Speaking of foods, what won't you try?

[bclover]

I will not eat anything that contains:

Mayonaisse
Sour Cream
Cream Cheese
Cottage Cheese
Ranch Dressing
Ketchup
Mustard
Almost any white liquid substance

And I have no interest in eating any exotic animal meats. I eat some chicken, occasional beef, and fish. Otherwise, I'll pass.

Lol Ready my late husband was like this. Use to drive me batty. No summer salads (potatoe, macaroni, crab). We live in Philly, I use to scream "how do you eat a philly cheesesteak without kerchup!!"

I'm trying to be more adventurous but have no desire to try kangeroo or alligator

 

[bw5972]

I will not eat anything that contains:

Mayonaisse
Sour Cream
Cream Cheese
Cottage Cheese
Ranch Dressing
Ketchup
Mustard
Almost any white liquid substance

And I have no interest in eating any exotic animal meats. I eat some chicken, occasional beef, and fish. Otherwise, I'll pass.

I'm right there with you on the white liquid list but ketchup and mustard are fine for me.

 

[jollystomper]

I avoid spicy foods or any type of spicy/hot sauce.

 

[Fedup]

It's the thymus and pancreas organs.

Sweetbreads is French? Probably old English - at least the brede = roasted meat part.

I saw it once at a cooking show with Jacque Pepin and I thought it looks like brain and I also thought only the French eat would them.

 

[Fedup]

Spent a lot of time in Asia and Japan.

Had too many times where when taken out for an expensive meal and told "We'll tell you later" when I asked what what I was eating.

Anyone ever heard of the "monkey in a box and a hammer"? That's where I drew the line. Utterly bizarre, cruel and revolting.

I think the Chinese eat them like that too. I admit before my brother took me to a Japanese restaurant for the first time, I never ate anything raw, even oysters. I was super nervous with raw fish and only ordered cooked sushi. It took me many years before I can eat raw sushi properly, and only with a healthy dose of wasabi.

 

[Scuba]

I am not that adventurous of an eater. Love most common US foods - fish, shellfish, squid, octopus, sushi, chicken, beef, lamb, pork. Will not eat any "organ" meat - no kidneys, liver, gizzards, brain, sweetbreads, tripe, tongue, etc. Also no scorpions, insects, snakes. Have tried foie gras and did not like it at all - very fatty. Tried liver and didn't like the flavor or texture. Have tried alligator (tough) and frog legs (ok, taste like chicken so I'll stick to chicken). Have tried cactus and didn't like the flavor. At a sushi bar, I stick with raw fish. I don't love seaweed and raw shellfish including raw oysters are too slimy for me.

As far as more common foods, the only two things that come to mind that I don't like are avocados and mayonnaise. I will eat mayo as an ingredient but not on a sandwich or as a dip unless it is seasoned and mixed with other ingredients.

 

[Ready]

Lol Ready my late husband was like this. Use to drive me batty. No summer salads (potatoe, macaroni, crab). We live in Philly, I use to scream "how do you eat a philly cheesesteak without kerchup!!"

I'm trying to be more adventurous but have no desire to try kangeroo or alligator

I'm right there with you on the white liquid list but ketchup and mustard are fine for me.

Nice to know I'm not the only one! And yes, I won't eat potato salad, tuna salad, chicken salad, coleslaw, or anything else that has a white cream mixed into it.

And while I can't stand the smell or taste of ketchup, I like barbecue sauce. Go figure.

 

[Koolau]

+1
Hard to believe people would ever even consider such a thing.

I agree. I knew about the monkey thing, but this year is the first I had heard of "dog week" in China. It's not a celebration of dogs (except as food.) Truly repulsive considering the inhumane treatment of the animals. YMMV

 

[MichaelB]

I'll try anything once, because I learned a long time ago that you can never know for sure whether or not you'll like something, unless you actually try it.

+1

Not many regrets for things I've eaten, but if I see something on a menu I've never had I'll try it. Never heard of that monkey dish but it sounds cruel, which is unfortunate, and has no place on a menu.

 

[marko]

I agree. I knew about the monkey thing, but this year is the first I had heard of "dog week" in China. It's not a celebration of dogs (except as food.) Truly repulsive considering the inhumane treatment of the animals. YMMV

Yeah that was one of the "we'll tell you later " dishes...

 

[marko]

+1

Not many regrets for things I've eaten, but if I see something on a menu I've never had I'll try it. Never heard of that monkey dish but it sounds cruel, which is unfortunate, and has no place on a menu.

It's more than cruel. It's barbaric by our terms. The one time I walked away from the table.

 

[marko]

It's more than cruel. It's barbaric by our terms. The one time I walked away from the table.

But it's a different culture and we can't judge according to our viewpoint

 

[REWahoo]

But it's a different culture and we can't judge according to our viewpoint

Cannibals are in complete agreement with you.

 

[euro]

Recently Bourdain featured a show about Porto, Portugal.

They showed them skinning an eel and slaughtering a pig. In both cases, they saved the blood to cook with the meat or organs.

They showed an extended sequence of a tripe dish being made.

I have no interest in even trying any of these things.

Some of the reaction is visceral, some of it is notional.

A lot of cuisines use ingredients and techniques that may offend some modern palates. Even those of us who have not made conscientious decisions to become vegetarians or vegans may be repulsed at some of the ways livestock is harvested

For instance, I've not tried foie gras. Not avoiding it but not seeking it out either. I won't demonstrate against it like some people have but I get the objection to how it's produced.

So what kind of foods have you encountered or considered, either at home or in travels overseas, which made you at least think twice about trying or elicited strong disgust?

Or something in between?

