Food Aversions, Phobias, and Disorders

[Heather]

I am interested in what self-professed food lovers find gross, or are scared to eat. And I am not looking for obvious answers like McDonalds or Miracle Whip, or for people getting abused by everyone saying "I can't BELIEVE you don't like that! It's the best EVER!"

I'll start. Whole fruits make me nervous. I hate biting into whole fruits; anything larger than a strawberry almost always gets cut up. And bad or mushy spots completely squick me out. I don't recall having any traumatic worm in my apple episodes as a kid, so there's no telling where this came from.

[brettashley01]

Hot dogs. Fried foods- I really am not a fan. Maybe b/c they make me nauseous afterwards. Any type of tongue, brain, cheek.... freaks me out. I used to be terrified of squid/octopus tentacles, but I've since learned. Marbled fat...Also eyeballs left in whole fish- ew!

I also had a particularly traumatic experience when discovering that my French host mother (by way of Columbia, for full disclosure) decided to leave all of the internal organs in the rabbit she had cooked, resulting in the unpleasant taste of lung.

[Pat]

I generally have an aversion to organ meats as such, but chicken/duck/goose liver I can deal with, depending on how it's prepared. The various giblets from a turkey put into a stuffing or gravy are okay too.

The only food I ate in childhood that still grosses me out is yellow wax beans. My mother generally stuck with fresh or frozen vegetables, but for some reason, she served canned wax beans. I found them really disgusting, and I still have never tried fresh ones. Sometimes when I see them in the market, I think I should get over this, and maybe someday I'll buy some.

I also have a bit of a squeamishness about Greek restaurant food from a persistent negative association. When I was in Greece for several weeks during college, I got really sick (respiratory type illness, very high fever) and truly thought I was going to die. I had a really hard time eating, and all of the food seemed to contain a large amount of olive oil, which really turned my stomach. I couldn't even look at it. I lived on coca-cola and nescafe, as they seemed to be the only things without olive oil in them. I love olive oil and mediterranean food, but there's something about going into a Greek restaurant that triggers the reaction. I can manage it, but it's not what I seek out.

In contrast, I once got very sick after eating shrimp tempura but have eventually been able to get back to eating tempura battered foods.

[JPW]

Oysters, clams, mussels, just about any bi-valve. (I have, however, begun to appreciate the much abused scallop)

Strong tasting and oily fishies. Salmon, but not smoked salmon

Tendon.

[Heather]

I'd also curious about any dislikes or phobias that have been successfully cured, and how that happened.

[jparrott]

Those hon-shimeji mushrooms that start out dried and end up floating in Chinese soups. Rubber city.

[MeMc]

Shad roe. I'm going to try and break my phobia this season. But right now, I'm apprehensive since it looks like a combination of raspberry-orange sherbert, a sex organ, and gelatinous monster that will grow in your refrigerator, ooze out, and suffocate you while you're in bed asleep.

[JPW]

I'd also curious about any dislikes or phobias that have been successfully cured, and how that happened.

For scallops, I just kept trying a little bite from someone else's plate.

However, the key was to ONLY get them at places where you know they will be prepared well. I think a lot of dislikes are due to to having an unfortunate 1st experience with a poorly prepared version of something.

[plunk]

I don't like carraway seeds.

Not a fan of watermelon.

Up until a few months ago, I used to not like olives. Don't know how I "cured" myself. Perhaps I actually started eating quality olives, instead of the crappy kind that appears on frozen pizzas. Much like JPW's assertion above.

[dcs]

Rocky Mountain Oysters. Never had them. No inclination to try them. Could not imagine eating them.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/RockyMtnOyster.htm

[Tweaked]

Green peas (like Bird's Eye frozen green peas) make me puke. Cauliflower no thanks. The one time I have chittlins was one of those experiences when I popped a piece in my mouth and my body immediately said, No.

Otherwise I'm pretty good to go.

[Sthitch]

Fiddlehead ferns, they might be tasty, but there is something about ferns that give me the creeps.

[Heather]

The one time I have chittlins was one of those experiences when I popped a piece in my mouth and my body immediately said, No.

That was my body's first reaction when I tasted the lamb tongues at St John last month. I love lamb, and knew it was a reaction to the idea and not the food, so I perservered and wound up loving the dish. It can be hard to overcome.

[demandalicious]

I am not down with bananas.

[Hannah]

For the longest time, I wouldn't eat any mushrooms - because every morning on the way to high school I had to drive by, and smell, a Monterey Mushrooms production facility. Mushroom factories smell very, very bad.

As far as the solution, I blame those fine gentlemen at Corduroy and Citronelle - there, the darn things smell too good NOT to eat. Enoki mushrooms in miso soup at various places also got me over the knee-jerk "eww, fungus" response.

Even after all that, I still can't bring myself to eat garden variety button or portabella mushrooms, since they're what came out of my local mushroom plant, and I know where they've been and what they were grown on.

Can't bring myself to eat tongue either, but that's a textural thing. (Dave ordered the lamb's tongue at St John and liked it as well, but didn't end up finishing it - that's an awful lot of tongue to get through even if it is in fairly small pieces!)

[brettashley01]

I'd also curious about any dislikes or phobias that have been successfully cured, and how that happened.

As a child I had an intense phobia of mushrooms- I think it was the texture. Anyhow, it was cured because I finally convinced myself, as a teen, that chewing one wouldn't kill me. I also had a major fear of blueberries, after once biting one and seeing the green inside ooze out. I forced myself to eat one again many years later, and am so glad I did. Goes to show- only way to conquer fear is to face it head on!

[msminnich]

I took a class last night where we cooked Duck. I liked the taste, I liked the sauce, but the texture made me want to gag.

I second whoever said they don't like strong smelling, oily fish or Bivalves. I also enjoy well prepared scallops.

The night before my appendix went bad on me I made a huge batch of chewy buttery oatmeal cookies. For many years after that I could not eat that kind of oatmeal cookie at all. I could only eat the dry, cinammony ones. After about 15 years, my body gave up that association, though they're still not my favorites.

[bilrus]

I am not down with bananas.

Word. Don't like the taste. Don't like the texture. Don't like the smell. Don't like the way they look.

Also, sweet potatoes, coconut (although I can deal with coconut milk in limited quantites), pretty much any offal.

But nothing gets to me like bananas.

[Tweaked]

That was my body's first reaction when I tasted the lamb tongues at St John last month. I love lamb, and knew it was a reaction to the idea and not the food, so I perservered and wound up loving the dish. It can be hard to overcome.

There was no overcoming this! made it to the garbage can in the kitchen just in time

[DameEdna]

Sashimi of veal liver ...

[Heather]

Word. Don't like the taste. Don't like the texture. Don't like the smell. Don't like the way they look.

A perfectly ripe banana is fine. Five minutes past perfectly ripe, they get this sickly smell and overly sweet taste.

