I’ve heard the complaints from every direction my whole life when discussing food: I hate XX.
The fat on a ribeye is disgusting!
I can’t stand seafood!
I hate vegetables!
I won’t eat meat on the bone!
Lamb is too gamey!
Duck is too rich!
Soup makes me gag!
My wife hates fennel!
And on and on. Typical, nothing strange about any of this, except maybe the soup one. Everyone has something, right?
The thing is, I don’t. There’s not a single real food I don’t like if it’s of good quality and well prepared. Of course I have preferences, and there are foods I mostly avoid because I think they are unhealthy or for philosophical reasons, but nothing that I think inherently doesn’t taste good when treated right. Certainly nothing that comes up in the course of normal life or most travels.
So far in my life I have found one other person like this, who for all intents and purposes eats everything – a friend in Asia. My husband comes close, but he doesn’t like orange squash or sweet potatoes, except in Japan. Don’t ask.
So I’m curious – anyone else here who truly eats every real food, provided it’s properly made?
That’s basically me, too. Just about any real food, done right. Very rare exceptions include caraway. Just not for me. I also get a big charge out of trying things. Tripe in Italy, Saumagen in the Pfalz, etc.
Peas and mayonnaise are usually deal breakers for me. It’s a texture thing. Then it’s the method of preparation. Cooked tuna — even seared seems gross to me, for example. Other than that I’ll pretty much eat anything.
The only thing that comes to mind that is a deal breaker are strong, oily fish such as mackerel. I want to like them because I know that they are healthy but I have a visceral gag reflex when I get close. I’ve long been of the opinion that just because something is edible, that doesn’t mean I have a desire to eat it. Insects are an example but I suppose I could do fried crickets if I had to.
In for another “I am like that but X.” The only X I can think of is roadside fried spiders in Cambodia. I wanted to try them – but when the platter piled high with spiders was brought to me, I had to say no. They were much larger than I had though! To put this in perspective, I have eaten worms (in Zimbabwe – not great but tolerable), and other odd foods. Except for the spiders I would like to think that I will try anything once – and I would the spiders if they were a bit smaller maybe? Or not from a pop up truck stop on the side of the road…
My rule is “no pets or family” (dogs, cats, monkeys). Otherwise, I eat everything. There are things I don’t particularly like (cooked green bell peppers and sweet vegetables (like the squash and sweet potatoes mentioned above), which I don’t make at home, but I will eat them outside the house