How picky are you ?

[Boaz]

You know I grew up in a time when you ate what was put before you . Now I realize we are all different and like certain things better than others . But seems a lot of folks have to have exactly what they want , spiced/flavored how they want and cooked one certain way . Very exacting or they will not eat it . Seems a little mind locked to me .

I like trying new food items or different ways of preparation . When I go out of my country I look forward to seeing what is on the menu in other areas . It generally varies quite a bit as to local availability , traditional cooking methods , certain regional myth that certain things just aren't edible . So I'm pretty experimental far as food goes .

So ! How 'picky' are you ?

[Hickory]

I'll eat anything but beets, tried them many times, I'm to the point now that I consider any beet crop a failure.

[Surfcat]

Open to just about anything. Spending a good number of years in the Marine Corps tends to "expand" ones palate.

[elmacgyver0]

I'm pretty picky, unless I'm starving.

[Beagle333]

No raw seafood, no beets. Those are and always have been my only two shunned food items.

[farmerjim]

Like Hickory, the only vegetable I do not like is beats. I grow them for my wife that loves them, but none for me. As to animal dishes, I find that I do not like the organ meats. They have a taste that I just do not like. I tried steak and kidney pie once while in England. Worst food mistake of my life. I will and have eaten the flesh of animals that many will not consider.

[CastingFool]

I have never liked the taste of red beets. However, I will eat golden beets. Another item that I dislike intensely is raw celery. Hate the smell of that stuff. Cooked, I can tolerate it, but if the chunks are large enough, I will pick them out.

[GhostHawk]

If I am eating someone else's cooking I will either eat it or not. No comments, no complaints.

For my own cooking, I am dang fussy and I will ***** at myself for half an hour if I screw something up. I am my own worst critic. Beyond picky, I am downright fussy finicky.

But the only person that has to live with it is my wife. She's an angel.

[KenH]

Oh, I'm not picky at all about what foods I eat - a Thai friend in Thailand phrased it nicely 'Ken, you eat everything we eat", that was after eating roasted toad frogs with her. Now, when it comes to proper prep, that's a different thing. I like my shrimp cooked just right, not over cooked to be tough, but just right. I'll eat it if I screw up and over cook, but I do MUCH prefer I cook it correctly.

As other's said, I've eat a LOTS of different things, some good, some not so good. All depends. I had a blood dish while living in the jungles of Guatemala years ago. The indian lady took pure blood, filled the pig intestines with the spiced blood, boiled in water to coagulate blood to solid, then served that. As the wife said, "If I didn't know what it was, it would be pretty good".... I only ate 2 helpings.

I LOVE eating!!! {g}

Ken H>

[pertnear]

I don't think I'm very picky & will eat or at least try just about dish. I'm more picky about the preparation when I'm at a restaurant. If I'm paying for the meal, it should be as advertised & properly prepared & of proper quality.

BTW: I love to watch my BIL make a sandwich. He takes the bread & carefully spreads the mustard on one slice until it reaches all the way to the edge of the crust. Same on the other slice with the mayo. Puts on the meat exactly centered or layered exactly to the edges as possible. Tomato & lettuce are applied with similar precision so that each bite provided a uniform portion of each ingredient. My sandwich is made & eaten before he can take his first bite!....LOL

[375RUGER]

I don't do oleo, cool whip or processed cheese. There are other things I don't really care for, but I eat most anything that doesn't eat me first. I'm not picky, but I do have some strong preferences, like I drink 1/2n1/2 instead of whole milk. Until I was 35 i had severe food allergies, so I had to be very picky. For that last 13 years i've been able to eat anything I want, and I am loving it. I eat restaurant food just like they serve it. I enjoy being able to eat what's on the menu without having it modified.

[DerekP Houston]

I guess I'm pretty picky. I'll try anything once and if it's prepared for me you shut your mouth and eat it, but if it's one of my favorite dishes I'd rather just make it myself since I know what i want. The only thing that irks me about restaurants is paying 3x as much and its not even as good as at home. I make exceptions for dishes I don't know well or are new to me, particularly any asian cuisine.