I am not fond of dates for similar reasons - sickly sweet smell and taste.

[bilrus]

Oh, and Licorice. And by extension, fennel. And licorice flavored liqueurs.

[TinDC]

Brussel sprouts. My mom once made me eat three before I got up from the table and I still cannot quite forgive her.

Any part of the animal that is not really "meat" such as liver or tongue.

Oysters and salmon.

[bookluvingbabe]

Green beans, haricot verts, etc... Makes my stomach turn. Fresh, canned, frozen, any preperation by any kind of chef, it doesn't matter. I just can't eat them.

As a three-year old I had a fierce case of stomach flu right after eating a bag of popcorn from Venture's snack bar (think midwestern Target). I don't think I ate popcorn again until I was a teenager...

[cheezepowder]

I have a bug phobia which manifests itself in my eating habits in that I am grossed out at the thought of eating bugs of the sea (shrimp). I also tend not to order leafy green salads anymore. Many years ago, I was halfway through a chicken caesar salad when a big beetle came crawling out from under the greens. I've also found a small green inchworm crawling through my salad as well as a dead gnat in another one of my salads. So when I do order a salad, I pay close attention to each bite.

[laniloa]

Oysters, clams, mussels, just about any bi-valve. (I have, however, begun to appreciate the much abused scallop)

I'm with you on the bivalves and extend my hatred to all molluscs. While it started as purely a taste thing, I think too many dissections will prevent me from ever attempting to eat these. I accept this as a character flaw.

I'd also curious about any dislikes or phobias that have been successfully cured, and how that happened.

Soft-shell crabs and lamb dislike have both been conquered with help from Tom Power. I have eaten soft-shells all over the place now but have only had a couple of lamb dishes. I'm still not fully over that one.

Asparagus and spinach hatred have both been overcome with repeated small tastes over the years. I know that my tastes have changed over time so if I see a preparation at a restaurant or a recipe that looks interesting, I'll give it a shot. You just have to be willing to not finish the dish or find someone who will let you have a taste off of their plate.

[RaisaB]

Brain, and internal organs! The grossest thing I have ever seen was a photo on EG where one of the hosts had cooked some internal organ to medium temperature! I made a comment that there was no way I could ever eat that. Of course I was shunned for the remainder of the thread.

[legant]

I really hate to admit this, but... seared tuna absolutely grosses me out. Cook that thing through and through. I don't know why 'cause I'll eat sushi or cooked, medium meats. But no amount of coaxing can get me to eat "seared tuna, raw in the middle." In fact, at home, I tend to overcook all fish. Yes, I know; it turns out dry, rubbery and tasteless. But opaque? Puh-leeze!

I hate biting into whole fruits; anything larger than a strawberry almost always gets cut up. And bad or mushy spots completely squick me out. I don't recall having any traumatic worm in my apple episodes as a kid, so there's no telling where this came from.

I'm with you on this one. As a kid, I did (or seem to remember that I did) have a bad experience with an apple resulting in a crack – which remains to this date – in a maxillary central incisor.

[Pat]

I think desensitizing oneself is the best way to get over phobias. When I decided it was ridiculous not to eat any tempura foods because of one bad experience years before, I started with tempura vegetables, then moved on to shrimp.

As far as whole fruits, maybe cooking them would be a good start? (pears poached in wine, baked apples, etc.)

[bilrus]

Getting over a phobia - Brussells Sprouts. When they started popping up everywhere a few years back cooked in bacon fat with piece of bacon mixed in I gave them a shot.

Maybe I should try bacon fried bananas.

[legant]

Food as art. Eeww!

[zoramargolis]

Food as art. Eeww!

There was a little boy in my daughter's class in elementary school who loved to gross out the girls by eating graham crackers slathered with French's mustard. When that became old he progressed to eating bugs. The louder they shrieked "EEEEWWW! GROSS!!!" the happier he was-- it was the reaction he was seeking. This is just that kid, older.

[JLK]

Most of the progress I have made in transitioning from picky eater to less picky eater - and there has been real progress - has involved alcohol. Seriously, it helps. After a glass of wine or two, I psych myself up by reminding me that the new foods I have been trying haven't killed me or even made me say "gross" (bar scallops). In fact, most of the foods I have tried have made me shrug and say "that didn't taste at all like I expected." The smell of most calimari makes me say Never however I have said that before and been wrong.

Using the lowering-my-inhibitions-with-alcohol method, I have successfully eaten goat, soft shell crab, lobster, shrimp, crab, tuna tartare and a raw oyster. I think the shrimp I had wasn't well prepared so I have to get the nerve to re-try. Everything else has gone pretty well and this former seafood "hater" is now interested in trying sushi. Anyone want to act as my sushi ambassador?

I haven't been able to drink any colas since I had mono at 14. The flavor has become something I just can't tolerate.

[Heather]

As far as whole fruits, maybe cooking them would be a good start? (pears poached in wine, baked apples, etc.)

I have no problems with cooked whole fruit, just biting into it raw.

And that story..my God that's disgusting. I don't even want to see it on my thighs, never mind cook with it.

[DinerGirl]

One word: Cilantro.

Tastes like battery acid dipped in soap.

And, Bilrus, when you try bacon-fried bananas, I'll be over. That sounds amazing...

[Barbara]

I will eat no insects, reptiles, or amphibians. That means no escargot or frog legs. Or rattle snake, either.

[Heather]

One word: Cilantro.

Tastes like battery acid dipped in soap.

That perception has a genetic basis, like the asparagus effect.

Any other supertasters out there? It took me a long time to get used to coffee, wine, bitter greens, and controlled spoilage like stinky cheese. It drives my husband crazy to be asked "does this smell bad to you?" all the time.

[porcupine]

There are many flavors I dislike but manage to eat in polite company if I must: kiwi fruit, most melons, lima beans, arugula. But there's one food that has always - all my life - forever - nauseated me: mustard.

Absolutely, positively, cannot stand the smell or taste of prepared mustard.

A few years back, Mom cooked dinner for me and Mr P and my brother and his wife and kids, and made a mild mustard sauce for the broccoli. How I managed to get it into my mouth without smelling it I'll never know - probably was gabbing excitedly with everyone and just shoved it in without noticing - but immediately I spat it out and yelled "Jesus Christ, Mom, what the fuck did you put in this?!" before I could stop myself. She replied, mildly, "still don't like mustard, do you?" The nephews couldn't stop laughing.

About 17 years ago I went on a very strict diet and for about two months had a banana every day for lunch. Only a banana. Then one day I took a bite and almost vomited. It was years before I could eat one again. Even now they have to be at a certain stage - a few hours either side of my definition of ripe and I just can't eat them.

My vinegar issues are in the Blue Duck Tavern thread.

