I don't eat brain, sweetbread or raw oysters. I have not been forced to drink milk since I was 7. I won't eat insects but do eat lobster and shrimp. Some of it is texture and some of it is cultural aversion. Back in the 70s, I was being considered for a job in first Vietnamese Restaurant in the Boston area. The owner took me out for dim sum which I had never had and ordered chicken feet. I passed the test and got the job. I now regularly order them and use their quality to evaluate a dim sum parlor. I like the ones stewed in black bean sauce but not the cold chewy white ones in sesame oil.
I'm delighted to read your likes and dislikes and judging from the responses, so do many of your other readers. I also agree with cutting back on recipes but I do like reading your restaurants critiques - not that Maryland is anywhere near Montreal. It's just fun to read them. Thanks for mixing things up for your audience.
Not to be snobby but regular green or yellow beans! Too grassy! Nothing like French haricots verts which I cannot find here except in disgusting bags from Central America…. Or Going to Jean talon maybe!
Bivalves that are too large…especially big ass clams Long Island style “steamers” or razor clams…just rubbery with a big gut and taste of salt water.
All kinds of manufactured bread and ham in packages in the supermarket, yuck
Almonds from California to eat as a snack, dry and mealy, choke to death! No match for Spanish almonds
I agree with you on anchovies, but you must try ones from Cantabria… they are like 5$ each but totally different even from the Collioure ones, which imo are great for cooking but not eating straight
I'm with you on the green and yellow beans we get here compared to those in France. I had yellow beans twice this week and they were tough and pretty tasteless. We tend to put a lot of butter and salt on produce here that lacks flavour.
Totally agree. Totally disagree. Life is a compromise, right? What I don't like and actively avoid: caraway in any form but especially tucked plentifully into rye bread. Also the combination of fruit and chocolate--keep it away from me, please, far away.
Yes, but it's odd how now that I'm older some of my previous food aversions are coming back. I know it's a privilege to say I don't like this and I don't like that, but I think everyone has their own unique set of likes and dislikes. It's interesting how different we are, and frustrating for cooks who live with finicky eaters! I like caraway seeds with Munster. :)
Après avoir lu votre article, j'étais frappée par le fait que j'ai précisément les mêmes goûts/dégoûts que vous. Par curiosité j'ai cherché votre date de naissance... et croyez-le ou pas, je suis née aussi un 14 mars, mais bien avant, en 1946. Fruit du hasard, sans doute, mais amusant tout de même. J'adore vos billets. Bravo et continuez cette belle écriture.
I discovered your newsletter through IG a couple years ago, at first I cared mostly about your restaurant reviews but once I got to read your commentary / opinion piece / stories, these became my favourite from you!
I loved the one about feta, the one about your first job, the one about making Easter chocolate, I think there was also one about when to splurge and when to save while doing grocery…
Not only are you a wealth of knowledge and have a wealth of experience but you are also a great storyteller!
Biting into unadvertised raw onion in a sandwich or a salad seriously ruins my day. No matter where I am I will then pick through whatever it is and push the offending slices or chunks aside. I’ve never understood why menus that list all the yummy things in a sandwich somehow fail to mention the slices of red onion that are there too.
My husband is with you on octopus, and it was one of his very favourite things to eat. No more.
You can soak raw onions in vinegar water for 10 minutes to remove that acrid taste. I like raw onion, but I really prefer red onion when eating it raw.
Interesting read, thanks for the diversity. I agree with many of the outs and laughed about your kids ins and outs . Cheers to choice , aren’t we lucky .
Yes, especially for us here in Canada where our diet is really quite bland compared to so many countries and cultures. My uncle spent a lot of time in China and one night he told his host that he really liked chicken feet. The next night the host had a "treat" for him: steamed duck feet, webbed toes and all. He ate them but said it was a chore.
I don't eat brain, sweetbread or raw oysters. I have not been forced to drink milk since I was 7. I won't eat insects but do eat lobster and shrimp. Some of it is texture and some of it is cultural aversion. Back in the 70s, I was being considered for a job in first Vietnamese Restaurant in the Boston area. The owner took me out for dim sum which I had never had and ordered chicken feet. I passed the test and got the job. I now regularly order them and use their quality to evaluate a dim sum parlor. I like the ones stewed in black bean sauce but not the cold chewy white ones in sesame oil.