Looks like I'm in the minority of guys who like beets lol. Grew them in the garden, harvested young, tasty roasted in the oven *if* you scrubbed the dickens out of them to get the dirt off. Oh and beet greens were often mixed in with the spinach depending on how much was left in the yard. I'm not big on organ meats either but my dogs love them.

[AggieEE]

I'm kind of in a minority here as I like pickled beets. I also don't eat organ meats, there was only one time I had liver that tasted good, I also don't like broccoli, cauliflower or boiled cabbage. I do like a good coleslaw. I do like raw celery, spinach. In fact I like most of my veggies raw. So I do consider myself a picky eater. I also tend to eat one thing at a time. I forgot, I can also add lima beans and black eyed peas to my don't like list.

[rking22]

Not picky at all but I think beets and turnips are just the inedible root of the greens which I love. Oh, and tomatoes,like chicken, should preferably be cooked unless salsa. If it's meat it's food , innards and all. When I travel I eat the local food, have found many favorites that way, like haggis for instance. I am fond of mots ethnic foods as well.I found out in college that my home cooking was considered " soul food" :)
If someone prepares it I am going to eat it, may not go for seconds but was raised to eat what's prepared till its gone.

My daughter and I look for the unusual and non chain restaurants while my son and wife are rather conservative.
When it comes to beers, like food, variety rules but I love porters and stouts. The daughter is the same and as a 24 year old gets some ribbing from her girlfriends!

[Handloader109]

You guys that don't like beets, have you ever tried pickled beets? Get a can and try them. WAY better than plain beets.

[gwpercle]

Not picky at all !
If it doesn't crawl off the plate I will eat it. I even enjoy Spam , potted meat , Vienna Sausages, liver . Not much I wont eat...but it has to taste at least passable good.
I do like things like meat and fish cooked. No sushie or raw meat...no, just cook it.
Being from South Louisiana and of Cajun heritage, we tend to not shy away from trying any fish , fowl or game. Alligator, Nutria , Muskrat, Raccoon, rabbits, squirrel ...I even cooked up a woodpecker once , accidentally shot while squirrel hunting....put him in the gumbo with the squirrels...was not bad ! Can't waste good meat . Eels, clams , oysters , bull frogs , turtles , armadillo , all good . Cook a lot on the grill and in the smoker. Boil crabs, crawfish and shrimp .
I learned to cook from my mother , grandmother and daddy, they passed on lots of secretes to making just about anything taste good...and if it taste good , I'm going to eat it .
It's been said a Cajun will eat anything that doesn't eat him first ...there's some truth to that.
Gary

[starnbar]

I have a lot of friends from many nationalities and also my own family recipes too. One thing that still is a no for me is the raw brains.

[Uncle R.]

This thread takes me back some. I'm not a picky eater. I grew up in a family of seven. Dad was a working man and mother was a specialist at making a dollar stretch like a rubber band. The cooking was a mite - er - creative now and then if times were tough, but if you were smart you'd generally shut up and eat your share. It could get to be a long time 'till breakfast.

If you didn't want your portion of whatever was for dinner there were others ready to snatch it so fast you could hardly see the flashing forks.

All that said, I hate beets. Just the smell of cooked beets makes me gag. Mother (rest her soul) loved pickled beets and she always grew some beets in her big vegetable garden. I don't think any of my siblings liked beets any more than I did, but mother didn't seem to mind. She'd put up a few pints of pickled beets in the early fall and enjoy them now and then through the long winter.

Uncle R.

[mozeppa]

i will not eat liver....

BUT , I'LL EAT ANY thing else!

beets pickled or not. .. love em!

[Preacher Jim]

Food the one pleasure of life at my age. Few things I do not eat. Cooked cauliflower, broccoli and spinach, love them all raw but leave if you cook them. Grew up on a farm so like fresh not canned veggies, frozen if I have to. I love to sample new dishes and recipes do not eat much deserts trying to stay trim like Charlie.
Love mex, Italian, southern home cooking, Midwest bbq and beef, pork, chicken, seafood,wild game is my favorite.