[Antonio Burrell]

I hate to admit this, but for years I hated scrambled eggs. I blame my mother, she put gobs of cheese in them when I was young, and I HATED the taste. what was strangewas that I would eat poached, hard boiled and fried eggs, I just hated scrambled, still do to some extent. Rice with sugar and butter on it. Being Filipino, I find this a huge injustice to rice. And finally, milk. I hate milk and always have, have yet to drink a drop in my adult life. Even as a baby, my Mom says they could only get me to drink coconut juice. I do, however, love all thing made with milk, chief among them cheese and butter. Other than that, I'll eat cow balls, brains, kidneys, hell lung if it's cooked right.

I once had a sous chef who refused to eat anything with onions in it....he lasted two days.

[V.H.]

Grapes and by association raisins, a result of watching my siblings peel grapes, stick the slimy eyebally looking things on the tips of all of their fingers, and ceremoniously slurp the eyeballs into their mouths one by one. I thought I should have won mother of the year award the first time I bought grapes for my toddler and cut them for her. It really made my stomach turn. I'm mostly over it now but still won't eat them.

[TinDC]

This thread is starting to make me feel like a picky eater when I really am anything but.

BUT, I am really not a fan of eggs. I think it is more egg yolks because I can manage something like an omelet where the yolks are all mixed in. I cannot eat eggs in any other form: poached, hard boiled, sunny-side up, whatever. I am a person who will order an Egg McMuffin and throw out the egg .

Oh, and the only thing in the world I am allergic to is kiwi fruit, a la Ross from Friends.

[Ilaine]

Not my own dislikes, but my sons always rejected any type of seafood. My older son will eat pork, beef, and lamb, but no birds. My younger son will eat beef, chicken and turkey, but no pork or any other kind of bird, and no lamb.

The younger son used to refuse to eat onions, and both rejected mushrooms.

Needless to stay, since my husband and I will eat almost anything, these limitations have been very irksome, although I have developed quite a repertoire of beef dishes. I also cook double portions of things one will eat on alternate days, and the other one gets leftovers.

The older son will now eat sushi, although it's wasted on him, really, and the younger son allows me to put mushrooms in dishes as long as I leave them whole so he can fish them out.

I used to think forcing kids to eat things was a bad idea. Now that they're well over 6 ft. tall, it's too late now. But as the responses on this thread show, forcing kids to eat things probably doesn't work, anyway.

On the bright side, they do love vegetables.

(Oh, and I absolutely refuse to eat liver (except for fois gras) and kidneys, brains or lungs.)

[JLK]

I find the smell of cooking cauliflower or cabbage nauseating. Growling up, my grandmother would make halupki and I would cry. They wouldn't make me eat the cabbage, but kept telling me that I would like the stuffing (I didn't). Also, once or twice a year Nana would make what she called pigs knuckles. Again, recipe for tears. I have a sensitive nose.

[ScotteeM]

Count me in the cilantro-hating camp. It tastes like soap to me. I've learned to tolerate it in small amounts in some dishes, but why should I have to do that? I vote for cilantro as a trite food. Enough already!

Eyeballs would creep me out, and I steadfastly avoid looking closely at the toads and eels in the Great Wall.

Very hot chili peppers are also a problem for me. I learned to appreciate some spicy-hot foods from Peter Chang, and I try them now, but I'm still very cautious.

As a child, my mother tried to force me to eat curry--wouldn't let me leave the table, and I sat there for a very long time, until she gave up (my brother did, too). Today I was thrilled at the buffet at Bombay Curry Company--not every bad childhood experience makes a phobia.

[Heather]

Interesting responses.

Eggs seem to be an issue for lots of us. I love eggs, but undercooked scrambled eggs make me gag, as does undercooked egg white in a fried egg. Love runny yolks, but unless the white is fully set, I can't eat it. I have tried and tried to get over the scrambled egg thing with omelets with limited success.

[DinerGirl]

Interesting responses.

Eggs seem to be an issue for lots of us. I love eggs, but undercooked scrambled eggs make me gag, as does undercooked egg white in a fried egg. Love runny yolks, but unless the white is fully set, I can't eat it. I have tried and tried to get over the scrambled egg thing with omelets with limited success.

I loved scrambled eggs as a teenager, but then on a visit home from college, had them on a Sunday morning I was hungover but didn't want to tell my parents. Sadly, they found out, when I made my dad pull over to the side of the road in lovely downtown Baltimore on the way to the train station so I could spend a good ten minutes vomiting scrambled eggs into the gutter. That was 1987. I didn't have scrambled eggs again until 2006.... and now I can really only handle scrambled egg whites. So for me, eggs are less a phobia/dislike and more a trauma.

[laniloa]

Interesting responses.

Eggs seem to be an issue for lots of us. I love eggs, but undercooked scrambled eggs make me gag, as does undercooked egg white in a fried egg. Love runny yolks, but unless the white is fully set, I can't eat it. I have tried and tried to get over the scrambled egg thing with omelets with limited success.

I am exactly the same way. I can't look at runny scrambled eggs but have grown to appreciate a nice, runny poached or fried yolk as long as the white is set.

[chef4cook]

I have the same dislike for undercooked egg whites.

Asparagus is one vegetable that I have never liked. One exception is wild asparagus. I'm not sure why but I can eat this gently sauteed in butter.

[bilrus]

I forgot my strangest and most un-foodie phobia. I really can't stand eating chicken on the bone. Aside from the occasional tandoori chicken leg or buffalo drummie (never the wing part), it just grosses me out. Too many pockets of fat and ligaments and veins and discolored meat.

[mdt]

I have a texture problem with cartilage or similar textured food items and probably wouldn't do well eating eyeballs.

I did not realize that so many folks have egg issues and thought my Mom was odd. I love me runny scrambled and soft boiled eggs when the white around the yolk is still runny.

[mktye]

I forgot my strangest and most un-foodie phobia. I really can't stand eating chicken on the bone. Aside from the occasional tandoori chicken leg or buffalo drummie (never the wing part), it just grosses me out. Too many pockets of fat and ligaments and veins and discolored meat.

I am very much with you on this one, Bilrus. I tend to eat very little meat and, when I do, I prefer it to be muscle tissue. Organ meats way too quickly bring to mind my biology/biochem classes. In my book, scallops are the perfect protein -- no bones, fat, skin, veins or connective tissues.

I am also not big on eggs, but with a pretty good reason... I cannot properly digest egg yolks unless they are well cooked. So I tend to identify eggs with stomach pain.

And orange juice and apple juice both fall into that had it/got sick category that so many here appear to have experienced. Just smelling apple juice still makes me gag, although I can eat apples. I deal with the smell of oranges okay, but don't like to ingest them in any way and I'm not a fan of anything orange-flavored.

