Agremeister

Cilantro. Smallest amount ruins anything it touches for me. Its especially annoying because I love mexican food, but Mexican food often has cilantro in it and I just can't eat the stuff.

Sweet Willie

I was just with a co-worker for lunch the other day, she had the exact same statement re: octopus.

We were at a Greek restaurant and they did a fantastic job with my grilled octopus starter (tender, grilled perfectly), I convinced her to try some. She loved it and wasn't just being polite, I was happy to share 1/2 the starter with her.

Could it be the prep you had?I remember an article that stated 1 in 5 people have a very adverse reaction to cilantro. Common reaction is that cilantro tastes like soap/industrial taste.

Do you like other FRESH aromatic herbs such as basil, Thai basil, sage, etc?
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mapleg

Delicious with blue cheese dressing!

Agremeister

I definitely have the gene for hatred of Cilantro, I love most herbs and am otherwise not a picky eater. its Cilantro and only Cilantro that I can't stand.

miamiflyer8

Well I'm the opposite, cilantro is one of my favorite ingredients

Agreed!

Sweet Willie

Thanks for clarifying, I was curious.

milepig

Dog. Hands down. Never.

miamiflyer8

Because you think the dog is such a cute animal or because you find eating that species disgusting?

FinalCallDXB

I always find this an interesting one. Although perhaps in the same field as religion and politics for polite discussion! If this were twitter I'd expect trolling, followed by regret on my part, but against my better judgement I'll take the bait

Whenever it comes up people always seem to revert to 'cuteness', intelligence, or cruelty as justifications.

On the cuteness front I once had a friend that I'd lived with for 3 years without incident cease communication with me for days on end because I questioned the consistency of her position that me having ordered rabbit was wrong because "they're cute", having just ordered suckling pig.

The intelligence argument I also find inconsistent; pigs are as smart as dogs in many ways, yet are somehow almost universally considered fair game.

The cruelty front I can see somewhat more merit in. However, the application of this to select species seems questionable as many other animals happily consumed lead a less than idyllic existence. One suspects that even if those who advance this argument were offered free range, high welfare, humanely dispatched dog / horse / etc the aversion would remain.

For what it's worth, I think that someone having an aversion to eating Lassie or Seabiscuit is a perfectly legitimate position and one that in many cases my gag reflex seems to share, I just find the attempts to rationalise it as something more than a personal / cultural aversion lacking in consistency.

Badenoch

What matters is purpose and conditioning.

Cattle, sheep, pigs, poultry and sometimes goats and rabbits are specifically raised for the purpose of food. They wouldn't have been born were it not for the intention of them being eaten.

We do not in North America at least raise dogs for food. They are companion animals primarily with some working/support dogs.

Horses are not raised here primarily for food either although a few are. They are raised as working/performance/companion animals and are regarded differently than those animals who are born destined to the dinner plate.

I won't eat horse and dog if there are other options.

diburning

As someone who often analyzes things by trying to consider the situation from a perspective of an outsider, it really perplexes me how domestic traditional "pet" animals such as dogs, cats, etc (and horses to some extent), are off limits when it comes to treating them as anything other than family members, yet animals that are also kept as pets such as fish, are fare game. Some species of fish can be quite intelligent, yet animal cruelty laws for some reason don't apply to the goldfish you won at the fair that you end up flushing down the toilet to its death when you go to the pet store and realize that fish bowls are $15, fish food is $5, and that the fish will outgrow said fish bowl. And for those who do keep the goldfish in a bowl, harming it and stunting its growth, and eventually killing it (because their internal organs keep growing), it's acceptable, while keeping a cat or dog in a kennel too small for it is animal cruelty.

Honestly, I think it's more of a mental denial type of thing that causes this double standard. For example, when you buy a whole chicken at the supermarket, any animal-identifying parts have been removed. The head is gone, the feet are gone, and everything just looks like food. People consuming that animal doesn't want to think about that animal as being once a living, breathing, and possibly thinking creature, so they're grossed out by the thought that the animal was once alive. This may also be the reason why there's such an aversion to consuming non-traditional(ly food) animals. When someone says steak, you think of beef, not cow. When someone says ham, you think of pork, not pig. But when someone says iguana, you think of the animal, not the type of meat. (Some people in Florida consume iguana)

As far as organ meats go... As someone who has grown up consuming organ meats as part of my parents' culture, I don't bat an eye when served any sort of organ meats, but I can see why other people may be grossed out. It's probably both a mental and texture thing. Although I will consume liver, I don't prefer its texture.

Taiwaned

Interesting thread.

My FIL also cannot eat cilantro. He keeps saying it is not fit for human consumption.

I enjoy raw horse meat, have eaten dog hot pot, fried grasshoppers weren't bad, stinky tofu is actually really tasty.

My kryptonite is durian. I have tried it fresh, frozen, in puff pastry, milk shake. Each and every time, I hate it. I end up retching. It truly is foul. I am sure it is the smell. Texture wise, it feels and looks like oozing pus which I can deal with but the smell. It truly smells like an used jock strap stuck in a hot locker for two weeks. Add the sweetness of the fruit and it is just an awful combination. My stomach is starting to churn as I type this.

BamaVol

I once watched Andrew Zimmern eat a sheep's anus on TV. I wouldn't do that. Also parsley. Only thing worse would be a salad of sheep's anus and parsley. Not even with Caesar dressing.

Bakpapier

Huh? No horse? Horse is very normal here and I am eating some smoked horse meat as we speak. It's a lean meat that is full of protein and not very fat.

What do you want them to do with old horses that have become useless for other purposes? Just kill them and throw them away? Why not make use of the horse meat.

By the way, the dogs they eat in some parts of china aren't old pet dogs that are slaughtered. They are a special breed of dog, specifically bred for food. I do not see anything more or less moral than how we raise pigs, cows and sheep for the very same purpose. It is pure Western imperialism to tell people of another culture what they can and cannot eat.

Of course the dogs are treated in a cruel way, which has to be stopped, but in those countries they also treat all other animals in that same cruel way so that has little to do with dogs specifically.

Badenoch

Cultural differences categorize horses differently than cattle and other animals raised specifically for the purposes of food.

I am not troubled that you eat horse meat but no matter how tasty, lean or whatever you claim it to be it is not something I choose to eat.

Incidentally, I know that many horses in Canada are shipped overseas for human consumption and the lack of regulation and oversight in those processing facilities. I also know what chemicals many of those horses have had pumped into them during their lifetimes that may be part of that tasty steak on your dinner plate.