I think my eating balut would have to be like the first time I ever ate escargot. There was lots of alcohol involved beforehand.

Not picky at all, I eat all but very ethnically exotic things that are uncommon.

I find people's idiosyncracies about food types to be peculiar. Sorry, but those of you who prefer what seems to me to be bland and narrow diets are missing out. Things like calling Mexican food or beans barf or calling sushi "bait" are attempts to rationalize, minimize and disguise the peculiarity of a dislike. A vegetarian could call raw beef or chicken "road kill", equally silly.

Everyone has preferences, I like this better than that, but most people don't have narrow palates. I just have to believe those of you who dislike particular foods or cultural styles that are popular have never had a chance to have what you think you dislike well prepared in homes or in good restaurants.

Awful and poorly prepared food is awful no matter where and what it is.

Yes. Very picky. I am picky, too, about how things are prepared. I prefer to eat my own cooking, and although we used to eat out quite a bit, not so much any more and it has nothing to do with the virus, I would rather stay home and cook. If I like something, I learn how to cook it.

I love tacos but would rather eat mine. I like steak but if it is. cooked past extra (extra) rare, I don't like it. I don't like anything cooked one sevond longer than necessary. Vegetables for instance. I eat almost nothing from a can. Tomato sauce for cooking and pineapple are two exceptions. I do buy canned chicken or beef broth to use if I don't have homemade, but I don't eat canned soup.

I eat chicken, beef and pork....turkey once or twice a year. No game. I don't eat anything that has to be covered in spices or vegetables to make it taste good.

I love seafood, but since we have a shrimp boat, I never eat shrimp that didn't come from our boat. The couple of times I did, were very disappointing. I am picky about fish...I prefer fresh water fish, except I do like flounder and red snapper. Love oysters...fried. My all time favorite food, but they come from a friend's oyster house.

I don't eat anything artificially sweetened or diet. I eat what I want at the time I want it. I don't drink milk. But I always have buttermilk, cream and butter on hand to cook with and buy milk as needed to cook with.

I also don't like sweet sauces that I think should be savory...like barbecue sauce, but fortunately my favorite barbecue place from where we moved, bottles and sells their sauce.

And in my mind, there is only one brand of pickles....Claussen dills.

I will try almost everything and having tried some things like brains and jello salads I will pass. I stopped eating elk and venison when CWD became widespread in the farms they were being raised back in the late 1990s. Now that CWD is becoming more prevalent in this state it is on the not in this lifetime list.

I had to chuckle at the mention of eggplant above. My husband would not eat it but give him a bowl of baba ghanoush and he was in heaven.

Are you a picky eater?

When it comes to meat, yes. The only meats I eat (sparingly) are chicken and
fish. And occasional shrimp. When it comes to vegetables and fruit, I
like most of them. Except for okra and overcooked vegetables of any
kind.

I also don't drink soda and I like my tea unsweetened, but my coffee has to have sugar and half&half or cream.

I don't consider myself a picky eater. I'll eat a lot of stuff even if I don't really like it just to be polite. There are certain foods I only like if prepared a certain way. I love broccoli and cauliflower, but not raw. Now that I'm an adult and have moved around and had more diversity in food, I'm finding that I'm not so much picky, but maybe unsure of other, mainly ethnic, foods that I've never encountered. The Mexican, Indian and Chinese food we find in our restarants is mainly Americanized. Taco Bell isn't real Mexican food. If i had not spent a few days in Mexico, I would have never have found that out. I absolutely love some of the different foods. I'll try some foods that are different, but they aren't my thing and that's ok too. I've tried pigs feet and while the taste was acceptable, I couldn't get used to the chewiness. I don't consider that picky.

I've never thought of myself as picky, but after reading everyone's posts I realized there are a lot of things I don't eat. I have never heard of Balut so looked it up. I almost threw up.

caflowerluver - I managed to hold down the Balut but it was touch and go for a bit. I have a Filipina co-worker who said she ate Balut every day for breakfast. gag!

What’s it taste like? Chicken?

Not picky at all. We grew up on a farm in 30’s . We grew all of our food, vegetables, pork, beef. I have no dislikes. Have eaten quite a variety of foods during my life. Love trying new varieties.

A very interesting thread! "Mexican, no. It looks as if it's already been eaten." made me laugh out loud, because it is so very true! Especially of the 'Tex-Mex' food that is over-abundant around here!