[Xringshooter]

Love the smell of liver and onions frying up, but can't stand the taste of liver. Pickled beets took awhile to grow on me, I like them but my wife really likes them (I really like the pickled eggs we do in the same jar as the beets. Organ meats just aren't my style or taste. Love seafood - except oysters, just can't get into them. Tried over the years, fried, in stew, raw, whatever and just never cultivated a taste for them. Mussels, clams, abalone, seafood in general, everything else is great, but not oysters.

Spent 26 years in the USAF and traveled a good bit and would try most things once. Somethings absolutely not. Was stationed with a special team in Egypt to help them open a base that was getting F-16's for a night fighter squadron. Got invited to one party and they passed around a huge bowl of (you just reached in and popped them in your mouth like grapes).... sheeps eye balls! Nope, did not do that.

Also won't eat eel, it might be a great delicacy in Japan, but not for this kid, had it once, will; never eat it again.

[Thundarstick]

I will sit down at the table with you and eat just about anything you will, but I draw the line at high risk dangerous foods. It's the medical training, I know what you can get from it, and most of it isn't pretty!

It comes from eating my Grandma's terrible cooking, hospital food, and working with people from all over the world. I've discovered an Indian fried okra dish I could eat every day, I just have to order the spices to make it with. Bhindi fry yummy!

[AggieEE]

Xringshooter; When I was growing up my grandmother would make oyster stew. I liked the broth but not the oysters. Skip forward way too many years and I got hungry for oyster stew. Got the oysters, milk and butter. Just brought the milk up to a simmer not a boil. Put in the oysters and didn't cook too long 5 min. or so. The oysters ended up really good without the strong taste my grandmother's had.

[Xringshooter]

Xringshooter; When I was growing up my grandmother would make oyster stew. I liked the broth but not the oysters. Skip forward way too many years and I got hungry for oyster stew. Got the oysters, milk and butter. Just brought the milk up to a simmer not a boil. Put in the oysters and didn't cook too long 5 min. or so. The oysters ended up really good without the strong taste my grandmother's had.

Well, it's been a good 10 years since I last tried them, maybe I'll try this and see what happens. Maybe my taste buds will have changed :)

[Hickory]

Just remembered something else that I have a hard time getting down, that is octopus, it's chewy like a marshmallow, but it just doesn't go anywhere. And when you swallow it, it always seems like the wrong thing to do.

[Pipefitter]

My Belgian grandmother would cook one meal that brought out all of the aunts and uncles from "The Old Country", that none of us kids would touch. Chicken feet and pigs tails boiled together, took one look in the pot and said "I would like peanut butter and jelly please.
Also could never stand the blood sausage either.
Now, beef tongue soup, or the chocolate cake that grandma made with spoiled milk stood no chance of lasting long.

[MT Gianni]

I eat almost anything. I don't care for pumpkin in any form, as a desert, side or fake flavoring. I will choke down a piece of pie to be polite every 4-5 years if someone gets loud about their wife's being the best ever. I love fresh peaches but have a tough time swallowing any type of canned. It hits my throat slimey and jumps right back out.
I have eaten a lot of different foods with and with out knowing what they were. If it tasted good it didn't matter what it was. I've enjoyed octopus and squid when I have had it, if it was tough it was overcooked. Horse is dark, rich and reminds me of antelope. I was raised where we grew our own food and animals were either our's to eat or sold for the same. I have never been served dog or cat but if I was in a position where I had to eat them I can't see any problems with it.
I see no need to eat poisonous food for the thrill of it. You can keep your puffer fish, absinthe and any other deadly so called delicacies off of my table.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

some won't eat beets ???
You missed out, if you never tried roasted beets...on the grill...indirect heat...and little bit of wood smoke.
I do them right along side a beef roast on the grill.
done when tender, then peel the skin, slice like your slicing the roast...let the meat juices from the roast get on the sliced roast beet.
GOOD STUFF !

