What food will you NOT eat?

[Jenise]

Ignoring the chocolate covered ants etc. and stuff that I don't like but could choke down if I had to, and just list the more or less common foods that I would or have gagged on in the past:

Although I don't like eggs I can handle scrambled or hardboiled bits if someone else includes them in a dish, but I would rather die than eat the soft yolk of a fried, poached or coddled egg.

Cole slaw made with a sweet, milky dressing.

Squid ink.

Rabbit, for exactly Robin's reasons.

Fish skin (love sushi, but pickled herring? No way!!)

Twinkies.

Damn, what a bunch of picky weenies! Oysters? Avocado? Seafood? Twinkies? I could go on and on...

Folks, the *only* reason this species has survied as long as it has is the fact that we are omnivores.

I am rapidly approaching the notion that this species will not only not survive the insects, but possibly even gorillas. Planet of the Apes here we come!

Damn, what a bunch of picky weenies! Oysters? Avocado? Seafood? Twinkies? I could go on and on...

Folks, the *only* reason this species has survied as long as it has is the fact that we are omnivores.

Yup - take a survival course sometime. You eat anything with calories in it. A friend who regularly goes on botanical expeditions to the Himalayas says he actually has grown to enjoy bee larvae (bit too maggoty for most people).

I draw the line more at things I don't like the taste of than things that repel me when I think about them. Some innards with a strong taste - liver, some kidneys etc. leave me cold.

I even used to spearfish, cut the fish up still flapping and eat them as sashimi in Hawaii - used to drive the tourists crazy.

One thing I will not eat is beche-de-mer or trepang. It is a Holothuroidian that looks like a giant turd and breathes through its ass. None of that puts me off, however. It is the taste that does it for me - anyone tried sea cucumber that way and actually liked it?

Mark Willstatter wrote:
... California roll aside, there is plenty of authentically Japanese sushi that does not involve seafood of any kind.
... The term "sushi" encompasses basically anything that starts with sushied rice - in other words, rice flavored with sushi vinegar.

Randy R wrote:
Mark,

I don't want to belabor the point, I just want to understand. If pour definition "basically anything that..." is correct, why is California roll "aside". They look exactly like the ones with salmon and tuna when I get them. (I usually have all three in my number 13 menu Smile so it seems to me they count as sushi.

California roll is sushi, under the standard definition. It's just that if you walk into a restaurant in Japan that serves sushi, you aren't likely to find it. Never say never though, I understand a few Tokyo restaurants do have it on the menu!

On the other hand, I have a friend from Japan who must get her California roll fix whenever she visits the U.S. Go figure...

cheers,
al

avocado is high on that short list.

Why? The perfect food, protein in a fruit. Pretty fattening though I'd guess.

I think it's the texture that bothers me.

I have a handful of just-as-soon-avoid dishes. A couple of them are just inherent squeamishness raising its ugly head, I guess. I don't really want to eat bunny rabbit even though I know it's a gourmet treat. It reminds me too much of my cats. I have similar instinctive reactions about snake, eel

I didn't think eel was appealing either until I tried unagi - which I really enjoy. You don't have to order a whole donburi meal to try it - many sushi spots you can order it as nigiri.

Here are some things that I've tried as a kid (at the mercy of the adults ordering the dishes), and will never eat again unless am about to faint with hunger and there is no other food on the horizon for a very long time. Most of the time what bothers me is the texture, sometimes it's squeamishness, sometimes it's taste/aroma:

sea cucumber, chicken feet (skin on feet bones? why!), tripe, raw oysters, brain (um... disease anyone?), any drinks with raw egg.

I'm sure there are more foods out there that I would choose not to eat, but I don't even know they exist (phew!)

Here are some things that I've tried as a kid (at the mercy of the adults ordering the dishes), and will never eat again
brain (um... disease anyone?),

Ahhh - when Jenise told me she'd never had any brains I just nodded sagely. But now it occurs to me that she might have meant that she'd never TASTED brains.....hmmmmmm.

Just about any kind of innards, braunschweiger and certain sausages excepted.

Pecans and walnuts, especially black walnuts.

Anything that has been dyed an unnatural hue (or a natural seeming hue, but accomplished through the use of food coloring). These items no longer even register in my brain as 'food', but appear as inedible as a bottle of bleach.

Baby octopi. I used to love these, in pasta sauces or japanese food. Until the day that I was eating pasta this way and my friend asked "can you see their eyeballs?"- I tried to resist looking but was unable to. Then noticed their tiny beaks, thought about their tiny brains, etc... and I still can't stomach them. There is no reason that this should bother me to this extent, I have butchered rabbits and goats with no problem, but so it is. No baby octupi for me.

Lastly, I'll cast another vote for fish skin. This works out well in my house because my partner loves it. Especially salmon skin. Ew.

... California roll aside, there is plenty of authentically Japanese sushi that does not involve seafood of any kind.
... The term "sushi" encompasses basically anything that starts with sushied rice - in other words, rice flavored with sushi vinegar.

Mark,

I don't want to belabor the point, I just want to understand. If pour definition "basically anything that..." is correct, why is California roll "aside". They look exactly like the ones with salmon and tuna when I get them. (I usually have all three in my number 13 menu so it seems to me they count as sushi. I don't claim any authenticity in my eating because although the people in the now very widespread Japanese restaurants all look Japanese and are surely of Japanese origin, they may well have been born here in Paris.

Sushi was one of the finger foods we served at our 25th wedding aniversary, by the way.

Not that it matters...but most folks confuse sushi with sashimi.

The later being cured raw seafood.