Lastly, chocolate. I'll eat it, but I would pick nearly any other sweet over it. Growing up, my oldest sister was allergic to chocolate (but loves it), so we never even had it in the house.

[clayrae]

I was in the "scrambled eggs must be cooked till dry" camp for a very long time. Then I discovered black truffle oil...

Slightly runny egg, mixing with the truffle oil, so good. I will confess to licking the plate clean every time.

[treznor]

I have one that no one else has brought up yet that I've seen: raw tomato. My parents have always had a vegetable garden and tomatoes are one of those things you always end up with too many of if you grow them, so it probably stems from that, but to this day I can't eat raw tomato. The taste itself just grosses me out. I've grown out of almost all of the foods that I wouldn't eat though tomato remains. Oddly though I'll eat tomato ketchup, tomato soup, salsa (even chunky salsa, though I don't like it nearly as much as salsa that isn't chunky), but not raw tomato and not tomato juice. My parents have always pointed out that tomato juice and tomato soup are not far apart from each other but I just can't explain it.

The only other thing that I just won't eat is cucumbers/pickles, but it doesn't extend nearly as far as my hatred of the raw tomato.

In recent years though I've gotten over my dislike of onions and non-spicy peppers (I've always liked spicy peppers). My technique was to just tell myself I liked them and to get over it. It's actually worked pretty well.

[bonaire]

I have one that no one else has brought up yet that I've seen: raw tomato.

I'm with you here. Won't touch them, won't smell them and go so far as to wipe my bread over and over again with a napkin if one has touched my sandwich. The texture and the taste make me ill.

Love me some ketchup tho....

[monavano]

I am very much with you on this one, Bilrus. I tend to eat very little meat and, when I do, I prefer it to be muscle tissue. Organ meats way too quickly bring to mind my biology/biochem classes. In my book, scallops are the perfect protein -- no bones, fat, skin, veins or connective tissues.

I am also not big on eggs, but with a pretty good reason... I cannot properly digest egg yolks unless they are well cooked. So I tend to identify eggs with stomach pain.

And orange juice and apple juice both fall into that had it/got sick category that so many here appear to have experienced. Just smelling apple juice still makes me gag, although I can eat apples. I deal with the smell of oranges okay, but don't like to ingest them in any way and I'm not a fan of anything orange-flavored.

Lastly, chocolate. I'll eat it, but I would pick nearly any other sweet over it. Growing up, my oldest sister was allergic to chocolate (but loves it), so we never even had it in the house.

Ah, I'm not the only one who gets stomach pain after eating runny eggs! Interstingly, this mainly happens if I've had a couple/few glasses of wine the night before. It's just awful and I can't leave my house for at least an hour, lest I be more than 30 seconds from a bathroom. TMI...I apologize.

My dislikes are:

Salmon- in any form. I don't like oily fish. I wish i did like it, and I've given it a good try. It's so beautiful and easy to make.

Organ meat- My parents loved to eat liver and it was the only meal which my brother and I were completey excused from eating. She would prepre us something different and easy. Weenie beanies and the like. I did however, eat and enjoy lamb kidney at Eve. It was a small portion and I managed to block out "nephrons!' going through my head.

Fish eggs

Fudge- cloyingly sweet.

Souther Comfort- the worst hangover in my life. I have to avert my eyes in the ABC store. Watching Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone with the Wind" can be traumatic. That bad.

[smokey]

My technique was to just tell myself I liked them and to get over it. It's actually worked pretty well.

You know, I used to be one of those folks who thought cilantro tasted identically to soap. Then I went with this technique, and now I happily throw cilantro into loads of different dishes.

[zoramargolis]

I have been reading this thread with interest, since I am a student both of food and human psychology. So many of us seem to be struggling with food aversions associated with a couple of basic themes: ongoing dislike of flavors, textures or categories of foods developed during childhood; avoidance of foods associated with traumatic events, which can include power struggles with parents and eating foods just prior to becoming sick to one's stomach for various reasons. I exclude foods that one is actually allergic to--in that case, avoiding the food in question is a rational decision. In the other cases, it is an emotional one.

I developed a phobia about vomiting as a very young child, as the result of a traumatic experience. I almost never threw up during childhood, and avoided anything that reminded me of it. At age seven, I ate a hot dog and tomatoes just prior to coming down with stomach flu. I wouldn't eat them again for years. I wouldn't eat anything that had romano cheese associated with it, because I thought it smelled like puke, and I would breathe through my mouth if other people in my family put Kraft parmesan cheese on their spaghetti. As an adolescent, I was gradually able to reintegrate those foods, though I maintained the initial phobia. It really wan't until well into adulthood, after a number of years of personal work in intensive psychotherapy that the phobia finally lessened its grip.

I do have some food allergies that are a pain to live with, but which are purely physiological. I have a couple of things that I can and will eat, but which I don't particularly enjoy the taste of-- alfalfa sprouts and tripe. But happily, I am able to explore the world of gustatory experience unencumbered by old baggage from my childhood.

[JPW]

Last night I ate both salmon and scallops. (and even enjoyed them)

My bravery, however, did not lead me to try the fried oysters.

[Anna Blume]

What's the difference between aversion and simple avoidance?

I still don't get "Eat Your Vegetables" and all the phenomena that inspire the preachy campaign since I can think of less than a handful of vegetables that ever bothered me. In those few cases, it was largely due to the way they were introduced.

For example, canned beets, ubiquitous back in the 60s. Yick. Love roasted beets now. Same with mushrooms, if I'm allowed to call them a vegetable. They came it cans. Slimey and ugly.

To answer Heather's question about how I got over at least one aversion, when still a child I was taken to a restaurant in London that seemed elegant to me, but where my stepfather could indulge in his favorite mixed grill. Whatever I chose came unexpectedly with perfectly cooked fresh ordinary button mushrooms on the side. Given the fun we all were having, the extremely charming waiter, anticipation of a ballet or theater to follow, etc., I tried them and discovered for the very first time that something I didn't like before was something I liked now. One of those mundane but important lessons.

Otherwise, for me, it's slime or viscosity that makes me step back whether tapioca, offal or fruit. Bill, I'll take all the ripe bananas you don't want to eat, but the idea of a bacon-fried banana is repulsive. There's a dessert of broiled bananas Jacques Pepin includes in one of his TV-related cookbooks; it's recommended as a good option for over-ripe bananas. I tried to get over my aversion to the cooked fruit by making it. Looked absolutely disgusting. You know. Picture the shape, soft and caramelized. Just couldn't finish it even though I like banana bread, etc.

[giant shrimp]

At age seven, I ate a hot dog and tomatoes just prior to coming down with stomach flu. I wouldn't eat them again for years. I wouldn't eat anything that had romano cheese associated with it, because I thought it smelled like puke, and I would breathe through my mouth if other people in my family put Kraft parmesan cheese on their spaghetti.

this is starting to get gross. however, as an adult it took me more than a year before i could face tarragon after eating a poisoned amish hamburger outside of a corn maze that freaked out my schizo brother so much he tore off screaming expletives out of the open window as he drove his car out of the field, abandoning me and my wife, expecting us to get back home by means of the nearby strasburg railroad, a tourist attraction with four-and-a-half miles of track. we eventually made our way, by foot and by cab, to a real train station in lancaster only to find that the last train for philadelphia had already departed. by the time my wife finally was able to find a hotel with an available room in this fairly small town (who knew that a place like this could be so popular?), i was doubled over on the curb, beset with a peculiar malaise, feeling not so hot. the symptoms were hard to describe, but nausea was not among them, so a short time after checking into our room in a high-rise building, encouraged by my hungry companion, i found myself in a nice restaurant halfway through a salad dressed in tarragon and before i knew it tarragon had enveloped the entire room. as my chicken was brought to the table the revulsion grew intolerable, and i told my wife to meet me outside after she finished her meal because the terragon had brought me to the verge of collapse and i desperately needed some fresh air. i am sure i made a poor advertisement for the restaurant the 20 minutes or so i spent slumped at its entrance. i somehow made it through the night and was well enough by morning to depart for washington. a few years later, suffering from a mild case of dengue fever, when even the idea of sustenance intermittently filled me with disgust, i at least knew better than to accompany my wife to breakfast. when i awoke, the duvet was soaked through and she was at the window watching the ships come in to the port of rotterdam and it was time for dinner.

i have an open mind about it, but i have never liked kidneys. i have tried cooking them myself, marinating them in vinegar, or whatever it is you are supposed to do to stop your kitchen counter from smelling like a high school biology lab, with little success. whenever i have tasted them, one word instantly comes to mind: renal.

[Tweaked]

At age seven, I ate a hot dog and tomatoes just prior to coming down with stomach flu. I wouldn't eat them again for years.

I had the same problem with vodka, except I wasn't 7, I was 17, and I didn't have the stomach flu. For years after, the smell of vodka reminded me of puking. It's still my least favorite alcohol.

[Erin11]

Interesting topic. I don't like stewed/braised beef - it's a texture thing. Have tried it repeatedly throughout the years, but cannot get over the texture. I also don't like the flavor of licorice. I'll eat fennel, but only in small doses.

I also had a childhood vomiting incident that put me off tomato sauce for years. I followed a spaghetti dinner with several spoonfuls of nestle quik powder (I was an idiot chocoholic child). For years the smell of tomato sauce made me queasy - however, I never had issues with chocolate from that incident.

[DinerGirl]

I had the same problem with vodka, except I wasn't 7, I was 17, and I didn't have the stomach flu. For years after, the smell of vodka reminded me of puking. It's still my least favorite alcohol.

Oooo, it's rum for me. Wait, not even rum. Pepsi. I spent July 4th, 1988 on the Mall with friends and we drank rum and Pepsi all day in the sun. Needless to say, I missed the fireworks that night, and still to this day, the smell of Pepsi (not Coke), makes my mouth water... and not in the good way.

Vodka doesn't have a smell to me, thank God, or I'd probably have issues with that, as well. Ahhhh, college.

[mktye]

I have been reading this thread with interest, since I am a student both of food and human psychology. So many of us seem to be struggling with food aversions associated with a couple of basic themes: ongoing dislike of flavors, textures or categories of foods developed during childhood; avoidance of foods associated with traumatic events, which can include power struggles with parents and eating foods just prior to becoming sick to one's stomach for various reasons. I exclude foods that one is actually allergic to--in that case, avoiding the food in question is a rational decision. In the other cases, it is an emotional one.

More on this topic... click.

[z. -- this link was sent to me by a birder. ]

[srhuddle]

Count me in the cilantro = soap category. If I'm watching a cooking show on TV I have to catch myself from saying "Yuck!" every time the word is mentioned.

I have a bunch of oddities (I used to be a hugely picky eater as a kid, perhaps they are carryovers)

Raw tomatoes, bleech. Though I eat salsa (and I've had the tomato 'caviar' at Minibar)

I don't like lettuce on my sandwiches or burgers, but do eat salad. I always think -- why is this grass on my perfectly good burger!

Mayo by itself is gross, but I cut it w/ sour cream and use it when I make tuna fish salad or deviled eggs.

Raw coconut tastes like wax to me. Though I like coconut milk.

Don't care for button mushrooms, but I like (cooked) Portabello, Shiitake, Oysters, etc

Uni (sea urchin). double bleech, but I love Tobiko (flying fish caviar)

Dislike green pepper, but adore red peppers.

[Heather]

I ran into one of the "makes me shudder" items yesterday. Mayo and lettuce that have been sitting around on a hot sandwich too long. It makes me queasy just thinking about it.

srhuddle, welcome to donrockwell.com, and I know several people with the hate green pepper/love red pepper syndrome.

[DanCole42]

I ran into one of the "makes me shudder" items yesterday. Mayo and lettuce that have been sitting around on a hot sandwich too long. It makes me queasy just thinking about it.

srhuddle, welcome to donrockwell.com, and I know several people with the hate green pepper/love red pepper syndrome.

You mean you don't like a good sogwich?

Try avocado mayo that's been in Tupperware in the sun... <shudder>... It's the emptiest I've ever ran my dishwasher. Full spray, sanitizing rinse. I was almost no longer "vomit free since '03."

[Drive-by Critic]

In recent years, I've had the very odd experience of having my taste change spontaneously with regard to several foods. I used to love garlic, but a few years ago, and without much warning, even the smell of it began to make me ill. Eating even tiny quantities would leave me queasy. It worsened over time. In the past few months, it has started to abate but I still don't like the smell or taste.

I used to hate blue cheeses and now I love them...again, for no apparent reason.

There's a whole list of food items that I've either all-of-a-sudden started to like or dislike. We attribute it - like everything else - to the hormone thing. Are there any other Red Hat-eligible women out there having this experience?

But I doubt I'll ever like mushrooms or eggplants. It's that slimy thing...and I hope I never develop a fondness for ice cream. It would be wonderful to develop aversions to Pepperidge Farm cookies (aka "medicine") cheesecake and anything else that is calorie dense and not good for you...

Ellen Paul

Chevy Chase

[zoramargolis]

More on this topic... click.

[z. -- this link was sent to me by a birder. ]

Great article! Thanks for the post. We hadn't really gotten into culturally transmitted food aversions, but that is obviously significant for many. I know adults who were raised in kosher homes who, though no longer observant or religious at all, still cannot eat meat that is even slightly pink, let alone rare or medium rare.

[thegourmetpig]

Great article! Thanks for the post. We hadn't really gotten into culturally transmitted food aversions, but that is obviously significant for many. I know adults who were raised in kosher homes who, though no longer observant or religious at all, still cannot eat meat that is even slightly pink, let alone rare or medium rare.