I'm not picky, back in the days, I would eat anything. These days, I avoid lots of processed foods and simple carbs...but that has nothing to do with being fussy about what I'm willing to eat.

[MaryB]

Cooked beets BLECH but pickled? Love them! No raw seafood or raw meat from an unknown source, absolutely HATE liver(mom made us eat it once a week, sit there until it was gone even if it took until midnight!). Otherwise not that picky. I have eaten muskrat(nasty), mud duck(coot) which was beyond nasty, snake is tasty stuff, racoon is tasty, beaver is great eating, squirrel and rabbit were a staple growing up and I still go sit in the woods and try to get a few each fall. Not a huge fan or crab, lobster, mussels, oysters... will eat it if put in front of me but if I have a choice pass.

[Boaz]

Wow ! Had no idea so many hated beets . I eat fresh ones in season and pickle the canned ones all the time . Never cooked em on the grill Jon ...I'll give it a shot . Thanks !

[Boaz]

I think it's odd but I constantly run into younger checkers at the grocery store that literally don't even know what vegetables are . They ask ..What are these ? I'm talking about turnips , squash , common stuff . They were raised on Mc Donald happy meals . Yesterday I was asked and told her...It's an acorn squash .
About a month ago a lady about 40 years old checking me out rung up a bag of red beans and said she wanted to cook some one day . Asked me how you did it . How does someone 40 years old not know how to cook a pot of beans ?

[William Yanda]

I'll eat anything but beets, tried them many times, I'm to the point now that I consider any beet crop a failure.

A gal I used to work with claimed beets tasted like dirt. I never asked how she knew.

[Hickory]

A gal I used to work with claimed beets tasted like dirt. I never asked how she knew.

I am here to tell you, she is right, they do taste like dirt.
You might be asking how I know what dirt tastes like, I've been down in the grit & dirty many a times, even wrecked a dirt bike and came up with a mouthful of it. Yep, beets taste like dirt.

[gwpercle]

There is one thing I haven't seen any comments on like and dislike. And for some reason the folks around here don't prepare them. We generally don't waste much meat . Back in the day we would have a gathering of family and friends for a boucherie' (a hog killing). Used up just about all of the hog, the normal stuff bacon , roasts , hams etc. but also used the head (hogs head cheese ), fried the hog skins (cracklins) , sausage , the liver and heart , rendered the lard out, feet, lips and ears get pickled, hocks get smoked even the stomach was stuffed (Chaudin).
But there was one part that wasn't ...the testicles ! They seem to be eaten in other areas, rocky mountain oysters...isn't that bull, hog or sheep testicles ? Anyone ever try them and what do they taste like.
Mom used to say we use up every part of the hog but the squeal....but there was one part I don't remember getting used....maybe there's a reason ?
Gary

[Harter66]

I don't care for domestic liver , wild liver is much better .
Tongue , hagas , basically entrails are of my menu , heart and liver are the only organs ....... No fowl liver , yuck .
Bulb onions don't like me , mix them with chili powder and you have a guaranteed recipe for a catastrophic gastric purge . Lots of things I don't care for , a few things I'd pass over if there were another choice .

I was out with a friend and had some calamari alfrado . I flipped a last bite over and the legs tripped the gag reflex before my fork got even close to picking it up . Sushi is pretty far down my list .
No sugar cured pork ! Sweet n sour is ok .

[am44mag]

I have preferences, and there are certain foods that I either won't eat at all, or won't eat unless it's prepared a certain way (because I can't stand the taste otherwise), but for the most part I don't consider myself picky. I'll try anything once.

[DerekP Houston]

Eh, I know some people favor liver but in my mind, the organ was designed to filter out all the bad stuff in the body. I don't really wanna eat an oil filter either ;). I get along fine with any vegetable I can think of just depends on how it's prepared. I'm *NOT* a vegetarian or vegan but I'll confess to liking the sides as much as the main course some times. grew up over seas during the madcow scare and whatnot so we mainly had chicken or turkey growing up.

