Things you DON'T eat?

[Jody]

Mossie, a rutabaga is the same as a Swede. Traditionally served with haggis, on which I'll also pass, but a good side of clapshot or neeps and tatties always hits the spot.

[Darcy]

I can't think of too many things I don't eat but, of course, there are things I haven't tried and probably wouldn't - brains, for example, but then, why not try them?

Oh, just remembered - I don't like lima beans or okra, although I like fried okra.

[Ellen]

I have not ever tried and will not ever try Escargot. I don't care how 'unFrench' this makes me but I refuse point blank to eat slugs. Oh! and rare steak, sorry all you foodies on here, but if its still making a mooing sound on my plate I will not eat it. I don't like offal on my plate either.
I don't like peas either, for some reason I haven't gave them a chance, even when I was a child, I just could not put them in my mouth, still can't.

Ellen

[suzanne]

I'm with you Ellen on both counts. I have not, and most likely, will not eat frogs legs of pigs feet either. I once unkowingly ate tongue. When I found out what it was I was sick. It is all in your mind as they say.

[Katharine]

If I were to really list all the things I don't like we would be here forever. Suffice it to say that I am a picky eater (however, I rarely meet a sweet I don't like).

Will not eat organ meat in any form.

Am not crazy about beef, but in small doses and generally as a filet medium rare with a bernaise.

Any sort of animal fat gives me the willies.

Tofu is way off limits, as is sausage.

To chime in on the current conversation - love sweet potatoes. In fact, ate roasted sweet potatoes for dinner. Also love marmalade, but never really eat it.

Finally, will not eat anything that I cannot clearly identify. Mystery meats or any other foods are completly verbotem.

I am not at all a "foodie" and am, in fact, a cheap date. In Paris, give me a baguette and some cheese and fruit and I am happy as a clam. Oh, and a pastis or three.

[sunshine817]

I don't eat black pudding. I know what it is, and I've tried it a dozen or more times in a dozen or more places...yecch. Don't like it, not gonna eat it. I absolutely understand that it dates to a time when you ate everything but the oink because one never knew when the next butchering might be, but am very happy that modern agriculture makes that unnecessary. (I eat fromage du tete, by the way...my gran used to make it, but she called it head cheese...somehow it sounds better with a French name!)

The description of French andouille here on the forum puts it in the very, VERY short list of things I have no desire to even try. Anything that smells as described here on my plate is not going to be eaten. (Cajun andouille? Lemme at it!)

Other than that, I tend to run under the assumption that if others at the table are eating it without ill effect, then it probably won't hurt me, either, and it's worth at least a taste.

Haggis was a surprise -- I expected it to be quite foul, but found it to be not terribly appetizing, but not horrible. I probably would never choose to eat it again, but could manage to get through a dinner without offending my hosts if I had to!

(I can't eat flounder...not sure why, as I absolutely love the flavour, but cannot tolerate it for some bizarre reason, and I've been violently ill every time I've eaten it. Doctor says it's not an allergy, but I avoid all of the flat fish -- sole included -- for that reason.)

Have eaten jellyfish (really!), adore escargot (hey, your SHOES would be moderately edible if cooked in that much butter and garlic!), many, many varieties of obscure sushi, and LOVED the curried goat meat I was served at a dinner years ago (didn't know it was goat til dinner was over...my reaction was Hmmm. whaddya know. I ate goat...and liked it! Some of my companions were less than pleased with the knowledge....!)

My one "absolutely refuse to eat it no matter what, and I'll throw a tantrum to prove it" veg is beets. Makes me shudder to even think about eating them.

The only sweet I'll turn up my nose at is a southern US creation called Red Velvet Cake. It's an otherwise lovely slice, utterly ruined by the addition of copious amounts of red food coloring. Not only does it look revolting, but I can taste nothing but the food coloring, which is horribly bitter. (Apparently the ability to taste red coloring is fairly rare...but I have it!) I also prefer not to eat things that have that much artificial anything in it...it can't be good for you!

[Shoesy]

If something looks very greasy, I won't eat it. The same goes for something that looks very gloppy.

[annettecinca]

I'll eat just about any fruit or vegetable (beets, yum! sweet potatoes, yum! peas, yum!), but please keep those organs off my plate, thank you! (a bit of foie gras would be the exception) I really really want to like fish and I've tried it in many forms and preparations, but it makes me gag! The offal preference is just a mind thing, but the fish revulsion is the real deal--I can not eat it. I've had snails and can take them or leave them. I've not had French andouille, but think that's something I will pass on thanks to you guys!

[Shoesy]

Annette - Fish is the best when it doesn't look, smell or taste fishy. Grilled is my favorite, and I don't deal with bones. No fish heads on my plate!!! Only filet for me.