Foie Gras is the only food (by that I mean a demonstrably edible material, i.e. not shoe soles, hats, etc ) that I have never tried and will never eat. Pretty much everything else I can think of, I would consider giving a shot.

Edit: OK, after reading most of the thread, I would include dog, money or similar sources as no-go as well, of course. We don't really need to discuss cannibalism...

 

[audreyh1]

I saw it once at a cooking show with Jacque Pepin and I thought it looks like brain and I also thought only the French eat would them.

I think it's eaten in much of Europe including England, and popular in Latin America.

It wasn't until our generation, and our parent's generation as adults, that people only ate the muscle part of animals. Before that the majority lived in rural America, raised at least part of their own livestock or bought from neighbors, and organ meats were part of the regular diet. Other cultures have not lost this tradition even though they buy their meat from the grocery store like we do.

 

[audreyh1]

I did eat fried crickets in Oaxaca - crunchy, it was OK.

 

[2017ish]

...


I'll try anything once, because I learned a long time ago that you can never know for sure whether or not you'll like something, unless you actually try it.



Oh, just pass that plate over this way! The only things on that list that I haven't eaten yet are haggis and chitlins. The key word there is "yet". One of our local grocery stores regularly stocks chitlins, and one of these days I'm going to buy some and give it a whirl! But I eat everything else listed, ocassionally, if not regularly, with the exception of liver, because I just could never develop a taste for it.

You beat me to this post. If something I've not ingested is part of the diet somewhere, now or previously, I will go out of my way to try it. Looking forward to getting off the beaten path in Peru (and trying some of the fusion restaurants in Lima) for this very reason....

I don't like liquorice, gin, good scotch (thankfully!), or green beans and haven't developed a taste for coffee. Other than that, just about everything is good if prepared properly.


E.T.A.--sounds like the monkey "dish" described by Marko would be outside my personal "anything," although not on taste grounds...

 

[Cobra9777]

I spent a lot of time in various Asian countries when working, including a few years as an expat. I've eaten a lot of weird stuff and learned to enjoy much of it, certainly not all. The one thing I refused to even try was balut in the Philippines. Truly revolting. Just thinking about it as I write this is making me queasy. There was also a goat BBQ in China that included a kind of gelatin made from the blood. There was also a soup that had the goat's skull sitting in the pot along with bits of brain. The goat meat was quite good but I skipped the blood gelatin and brain soup.

 

[Koolau]

I was with a group of friends once and a guy two seats to my right ordered octopus. Yes, it looked like octopus! SO he asked if I'd like to try a bite and I said yes. He took a fork and passed me a chunk. The woman sitting next to me watched the food go by and she turned green. I swear, she turned GREEN. YMMV

 

[Nemo2]

Lived off Wildebeest for about a week in the Selous....just game really.

I do recall, in Karachi in 1963, buying what I thought was an iced donut from a street vendor....tasted like a vile form of red hot sawdust.

 

[NW-Bound]

I find it surprising that some people do not eat ketchup, mayo, citrus fruits, or something benign like that. Organ meats, I can understand how people shun them.

And talking of the latter, I like chicken, pork, and beef liver. Pâté is yummy, and I have learned to make it myself. Not crazy about foie gras which I have eaten. It is controversial, and some people claim it does not have to involve cruelty, which can be inflicted on chicken raised for meat and eggs, and cows for milk. I recall Bourdain had a show about this.

Have had cow brain (fried), lamb kidney in a meat pie (in Australia), boiled pork chitlin, and while these did not gag me or anything, I do not crave to eat these again. Cow tripe is actually quite benign and tasteless, so I am not craving that either. Do not care to try cow lung, and other parts.

About monkey brain, I remember as a kid reading about the Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi serving that to Western ambassadors and delegates in a banquet, and scaring the heck out of them. Do not see how that would be tasty. Perhaps the cruelty is part of the novelty.

 

[aja8888]

In my career with ARCO, I was sent as part of a team to ARCO Indonesia for a few weeks to audit oil & gas operations. When I was with the President of the operations laying out a multi-week trip, I wanted to see the operations in Kalimantan (or was it Borneo?), if I remember correctly. Well, he declined allowing the trip as we were told that we could be lunch and dinner for the natives.....made us think twice.

On that trip, Bali was a hoot of a place to R & R.

I believe I ate dog on one of my trips to Indonesia when we were taken to a buffet of sorts at some remote village.

 

[NW-Bound]

Have you watched the movie "The Naked Prey (1965)", with a scary scene where a white man was roasted alive by an African tribe?

In attending a lecture at the visitor center at Teton National Park, I learned that the man hunting scene of the movie was inspired by the experiences of explorer John Colter, who was pursued by Blackfoot warriors. John Colter, who accompanied Clark and Lewis during the latter's expedition before striking out on his own, was believed to be the first white man to have been to the Yellowstone area.

 

[explanade]

I think it's eaten in much of Europe including England, and popular in Latin America.

It wasn't until our generation, and our parent's generation as adults, that people only ate the muscle part of animals. Before that the majority lived in rural America, raised at least part of their own livestock or bought from neighbors, and organ meats were part of the regular diet. Other cultures have not lost this tradition even though they buy their meat from the grocery store like we do.

Reminds me of another show I saw awhile ago, depicted the lives of rural people, who hunted or scavenged for most of their food. If they couldn't catch local game, like possum or squirrels, buying food at a grocery store was not an option as they didn't have much of an income.

They may be semi literate or not really live differently than their parents or great parents.

 

[Fedup]

I tried this razo clam in Maui. I asked the people at WholeFoods how to cook it, they said just steam it. Oh no, it was too chewy, I had to spit it out. Never again. My food adventure cost me $4.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_razor_clam

That said, I still don't like broccoli, like George Bush senior.