[am44mag]

A gal I used to work with claimed beets tasted like dirt. I never asked how she knew.

I've eaten dirt, sand, mud, dust, and even some grass. None of it was voluntary. Between the farm machinery, the ATV, and just being out in the country, it tends to happen.

[CastingFool]

I grew up eating stuff like pigs feet, oxtail stew, beef tongue and thought nothing of it. Recently went to a local meat processor and asked for pigs feet, and I was told they could not sell them.

[kfd518]

I will eat nearly anything except organ meats. As to the comment about testicals, Calf fries (rocky mountain oysters) aren't bad at all actually pretty good. That's about the only organ meat I'll knowingly eat l, I've only had beef though. I tolerate fish but its not my favorite. Prep can make or break any food item though as to weather it's good or just something to fill the stomach.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

There is one thing I haven't seen any comments on like and dislike. And for some reason the folks around here don't prepare them. We generally don't waste much meat . Back in the day we would have a gathering of family and friends for a boucherie' (a hog killing). Used up just about all of the hog, the normal stuff bacon , roasts , hams etc. but also used the head (hogs head cheese ), fried the hog skins (cracklins) , sausage , the liver and heart , rendered the lard out, feet, lips and ears get pickled, hocks get smoked even the stomach was stuffed (Chaudin).
But there was one part that wasn't ...the testicles ! They seem to be eaten in other areas, rocky mountain oysters...isn't that bull, hog or sheep testicles ? Anyone ever try them and what do they taste like.
Mom used to say we use up every part of the hog but the squeal....but there was one part I don't remember getting used....maybe there's a reason ?
Gary
boucherie' you say?
I've been a helpin' hand for a few of those. No one there would take the sweet breads, So I got them all.
You didn't mention sweet breads, I'd hate to hear they got put into the head Cheese...I like both, but I like the sweet breads a lot more.

[DerekP Houston]

boucherie' you say?
I've been a helpin' hand for a few of those. No one there would take the sweet breads, So I got them all.
You didn't mention sweet breads, I'd hate to hear they got put into the head Cheese...I like both, but I like the sweet breads a lot more.

While I've prepared and tried sweet breads...I can't say I would ever do so again voluntarily. The best ones were pressed and deep fried, i believe they were calf.

[osteodoc08]

Ok try most things once. Never been an organ person. No Liver, tripe, chitlins, etc. I can do chicken gizzards if I'm in the mood. No Rocky Mountain Oysters either.

[MaryB]

I can buy them at the local Walmart... not that I ever would... yech! Oxtail is one of tastiest parts of the cow, and rather expensive now since it became a trendy restaurant meal. Tongue is okay, not high on my list, same with heart. Heart I cut in little fingers, bread it and deep fry, serve with hot sauce...


I grew up eating stuff like pigs feet, oxtail stew, beef tongue and thought nothing of it. Recently went to a local meat processor and asked for pigs feet, and I was told they could not sell them.

[MT Gianni]

I was raised on beet greens and still can't get enough of them. Yes I prefer them with the young beets attached.

[Boaz]

There is one thing I haven't seen any comments on like and dislike. And for some reason the folks around here don't prepare them. We generally don't waste much meat . Back in the day we would have a gathering of family and friends for a boucherie' (a hog killing). Used up just about all of the hog, the normal stuff bacon , roasts , hams etc. but also used the head (hogs head cheese ), fried the hog skins (cracklins) , sausage , the liver and heart , rendered the lard out, feet, lips and ears get pickled, hocks get smoked even the stomach was stuffed (Chaudin).
But there was one part that wasn't ...the testicles ! They seem to be eaten in other areas, rocky mountain oysters...isn't that bull, hog or sheep testicles ? Anyone ever try them and what do they taste like.
Mom used to say we use up every part of the hog but the squeal....but there was one part I don't remember getting used....maybe there's a reason ?
Gary

Mountain oysters are testicels from bulls , calf fries are testicels from young calves . Calf fries are better . Hog fries are good too ...ate plenty of all of them . Turkey testicles (turkey fries) are great ! Use to get em at feeds the oilfield supply stores put on once a year . You can't find em at the stores , they never hit the market locally and you have to buy em in bulk , huge demand for em . Great fried !