[annettecinca]

Ah, if only it were that easy, Shoesy! It's like I have the same weird tastebuds as Sunshine with the red dye, only for me it's fish. After taste tests and lots of discussion on the subject, I've concluded that I taste something that most others don't detect. In science class, my daughter learned about an enzyme or something that not everyone can taste--it was totally flavorless to 3/4 of the class, and horribly bitter to the rest of the students. I wonder if that stuff is in fish?!

[Shoesy]

Annette - If you really find fish so revolting, you should definitely stay away from it. I'm certain that there are so many other things that you truly like, so you should stick to and enjoy those dishes. The same thing goes for everybody else. In other words, why bother trying to eat something that you find gross?

[Happygoin]

Shoesy! Aren't you forgetting something?? (a-hem...Pig Trotters )

[Shoesy]

Oh no, Happy. I could never forget THOSE. Pig trotters belong to the greasy category.

[joan1]

Oh, this is a funny post,, some of you are picky little buggers..LOL

I eat everything, but, some organ meats. Liver is fine in pate though. ( basically anything is ok in pate)

I strongly disagree that Italian food is better then French. Frankly it is not better then German food either. The pizza is blah, the pasta is boring, and I HATE the bread, and for cheese, I think those blobs of mozzearella are boring blobs of white rubber. Olive oil tastes greasy( LOL of course) .
In fact, I dislike Italian food so much, I PREFER English food,, and that is amusing if you knew what I thought of "English food." ..LOL

My only issue with French food is the way many like their meat,, bleeding,, ugh. At relatives homes I just hate it on when any sort of beef or roast comes to the table.. my own grandmother loved her steak " bleu" ahh that is yucky.. but get this, I can and do eat carpaciao ( sorry. slaughtered that spelling) ..

[joan1]

BTW , for those who do not , or will not eat snails,, I have a question?

Do you eat crab( or lobster) ? I love it myself. My hubby goes crabbing and we have lovely feasts.. but,,, it is a scavenger feeder.. eats what ever dead stuff it can find ( it loves the rotting fish heads husband uses as bait) .. they will also enjoy fish feces and any little critter they can catch, including worms , etc..
They perform an important function cleaning the ocean floors. Lobsters are about the same . They flock around sewer out falls here( yes, we outflow our sewage into the oceans around here, which is horrible I know) , no , we do not crab in those areas,, ;D
Now, snails, they live in gardens, and they eat lettuce, herbs, and vegtable foilage. They do not eat bugs, or worms or feces.

Soooooo, which is grosser!!

[Anne]

Joan, I don't know whether Italian food is better than French, but I definetly find it MUCH better than the German one . There is much more in Italian cuisine than pizza and pastas, it can be a highly refined cuisine, while German cuisine is little more than pork in all forms, potatoes, knödel, heavy pâtisseries . Absolutely nothing refined here . Both countries make bad bread though .

Of course I had forgotten to mention pig trotters (gelatinous) and andouillette (totally yucky) in the no-way category ;D .

Oooh Joan, I love crab and lobsters, or at least used to, you make me see them with a totally different eye now ...

[joan1]

Oh Anne, a big plate of mashed potatoes, pork , and choucroute, how can that not be tasty,,LOL

I love sausages, and at least the Germans have a few nice cheeses,, and the bread is better then the Italian bread, IF you like dark and seeded varieties.. We all know French bread is best of course.

You may be right about Italian food having more then pasta and pizza, ( well of course they do ) but unfortunately as a tourist I haven't had enough time to find it.. but, I did have a nice rosemary roasted chicken in Rome ..once.

I love french food the best, I should just come out and admit to being totally biased.. . I mean even a baguette jambon or a crepe one can get from a street kiosk tastes like heaven to me..

Hope I didn't turn some of you crab and lobster lovers off your dish,, but if I did that just leaves one more in the ocean for me.!!! LOL

[chicchantal]

I used to like choucroute when my landlady in Germany cooked it, she did it with apple and cider. However last time I had it was in France and it was tinned and I was spectacularly ill. That was 25 years ago and I haven't braved it since!

[Ellen]

Yeuck! Joan I never knew that about lobster, so I wonder why they are darn expensive in a restaurant?.

[joan1]

Ellen,, ever been lobstering,, they are not everywhere, and its hard work pulling those traps. plus supply and demand, everyone loves them ,, so they are expensive.
Also, as far as I know, they are not "farmable' like oysters and fish..

Its like truffles, they are just fungus that grows in the dirt,, but, they are hard to find, they are not everywhere, and there is not even supply to meet demand..