Share your food quirks...

I did this with wine, so why not food...

Some of mine include:

I eat one food at a time. I always have.

I never feel that a meal is "complete" without washing it down with a final taste of sweetness. Even if it's just a couple cookies. It must be a habit.

I very rarely make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (though I like them), but I will eat peanut butter out of the jar.

I never use a straw when drinking beverages. I prefer to drink (An exception being a Piña Colada or something slushy that requires the use of a straw).

I always eat my salad after entree and sides. Habit I picked up after living in France and Germany for four and half years.

The one food at a time quirk has always interested me. We used to have an employee who did that...I found it very odd. We have a 23 year old grandson living with us for a few months and he eats one food at a time. I inquired about it and he said, "I like to savor each food for what it is, pick up on spices, herbs and figure out what is in it."

Gene and I eat a mix of the foods on our plates. If I have salad with dinner, which is most nights, it is on a salad plate.

About two years ago, we both started feeling the urge to have something sweet after lunch. So, I keep a box of Coffee Nips. 30 calories for a Nip, more savory than sweet, creamy and last for several minutes as it melts in your mouth.

I don't know if it is a quirk or not, but I soak all my lettuce, and wash fruits and veggies.

Interesting question because what I find a natural thing to do, may be a quirk to someone else! Oh, I thought of one...at home, I only eat my baked potatoes with salt, pepper and Worcestershire Sauce

The one food at a time quirk has always interested me. We used to have an employee who did that...I found it very odd. We have a 23 year old grandson living with us for a few months and he eats one food at a time. I inquired about it and he said, "I like to savor each food for what it is

I think that's the best way to describe it - the enjoyment of savoring each food for what it is. Something about mixing the mashed potatoes with the steak, for example, seems to somehow dilute the "power" of each. If I'm enjoying the plush buttery deliciousness of the mashed potatoes, then I don't like strands of chewy beef in my mouth alongside it (even if that steak is going to be yummy when I get to it).

Or maybe it's analogous to taking your time and giving undivided attention to the true love of your life versus trying to "court" three partners at the same time.

There are exceptions with "two-tone" foods though. I love hot fudge with cold ice cream and it seems to make each better. But that's really more of an intentional pairing rather than two separate foods.

Jeff

[Jenise]

Jeff, it would irritate me to feed you. I don't just grab a protein, a starch and a vegetable to put on the plate, I tend to put together a harmonious set of flavor, texture and color contrasts. They're not a bunch of soloists, they're meant to play together, like a band. Eating things one at a time imposes an order that was never meant to be there. Btw, I'm sure you've done this since you were a wee child, and many children do. I was one of them, too--it's why I loved TV dinners: compartments! Hated my foods touching/mixing. But I got over that, and it's almost like you didn't. You just figured out, and stuck with, a solution.

Jeff, it would irritate me to feed you.

I would hope not! If I ever felt I was irritating anyone, I'd likely spend the whole dinner apologizing again and again...

Eating things one at a time imposes an order that was never meant to be there.

I'm not sure I follow that one. Or, rather, I don't think of meals as an order in which this food should be ate first or be mixed with this food. Basically, if I'm enjoying a Meat Loaf with Mashed Potatoes (my famous example for most everything), it's not important to me to make sure that I eat the potatoes first or that I mix them with the meat loaf. In fact, for me, it detracts. I'm just looking to enjoy each for what they are.

As another analogy, I might like song A, song B and song C but I wouldn't play them on top of one another at the same time, nor would it be wrong to play song B first and then song A. At least not to my ears. For me, song A (the meat loaf) has already been created as a "work of art". Song B (the mashed potatoes) is another work of art, but I wouldn't want to hear both songs playing on top of one another.

Btw, I'm sure you've done this since you were a wee child, and many children do. I was one of them, too--it's why I loved TV dinners: compartments! Hated my foods touching/mixing. But I got over that, and it's almost like you didn't. You just figured out, and stuck with, a solution.

That would be correct although saying "I didn't get over it" implies that I don't enjoy eating foods one at a time. It is true that I've always ate foods one at a time and that it is a result of habit (I suspect).

Jeff

I'm just looking to enjoy each for what they are.

I think what Jenise is saying is that your philosophy imposes a very limited vision of what foods 'are'. In my view (and perhaps in Jenise's view) there is no god-given truth that says all food items must be eaten alone and only alone. Food is a very broad world of tastes, colors, textures, and smells, with many different combinations that produce many different effects.

