Head Cheese. Wont do it.

I won't eat chicken gizzards, tripe, menudo, or many organ meats because they gross me out. I love duck, goose, raw oysters, and foie gras, however. I've never eaten a Big Mac and don't intend to start now. I've been boycotting MacDonalds since the early 1970s. Before that, I had never seen one. I'm also not interested in funnel cake.

Lars

Sharon - all the ones you mentioned I like. Not that I want any of them every day, but I will not say no to any of them. The only thing I can think of is sushi - anything with raw fish (except oysters and they are bi-valves, not fish) is bait in my world and I am not trying it.

There are several things I have tried that I can honestly say, 7 year rule or not, I am not eating again even though lots of people love it. Tiramisu is at the top of that list for me. Actually, anything that combines coffee and sugar, in any form is way up on the list.

Alexa

Sharon, what about avocado? Did you say once that you hadn't tried avocado?

Not much I haven't or wouldn't try, including snake, and wild boar. But, you couldn't pay me to try rollmops or pickled herring.

Althetrainer, we had a rule when our son Matt was young. He had to try something before saying he didn't like it. And if he didn't like it he didn't have to eat it. Now that didn't stop me from cooking something for dinner that Moe and I both liked. I never minded cooking something different for Matt on those nights.

Matt grew up to be an adventurous eater and a very good cook.

Ann

I will try almost anything....but sweetbreads....and honeycomb tripe....remember seeing it in the butcher's case as a little girl and shuddering....didn't even know what it was but shudder.
And i have eaten whole fried baby octopii.
Lars? funnel cakes? pretty well like a donut in a different shape. But of course the desirability depends on the age of the grease it's fried in.....
Speaking of frying, never have tasted turky tom toms nor Rocky Mountain oysters.
Linda C

I won't eat raw oysters. I doubt I would like them but more importantly, they're just too risky healthwise. Everyone I've ever seen eat them douses them with cocktail sauce and eats them on a saltine, the reason for which I can only presume is to mask the flavor.

Although tripe/innards are mainstream in other cultures, they aren't in mine so I don't count that in chase's requirements. But I won't eat that either.

There probably are other things but I can't think of them.

I also required my kids to at least take a taste before saying they didn't like something. I never made them eat anything they didn't want as long as they tasted it before making up their mind. About half the time, they would discover they DID like whatever it was. I think the tasting requirment worked and they kept an open mind simply because they knew I stuck to my promise and didn't make them eat things they didn't like.

No tripe! My dad cooked it for us when I was a kid during the time when you had to eat everything on your plate.

I'm okay with raw oysters but no liver.

Alex, I'm with you on raw Shushi, haven't gone there and won't.

Ann, I lost my Avocado virginity a while back......wasn't impressed but didn't hate it. I actually liked it as Guacamole but not enough to make it for myself or order it in a restaurant.

No raw oysters, tripe, head cheese, blood pudding, squirrel (hubby loves it), fish with the head on. Some things I don't like, but the above things I THINK I don't like, so I won't try.

Chicken fried steak--I'll starve first. It is the look of the thing as much as the gluey white gravy slowly congealing on top of it. Otherwise, I'm an omnivore.

It's funny, because I have tried quite a few strange (to me) things, like black pudding, haggis, raw oysters, alligator, squid, mince pie (which is basically suet in a crust) and sushi. Of that list, the only one I actually liked was sushi.

I'll try most things, but there are a few I won't even get close to. Head cheese, Sweetbreads (how the heck did THOSE things get THAT name?), octopus, and many organ meats (tongue, tripe, kidney, brains....).

I am surprised to see Tiramisu on someone's list! Too funny!

Linda

Rabbit, the thought grosses me out.

Funny, but I am looking forward to trying farm raised rabbit when my friends have them ready next year. I like tiramisu, but can not abide sugar in my coffee - go figure.

I've tried sushi and was unimpressed, ditto with plain avocado - just didn't have a lot of flavor I thought. I can live without eating a lot of organ meats although I like liver. No raw oysters, but I could probably eat a fish with head intact.

