to give it a chance.

Of course, my extended family is just chock damn full of folks who love to bring cool-whip-jello-miracle-whip-and-green-olive salad (an actual dish, BTW) to family gatherings, so I'm very good at putting microscopic portions on my plate, spreading them around, and complimenting the dish, while managing to eat only maybe one tablespoon of the noxious concoction.

If the cook actually knows how to cook, though, I'll eat anything and probably enjoy it -- a lot.

I've found that especially in the South, people are pretty much willing to try anything, especially if you tell them it's a casserole or just don't tell them what it is at all. My wife and I frequently bring dishes that would be wierd to my grandparents -- i.e. middle eastern food, French food, etc. to family get-togethers and usually get rave reviews. If they ask, just tell 'em you made it with Campbell's cream-of-mushroom soup.

[cdh]

Yup...

I have to agree that I'm not in the Haters' club. It took me days to think of the bitter melon, asafoetida and buckwheat groats that I came up with over on the other thread. And who eats them regularly, anyway.

As far as things a North American would come across in more than 2% of situations, I'm totally in the "I'll eat it!" Club.

[AzRaeL]

just remember this: it won't kill you.

at least it isn't something like live madagascan hissing cockroaches.

[mcdowell]

I have never run across a food that I wouldn't put into my mouth, and very little of that wasn't enjoyed.

There have been a few things that I have eaten where I had no idea what it was, and was probably better off for the ignorance...

[Susan in FL]

This is interesting. The salmon thing intrigues me. I love fresh salmon, as well as smoked salmon, if it is good quality. My husband, who will eat almost anything, doesn't care for it. He eats much more indiscriminately than I do. It seems to me that I, with a more discriminating palate, would have more dislikes than he does. It seems like I wouldn't like the salmon, but I do. I like just about everything of high quality, and well prepared, except for the aforementioned coconut, marzipam, and jello salads. And oh yeah, black licorice. What's up with this?!