[Boaz]

Sweetbread is dang good ! Slice and fry slow with salt and pepper . Tastes kind of like a tender pork chop .

[LaPoint]

I'll eat just about everything but I won't eat Brussel sprouts. I've them fixed many different ways and they're still awful. I don't care for beef liver. As a child I had enough zucchini to last a lifetime so I don't eat that either. That's about it for my 'No Fly' list.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'll eat just about everything but I won't eat Brussel sprouts. I've them fixed many different ways and they're still awful. I don't care for beef liver. As a child I had enough zucchini to last a lifetime so I don't eat that either. That's about it for my 'No Fly' list.

Just curious, have you tried roasted brussels sprouts?
Crispy on the outside, soft like mild flavored cooked cabbage on the inside
http://www.food.com/recipe/roasted-brussels-sprouts-201073

[Boaz]

Tripe was mentioned . I have tried to fix tripe several times and failed to come up with anything I would do again . Tripe in itself is more or less tasteless , can be a 'filler' but to its self is just ..nothing . It works well in Tex Mex dishes , mainly menudo which I love if it's homemade but still just something to chew on , adds no flavor I can tell .

Tripe is cows stomach (pig stomach is called hog maws ) , cleaned cow tripe in a packing house . Found barbed wire , nails ,paper feed sacks and lots of 'stuff' in em . Oddest thig I ever found was a pair of panty hose and 35 cents change in one ..a quarter and a dime . There has to be a story there somewhere !

[MaryB]

Chitlins... walked into a friends house where they were cooking them... I had to go outside because of the stench triggering my gag reflex... PASS, nope, not eating that!

[Thundarstick]

Y'all are making me hungry!

[rking22]

Fried chitlins are a favorite, boiled not so much. Great fun can be had( disclaimer, we were in college at the time) by adding just a few corn kernels into the cleaned chitlins before battering and frying. Be sure your future wife does not get one of the specials, you'll never hear the end of the fun little joke! Ah, the good ideas you get after a few beers :)

[mold maker]

In the last 3/4 century, I've tried almost everything offered. There is a rather small list of things I refuse as long as other fare is available. It appears that the younger you are the less variety we eat. Most younger folks have never known hunger. It has a way of changing your mind.

[Harter66]

In the last 3/4 century, I've tried almost everything offered. There is a rather small list of things I refuse as long as other fare is available. It appears that the younger you are the less variety we eat. Most younger folks have never known hunger. It has a way of changing your mind.

My kids during an unfortunate stretch of my life ate a number .....um..... Oregon trail blue plate specials . For one reason or another they aren't to awfully picky . Rumor has it that tule root salad with dandelion greens and jack rabbit will temper ones appreciation for anything else on the table after a week or 2 .

[RoyEllis]

Pineapple and guacamole are the only two things I refuse....pineapple gives me projectile vomiting (allergic to it) and guacamole is nothing more than baby squeezin's, ain't eatin what gets left in a diaper no way, no how. At one time or another I've eaten bout everything that walks, crawls, swims or flies (except for people....far as I know anyway). Not much in vegetation I haven't had as well.

[Bazoo]

Ill try bout anything. I wont eat meat that is not well done. I will eat stuff I dont like which includes white pork if thats whats been cooked for me.

Wife says im picky cause I want her to cook things a particular way. That dont mean I wont eat it other ways, but prefer it one way over the other.