Rutabaga...never tried it, don't know if I ever will...and I live in a town that has a Rutabaga festival every year. I guess I don't want to buy one(they're huge!)and end up tossing it out if I don't like it.

There is absolutely nothing that has crossed my path that I wasn't willing to try. Now, there are a few things that I would want to see someone else taste first before I took the plunge. Like sea urchin........

I refuse to touch pickles or olives, of any description. Once an elderly Greek gent, a friend's father, forced me to eat an olive at his table. It was all I could do to refrain from gagging on the spot.

'You have to try it.' I guess it must have stuck, because I will try ALMOST anything, and I enjoy most things. MY rule is 'The more things you enjoy in life the better off you are.'
Confession: I will never try that Italian "Jumping Cheese" where the maggots jump into your mouth. Now that's a shudder for me!

Duck, oysters (cooked or raw), clams, scallops - strange because I love fish and shrimp. I've tried rabbit but didn't like it. I don't like any kind gamey-tasting meat, like deer (although I have eaten and liked deer sausage). Cauliflower. Kidney beans, wax beans. I've never eaten raw sushi but I might.

I'm pretty open to trying almost anything, especially in the "normal" range. Not sayin' I'm gonna like 'em, just willing to try.

Maybe don't tell me until AFTER I've tasted...

Now the Italian Jumping Cheese doesn't fall into my "normal", there tomatobob!! LOL

I have eaten rabbit, Rocky Mountain Oysters, tongue, heart, liver (blech), mincemeat, raw oysters (ocean variety!), frog legs and more I probably can't remember right now.
Of all of those, I can't stand liver of any type, oysters didn't do anything for me (tastes like Tobasco), not crazy about mincemeat. The rest were fine, not something I'd go out of my way for, except tongue and heart, I love those.

Interesting to see the responses!

Deanna

Teresa, I'm sure you will like rabbit. It is a very mild meat. And if you like chicken livers you will love rabbit livers. A favourite restaurant in Nanaimo offers rabbit livers as an appetizer. If we were there early enough in the evening I would order the rabbit livers as a main course.

Ann

Cookebook, cauliflower? Wow, really? That seems like an odd thing not to want to at least try. I love it, especially roasted in the oven along with red baby potatoes. Just a delish combo.

I won't eat liver or brain, or tongue or anything organ related. Don't want to try sushi and am just amazed at how many people just love it. I don't want to eat anything exotic like chocolate covered ants, etc. either. Too many great things to eat without resorting to stupid stuff like that. I don't think clams, scallops, oysters are appealing at all and will pass. I love shrimp and fish but don't want those other sea-items.

My mom, bless her heart, never made us eat anything we didn't like or even didn't want to try. I thought that was quite unusual at the time because that was an age of 'eat everything off your plate, there are starving kids in China'. I loved her for that and still do. I hated onions as a kid and would drive my folks nuts if anything remotely came with an onion. Do you know how long we would have to wait in line at Mckee-dees for no onions? A long time, ...drove my dad crazy. My grandma used to cook two different pots of soup..one with and one without onions. It wasn't until later that I found out she just divided everything into two pots to fool me. I figured it out once when I found a...gasp..an onion piece in my soup! Now I love onions....not sure why I hated them as a young boy. Must have been the slimey texture.

Duane

LindaC, I was never sure what a funnel cake was, but I always thought it was a cake in the shape of a funnel - that didn't sound attractive to me. I never associated it with donuts.

I'll try many things that I should - including those that have dairy that upsets my stomach. I may regret it later, but sometimes I get lucky and it doesn't seem to upset me too much. If I avoid anything with milk in (not including yogurt or other such processed milk products), I'm usually okay.

Lars

Pre pseudo kosher days I would try anything and loved most of it. Even so, I won't do organ meats or snails.

I do the same as Ann, my kids have to take one bite then they don't have to eat it if they don't want to. They are NEVER to say yuck, just in case someone is at the table who enjoys that particular food.

Bring on the sushi - just no uni (sea urchin)

For those who are 'meh' on avocados: true they aren't very tasty on their own. But they are a heck of a good substitute for mayonaise in sandwiches.

My rule is simple: If it doesn't eat me first, I will try it. And if I don't care for it, I will not try it again for a while.