Not to mention the fact that when exposed to scrutiny I'm guessing your philosophy doesn't hold up. You've already said that you enjoy butter iin your mashed potatoes, so you obviously can enjoy mixing foods (potatoes and butter). Why is that a more natural version of what potatoes are than dipping them in the chutney on the other side of the plate next to the chicken? How do you decipher lasagna? Do you take it apart and eat the sauce first, then the meat, then the cheese, then the pasta?

I'm just looking to enjoy each for what they are.

I think what Jenise is saying is that your philosophy imposes a very limited vision of what foods 'are'. In my view (and perhaps in Jenise's view) there is no god-given truth that says all food items must be eaten alone and only alone. Food is a very broad world of tastes, colors, textures, and smells, with many different combinations that produce many different effects.

Not to mention the fact that when exposed to scrutiny I'm guessing your philosophy doesn't hold up. You've already said that you enjoy butter iin your mashed potatoes, so you obviously can enjoy mixing foods (potatoes and butter). Why is that a more natural version of what potatoes are than dipping them in the chutney on the other side of the plate next to the chicken? How do you decipher lasagna? Do you take it apart and eat the sauce first, then the meat, then the cheese, then the pasta?

I would agree with most of that actually. My ramblings were not intended to dismiss the mixing of foods per se. Just that after they are mixed (once a dish is created/baked), I view the end result as a singular "work of art", so to speak. In my view, lasagna is a "single" creation. Or, rather, it was mixed and created prior to being put on a plate. There's definitely no law against dipping the lasagna into gravy or anything else, if that's what one enjoys. It's just that, for me, that takes away from that "singular" creation. I know I'm not making much sense, but that's about the best way I can describe it from the eyes of a one-food-at-a-time eater.

Jeff

Just that after they are mixed (once a dish is created/baked), I view the end result as a singular "work of art", so to speak.

Ok, so if the chef tells you to mix your peas and potatoes together, then you'd be fine with it? Remember, plating is one 'work of art' and eating is another. In many cases the point of the dish is expressly to be mixed after receiving items seperately on the plate (think cold Japanese soba for example).

And perhaps you do better in those restaurants with imposing waitstaff/chefs who send out instructions like these about how to enjoy the food.

Anyway, this definitely qualifies as a quirk, so I guess it's in the right thread!

Just that after they are mixed (once a dish is created/baked), I view the end result as a singular "work of art", so to speak.

Ok, so if the chef tells you to mix your peas and potatoes together, then you'd be fine with it? Remember, plating is one 'work of art' and eating is another. In many cases the point of the dish is expressly to be mixed after receiving items seperately on the plate (think cold Japanese soba for example).

And perhaps you do better in those restaurants with imposing waitstaff/chefs who send out instructions like these about how to enjoy the food.

Anyway, this definitely qualifies as a quirk, so I guess it's in the right thread!

I'm not sure I follow what you're saying Rahsaan.

Jeff

You said that you consider the dish on the plate to be a work of art, not to be tampered with or mixed with other items on the plate.

I'm saying that plating is about making the presentation of food look attractive, but often the 'art of food' involves mixing those items on the plate together when it comes time to actually eat them (Japanese soba being one key example).

So since you seem to be ceding authority to the chef and assuming that because items are placed separately on the plate you are then intended to eat them separately, I'm saying you might be persuaded to mix your food items if the chef gave you explicit instructions!

[Jenise]

I'm not sure I follow that one. Or, rather, I don't think of meals as an order in which this food should be ate first or be mixed with this food. Basically, if I'm enjoying a Meat Loaf with Mashed Potatoes (my famous example for most everything), it's not important to me to make sure that I eat the potatoes first or that I mix them with the meat loaf. In fact, for me, it detracts. I'm just looking to enjoy each for what they are.

As another analogy, I might like song A, song B and song C but I wouldn't play them on top of one another at the same time

To see my point of you you need not to relate each item on the plate to a song, but see the whole plate itself as a song. What you do, from my point of view, would be equivalent to dismantling the song so that you only hear one instrument at a time instead of the layered effect from multiple tracks in the way that most music is recorded these days. By the same token, the food I put on a plate is an ensemble, each thing meant to complement the others in a harmonious whole.