[MaryB]

Was the opposite for me, I grew up eating whatever we could kill/forage to supplement what my parents could afford to buy. Sure we had huge gardens are grew most of what we ate but some times of the year foraging took over(spring is the main one I remember, first fresh spring greens foraged from the woods along the river)... I still forage and eat a lot of what grows wild in my lawn, dandelion greens cooked with a bit of bacon and garlic are some mighty fine eating! I also have pig weed(lambs quarters), stinging nettle, some edible wild ferns in a shaded spot, purslane just off the top of my head.


In the last 3/4 century, I've tried almost everything offered. There is a rather small list of things I refuse as long as other fare is available. It appears that the younger you are the less variety we eat. Most younger folks have never known hunger. It has a way of changing your mind.

[MT Gianni]

Tripe was mentioned . I have tried to fix tripe several times and failed to come up with anything I would do again . Tripe in itself is more or less tasteless , can be a 'filler' but to its self is just ..nothing . It works well in Tex Mex dishes , mainly menudo which I love if it's homemade but still just something to chew on , adds no flavor I can tell .

Tripe is cows stomach (pig stomach is called hog maws ) , cleaned cow tripe in a packing house . Found barbed wire , nails ,paper feed sacks and lots of 'stuff' in em . Oddest thig I ever found was a pair of panty hose and 35 cents change in one ..a quarter and a dime . There has to be a story there somewhere !

I had Menudo a few times, chew till you're tired and swallow. I didn't think there was much flavor. Argentines used to grill small intestines, clean the outer layer, turn it inside out and use lye to remove the inner lining then grill it. It was edible with a strong beef flavor. I would not have ordered it but if friends cooked it I was OK with that.

[Boaz]

Depends on who makes the menudo . I wouldn't give canned menudo to my dogs ! Got a lady that makes great menudo , she brings me some at times . She makes huge pots because so many want some . The tripe is easy chewed if it's cooked long enough but I have experienced the same thing you mention and agree .

[mozeppa]

Just remembered something else that I have a hard time getting down, that is octopus, it's chewy like a marshmallow, but it just doesn't go anywhere. And when you swallow it, it always seems like the wrong thing to do.

i'll eat octopus ...if i can get the darned thing to let go of the plate!:-D

[MaryB]

Chewiest thing I have tried was pigs ear... crunchy/fatty weird texture that you can never quite chew all the way. It was offered by my migrant friends(they might finally be naturalized this year after 6 years of delay from Obama...) so I tried it as they laughed at me. They love the stuff in a sandwich, blech!

[Boaz]

Chewiest thing I have tried was pigs ear... crunchy/fatty weird texture that you can never quite chew all the way. It was offered by my migrant friends(they might finally be naturalized this year after 6 years of delay from Obama...) so I tried it as they laughed at me. They love the stuff in a sandwich, blech!

I'm pretty much with you on the hog ears Mary . Dad fried em and made hog ears and beans . The idea of eating them doesn't bother me but they just aren't worth the trouble to chew up for no more than you get out of it . I'd classify them as survival food .

[gwpercle]

Pickled pork lips are just soooooo much better than the ears ! :kidding:

[EMC45]

Grew up with a single mom with my brother and sister. We ate what was on the plate. Period. There were very little occasions when we ate outside the home. I tell my kids now that I can count on one hand how many times I went to McDonalds before the age of 18.

Having grown up on the poorer side and also spent a lot of my adult life in the military, there isn't a whole lot I won't eat. I won't eat organs (tried deer heart when I was a kid and it was good though). I tried chicken gizzard and it was like a chicken flavored rubber band. Chitlins?! Not on your life. I loaded up a plate once when I was in Haiti and a buddy said "I didn't know you liked Chitlins." I said I didn't. He said "you sure got a mess of them for not liking them" He said "smell them". I did and almost gagged. Smelled like a truck stop toilet. I went to throw them away and he stopped me. He took them off my plate.

I try to avoid fast food. It really is garbage. I do like the occasional Chik Fil-A though.

[Boaz]

I will not eat mechanically separated chicken .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkDaajzamfA

[MaryB]

Fast food chicken in general I avoid. Stuff reads like a chemistry set when you read the ingredients.