And my parents grew up in WWII Germany were food was scarce to say the least. If you are hungry enough you will eat anything.

And the seven year rule is true. I have discovered that I really like a baked sweet potato.

If someone else fixes it I would probably try it. At least a bit of just about anything.
Many I wouldnÂt fix myself first though. Always gave the Rocky Mountain Oysters to the vet. Never knew you at those till he asked if he could take them. IÂm guessing the tom toms are the same thing Linda?

Raw oysters or any raw fish or brains think IÂll pass.

Marlingardener Chicken fried Steak??? A family favorite here. But not with white gravy. Use beef or venison. Lightly floured, salt, pepper, just browned outside medium rare inside. Then in the hot skillet with the drippings I pour a jar of yellow tomatoes (you can use regular tomatoes but we like the yellow) and cook down to a gravy thickness. Maybe give it a try. Nothing congealed.

tereasa _nc7 Rabbit tacos or rabbit pot pie. The best. We cooked those two all the time when we raise rabbits for a couple of years. (ItÂs all white meat)

tomato bob Jumping cheese for real. I think thatÂs one IÂd have to pass on too.

Deanna Corned tongue or boiled tongue with raisin sauce and Heart stew Yum

Lars ever try goatÂs milk. I have several people that are Lactose intolerant and say they have no trouble with my goats milk. Just make sure you get it from somebody that knows how to produce good goats milk. IÂve had some before that --well you might as well go out and lick a billy goat as drink it. But IÂve had generational dairy farmers tell me they couldnÂt tell the difference between my goats milk and cows milk.

Jessyf I grew up with a mom who was a waitress in exclusive restaurants and loved to cook. SheÂd bribe the chefs for recipes. I can remember sitting down to dinner as an 10 year old with a plate full of Escargot.
IÂve learned over the years to try just about anything. Although I draw the line at things like brains of any sort. More for the health risk than anything else.

I wonder how many of those or you who will never try oysters grew up near the ocean where oysters are fresh and plentiful.
I love LOVE raw oysters....and hate the fact that they are suspect as a carrier for hepatitis etc.
Linda c

Two weeks ago for the very first (and last) time I ate a spoonful of cottage cheese mixed with blueberry sauce. I subdued that long nagging voice in my head to avoid the cottage cheese, just so I could try and convince little Brielle that is was good. My sacrifice did not work and she wouldn't eat it either.

I can't try raw mollusks, raw fish, or raw birds. I won't be eating terrestrial mollusks raw or cooked, and frogs are safe from me. I also can't get myself to try organ meat beyond gizzards, livers, and hearts. Not that I've tried.

When I was a kid, my mother and I would get into wars about certain meals. I was generally pretty much eager to eat by the time meal time came, because there was no such thing as snack foods in the house. We had fruit, and were allowed one piece as an after school snack, but that was it.

But there were a couple of truly vile dishes she made that no matter how hungry I was, I simply couldn't force down. One was chicken and peaches (brown chicken parts, dump a can of peaches IN SYRUP over the chicken and bake.) I would sit at the table for hours chewing minute bites until I couldn't find them between my teeth and she gave up and went to bed admonishing me not to do the same 'till my plate was cleared. Which, it soon was. Into the ivy below the kitchen window.

However, one rule I never balked at was that if I were in someone else's home, I ate what was served, offered polite compliments and evinced enthusiasm no matter how I actually felt about the food.

When I was 17, I moved in with a Chinese family for 6 months. Ma Yee was so tickled by a White girl who would eat things like thousand year eggs and fermented tofu that I swear she took pleasure in trying my fortitude. It was a real learning experience for me, turning food from something one ate because it was mealtime into a real adventure. I learned to like things I would never have even known people ate!

I came to decide that if there were people somewhere, who ate a food with relish and didn't die from it, I could at least give it a try. If the first bite seems odd or nasty, I'll pause and give it another go or two at least, because some of my favorite foods took me a while to get used to.

My one exception to the rule has always been putting anything still moving in my mouth. If I were in Africa, I'd eat a grub worm, but they'd better kill it first...and in Japan, I want no sushi so fresh that it is still twitching on my plate.