Just about any kind of innards, braunschweiger and certain sausages excepted.

Pecans and walnuts, especially black walnuts.

Anything that has been dyed an unnatural hue (or a natural seeming hue, but accomplished through the use of food coloring). These items no longer even register in my brain as 'food', but appear as inedible as a bottle of bleach.

Baby octopi. I used to love these, in pasta sauces or japanese food. Until the day that I was eating pasta this way and my friend asked "can you see their eyeballs?"- I tried to resist looking but was unable to. Then noticed their tiny beaks, thought about their tiny brains, etc... and I still can't stomach them. There is no reason that this should bother me to this extent, I have butchered rabbits and goats with no problem, but so it is. No baby octupi for me.

Lastly, I'll cast another vote for fish skin. This works out well in my house because my partner loves it. Especially salmon skin. Ew.

You do know that the difference between a "baby" octopus and an "adult" is just matter of months. They only live about 1 year.

So far, the only foods that gives me pause are sea cucumbers. I choked down a serving in New York City one December evening -- despite the waiter's warning they weren't for everyone.

After 30 years, it's time to give them another go.

Otherwise, I'm with Chef -- an omnivoire to the core.

Bring it on!

Regards, Bob

[Jenise]

Ahhh - when Jenise told me she'd never had any brains I just nodded sagely.

Well, aren't we daring! You know, I might just do something 'brainless' with these three silly little boxes I happen to have here.

But now it occurs to me that she might have meant that she'd never TASTED brains.....hmmmmmm

Are you feeling a bit more certain about that now? Say yes.

Are you feeling a bit more certain about that now? Say yes.

YYEEeeeessssssssss

[Jenise]

YYEEeeeessssssssss

Good boy. [pat pat]

... California roll aside, there is plenty of authentically Japanese sushi that does not involve seafood of any kind.
... The term "sushi" encompasses basically anything that starts with sushied rice - in other words, rice flavored with sushi vinegar.

Mark,

I don't want to belabor the point, I just want to understand. If pour definition "basically anything that..." is correct, why is California roll "aside". They look exactly like the ones with salmon and tuna when I get them. (I usually have all three in my number 13 menu so it seems to me they count as sushi. I don't claim any authenticity in my eating because although the people in the now very widespread Japanese restaurants all look Japanese and are surely of Japanese origin, they may well have been born here in Paris.

Sushi was one of the finger foods we served at our 25th wedding aniversary, by the way.

Randy, you've misunderstood me. I myself consider California roll to be "sushi" even if invented in the US, just as pasta is still pasta even if it lacks a traditional Italian sauce. The only reason I said "California roll aside" is that earlier in this thread it was asserted that "sushi" means fish. Then somebody responded "what about California roll? - no fish there" and then it was implied that California roll didn't count as a non-fish example because it wasn't real sushi, having been invented in the US. The point I was trying to make is that even in the home country of sushi, fish is not a necessary ingredient.

I think we can stop flogging this horse now. And no, I've never had horse meat sushi.

Not that it matters...but most folks confuse sushi with sashimi.

The later being cured raw seafood.

Tim, you're right about "sushi" and "sashimi" being widely confused, although perhaps not in this gathering place of food lovers. Belaboring yet another fine point though, sashimi is, as you say, raw seafood but there's nothing "cured" about it - just raw seafood, generally sliced thinly, with condiments. Think fish-based sushi without the sushi rice.

The term sashimi does not necessarily refer to seafood. In restaurants in Japan you can also find tori sashi (raw chicken, have not tried it), basashi (raw horsemeat, which I have), etc.

cheers,
al

The term sashimi does not necessarily refer to seafood. In restaurants in Japan you can also find tori sashi (raw chicken, have not tried it), basashi (raw horsemeat, which I have), etc.

cheers,
al

Sashi, yes...sashimi, no.

Translated, it means pierced body, but primarily refers to raw seafood.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashimi and
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2044.html

Not that it matters...but most folks confuse sushi with sashimi.

The later being cured raw seafood.

Tim, you're right about "sushi" and "sashimi" being widely confused, although perhaps not in this gathering place of food lovers. Belaboring yet another fine point though, sashimi is, as you say, raw seafood but there's nothing "cured" about it - just raw seafood, generally sliced thinly, with condiments. Think fish-based sushi without the sushi rice.

Fair enough.

My meaning was that the seafood has been "treated" and isn't just a fish flopping around on your plate


It is one of my most favorite Japanese dishes.

TimMc wrote:

Sashi, yes...sashimi, no.

Translated, it means pierced body, but primarily refers to raw seafood.

Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sashimi and
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2044.html

Tim, not sure what you are driving at. The Wikipedia article you cite states: "Less common, but not unusual, sashimi ingredients are vegetarian items such as yuba (bean curd skin) and raw red meats, such as beef or horse." Which was my original point - like sushi, the term sashimi does not have to mean seafood. I don't disagree that seafood is the more common raw material, so to speak.

BTW sashi (as in tori sashi or basashi) is just a shorthand for sashimi -- such contractions are very common in Japanese. No difference in meaning. You will see the longer form, e.g. tori sashimi , on restaurant menus as well.

cheers,
al

Can't believe I'm the only one who won't eat beets. Yuck..and don't bother to tell me about your new/special was to prepare them. I've tried them all and beets just suck.

"So, how did one country get it wrong?"

That's easy, Randy. "Entrée" precedes the main part of the meal -- dessert. :-)

Bill, you might want to steer clear of Oz. Last time we were there, admittedly a while back, they put slices of beet instead of tomato on their hamburgers. Tasted good to moi.