Also : prosciutto- wrapped melon! The prosciutto gets soggy and the melon tastes like meat. Who started this idea?
I'm delighted to read your likes and dislikes and judging from the responses, so do many of your other readers. I also agree with cutting back on recipes but I do like reading your restaurants critiques - not that Maryland is anywhere near Montreal. It's just fun to read them. Thanks for mixing things up for your audience.
Pleasure!
Not to be snobby but regular green or yellow beans! Too grassy! Nothing like French haricots verts which I cannot find here except in disgusting bags from Central America…. Or Going to Jean talon maybe!
Bivalves that are too large…especially big ass clams Long Island style “steamers” or razor clams…just rubbery with a big gut and taste of salt water.
All kinds of manufactured bread and ham in packages in the supermarket, yuck
Almonds from California to eat as a snack, dry and mealy, choke to death! No match for Spanish almonds
I agree with you on anchovies, but you must try ones from Cantabria… they are like 5$ each but totally different even from the Collioure ones, which imo are great for cooking but not eating straight
I'm with you on the green and yellow beans we get here compared to those in France. I had yellow beans twice this week and they were tough and pretty tasteless. We tend to put a lot of butter and salt on produce here that lacks flavour.
Why aren’t French haricots verts grown here ? It seems people would like them
Good question! Fraises des bois also.
Will suggest to the people at Good Leaf, the vertical farm outfit on the south shore, they make amazing lettuce and microgreens
Totally agree. Totally disagree. Life is a compromise, right? What I don't like and actively avoid: caraway in any form but especially tucked plentifully into rye bread. Also the combination of fruit and chocolate--keep it away from me, please, far away.
Yes, but it's odd how now that I'm older some of my previous food aversions are coming back. I know it's a privilege to say I don't like this and I don't like that, but I think everyone has their own unique set of likes and dislikes. It's interesting how different we are, and frustrating for cooks who live with finicky eaters! I like caraway seeds with Munster. :)
Après avoir lu votre article, j'étais frappée par le fait que j'ai précisément les mêmes goûts/dégoûts que vous. Par curiosité j'ai cherché votre date de naissance... et croyez-le ou pas, je suis née aussi un 14 mars, mais bien avant, en 1946. Fruit du hasard, sans doute, mais amusant tout de même. J'adore vos billets. Bravo et continuez cette belle écriture.
Super intéressant! Peut-être parce que notre signe astrologique est poisson qu'on n'aime pas trop le poisson? ;)
“Food with eyes” haha!! I’m no vegetarian, but my aversion is: food that looks like animals or animals that look like food.
I once ate sea bass fish heads, eyes intact, which I quite enjoyed. Good cheeks!
I discovered your newsletter through IG a couple years ago, at first I cared mostly about your restaurant reviews but once I got to read your commentary / opinion piece / stories, these became my favourite from you!
I loved the one about feta, the one about your first job, the one about making Easter chocolate, I think there was also one about when to splurge and when to save while doing grocery…
Not only are you a wealth of knowledge and have a wealth of experience but you are also a great storyteller!
Thank you for your content!
Thank you for your kind words! :)
Biting into unadvertised raw onion in a sandwich or a salad seriously ruins my day. No matter where I am I will then pick through whatever it is and push the offending slices or chunks aside. I’ve never understood why menus that list all the yummy things in a sandwich somehow fail to mention the slices of red onion that are there too.
My husband is with you on octopus, and it was one of his very favourite things to eat. No more.
You can soak raw onions in vinegar water for 10 minutes to remove that acrid taste. I like raw onion, but I really prefer red onion when eating it raw.
Interesting read, thanks for the diversity. I agree with many of the outs and laughed about your kids ins and outs . Cheers to choice , aren’t we lucky .
Every day is a discovery when feeding kids!
It's so much about texture for many people... including you. And that texture thing is not talked about enough.
I agree with you on milk, but I love okra, either crisp-fried small chunks or softened whole. And I don't live tripe but do really like kidneys.
We all need to be tolerant, both of others' likes and of their dislikes.
Sometimes tolerance seems the most difficult thing for people at the table!!!
Yes, especially for us here in Canada where our diet is really quite bland compared to so many countries and cultures. My uncle spent a lot of time in China and one night he told his host that he really liked chicken feet. The next night the host had a "treat" for him: steamed duck feet, webbed toes and all. He ate them but said it was a chore.