Mine is a weird one, especially for a big foodie/aspiring chef. I don't like cheese. Never have, and can't seem to get over it. Of course, I like mozzarella. I also like mild cheeses, but only if melted. However, nothing scares me more than a camembert or reblochon. Blue cheeses too. And before someone says it's because I'm not used to them, I grew up in France, and my family's fridge always stank of the strongest cheeses in the world, kept in our vegetable crisper.

[laniloa]

Mine is a weird one, especially for a big foodie/aspiring chef. I don't like cheese. Never have, and can't seem to get over it. Of course, I like mozzarella. I also like mild cheeses, but only if melted. However, nothing scares me more than a camembert or reblochon. Blue cheeses too. And before someone says it's because I'm not used to them, I grew up in France, and my family's fridge always stank of the strongest cheeses in the world, kept in our vegetable crisper.

I am exactly the same way except for the also liking mild cheeses part. It is only in the last few years that I'll eat mozzarella that isn't melted.

[goldenticket]

Items I have/had issues with that mostly fall into the childhood psychological power struggle category (as outlined by zoramargolis):

Canned salmon - This specifically relates to a Friday night meal during Lent when I was in 4th grade. A mouthful of salmon cake with a bunch of vertebrae in it was one of the most disgusting experiences ever. I ran screaming/crying from the table to my bedroom. I was coaxed back downstairs with the promise that all the bones had been removed...they weren't. I haven't touched the stuff since. No problem with salmon in any other form, and to be honest, I probably wouldn't have any problem with the canned stuff now, but decades later that memory/trauma is still vivid.

Wild rice - Love it now, but didn't like it a bit as a kid. Dad would say 'it's just like candy' - not quite!

Beets - just didn't like them - I think it was a texture thing. Now I like them a lot - preferably fresh ones, roasted. Canned beets - ok in the right context, such as part of one of those starter salad plates you see in homey French restaurants, accompanied by shredded carrots, celeriac, etc. (I know this kind of salad has a name and I can't for the life of me remember it.)

Cauliflower - I'm learning to like it, but still don't care for it raw.

"Barnyard" cheeses - Sometimes I get a very strong (and very unpleasant ) taste of ammonia. I like stinky, soft cheeses but not when this happens. It doesn't seem to be any particular cheese, so I try to go with the 'just get over it' approach.

I'm also one of those green pepper people - any other color is fine. I hated working with this woman that would eat green peppers like apples (and this was way before Iron Chef ).

[JPW]

"Barnyard" cheeses - Sometimes I get a very strong (and very unpleasant ) taste of ammonia. I like stinky, soft cheeses but not when this happens. It doesn't seem to be any particular cheese, so I try to go with the 'just get over it' approach.

The ammonia taste means that the cheese is past its peak and should not be served. It's not the cheese's fault.

[ustreetguy]

Most of mine seem to have already been covered:

Cilantro - need I explain more? I've learned to not mind it when it's chopped up finely in salsas and the like, but there is no way you can get me to put sprigs of that stuff in a bowl of pho. I'll even pick the leaves out of a Vietnamese garden roll.

Green beans - now I'm okay with sauteed haricot verts, but there's something about the texture of a cooked green bean (especially the pre-cut ones from the freezer section) that makes me shudder (like hearing nails on a chalkboard) when I bite into one.

Colas - Coke, Pepsi, Tab (and even Dr. Pepper) all make me gag. Doctors suspect an allergy but haven't been able to figure out what it is in colas I may be allergic to.

Bittermelon - my parents grow it in their backyard. I think it's vile.

[jm chen]

I have one that no one else has brought up yet that I've seen: raw tomato....I've grown out of almost all of the foods that I wouldn't eat though tomato remains. Oddly though I'll eat tomato ketchup, tomato soup, salsa (even chunky salsa, though I don't like it nearly as much as salsa that isn't chunky), but not raw tomato and not tomato juice.

The only other thing that I just won't eat is cucumbers/pickles, but it doesn't extend nearly as far as my hatred of the raw tomato.

Funny -- I have the same aversion to tomato but love for tomato products... but I also hate cucumbers and love pickles, which you lump together.

I'm one of the anti-egg people too. Three years old, told to finish a plate of eggs I didn't want to finish, promptly threw up all over the table. If eggs are mixed into a batter, like for cookies, cakes, or pancakes, that's okay, but anywhere they're recognizable is a no-no. French toast is OK 90% of the time but occasionally gets too eggy, and I even pick the little yellow strips out of fried rice. Occasionally I can have a mini-quiche if it's got enough cheese in it. If eggs are cooking on the stove I have to leave the room.

When I was really young I didn't like cold-boiled shrimp or real whipped cream, but by the time I was 10 those were both A-OK.

[goldenticket]

The ammonia taste means that the cheese is past its peak and should not be served. It's not the cheese's fault.

That is good to know - but it makes me wonder about the places where I have been served cheese that has that ammonia quality

[DanielK]

The ammonia taste means that the cheese is past its peak and should not be served. It's not the cheese's fault.

I'm pretty sure that at one of the Cheesetique tastings, Jill said that some small but measurable percentage of the population, when eating certain types of cheese (washed rind, maybe? I don't remember the context), got a strong ammonia scent. Agreed that a bad cheese is a bad cheese, but sometimes it is the person, not the cheese.

[yeuxblu]

Mayo and aioli. I have a gag reflex to the smell and its been the same since childhood and I've tried to get past it. Now I avoid dishes with it. Removing it usually changes the food in a way that isn't the intent of the chef. Its just sad since I want to like it.

After hearing about a friends experience with whale blubber, I think I would have to rule that out too. Anything that has the potential for me to digest an eyeball similar to my own I find rather creepy. Think whale blubber jello mold.

[Poivrot Farci]

A fortnight past there was a dinner, coincidentally the anniversary of the day my tripe enthusiast grandfather's pipe broke and Louis Albert Marceau Fructidor turned his light out. In memory, I ordered what was fit for...a direct descendant of Charlemagne and Le Baron D'Apcher... an incorruptible school professor forced to flee Nice after turning over the portrait of Vichy's Marshal Petain in his classroom...a Resistance fighter who rescued victims of bombardments and stashed his revolver in my mother's crib...then a determined Rubik's cube figure-outer... yet puzzled by bicycle locks: andouillettes, a charred tubesteak composed of innards which carry body badness outwards offering a texture and whiff of organic balloon ends last inflated by the dying breaths of death deities who subsisted on Maroilles and Vieux-Boulogne cheese hot pockets.

In the annals of comestible western civilization, many coprophagous analogies have been made . I have come closer to those than most (except puppies and sürstromming consumers). I would gladly regale my own grandchildren with tales of ancestral courage if my proliferation were not sanctioned by the damned prophylactic tongue-wilting barnyard sausage which even copious mouthfuls of strong mustard could not assuage.

