Something about leaning against the bumper of my car purging what felt like everything I’d eaten for the last year into a ditch at the side of the road while racked with the pain of a dry socket and the residual pain of a surgical extraction, all while trying not to pass out and collapse into the ditch.
I was all by myself…my husband was out of town, and I was in my early 20s.
It was about 2 hours after the egg drop soup, but that is seared into my mind as the mother of negative connotations.
Brains. I hate the texture. Fine bones in fish. Bone shards in stews. Fatty gristle on meat. Carelessly prepared egg dishes that contain pieces of shell. Any cheese that has a baked taste (I’m looking at you, parmesan crisps). Soft shell crabs (yerrrrrrk!).
3 more of my aversions: sea barnacles, sea urchin, and bottarga.
I LOVE uni, and will order it as a treat frequently, but only at sushi bars that AREN’T the commodity bento box sort of place.
Really fresh, high quality urchin is weird, umami + ocean magic with the texture of the lightest, creamiest mousse. It’s not for everyone, but when it’s good, it is FANTASTIC.
The stuff that is even a little off, though, is truly vile. I can understand why somone who was served a bad piece would immediately and permanently write it off. Bitter and ‘rotten’ are the words that come to mind.
Thankfully, I can think of only a couple of occasions when I’ve gotten a poor sample, and they haven’t killed it for me, yet.
Tequila, haven’t had a drop since an unfortunate incident 50+ years ago.. 
OMG, I remember being served uni at some place in La Jolla in the late 90s that was just vile. Like, reminded me of kitty litter level vile. Sea urchin is the Shirley Temple of foods - when it’s good, it’s very, very good, but when it’s bad, it’s horrid!
Interesting thread. These come up a lot, but there’s always something new to read.
Sadly (okay, actually luckily), I don’t have any food aversions. I am The Ultimate ConsumerTM according to my wife.
My cousin spotted a sea urchin in the water, in Greece, so the one I ate was caught about 20 minutes before I ate it. LOL
My friend always told me he eats everything . Until I offered him radishes from my garden. LOL He doesn’t like radishes . They just don’t get offered to him too often so he forgot there are foods he doesn’t like
I thought I liked Bottarga. I ordered a pasta with Bottega at Roscioli in Rome. I really wish I could turn back time and order something else. I tried to eat it but I couldn’t eat more than 5 bites. Learned something new, I guess
When I was growing up, we had a green salad pretty much every night as part of our dinner - I don’t think my mom thought it was a complete dinner if it didn’t have a green salad. Unfortunately, she went through a phase for a few months where she sprinkled dried tarragon on the salad. That’s when I learned I hated tarragon. It’s also when I learned that if you put enough dressing on it, you could just about overwhelm the taste of tarragon.
I’ve always enjoyed bearnaise sauce with steak, often being critical of restaurants for not using enough tarragon. No excuses at home now - for the last couple of years, I’ve had a tarragon plant in the herb bed. Tarragon cream sauce with chicken is now a firm favourite.
Hazelnut. For years, my friends raved about Nutella crepes, Italian chocolates, and biscotti. I thought anything with hazelnut tasted vile. Turns out I am allergic. My allergy doc told me that food aversions can be caused by allergies, and my dislike for them prevented me eating enough to cause a severe reaction.
Now the raspberry flavored coffee aversion is entirely of my own doing. I drank a whole pot while setting up my first apartment years ago. I became violently ill just after cleaning the bathroom and had to clean it again. No more flavored coffee for this girl.
I have tried just about everything from whole live fish to various items of offal and animal flesh not common in the USA. I find I have different levels of aversion. I like sweet breads, for example, but only when someone else is cooking them. I have become far more willing to just say no as I grow older. There is just so much I really love that I see no need to try something that seems iffy. I also do not want to eat octopus, even though I know it tastes good and it would have no compunctions if I were served to it. There are lots of things I like, but only prepared specific ways. Canned spinach, yuck. Fresh spinach, sure. Broiled salmon, nope. Grilled or, better still, poached salmon with beurre blanc, ok. Carpaccio, meh. Black and blue steak, absolutely.
can’t imagine actually eating one.
but when added to bones, chicken feet release collagen making a rich, gelatinous stock.
I’m guessing it’s the collogen that made it unexpectedly soft and goopy then. I wrongly assumed it would be a tad more like eating a chicken wing in foot form. I also never expected my food to flip me the bird, especially from a actual bird no less!
Curious as to the distinction you make between broiled and grilled, because to me, they’re very similar.
I’ve never tried octopus … If I ever would order it I think I’d feel too guilty to enjoy it. A long time ago a scientist friend said he’d never eat it because they are too intelligent. I eat other animals that are intelligent but I don’t know them personally first. (I actually eat meat very rarely now.)
Grilled is cooked on a grill, probably charcoal. Broiled is cooked under a high heat element. The former adds a layer of flavor I like and is pretty easy to monitor for doneness. Broilers are tricky and can easily dry things out.
