financialhippie

Oh man, just spent the last half hour reading through this..

I'll try anything once, there's only a few things that are really tough for me:

• kim chi
• most pickles and olives
• chicken feet
• most pesto
• root beer

I probably couldn't do some of the other stuff you guys mention, have yet to try it though (Lutefisk? Casu marzu?) Though I actually do enjoy mealworms and crickets..

I've done the whole cattle branding thing, still can't eat rocky mountain oysters either. Have you ever seen the process?!? Man, so I'm sitting there, wrestling to hold down a calve's legs. We're helping a family friend with the branding, and this guy comes by and shoves a needle in the calf. "Vaccines."

I think, ok, cool, that makes sense. THEN this other guy comes over with a knife. Cuts open the skin, and just PULLS THOSE THINGS OUT. I had NO IDEA that was about to happen.

Needless to say, the kid from Boston got a little "taste" of the Midwest that day ^

BamaVol

You ate them raw?

financialhippie

No no! I didn't eat them at all... Most of the time they're deep fried, I think.

WorldLux

You can always have sashimi, which - if the fish is good - is delicious too.

I hate sushi, where they slap a tiny piece of fish onto a massive block of rice anyway. In Japan it was pretty much the other way around: Little rice and lots of fish! And the fish was so fresh ... (Note to myself: Rebook trip to Japan)

obscure2k

Nervetti

Nervetti, or more specifically nervetti in gelatina (in gelatin), is simply chopped up tendons and meat from the foot of a calf. Saw someone order this last year in Italy. Gross.

bensyd

Oysters would be the closest, but that's a mild allergy and not really liking the taste rather than the gag reflex.

I've probably eaten more "weird" things than most and while I wouldn't volunteer to try them again, I wouldn't specifically avoid them.

Fornebufox

The first few times I tasted cilantro I was utterly persuaded that the dish was soapy. Then something switched, and now I'm crazy about it. I thought the aversion was genetic, but maybe not.

I cannot eat uni (sea urchin), even though I love most kinds of sushi and sashimi. Even after 30 years of trying it still makes me gag.

Lutefisk is tolerable, but it's not my soul food. Sürströmming--once was enough.

Tripe, andouillette, and to a lesser extent kidneys are on my avoid list. Guess I'd rather stay at the other end of the digestive system. Actually, duck tongues are another once-only experience (the texture was a challenge), but veal and beef tongue are good. Brains properly prepared are delicious, though I'm working on memory here (pun not intended).

I haven't tried horse meat but suppose I will sometime. Dog meat--it would have to be a contextual experience. I have had whale, don't need to do that again.

I'm not eager to try insects or prairie oysters. It took me over 40 years to try regular oysters, but now I love them.

Most plant foods are fine, though I do what I can to avoid eating raw green peppers, and I'm not fond of turnips.

jpmcdonough

I love this thread.

i won't eat anything I've ever used for bait. