What do you NOT like to eat?
An interesting conversation came up on our Facebook page the other day about foods kids like to eat. We asked parents what their minions like to eat because we’re planning some kiddie menus for an upcoming project.
We’re kid-less, well at least with the two legged kind. We do have two of those four-legged kids but they eat just about anything, even the bark off our trees. So you see, we can use some help.
Thank goodness for you Parents. What would we do without your input? You can see some of the great insight here.
We grew up eating what ever our parents out on the table. If we didn’t eat, then we starved. There wasn’t such a thing as a “Kids Menu” for us when were growing up. We always believe that when we had kids of our own one day, they’ll eat whatever we eat as well. Starting them when they’re young to become familiar and open minded to different flavors and textures is the goal. But we know there will be foods that they’d frown on and ultimately ask for a chicken fingers or mac and cheese. We’re totally cool with that because we love our share of chicken fingers and mac and cheese too.
While that my be our philosophy, we certainly don’t expect guest kids to eat the same. They grow up in different environments, different comforts so expecting these kids to eat our stuffed squid, whole fried fish and garlicky fish sauce is totally unrealistic. So we always have a back up menu because that’s the premise to a great dinner party– to have the everyone happy, including the kids.
But we also understand that kids aren’t the only picky eaters. Adults and grown-ups also have our list of things that we’d prefer not to eat.
It’s perfectly ok to have foods we don’t eat. For what ever reason, there are always some foods that don’t resonate with our taste buds or diets.
Food brings us joy, comfort and satisfaction. And most importantly, pleasure.
Don’t get us wrong. We’re pretty open to eating “almost” anything someone feeds us and are always grateful for good home cooked food. But if certain dishes don’t bring us pleasure or joy to eat, we just stay away. Or politely pass it up.
We don’t eat foods for competition, for shock value nor to prove a point. We eat foods that make us happy.
So we’re wanting all of us adults here to lay it all on the table and admit that we can’t scorn little kids for being picky. Adults also have things we don’t like to eat too.
“What foods would you rather not to eat?”
Here’s our list:
Diane: I won’t eat exotic zoo animals, nor most pets. Though if you had a cute pet pig, I’d probably play fetch with it then stay away from bacon for a few weeks.
And I was a vegetarian for almost 20 years and started eating simple meats again since 2008. So any game meat, exotic meat or even lamb and veal will be last on my list. Lastly, I just don’t like to eat chicken feet. Dad loves it but growing up, I hated it. Gives me the eebie jeebies. No thank you!
Todd: There’s not much I won’t try at least once, although there are some things I won’t go out of my way to eat. I’m not a zombie so I’d rather not eat the brains of anything, although if it were an Indiana Jones moment and it was eat or else offend the host, I probably would try a bit.
Growing up on a cattle ranch, with neighbors few and far in between, horses and dogs were my friends. No way I’d partake of them unless tricked into it. And fetal duck eggs. They just gross me out.
So whatcha got? What foods are on your “ick” list?
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Foie gras, horse and any kind of meat from factory-farmed animals – plus liver – I hate the taste. Shark, blue fin tuna, lobster from those tanks somebody mention further up. Basically any kind of animal that is either threatened or just not treated well. I’ll eat all vegetables and fruit, some I might not like enormously, but there are none I wouldn’t eat.
olives, pickles…anything really briny…
I’m with Todd – definitely no brains for me. My mother used to make scrambled calves brains with eggs. Urg. As I age, meat is also moving to the bottom of the list for several reasons. 1. I don’t like the way it’s often raised – won’t eat veal ever, for example and 2. it hates me. I just can’t digest it well anymore. But we were also raised to try a bit of everything, even if just to be polite, so I can suck it up when necessary! 😉
Natto. Can’t even look at it. DH loves it, grew up eating it. So there are always a few little styrofoam boxes of it in our freezer. Ick!
I’m easy. Any non-kosher animals and offal.
I’ve always hated the chewy texture of mushrooms, and the sliminess of tomatoes (even though I love both of the flavors). A recent move to California has me enjoying much better produce and I’m learning that not ALL mushrooms and tomatoes are chewy or slimy! I think this means I’m growing up…
Oysters. Love seafood, but not oysters. You might be able to slip them in fried. Don’t like green lipped mussels either. But love PEI’s. No offal. Don’t like slimy dim sum like dishes rolled in steamed rice paper. Oh, and refried beans from a can. The smell reminds me of opening a can of Kennel Ration dog food. Sorry, but my dog did love that. Other than that I’m down for most anything. My kids were good eaters though they wouldn’t touch a salad until they were 7 and saw a friend eating a Ceasar. After that they were good. And both avoided fat on meat, such as on a steak.