I could kind of see your point though, if every meal one sits down to is a typical midwestern meat-and-potatoes three-plop presentation, whereby a meat is accompanied by an unrelated starch and a vegetable, say pork chop with rice and carrots, chosen merely because yesterday we had steak, potatoes and green beans. Those are not ensembles, and the pieces are basically independent so you might as well eat each one singly as compared to going back and forth and occasionaly combining the foods on your fork in order to enjoy both the soloists and the symphony.

Talk about quirks, though: you're nothing compared to an old friend of mine who used to take one or two bites of each item and then run to the kitchen (yes, even at someone else's house) to partially reload her plate. She had Aspergers Syndrome and required her plate to have some sort of mathematical balance known only to her, but it was like a one-sided chess game: from close to the first bite she'd know exactly how many bites of each item she needed, in what order and which bite was going to be the last bite, and her reloading was for the purpose of ensuring the perfect final outcome. It drove me nuts until I realized what drove her, and that she really couldn't help it.

By comparison, other than my issue with cold creamy white food I really don't have much in the way of food quirks. And btw, I share your dislike of straws. Reminds me of a painful episode in early life, and I just won't use them.

You said that you consider the dish on the plate to be a work of art, not to be tampered with or mixed with other items on the plate.

I'm saying that plating is about making the presentation of food look attractive, but often the 'art of food' involves mixing those items on the plate together when it comes time to actually eat them (Japanese soba being one key example).

So since you seem to be ceding authority to the chef and assuming that because items are placed separately on the plate you are then intended to eat them separately, I'm saying you might be persuaded to mix your food items if the chef gave you explicit instructions!

Yes, I generally view mixing of foods as something that's done "pre-eating". I'm just not tempted/used to mixing them once they are on the plate.

Jeff

I'm not sure I follow that one. Or, rather, I don't think of meals as an order in which this food should be ate first or be mixed with this food. Basically, if I'm enjoying a Meat Loaf with Mashed Potatoes (my famous example for most everything), it's not important to me to make sure that I eat the potatoes first or that I mix them with the meat loaf. In fact, for me, it detracts. I'm just looking to enjoy each for what they are.

As another analogy, I might like song A, song B and song C but I wouldn't play them on top of one another at the same time

To see my point of you you need not to relate each item on the plate to a song, but see the whole plate itself as a song. What you do, from my point of view, would be equivalent to dismantling the song so that you only hear one instrument at a time instead of the layered effect from multiple tracks in the way that most music is recorded these days. By the same token, the food I put on a plate is an ensemble, each thing meant to complement the others in a harmonious whole.

I could kind of see your point though, if every meal one sits down to is a typical midwestern meat-and-potatoes three-plop presentation, whereby a meat is accompanied by an unrelated starch and a vegetable, say pork chop with rice and carrots, chosen merely because yesterday we had steak, potatoes and green beans. Those are not ensembles, and the pieces are basically independent so you might as well eat each one singly as compared to going back and forth and occasionaly combining the foods on your fork in order to enjoy both the soloists and the symphony.

Talk about quirks, though: you're nothing compared to an old friend of mine who used to take one or two bites of each item and then run to the kitchen (yes, even at someone else's house) to partially reload her plate. She had Aspergers Syndrome and required her plate to have some sort of mathematical balance known only to her, but it was like a one-sided chess game: from close to the first bite she'd know exactly how many bites of each item she needed, in what order and which bite was going to be the last bite, and her reloading was for the purpose of ensuring the perfect final outcome. It drove me nuts until I realized what drove her, and that she really couldn't help it.

By comparison, other than my issue with cold creamy white food I really don't have much in the way of food quirks. And btw, I share your dislike of straws. Reminds me of a painful episode in early life, and I just won't use them.

Thanks for the reply Jenise. I see what you are saying and I think that's where the difference is coming from - I'm viewing the "pre-mixed" food (a meatloaf or lasagna) as the "song" itself. With the layers of cheese, cottage cheese, etc acting as the melody and harmony components. Granted, my favorite meals are more Midwestern in nature.

I'm glad to hear there is another fan of drinking rather than using straws!

Jeff

I'm the opposite of you here Jeff. Somewhat like Jenise's old friend, I have to eat a little of everything in rotation, and need to finish each component at about the same time. I'm not completely obsessive about it though. I also love to eat certain things together. My current favorite is seared salmon with a little bite of silky mashed potatoes with a light lemony caper sauce. Oh shoot. Now I have a craving.

I put the lime in the coconut and drink 'em both together.... ::where is that dancing icon?::

I have acquired a taste for buttermilk. I drink about a quart a day.