But funny, as I get older I realize that were I in such a situation where a host offered me such fare, I'd probably steel myself to it.

Out of the items other posters have listed, I've had and enjoyed most. I haven't yet tried haggis, alligator, rocky mountain oysters, or squirrel, but I have nothing against trying them should the opportunity present itself. I have no idea what turkey tom toms are.

Obviously there's been some weird/uncommon stuff mentioned here. But as for "normal" food I can't think if anything I haven't or wouldn't try. A friend of mine just got turned onto vegemite, found some locally and insists I must try it. No idea what it is, but I guess I will soon find out.

Sharon - From your list, the only one I can understand not wanting to try is raw oysters. I love them, but they taste a lot like they look, so if that doesn't appeal to you it'll be hard to get past. Think a slimier, goopier ableit much tastier version of raw clams. Of your list, I'd say calamari is the most benign. If it's cooked badly you'll chew a lot, that's all. Not a whole lot of taste to love or hate.

FOAS I think Vegemite is like Marmite, I think, but can't swear to it. Definitely an acquired taste......and not one I have acquired! LOL The OZ folk may have a different opinion. My DDMIL loved the stuff!

Mike, I have had goat's milk, and I'm okay with that. I also try to find Mozzarella made from Buffalo milk, but I've never found buffalo milk by itself. It seems that all of it is made into cheese, and I have a feeling that it would probably be even better than goat's milk.

There is a lot of canned food (i.e. tin cans) that I won't eat because I don't like the flavor of cans.

Lars

Maybe I've never had a good beet, but to me, they taste like dirt, just like the soil....I try, I really try. And I'm a passionate gardener....

I was a nurse's aide eons ago at a nursing home. Was feeding a lady that seemed like she always slept, eyes were closed..but she ate (may have been real doped up back then, I don't know). The minute the green bean puree hit her mouth, she spit it out! Found out later, through her daughter, she always hated green beans.

I grew up on Lamb Fries from Lamb (mountain oysters), in Lexington, Ky. Mom would slice them and fry them up, on a Sunday morning and make a milk gravy with the drippings. Loved them! They were a treat. We moved to Fla. when I was 11. When I was 15 I found out what they were.
My Dad went to KY on a trip, brought back some lamb fries. I was disgusted by the thought. But, after the first teensy taste of them, along with the smell, I was hooked.
Southerners here in N.C. don't know what they are! I miss them....

My part-Italian gene pool is missing the "peppers" gene. I don't like peppers, green, red or otherwise. I can tolerate them cooked down in chili, but I don't cook with them at all. The taste dominates the whole flavor and knocks out other tastes. It shouts PEPPER the whole time. Love onions though!

My BIL hated onions. Sister got divorced, had small toddler. The toddler is now 40 something now, never knew his Dad. Guess what he hates...ONIONS! I swear, it's in our genetic makeup for certain likes and dislikes.

I can think of plenty of exotic or non-maintstream foods I wouldn't try - anything alive, raw birds, those eggs DH described from the PI with the formed chicken inside that you swallow raw, and, yeah, foie gras. (Sorry, but that just isn't what I consider a mainstream food. It's not going to be found in any of the menus or grocery stores in most of the places I've lived.)

I'd have to say organ meants assuming there are any that I haven't already been exposed to yet. As a kid, I was made to eat just about every organ there is several times over. (My mother rivals Anthony Bourdain in her love of strange animals parts.) No matter how it was cooked -- or even if I didn't know what it was when I was eating it - I never liked any of it. There is something about the smell, taste and texture of most organ meats that sets me off. I will eat AROUND tripe in menudo, but i can't swallow a bite of it without gagging.

The only thing I can think of is steak tartare. Nope, won't go near it. I do like a rare or medium rare steak but I want to know a flame has passed in the vicinity of my beef. Nor will I consume anything with a raw egg in it. No brains or sweet breads, either. I'll eat menudo to be polite but I won't go looking for it.

Mostly I am a good sport about giving things a polite taste.

I am very particular with what I'll not eat.

I will not eat anything that's listed on the endangered species list.

Otherwise, Bon Appetite! Down it goes! Yum! :-)

dcarch

Although I'm the forum "picky eater", I'll try anything once, but I'd prefer that it be no longer moving or breathing, thanks.

I eat raw beef regularly, but only the beef I grow myself. I love beets and rutabagas, I grew up eating beef tongue sandwiches, liver and onions, jowl bacon, rabbit, squirrel, wild game of all types, foraged greens, calf fries/mountain oysters. I love duck but detest lamb. I eat things made with raw eggs when it suits me, but I don't like eggnog.

I just tried sushi in California two years ago and loved it, but I will not eat raw oysters again. It's like having a mouthful of...um....mucus. I didn't like avocados for a long time, now I'll eat them but I'm not wild over them. I like octopus, calamari and rattlesnake, I've had alligator and it's OK. I've tried Vegemite and Marmite, they both taste the same to me, but I don't need any more, LOL.

I've tried grits and polenta but don't like either and I'm a strange person because I don't care much for ice cream, cheese cake, white pasta, tomato based sauces or anything with more than a tiny bit of hot peppers, beer, wine or strong cheeses.

So, what have I not tried? Sea urchin, anything still alive, anything poisonous (not venomous, there's a difference).

Annie

Lars if you can find some fresh whole good quality goats milk I have a very easy recipe for Mozzarella Cheese. Not quite as good as the brined slower version but good none the less. I also have a recipe for the slower brined. And it makes the best Ricotta Cheese too.

Okay now I'm going to show my backwoods lifestyle. What is foie gras and Vegemite and Marmite? I'm country and don't get out much. I'd google it but I have dial up (need I say more) and the knowledge here is right up there with google.

Pickled Pigs feet. Most game. Sweetbreads. Just can't do it.

My grandfather loved pickled pigs feet...I remember the jar...
I loved the taste but hated the gristle.
But I love love roll mop! We don't get it in white bread mid west.
Linda C

Wild boar tastes like ham. There's no mystery--even if you're eating an actual wild one, rather than ranch-raised.
I will try anything, but for some things--once was enough.

Mikes--foie gras is goose liver.
Vegemite and Marmite are jarred spreads--popular in the UK and Australia, based on yeast extracts. They just taste salty to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marmite wiki

Linda, I know where you can get rollmops in Chicago. Let me know if you need the address. It is a German deli in Arlington Hts.

Ideefixe, ah, but what heavenly goose liver it is!

I'm vegetarian, so I don't eat meat, but basically, even if I weren't vegetarian, I won't eat anything that involves cruelty, such as Fois Gras, Veal, and I could never eat anything that is plunged into boiling water while it's still alive, such as Lobsters. Shudder.

I do on rare occasions eat fish, and I might consider eating beef raised the way Annie does, or chicken the same way, but I don't know if I could bring myself to do it, after being vegetarian so many years.

Back in my more omnivore days, I was willing to try almost anything, but the idea of eating snails grosses me out. I did prepare beef tongue on more than one occasion, and actually liked it, but frankly, I don't remember what it tasted like. The texture was hard to get used to.

Sally

I'll pass on the raw oysters, snails, sushi, frog legs, foie grass, and prunes...reminds me of a giant raisin. LOL! Oh, and the pickled herring Ann mentioned. DM still loves that...it always freaked me out seeing it the fridge growing up. I'm sure there are a few more but that's what came to mind tonight.

David

I was brought up to clean your plate. However, my mother learned her lesson at Thankgiving one year after we were all grown up. My BIL would not eat squash. My mother had it mashed and seasoned and insisted he try a taste. After one bite and his rapid dash to the bathroom with his hand over his mouth, she never did that again to any of us.

I always wanted caviar. It just sounded so extravagant and lucsious. When living in northern Virginia, my fiance took me to a very upscale restaurant called Circle One, I believe. There were waiters for everything and the first thing they brought out was a small dish of caviar. I couldn't get the courage to taste it afterall and gave it to my fiance to finish off.

Living in Japan, I experienced a lot of foods I wasn't familiar with. I do not like squid suckers, although I did eat them for a couple of years without seeing what they were. Also, would not eat sushi. Its the food safetly factor.

Found out a couple of years ago that I don't like rutabaga. Don't know if I got a bad one or not, but my DH didn't like it either. Organs, tripe or oysters are not my favorites. Couldn't eat the Jumping Cheese no matter what.

Thanks for the education. I love liver of almost any sort. But these days I only eat it if I've raised it. Since the liver cleans everything in the system. I like to know what's coursed through my organ meat. So since I don't raise geese (they're too ornery for me) guess I'll never try foie gras Oh well kaysarah.

I will eat liver of almost any sort...but I would prefer not to be the one that cooks it. But that is as far as I will go with organ meats. But now that I have read the part about "the liver cleans everything in the system...I like to know what's coursed through my organ meat", I may never eat it again. And this statement also made me rethink how much I love Rocky Mountain Oysters. LOL

I will not eat any wild game. I have tried many different game meats...deer, elk, raccoon, bear, possum, duck, rabbit, wild boar...the list goes on. I am just not crazy about that "wild" taste. And it doesn't matter if it's been soaked in milk or whatever else they try to de-wild it with. :) I will also not eat tripe or sea urchin (had one in our salt water aquarium and just can't feature that). *shudder*

I won't touch tuna...from a can, raw or otherwise. Tuna from a can looks and smells just like cat food to me. And when we were little, my older sister was responsible for feeding us dinner. She made tuna noodle casserole over and over and over. She was 10 and no one taught her (or any of us) to cook, so she is forgiven. We were even known to have saltine crackers crushed up in a bowl with Kool Aid on them. And most other fish is not appealing to me. Shellfish, however, is another matter.

And milk. I will not drink milk. I read once that humans are the only mammal on Earth that drinks milk past the weaning stage. Milk is the one thing that will make me gag should I consider raising a glass to my lips. And watching someone else drink it? Ewwww SHUDDER. However, I will cook with it. Weird...I know.

Other than that, I will eat just about anything and will at least try just about anything...once. I am sure I will think of something later that I won't eat.

And we were raised by a step dad that forced us to eat everything on our plates. Everything. I never, ever made my kids eat something they didn't want to...and they are great eaters now.

I think there were a lot of things brought up that I don't consider that odd, so I never included them on my list of "Nope, not eating THAT". Organ meats of any sort are on that - with the exception of liver which I tend to avoid for the reasons that Mike100 mentioned. Not eating tripe, brains, udder, reproductive organs of any sort, etc.

I guess if we are going really off the main stream, I am definitely not eating those baby eels that are permanently showing the "silent scream" expression either. Actually, I prefer not to eat anything that has a face staring back at me, with the exception of shellfish. Crab and lobster dont bother me at all.

Also I would not knowingly eat dog or bugs... just can't wrap my brain around that.

Alexa

I read once that humans are the only mammal on Earth that drinks milk past the weaning stage.
LOL at that! OK, what I'm about to say actually goes for a lot of things that have been said above (including stuff I said!) but that's just an excuse, right? I mean, you know, the things I won't eat, I won't eat them because I darn well don't want to. So there! But then I do have to include the reasons (oysters and hepatitis for example).

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't eat oysters even if they were found to PREVENT hepatitis! LOL

Anyway the milk - mammals comment just caused me to crack up. You know, there are a TON of things humans do that other mammals or other animals of any kind never do. Why? Because we can! That's exactly what makes us human. We also plant, harvest, store, season and cook (among other things) our food - do other mammals do that?

Just to be clear, I'm saying all this tongue-in-cheek. I don't know why that struck me as funny, it just did. I hope you can see the smile on my face as you read this!

And Mike - kaysarah - took me a double take to get that one! :)

Mikes1000 -- That's exactly the argument I used to try to use with my mother. "Mother, I took biology in school. Don't you realize what that part DOES in the body?"

She knew, she didn't care. And she did NOT believe in the Seven Year Rule. Her rule was, "I put it on your plate, and you're #$&@# well going to eat it and BE GRATEFUL!" Ummm...no. It always amazed me that she could be so totalitarian about food when her mother was so reasonable.