I’ve never been a fan of offals. There are just certain organ meats that creep me out, no matter how well prepared or tasty they may be touted to be. My hubby is a chef and he loves offals. He finally convinced me to try sweetbreads and actually thought they were fine. Liver is off limits. I don’t like the flavor or texture. Finally, I refuse to eat any meats cooked in blood is just NASTY to me (I’m Filipino so I’m referring to ‘dinuguan’). It grosses me out when Filipinos try to describe this dish as ‘chocolate meat’. It’s the furthest thing from the truth! Ick!
I did not like any fruits other than apples and bananas growing up. I do like most now, but have to have citrus fruits cut up. It is a texture thing with me. I also ate meats most of my life, but started cutting back due to the humane issues and now I do not like the taste of beef at all. I will eat bacon sometimes and a little chicken and shrimp. I prefer to have the chicken and bacon from a local farm that treats the animals well and has none of those hormones, etc. So basically I eat mostly vegetarian most days. I did not like hominy growing up but did like grits. It is possible I might like it now, just have not tried it since being an adult. I have learned to like so many new foods since eating mostly vegetarian. I always asked my kids to try something, but my grandchildren are almost all very picky!
coconut…weird, huh?
Great thread…fun to read. I don’t care for organ meats except for pate. Texture is important to me so some sausages give me the heebie jeebies. Also, don’t care for fatty meats, but I can trim it off with amazing skill (lots of years of practice). No balut,…. yuck, no pets or animals killed for sport. I’ve done the insects… been there, done that, don’t need to do it again. I raised my kids to try everything. They had to at least try everything on their plates. So I have vegetarian who is very picky, one who will eat most foods and another who will eat and try anything.
No organ meats, no veal, no balut, and never EVER any durian! So vile! I have a great menudo story…wouldn’t have that again either, unless thoroughly Americanized. I avoid most processed and fast food, but once every two years or so, I have to have a big mac.
i think i’d try most things once (depending on the context). however, i have an unfortunate sensitivity to cruciferous vegetables. i can’t eat broccoli or cauliflower in any form unless i want to spend several hours curled up on the floor in agony afterwards, but the others are (mostly) okay if cooked (so no coleslaw for me). sad, i know, because broccoli is good for you.
From a taste perspective, there are only a few things I can’t tolerate: Olives – just awful, even the smell. Fennel/star anise/aniseed. Anything coconut. The only coconut exception is Girl Scout Samoas – I could eat my body weight in those cookies!
From a general aversion perspective, most of the more abstract meats and organs – especially dog. In Hanoi, I lived down the street from at place that only sold thit cho and had to run by it every day. Also, blood sausage. Just knowing that the main ingredient is congealed blood makes me shudder with disgust.
I could never do an eyeball and brains would be a struggle too. I don’t want/need to eat pets or exotic animals, so I don’t. There are a few other foods that aren’t my favorite, but I’ll try different preparations if offered…and, I kind of hate raisins. I feel like I should like them, but I just don’t.
Fetal duck eggs??? Ewww. Who knew you could ever be served such a thing. The only thing that I have actually tried that I do not care for is Octopus. It’s a texture thing *shudder*. As for my children…My daughter is living proof that one can live on pasta and cheese for a decade. And my son would have eaten lasagna every day of his childhood if I had let him. I did some things to combat these tendencies that I think worked. Number one, while I did give in often to their entree choices, I had a rule that they had to take one bite of everything served since tastes change as we get older. I always served a big salad into which I thew every raw vegetable I had on hand. Most kids will eat anything covered in ranch dressing. I also had fruit (grapes, berries, apple slices, etc.) on the counter (this part is important, kids and husbands cannot seem to find anything in the fridge) washed and ready to go. Often I would put out veggies and ranch dressing (see above) as I would cook dinner and they loved it. One final note. You can hide vegetables in spaghetti sauce, etc if you puree them first. Also many kids will eat things they normally would not if they are on a pizza or in a quesadilla. I have even put soft tofu into mashed potatoes to give my daughter some protein. Hope this helps.