Pépé was indeed a very brave man.

[bettyjoan]

I'm not a fan of raisins (though I love grapes), and I can't stand olives. Blue cheese makes me gag. Ditto on the cottage cheese.

While I LOVE eggs, I cannot stand the sight, smell, or taste of egg salad--there's something about mixing eggs with mayo that really grosses me out.

I only like whole bananas when they're ultra-green and unripe--the second they get brown, I start sacrificing them for chocolate chip banana bread.

I don't like licorice, but fennel is okay.

Aside from those little quirks, the only thing I avoid like the plague is peanuts--I'm mildly allergic (no throat-closing, just itchy, annoying hives), but more importantly, I really hate them. Always have. My childhood friends said I was "un-American" for not liking peanut butter.

This thread has been great--nice to know there are lots of folks out there with strange food issues!

[thistle]

I think my food phobias are pretty common-offal, green peppers, asparagus, sweet potatoes, melons & I might be able to eat some of these if they were cooked REALLY well. I'm not a big fan of traditional breakfast food, prefer savouries to sweets, the only thing that really sets me off is the smell of microwave popcorn (dates back to my first pregnancy, that only thing that made me nauseous).

[Chocolaterie Wanders]

In the annals of comestible western civilization, many coprophagous analogies have been made . I have come closer to those than most (except puppies and sürstromming consumers). I would gladly regale my own grandchildren with tales of ancestral courage if my proliferation were not sanctioned by the damned prophylactic tongue-wilting barnyard sausage which even copious mouthfuls of strong mustard could not assuage.

I had a hard time finding something I didn't like in this post. But this is definetly one of those things.

We were on our way to Tain L'Hermitage, a little town about an hour south of Lyon. It was already too late - we got in rush hour coming from Paris and didn't suspect it to be THAT bad. Anyway, it was 12:30AM and we didn't have dinner yet. I pulled over at a gas station south of Lyon and we checked out the menu. Although I had learned the French language in high school, it wasn't really helping me understand anything on there. So we just ordered anything that gave us hope to get sth. fried. Well I tried to erase most memories of that dinner - but the fried sausage filled with inerts remains.

It looked just like the one on the quoted post - just deep-fried. The second I cut in it it gave off a stench that just can't be described. I gave it one try, but the gummy-y texture didn't do it for me.

We ate the fries and hit the road - hungry, but happier to be on the road again.

The croissanterie in Tain L'Hermitage made us forget about last nights dinner excursion and we enjoyed our stay at the Valrhona factory in this small and almost forgotten town.

[JeffC]

While I LOVE eggs, I cannot stand the sight, smell, or taste of egg salad--there's something about mixing eggs with mayo that really grosses me out.

I only like whole bananas when they're ultra-green and unripe--the second they get brown, I start sacrificing them for chocolate chip banana bread.

The smell of hard boiled eggs--and sometimes egg salad--remind me of flatulence. So much so that when a woman who has a taste for them at work opens up one of her eggs, my first thought is that someone cut the cheese. To her credit, she tries hard to have her eggs when I'm out of the office.

I also like my bananas green. If I see any brown, I won't eat them. Fried plantains, OTOH, are an addiction. Go figger...

Eggplant...I used to like it, but I got violently ill after eating eggplant once in South Asia. Never again.

Organ meats, including various intestines, gizzards, etc. Again, a friend in India once made me an elaborate curry which I attacked heartily, but was brought up short by the soft crunch of the first bite. Curried goat brains! I struggled through the rest of it--didn't want to offend my host--but it was about the most painful meal of my life. My mom used to love chicken livers, but I was never required to eat any kind of liver.

Tongue. I hear it's good, but the idea of it doesn't work for me.

Soft-shelled crabs. I've tried, but that's another one that grosses me out.

Hot-house tomatoes. If they aren't heirloom, I'm pretty much not interested, except in salsas and sauces.

And my number one food phobia.....soggy bread! How I would love to know what a great bowl of French onion soup tastes like. But the soggy bread is like having to conquer a pit bull to get to the treasure.

[Anna Phor]

1. Peanut oil. I think I'm okay if it's fresh, but if it starts to smell even a teeny bit, I wanna gag.

2. Creamed Vegetable of any sort. Gammon. Cf. school dinners in Britain in the early 80s.

3. Baileys. 1 & 3 are from unfortunate incidents with the porcelain telephone; 2, just coz they are gross.

Bitter melon, otoh, is truly vile and doesn't count.

I understand the wet bread thing, too; I'm not fond of things like panzanella or even biscuits with gravy, but I don't mind the bread in French onion soup.

[trillian68]

Raisins. Taste and texture skeeve me out. I'll sit and pick out every last one from a muffin or granola. Drives the hubby crazy. I don't have a problem with any other dried fruits though.

Anything with the taste of licorice. That used to include fennel but I've been working on getting over it.

Okra. Dear god - I shuddered just typing it. Oozy yuckiness. Blech.

[Dave Pressley]

I'm a restaurant professional. I like eating just about anything...but the few things I dislike are so HUGE in the restaurant world! I am a good guy and keep tasting different versions of the items I'm about to list in hopes that I will find a version that I like, but have never succeeded.

I am ashamed. Here is my list:

*Blue and Yellow Cheeses- I can handle mozz, parm, ricotta, provolone and the like. Nothing stronger. Oops, I just farted thinking about it.

*Raw tomatoes- I have found a few heirlooms that I really like, but they are few and far between.

*Oysters- I can't get past the mouthfeel...and the flavor doesn't do too much for me either.

*Eggplant- Looks like a dense sponge with seeds. Tastes like a used Dr.Scholl's pad.

Crucify me. Whatever. I'll try another version of all of the above tomorrow just to further confirm that I HATE them passionately.

[sparkycom]

Haven't had time to find anything to back this up, but, years ago a biology professor of mine told me that the aversion to cilantro (expressed as cilantro tasting like soap) was genetic, just like certain people can roll their tongue and others can't. Anyone else ever heard of this?

[zoramargolis]

Haven't had time to find anything to back this up, but, years ago a biology professor of mine told me that the aversion to cilantro (expressed as cilantro tasting like soap) was genetic, just like certain people can roll their tongue and others can't. Anyone else ever heard of this?

Yes, I think you are right. Also, some people have strong-smelling urine after eating asparagus, also genetic. This happens to my husband, but not to me. Our daughter is like me, in that regard.

[Xochitl10]

Okra. Dear god - I shuddered just typing it. Oozy yuckiness. Blech.

This makes me think of a dish we had last year on vacation: sliced okra, water shield, and slimy mountain mushrooms in soy sauce. I recall being annoyed that I couldn't get any non-viscous food on my birthday.

