I used to be the world's pickiest eater. If it was a vegetable, I wouldn't eat it. I ate about three different kinds of fruit, and only if I was forced. Basically all I ate was pasta, bread, cheese, chicken and bacon.
Now I will eat ANYTHING. Even snails (which are delicious, btw).
This is what changed. I went to live in a foreign country for 6 months. The food in New Zealand is basically the exact same as in North America, so not a big deal. However, a BIG thing to do over there, at least where I was living, is to go to a BYO restaurant with your friends. You can bring in your own bottle of wine to pretty much any restaurant over there, and there is no corkage fee. So you just bring it, they open it up, and you get smashed.
There was this awesome Chinese place where we always used to go, each of us would drink an entire bottle of wine, and eat whatever they put in front of us. Let me tell you, there is NOTHING I won't eat if I'm smashed on cheap wine. So that is when I realized that food just tastes better and is more flavourful if it is full of vegetables. The greater the variety of food on one plate, the more delicious that food tastes. It was just a natural progression from eating things drunk, to eating them sober.
THEN I travelled. All over the place. Europe, Asia, the South Pacific, the Caribbean...and when you are eating at someone's house in a foreign country, you have to eat what they put in front of you. I am not rude, and I will not refuse food that someone else has slaved over for me. When you can eat something that you cannot identify and admit that it is delicious, you get over any food issues that you have.
I think food is the best thing in the entire world. And it's certainly my favourite way to experience another culture.
Re: Picky Eaters, this is for you
see, i admire you, but there is NO way i could do that.
there are a lot of things i won't eat for moral reasons (i.e. veal, eggs that are not vegetarian fed and cage free), and other than that...i just flat out don't like a lot of things. red meat, pork, mushrooms (pretty much the only vegetable i won't eat...i LOVE veggies), lobster, hunted meats (i.e. deer/random birds/etc). i am just too damn picky and on my high horse. when i am able to eat as a vegetarian i'm fine. unfortunately, DH is a huge carnivore so it is hard.
every time i've been to a foreign country it is really hard for me because of how picky i am...but i'm ok with that. haha
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I adore food. I consider myself an adventurous eater and I enjoy things my friends wouldn't necessarily touch but aren't even that exotic (in my opinion) - for example, I love baby octopus and calamari that not breaded & fried.
I'm so happy DH also enjoys lots of different cuisines - and that we live in an area where you can find a variety of things. On our first date we had Indian food and on our second, we went to an Afghan place. Love it. Both are in heavy rotation on our resteraunt list to this day.
I enjoy variety, I enjoy trying new things. I also cannot stand processed food and will take fresh & natural any day of the week.
I'm missing raw sushi so much right now - the cooked stuff just doesn't cut it for me. I requested DH bring me takeout from our fave place in the delivery room. :-)
oooh I LOVE calamari. We almost always get that if we are at a restaurant and it is offered as an appetizer. It is our "thing"
And sushi...well that goes without saying.
Wanna hear something gross? I went to a sushi place in NZ. and they had CHICKEN sushi. As in, instead of raw fish, there was cooked chicken inside.
Agreed.
My gosh, I have 50 minutes until quitting time.... I wish it would speed up!
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I'm totally NOT a picky eater! There are a few things that I don't really like but I'll try pretty much anything!
Kevin is a little more picky. He's come around quite a bit in the last couple years. He just isn't a big vegetable eater. We recently had a conversation in which I told him he needs to MAN UP because I'm not going to listen to our future children say "But Daddy doesn't eat it". That's just NOT going to fly with me.
He's learned that if he just tries something, I'll stop pushing it. And that's all it takes. Don't say you don't like it if you've never tried it! And I like things now that I never liked as a child (mushrooms being the big contender here).
Our honeymoon helped open him up to new foods too. Thank you Greece. (I LOVE Greek food but will NOT eat olives, gag.)
You just made me flashback to Thanksgiving as a child and being warned to watch out for the buckshot in the pheasant.
I used to prefer beef to venison, but that's reversed now. After I left home, I realized that my mom undercooks all of her veggies and dries out all of her meats (nobody's perfect). I love game now, but I rarely get any.
If only Matt would take up an interest in hunting... LOL
This.
I love sushi, but I don't like the smoked salmon or eel. No thank you. I usually get raw tuna, it is DELISH.
I am not a very adventurous eater, and neither is Adam. I'm okay with that though!
You've heard what I've done, not what I've been through.
If you were in my shoes, you'd fall the first step."
I've tried over and over again and I just can't do it. I've tried several different kinds too! I can't get past the smell for one.
BUT I AM ALLLLLL ABOUT THE FETA. YUMM.
I can't do olives either. I've tried the black ones and the green ones that they put in martinis. Both make me want to barf. GROSS!!
I tried smoked salmon on the honeymoon. I usually hate all kinds of fish, but the smoked salmon was actually decent.
Olives are something else I can't bring myself to try. HH loves them on his tacos.
I've never had salmon, but I love halibut, flounder, and cod.
Salmon is DELICIOUS. And it's soooo easy to make. All you need to do is take the piece of salmon, cover it in salt, pepper, and onion powder, and bake it for about 10 minutes. It is perfection! It is our go to meal when we're really busy and don't have much time to prepare much because it's so quick. And it is SO healthy too!