I don't think I am really very picky, there are very few things I really don't like and would never chose willingly to eat. Quinoa, lentils, tofu, refried beans, and hummus fall in to that category. But I like most grains, seeds and beans. I like vegetables, can't think right now of any I really dislike. I love fish and shell fish, (well, canned tuna not so much), love giblets, calf liver, beef tongue and heart. Like wild game. I really enjoy trying new (to me) foods, and always look for 'different' dishes on the menu when eating out in an unfamiliar place. I had to look up 'Balut', no way I could bring myself to knowingly try that, nor would I ever knowingly or willingly try dog, cat or horse meat. I love all the cheeses I have ever tried, even Limburger (I am first generation German-American, I grew up with Limburger, Braunschweiger and Pumpernickel.)

But in spite of all that, my eating habits would seem 'picky' to some, because of health related dietary restrictions. Hypertension means a very low sodium diet. Low to no amounts of members of the Nightshade family (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant) due to Osteoarthritis. And Gout (another form of arthritis) means no red meat or shellfish. I love dark chocolate, but more than an occasional bite or two can trigger a very itchy and uncomfortable rash. As can very much of any sugary food. I hate artificial sweeteners and salt substitutes. So, I eat lots of chicken, eggs, cheese, vegetables, both cooked and raw, and 'splurge' occasionally with something from the huge no-no list.

Rusty

FOAS - I really can't describe the taste of Balut. Nothing compares that I can think of. This was about 30 years ago. It was the texture that really put me off as well as the thought of what I was eating.

As a child, my family ate organ meats regularly, as well as beef, chicken and fish in various forms. Vegetables were mostly from cans, frozen foods were not common and we had a tiny freezer section inside the fridge. My mother, on occasion, would buy and eat pomegranates, mangoes and avocados. In those days those items were not sold in regularly groceries (no supermarkets then), but there was a specialty fruit store nearby, so I was exposed early to those. We also ate a fair amount of fresh fruit when in season.

as I get older, I find I like fewer foods, no organ meats or red meat for me, and I am fussier about how those foods are prepped. I do not like especially spicy foods and I am not fond of casseroles, where everything ends up in an unrecognizable, jumbled heap of food.

I do not like runny foods such as the new fad of barely cooked eggs topping various dishes, shakshouka I’m looking at you, Nor do I like those runny lava cakes. And While I love all veggies, I cannot eat Brussels sprouts, and yes, I’ve had them roasted.

I am not picky at all, willing to try something I have never had. Liver is a no go and wouldn't try balut.

Thanks LoneJack. I won’t rush out to try it. I see now that my post wasn’t quite right, I wasn‘t intending the proverbial “tastes like chicken“ I meant literally. But realize now it’s duck not chicken.

Okay, having read everybody's posts, maybe I really am not picky, other than the undercooked red meat thing. I'd rather have it hammered (past well done) than soft and coppery. I really don't care for the flavor of veal or uncured pork, but I can deal if I'm so served. I will eat anything I'm not allergic to if served in someone's home (though I might leave the middle of the meat which was just too icky to bear, and I'm not sure I could get brussels sprouts past my nose), and I've even taken the chance to eat a small portion of fish (with an antihistamine) rather than make a fuss when it was the star of a dinner.

I can't do that anymore--recently reactions have gotten stronger--but I still wouldn't make a fuss. I was kind of shocked by Nickle's definition of picky. Even Mr. Picky can usually find something on a menu that he'll eat, though he may have a conversation with the waiter to make sure he can get it without any sauce or spice. If the group goes somewhere he can't even find a plain steak or potato or noodles, he'll just politely decline, and enjoy the company, and pick up something he likes on the way home. That's manners. In turn, those of us who know him and value his company try to make sure there's something he'll eat before choosing a restaurant. That's manners.

I don't consider it pickiness that I have standards. Fine dining used to be better, but since the 2008 economy's hit on the industry, the quality of the cooking at many places has just gone bad. I cannot and will not eat an expensive meal that I could cook far better. I'm more tolerant at family restaurants, but they rarely have poorly executed food! Their menus may not be challenging to the kitchen, but their workers are mostly well trained and able, and they're much easier going if you send back something that's just wrong. I'd far rather eat well prepared, inexpensive food than poorly prepared fine food.

OTOH, I'll try things I haven't tasted before unless I'm likely to be allergic to them. I'm not sure about balut, brains (because of disease) and eyes. I've never been in a circumstance to eat them, but I like octopus, snails, etc., when they're prepared well. How do you know if you don't try?

I'm picky in the sense that I want food to be prepared properly, and often this merely means not overcooked. There are a few food items I won't eat, and these include Miracle Whip, sweet pickles, sweet BBQ sauce (hate that), Kraft mac & cheese, Velveeta, etc. I'm not particularly fond of American food, and I grew up eating a lot of Mexican or Tex-Mex food. There are some food combinations I do not like - in particular, any sweet fruit with meat, such as pineapple on ham or pizza, cherries on chicken, and a lot of Moroccan dishes that have sweet ingredients with meat. I like Moroccan food otherwise, as long as it is not sweet. I do like sweet fruit, but I prefer to eat it by itself or in a dessert.

I love fish and pretty much all seafood, especially crab. I also like raw oysters and escargot, and I eat sushi frequently. My favorite cuisines include Vietnamese, Thai, Mexican, Cajun, Ethiopian, Algerian, Italian, Greek, Lebanese, Afghan, Indian, Turkish, Syrian, Brazilian, Peruvian, Korean, Japanese, et al. My own style of cooking tends to be Mediterranean, Mexican, and Japanese primarily. I cook seafood at least once a week and would cook it more often if it were not so expensive. Another cuisine that I do not like is Filipino - mainly because much of it is too sweet. I've had it mostly at Pacific Island Festivals in Los Angeles. I do like the ice cream I've had at Filipino ice cream shops in San Francisco, however, and so I think it is good for desserts.

I ‘can’ eat most things, but I don’t. I mostly care how some things are prepared more so than what it IS. I hope some of you can relate to that. For example, I have eaten my share of game meats but I don’t really care for them, except a few. Pheasant, quail, and elk are quite good if prepared well. I love seafood and most fish, especially shrimp, crab, lobster, halibut, flounder, and evening the lowly catfish sometimes.

As I have gotten older, I don’t really care for hamburger meat in much of anything except a home cooked hamburger now and then. I don‘t eat processed meats ever except bacon and an occasional piece of sausage. Not fond of ham at all. I am picky about bbq and what type of sauce is on it. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for that. He was a master at bbq and my Mom perfected the sauce, which is still a family secret (i can tell you it is not sweet).

I could leave beef and pork out of my diet and really not miss it much. Not so DH. My youngest brother has become the same.

Thanks to a lot of travel, I have enjoyed many international foods and loved most of them. I especially love Lebanese, almost anything Mediterranean, Thai, French, German, Greek, most Indian, Cajun, Italian, and Mexican.

edited to add, I never met a veggie or fruit I didn’t like. Some more than others.

I didn't use to be horribly picky, Now, aside from my allergies/intolerances, there are some foods that are an absolute NO. No snails, no raw oysters, farmed shrimp, Krab- as opposed to crab, raw eggs, but slightly undercooked is OK, miracle whip, okra, sweet tea, sweet sodas, French's mustard, beef tongue, heart, brains(never tried the last two, but my mother tried to serve beef tongue a few times when I grew up and I hated it). I don't like walnuts in any way, shape or form, frankly leave nuts out of my desserts entirely. Coconut isn't a favorite, but I can choke it down. I prefer dark chocolate, don't care for whipped creamy desserts,but love ice cream. No pie crust unless its made from graham crackers, frozen veggies, butter or buttercream or buttermilk. I don't like milk either. I can finally tolerate kale, not a fan of bagged salads, American cheese, macaroni salad, or thick creamy sauces.I used to eat pasta, but it needed to be covered by a delicious red sauce, preferably with plenty of melted cheese. Fried foods aren't my friend and I don't miss them. Later in my life I discovered roasted Brussels Sprouts could be tasty as could chicken livers sauteed with bacon and sherry. Go figure.

I eat red meat, chicken, duck and turkey. I liked elk and buffalo when a restaurant made them. I won't eat gamey birds or animals. I prefer grass-fed lamb, but it's all good. Not a big fan of sweet meats, and never felt tempted to try Hawaiian, Korean or Filipino foods.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

I have to say I am very picky. I don't eat cheese , fish, eggs, veggies, salads, or fruit. I will not try anything new or different no matter who makes it. Everything has to be plain with no sauce or anything else on it. I love to cook & will make anything that anyone likes but I will not eat it. I have been told I am a good cook so that is not the problem, I love being in the kitchen cooking all day. We don't go out to eat so what I do eat I make myself.

I'm very picky now because I have to avoid certain foods for health reasons which is a pain because I like most everything.

I don't think I'm very picky. We keep kosher so there are some things that I don't eat because we keep kosher (e.g. shellfish and pork).

The list of things that I won't eat because I don't like them is pretty small. Yellow mustard - I don't understand why I don't like it because I like mustard seed of any color used as a seasoning and the ingredients are just mustard seed, vinegar (which I also like) and salt, but something happens to the taste when those are all combined. I'm very sensitive to the taste so even if someone has cut my sandwich with a knife that they've cut sandwiches that have mustard, I can detect it. I've gotten a bit better about it over the years so I'm now okay with things like potato salad with a bit of mustard. The grainy brown mustard is okay and I like the hot Chinese mustard.

Capers are another thing that I really don't like. If I'm out and something comes with capers, I can push them off to the side and eat it but there is still some of the flavor left so usually I try to order things that don't have them.

I won't eat things with artificial sweeteners - partly because I believe that they are bad for you and partly because they don't taste right.

Alfalfa sprouts - because I once got food poisoning after eating a lunch that had a salad topped with them and they were the dominant flavor in what came up.

Ranch dressing. In general I'd rather have a vinaigrette type dressing rather than a cream (gloppy) one. I can cope with creamy dressings other than ranch. Another mystery because I like most of the flavors that go into it other than the mayo. I mean to try a ranch without mayo some time.

Then there are things I can tolerate but would rather not eat

Thickeners like guar gum - I will eat things with them if I'm out, but to me, it changes the flavor of items it is used in so we go out of our way to buy yogurt, whipping cream etc that doesn't have thickeners.

Mayonnaise

Blueberries - I used to like them, the problem is just over exposure I think. I don't hate them but I'd rather have other things. Peanuts and coconut are other things that I avoid having too much of but I do like a peanut butter cookie or pb&j sandwich occasionally and like coconut in some contexts.

I don't understand non-dessert recipes that take a sweetish vegetable and pile more sweetness on like sweet potatoes with added sugar and marshmallows. I like sweet potatoes plain or where the other ingredients are savory.

I don't like eggs where the white and yolk are cooked separately (hard boiled, poached, fried) though I'm okay if small amounts hard boiled eggs are mixed into foods like tuna salad.

I love Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian and Mexican food and just about any ethnic foods. Some like Cajun are an issue because almost everything has shell fish or pork. I like spicy food as long as the chili spice level isn't painful.

I'm allergic to some cheddar cheese - it may be due to what the cows eat because it seems to be regional. I never have a problem with California or UK cheddar. A couple of bites of a problem cheddar (e.g. at a very nice dairy we toured in New Hampshire) and my head gets really stuffed up.

mary3444, I roomed with your twin sister in grad school for one semester. She would only eat plain baked potatoes, chicken pot pies, and potato chips. That’s it. Three things. Even back then I fancied myself a decent cook but I could not tempt her to try anything else.

Many of you have mentioned a dislike of soft cooked/runny eggs. That is a current fad that I just don’t get. I have read it described as “silky” or “smooth” or ”unctous.” To me it is just raw. When we go out to brunch, I’ll order the eggs Benedict knowing that whatever I tell the waiter about how I want my egg cooked is a crap shoot whether I get it or not. I like poached eggs with the yolk set. Sister and I call it “jellied,” but I can’t use that term in a restaurant. It means nothing.

I used to really dislike picky eaters, but I have become one. Since going through chemo for breast cancer I can no longer tolerate smokey foods. Not my choice - just something happened to turn off my tolerance for things like bacon, smoked sausage, anything chipotle, smoked paprika, smoked BBQ, smoked cheese, smoked ham, smoked turkey, smoked fish. I keep trying and my stomach just keeps saying "no, no, no". Makes me sad. I love most vegetables and a lot of fruits. But I prefer kale cooked.

Can a person be both picky AND adventurous? I will try nearly anything and if there's something on a menu/buffet table that I've never had, I'll definitely try it.

Most of my food aversions are due to texture. Jello just feels....icky. Yogurt is slimy. I like soft eggs, though, and learned to eat both peanut butter and avocado and like them both now. I will not eat mush, and I don't care whether you call it polenta or grits or mush, I'll still turn it down. I don't like iceburg lettuce because it's strange and watery, but I happily eat raw spinach, bibb, various others. I've ordered everything from Goetta to sushi and liked most of it.

I don't care for canned soups because they just taste like salt to me. I dislike cake mixes because they have an odd "fake" flavor and texture, but my kids far prefer the ultra "fluffy" cake mix cakes to my homemade ones.

I don't like lamb. At all. I don't care how it's prepared. I've had it rare, I've had it well done, I've had it grilled and roasted and in a gyro. I just don't like it.

My doctor told me years ago that I'm a "super taster". I dislike olives, wine, pickles of various types, although I've been known to put pickle slices on sandwiches. Oddly enough, I like sauerkraut but haven't been able to get past the smell long enough to even try kim chi. I like mildly spicy foods but do not want the enamel on my teeth to bubble. If it's so hot I can't even taste the food, it's just heat, then I don't see the point.

I also don't care to have my food all mixed together and hated the fashion of stacking all your food each one on top of the other. I didn't really understand "deconstructed" either, but I could assemble dinner, but couldn't really disassemble that stack of stuff.

My preferences are for simple, quality and mostly homegrown foods. I'll eat nearly any vegetables except okra (because it's mucilaginous, as are raw oysters) or those big honkin' lima beans (because they are dry and crumbly). Again, it's the texture, not the taste. I've been known to eat things I dislike, though, to avoid being rude or hurting the feelings of some 80+ year old aunt who is sure that her famous XXXXX is something everyone loves. I figure I won't die, so I eat it and nod.

So, picky AND adventurous, I guess. And I follow Renee's 7 year rule. If I don't like something I keep trying it, at least once every 7 years. Some I actually end up liking, but olives are not one of them. Every time we have a family party and I put out a bowl of olives, I pop one into my mouth, chew, swallow, think. Nope, they still taste spoiled to me, LOL.

Annie

LOL!!! Annie, you don't like iceberg for the same reason I love it. :D It's crunchy water. I also like the flavor, but it's the crunchy water I really like. :)

I am not a foodie AT ALL! I eat mainly fruits and veggies, chicken, turkey, fish, etc. I prefer my foods unadorned, no sauces, reductions, butter, especially if they are sweet. Give me a baked potato with nothing on it.

My friends/family know that I am picky and are certainly not offended by it. My eating preferences in no way inconvenience them. Many foods cause me to not feel well so why would I eat them just to be polite.

Preferring to not try new foods is not immature nor a result of lack of exposure. I have been fortunate to have done a fair amount of travel, and while doing so, eating new foods is not part of my plan. There are things that I want to see/do instead of sitting for hours eating/drinking.

However,I am more than willing to try a new flavor of gelato!

There are a few things I don't like. However. if I found myself on a deserted island, I would be flexible enough so I would not starve.

I can't eat red meat so I don't know if it works for me but pretty much everything else is no problem. I just can't have any white flour sugar or msg. So no sauces for me or most Breads or refined foods. Everything has to be without those two things. Lately I have been able to eat dates again. No migraine kidney reaction or blood sugar problems from it! Yay. So I'm even more unfussy.

Not really, although there are some foods that most people count as common that I really don't like, and prefer not to eat. And yeah, there are things I've eaten I'm not really into delving into much again.

Raw or nearly raw carrots, cottage cheese (shudder - but fine if cooked into something so those "milk-gone-bad" texture of the curds are gone). Turkey breast. Dates, fresh or especially dried - both texture and overwhelming sweetness. Most dried fruits - exceptions being dried tomatoes and (some) dried cranberries. Here it is the concentrated sugars. Lemon meringue pie.

Diet sodas, stevia (tastes like old socks would presumably taste like). Licorice sticks (but anise is okay). Just about any fake sweetener I've run into. That aftertaste.... And you can't fool me by telling me an item was made with some variant of fake sugar - I've bought such things by accident when I was drinking /eating processed items of that nature - and had immediately go running to the source and check the label.

I'm picky about how I like tomatoes. I'm not fond of most tomato soups, but give me a good chunky and properly made gazpacho! Oh and of course not the cardboard tomatoes shipped up here year round from Florida. My parents ate fresh tomatoes about two months out of the year, and it took me going to college and attacking their salad bar (in September, even!) to understand why. Ketchup, btw, is way too sweet.

Hazelnuts. Even their stench is apt to get me running. I've at some point in the last five or six years developed a sensitivity to most tree nuts. It's not worth it to my tastebuds or my GI tract to see if hazelnuts are also on that list. (I can eat almonds, yay!)

Fruitcake, an obvious NO. A waste of good rum... Tonic water... Sweet tea.

Peanut butter is a weird story. For three years every school day in grade school I insisted I bring a peanut butter sandwich with me. Sometimes just peanut butter, sometimes PB&J, sometimes peanut butter and butter. But suddenly one day I opened it up, and was absolutely revolted by the stench, and could never again eat another one. For at least three more decades, I was revolted by peanut butter in any shape or form. Even the smell continued to revolt me.

I can eat peanut butter again. It took Thai cooking (and someone making home made peanut butter and dark chocolate "Reeses" peanut butter cups with quality ingredients. I can even eat the stuff out of the jar, if I buy a quality brand. It no longer smells bad to me. But one thing I still refuse to do: Is to put it between slices of bread and have it as a sandwich!

I have absolutely NO desire to try natto. And considering my reaction for several decades to the smell of peanut butter, I'm going to be hesitant to try durian - but some day I want to. (Just not in my home!)

Things I do like that apparently it is "okay" to hate:

Game, wild or otherwise. Okra. Bitter melon (which lives up to its name.) Organ meats (although I'm picky about how liver should be prepared). Sushi. Properly sourced raw beef or bison. Cilantro. Spices and seasonings from all over the Asian continent.

Seafood of all types, veggies of all types (except the aforementioned raw carrots). Parsnips are great in stews - I use them instead of carrots when I can.

I do like hot and spicy, but my gut is pulling the brakes on the serious levels these days. Sigh.

I do want to try insects some day. Other than adventurous gnats flying down my gullet at picnics, and an uncle bringing smoked silkworm cocoons to my Dad's place, I have yet to eat any. (My thoughts so far: gnats have no flavor and are really rude about trying to be eaten.... and I still have no idea if silkworm cocoons are actually edible because the likely industrial-waste-sludge they'd been smoked in was revolting). I am considering mealworms, but I will note that the crickets my chickens get as treats do smell off-putting. Speaking of chickens that I've raised for meat, I've eaten just about everything from them, or made bone broth from things like wing tips and feet. There's a friend of a friend who has requested the heads for some dish she makes from her old eastern European country. I haven't tried these myself, simply because it just seems too "personal", but I would try it from chickens I haven't raised myself.

BRING "EM ON!

Mary3444: I will not try anything new or different no matter who makes it. Everything has to be plain with no sauce or anything else on it. I love to cook & will make anything that anyone likes but I will not eat it.

Please, not trying to offend but to understand: but how do you get around the cooking ideal that chefs and cooks need to taste what they are making, before they serve it? (Do you have a taster friend in with you? That could work.)

Addendum. I'm not really fond of over-breaded food. There's a level where the breading overwhelms the lovely food flavor. I've been known to peel the extra junk off so I can enjoy the cauliflower, the okra, or the shrimp lurking underneath... (No, I will suck it up and not do that if the food was home-cooked and the cook is present... but restaurant food - sorry.)

artemis, I once ate a cricket, and it had basically no flavor, but it was crunchy. It was also sealed inside a lollipop and I had a bus full of 3rd graders watching me. I had to, you can't let them see you flinch!

I had an aunt who was Japanese, Yoshiko. She called herself Amy, my Uncle married her while he was stationed in Japan. She would add grasshoppers to the dandelion greens. At first I thought they were just in there, then I noticed that she added them on purpose. I ate the greens, not the bugs, but now I think I should have. She used to play "tea party" with me, and showed me the tea ceremony. Of course, I didn't pay attention, I should have. She could have taught me many things, but I was a child. (sigh)

She also made "fish head soup", from the fish carcasses. Now I realize, of course, that she was really just making fish stock, but I thought that was very weird then, LOL.

And I LOVE parsnips, but Elery says they taste like ammonia. I also eat raw beef, but only that which I have grown myself. We eat game, obviously, as Elery shot 3 deer last year. I like cilantro and chop up the "giblets" to go into turkey or chicken gravy. I like almost all seafood and I agree with you on raw carrots. Also raw broccoli, it's "grainy". I dislike cauliflower but have been known to eat it, but love cabbage and brussels sprouts, go figure.

Peanut butter? I love it all but my favorite is made by a local company, Koeze's Nuts. The ingredient list says peanuts and salt. That's it and you know, it tastes just like peanuts! (grin)

Annie

Fried grasshoppers are very popular in Oaxaca, and they are served with chili and lime. All you can taste is the chili and lime, but of course they are crunchy. I actually like them, and I ate some in Los Angeles that were given to me by a Mexican who did not expect me to eat them. It just proves that you can fry almost anything.

So, in comparison, I guess I'm really not very picky...

I’m seriously allergic to fin fish, coconut, mango, papaya. I think one more, but can't remember. Liquid milk brings on a stronger respiratory reaction than most people get, I'm low level allergic to a lot of fruits but can eat them in moderation without a reaction. I love but shouldn't eat nightshades, whole grains and a few other things. What goes to health shouldn't be counted as pickiness.

I don't like, won’t eat, liver or kidneys (this may be a supertaster thing, but when others say sweet and delicious, I say chewing on a wet diaper), and object to eating brains (disease). I cannot eat brussels sprouts. The sulphur is overwhelming raw, cooked and in between. I've tried holding my nose and I still have to spit it out. I've told up topic about needing meat to be cooked through for both the texture and to get rid of the copper taste.

That's it for my can’ts and won’ts.

There are plenty of things I don't want to eat, that I just don't like the flavor of, like olives snd cilantro, but if the dish isn’t overwhelmed by them, I can cope. I even like chicken marbella. I dislike uncured pork, also veal, but can deal if it's not a slab (meatballs in sauce, yes (and yes, I can taste them), chops no, but I can be polite and eat it if so served). Far worse than the salt in canned soups is the can flavor. Worse if they're plastic lined cans. I don't remember having this issue with the old steel cans. Is it aluminum? Some kind of metal gets in the soup. I'm okay with other things from cans, like tomatoes, salad corn, chopped chilis if I don't have fresh, evaporated milk for baking. I don't use a lot of cans, but only soups seem to have that metallic taste. None of these is a hard no, however.

I’ve never encountered difficult things one sees on Food Network, like natto, durian and balut. i reserve judgment.

I'm a "super taster". I dislike olives, wine, pickles".

I don't think it works that way. The term suggests someone with greater taste acuity/sensitivity than others have. That you can discriminate between various tastes and flavors has no effect on what you like or dislike.

I too apparently have greater than average taste perception because of having a much larger than normal tongue and a sensitive sense of smell. (no comments please). I can pick out ingredients in food others don't perceive, fine tune seasonings with ease, etc., But I eat almost everything.

"I don't like, won’t eat, liver or kidneys (this may be a supertaster thing, but when others say sweet and delicious, I say chewing on a wet diaper)"

As with my preceding comment, I don't think it works this way.

The supertaster test measures ability to taste three specific compounds, and how strongly one tastes them. One can be perceived by different tastebuds, so can be bitter, sweet or sour (I haven't heard of it tasting salty but for all I know, that one too), but it's bitter that all three tests have in common. I taste that third compound as sort of sweet and sour (like sweet and sour mix for cocktails), and very bitter, where some only get one taste from it. All of the compounds tested are ones I find very bitter.

I don't know (I said "may be" because I don't know) if that's what makes me taste eau du diapers in excretory organs that other people think are properly prepared and devoid of such. It seems logical that it does since that amoniac taste is bitter, but I don't know for sure. I do know that it's what makes me taste strongly bitter in things that some other people can't perceive bitter in at all. As I said previously, I can take a certain amount of bitter in greens and the like, but not straight on. I need there to be something with them to cut the intensity, even if it's just a piece of bread, if I'm to eat any quantity. Since greens aren't generally served alone, it's not an issue. But I should add to my picky list that I will not eat undercooked eggplant. I love properly cooked through eggplant, but the overwhelming bitterness of undercooked eggplant is unbearable.

BTW, I've tried several times to do the tongue dye test, but it hasn't worked right, so I don't have a tastebud count. :)

I don't think of myself as a picky eater. That being said, I dislike okra, am not a fan of sweets though I will partake a couple times a year IF it is something special. I dislike poorly prepared, over or under cooked foods. My biggest dislikes are prepared foods i.e. dishes with ingredient lists full of chemicals and additives. I cook mostly from scratch. I love vegetables of all sorts while fruits not so much, it's my sweet taste aversion. I love rice, potatoes, homemade breads and pastas but do not make them often, they are just too tempting. For proteins I love all kinds of wild seafood and most game. I am super picky about poultry and meats, I buy local, pasture raised, grass fed, heritage breeds, etc. My addiction is homemade broth, stocks and soups.

artemis, no offense taken, I will try to answer your question as best as I can. I am 75 & married almost 55 years. With that being said I don't know how my food comes out the way it does but I have never had anyone complain about the food I serve. We do have lots of complainers in the family so if there was something wrong with anything I make they would be the first to say something. Don't have a taster friend only my husband who will help me in the kitchen. He loves to eat but I don't think I would trust him telling me something needs anything else in the recipe. Hope this answers your question.

I don't consider myself picky but I do have food allergies and sensitivities I have to be careful about. What I'm not allergic to but can't stand to eat are curries, limburger cheese, organ meats, any meats that don't come from the standard beef, pork, poultry etc. Also not truly a fan of strong-tasting fish but if I'm served it at someone else's table I will eat it. I do like foods of various cuisines from around the world. I haven't been really exposed to a lot of "exotics" though.

My doctor actually tested me, put a piece of paper on my tongue and asked if there was any flavor. It was extremely nasty, to the point where it made my stomach a bit upset. He said most people just thought it tasted like paper. He asked me if I liked olives or red wine. I told him "no". He said that supertasters simply have more taste buds for specific flavors, and I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to be one of those people. He also said that he did not know of anyone that ever changed, so expect that to continue. (shrug)

So, it's a medical diagnosis and not an opinion, as is my "oral allergy syndrome" when eating pomegranate and kiwi. If I eat pomegranate my mouth becomes extremely painful, almost instantly. It will stay that way for 15 or 20 minutes, then it's magically OK. The doc said the remedy was to not eat pomegranate, LOL.

Annie

There are people whose sense of taste is more acute than others. The same is true about most other senses too. It's not all that unique or particularly earthshaking. Some people like that find employment in food industries of all kinds. Chefs need to have acute senses of taste and smell. Others work blending wine, olive oil, tea, coffee, developing products, making beer, writing recipes, etc., and many other such endeavors where the acuity is necessary. Just as musicians have a heightened feel, sense and perception of music.

As I said, my senses of smell and taste are also very acute. It affects what I can discern and provides me more enjoyment and the ability to assess but doesn't seem to matter concerning my preferences. So perhaps the effect is variable for those of enhanced perceptual ability.

Yes, it's true. Some people have a native acuity for flavor perception. Often they have more tastebuds and olfactory receptors (which are very important in flavor perception), but some of it is more in the brain, like perfect pitch.

That's different from what is conventionally called "supertaster", which is what the coated paper tests--the ability to taste those three compounds. The theory is that the ability to sense bitterness helped people in certain parts of the world avoid certain local, poisonous plants. For each of the three compounds, there's a simple genetic ...is distribution the right word? Unlike complex traits, such as hair color, these are 0, 1 or 2 alleles. If you have zero, you taste paper. If you have 1 allele you can perceive the bitterness, but it's pretty mild. If you perceive it as revolting, you have 2 alleles. About half the population have 1, a quarter have 0 and a quarter have 2. You might have 2 for one compound and 0, 1 or 2, for another.

I only dislike tannic red wines--there are some reds that I like--and hate olives, like Annie. We have one of those compound sensors in common. :)

One more thing I don’t like - whole wheat bread. I think it takes over the flavor of the sandwich. I don’t want spongy white bread either. And I prefer to have the crusts cut off my sandwiches. But, as always, there are exceptions to all of this.

No, I Iike all but two veggies and eat lots of salads plus the Mediterranean diet has been our preference.

Pillog - I hear you about the metallic taste in some canned items. I do my best to buy anything tomato in glass jars, because the acid really leaches the metal flavor out. But I seem to be okay with the Amy's brands of soups - although I haven't tried any of their tomato-based ones, should they have such.

I am also not really a sweet tooth. I am indifferent to most desserts - I love a good tiramisu and a few other things, but normally I'd stick with a couple squares of quality dark chocolate or some ice cream. (I used to say dessert should be served first, so I could get that course out of the way, and dive into the enjoyment of veggies and meats...)

Not fond of marshmallows, either. I'm probably the only person in America who has never even wanted to try a s'more.

Elmer -

That you can discriminate between various tastes and flavors has no effect on what you like or dislike.

I too apparently have greater than average taste perception

Dad had a very good, and greater than average, taste perception. He helped develop new products for Seagrams when that company was still around - new liqueurs. And also was very good in distinguishing types of Scotch whisky. Alas when he got into his 80s, taste perceptions went out the window, and the only flavors he could taste were sweet, salty, and hot (as in Tabasco). Which meant he only wanted sweet wines (that he used to abhor), extra salt, and had to have eggs slathered with Tabasco - when he went into assisted living the chef was given a large bottle of the stuff to treat his eggs specially for him.

I guess I get that to look "forward" to when I hit my eighties...

@artemis_ma, how interesting that your dad helped develop new products! In his latter years, did your father have any sort of dementia? I’ve read that sometimes, dementia will affect taste in older folks.

Yes, very interesting, artemis