I can't handle lima beans (mealy) or egg yolks in any distinguishable form.

[JLK]

"Down with picky eating" (NY Times)

[zoramargolis]

However, I once worked with a certain vegan. I looked forward to talking to her, because how many people do you really identify with in the office? Imagine my horror when the opening small-talk revealed that veganism was just the first constraint on her diet. The second was that she wouldn't eat most vegetables! The subsequent months bore this out: every lunch, she would microwave a Amy's bean and rice burrito and be chomp away, perfectly happy. No alcohol, no caffeine. The kicker: she insisted that she loved food!

I finally told her one day that I didn't consider her a vegan -- it was just her handy label to hide the fact that she did not like food. Yes, I am awful and judgmental, and I will probably be deep-fried in Hell for calling out her core deficiency. She said she'd rather never hear from me again, and I agreed, with the condition that she would chew with less projection in our office. I'm reasonable.

There are people who have serious food phobias or other eating disorders who try to mask their problems and appear normal by saying that they have food allergies or are adherents to various special diets. It's not either-or: like many psychological phenomena, there is a continuum from mild to severe. It's fairly common in children: the "picky eater"--at the age of 12, my daughter had a friend who would only eat pasta with plain tomato sauce. That's what she ate for every meal, every day. Usually, by adulthood, that eases up, although the tendency to have strong food likes and dislikes probably endures. But there are a number of adults who remain food phobics, and will eat only a very few things. It can be crippling, socially and emotionally.

[DaRiv18]

There are people who have serious food phobias or other eating disorders who try to mask their problems and appear normal . . .It can be crippling, socially and emotionally.

Well, if that was the case then I feel very badly. She had a tremendous group of close friends, so hopefully they will intervene if it is severe. FWIW, she was a very self-confident person, very productive, and passionate enough about her diet to convince her boyfriend to become a vegan.

Just curious, do the people you reference ever return dishes at restaurants for self-validation of their phobias/disorders? I would intervene if I saw a pattern of such behavior from a close friend.

[JPW]

However, I once worked with a certain vegan. I looked forward to talking to her, because how many people do you really identify with in the office? Imagine my horror when the opening small-talk revealed that veganism was just the first constraint on her diet. The second was that she wouldn't eat most vegetables! The subsequent months bore this out: every lunch, she would microwave a Amy's bean and rice burrito and be chomp away, perfectly happy. No alcohol, no caffeine. The kicker: she insisted that she loved food!

I finally told her one day that I didn't consider her a vegan -- it was just her handy label to hide the fact that she did not like food. Yes, I am awful and judgmental, and I will probably be deep-fried in Hell for calling out her core deficiency. She said she'd rather never hear from me again, and I agreed, with the condition that she would chew with less projection in our office. I'm reasonable.

Thanks for that. It was the perfect way to start off a Monday morning!

[synaesthesia]

Interesting discussion of food phobia on Kottke. http://kottke.org/09/10/food-phobia

[zoramargolis]

Well, if that was the case then I feel very badly. She had a tremendous group of close friends, so hopefully they will intervene if it is severe. FWIW, she was a very self-confident person, very productive, and passionate enough about her diet to convince her boyfriend to become a vegan.

Just curious, do the people you reference ever return dishes at restaurants for self-validation of their phobias/disorders? I would intervene if I saw a pattern of such behavior from a close friend.

A real tip-off that someone is anorexic is that they move food around on their plate as if they are eating, but actually leave most of it on the plate, unconsumed. Bulemics, as Frank Bruno has admitted in his autobiography, will repair to the restroom after eating and return, smelling of mouthwash or breath mints, or with a faint aura remaining of what the mint is trying to obscure. People with serious food phobias often won't eat out--they'll always have a reason why they can't accept an invitation to dine. Or they will order something that they consider "safe"--often requesting that the kitchen omit ingredients that they won't eat. A young cousin of mine had a girlfriend who always brought her own food along to restaurants and family gatherings, saying that she needed to prepare her own food because of her severe food allergies. After they broke up, the cousin's mother revealed to me that the allergy story was a ruse to avoid embarrassment--the young woman was a severe food phobic who would only eat a few foods that didn't cause anxiety.

[DanCole42]

I've always held a bit of personal philosophy that a person's approach to food is highly reflective of the way they approach life.

I know someone who is an extremely boring, uninteresting, and miserable woman who seems to derive no pleasure from anything. She eats extremely plain and bland food: bagels with nothing on them, unadorned salads with dressing on the side, etc. She is very picky and particular (i.e. she wouldn't eat the french onion soup at Ray's the Steaks because there wasn't a blanket of cheese on top).

I know someone else who has an addictive personality and is always satisfied with mediocrity in every part of his life. Lived in the same house for years with shag carpet and 1970s-vintage brass. He seems to have little eye for beauty and is only interested in watching as much sports as he can on TV. He is miserable and is content with more and more of the same. He is extremely overweight and for him food is an addiction: he eats tons and tons of junk food, but has little interest in what he's eating other than that it fills up whatever void he has in his life.

Yet another friend is a total homebody. Never does anything exciting or has any adventures. He eats nothing but chicken wings and orders the same thing at every restaurant he repeats.

So I think for a lot of people there are deeper psychological issues tied to what they will and will not eat.

I will eat pretty much anything, have a strong appreciation for food that's been prepared with care and love, and generally try to avoid foods that are mediocre or bland. I like spicy. I like seasoned. I like variety. I like food that's pretentious and arrogant (seriously).

What does that say about ME?

[alan7147]

I know someone who is an extremely boring, uninteresting, and miserable woman who seems to derive no pleasure from anything. She eats extremely plain and bland food: bagels with nothing on them, unadorned salads with dressing on the side, etc. She is very picky and particular (i.e. she wouldn't eat the french onion soup at Ray's the Steaks because there wasn't a blanket of cheese on top).

Let me guess, your MIL, right?

[DanCole42]

Let me guess, your MIL, right?

... Do I know you?

The Ray's trip was a mistake.

[leleboo]

There is also an entire world of EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). I believe the Kottke.org article mentioned orthorexia, an obsession with healthy foods, but one can be a binge eater (no purging; bulimia diagnosis requires the purge element), or bulimic via exercise instead of elimination, or a purger alone, who will purge without binging first. One can be anorexic at times, bulimic at others, or move through the various forms of the diseases throughout life. Phobias about food, or about specific foods, can manifest along with, or independent of, other disordered eating habits.

This world is incredibly complex and often terrifying and upsetting. I would almost ask that the mods add a "trigger" warning to the title of this thread, especially given that dr.com is Google-searchable.

[KMango]

I've always held a bit of personal philosophy that a person's approach to food is highly reflective of the way they approach life...

Yes, over-quoted, but a big-T Truth:

"Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what you are" --Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin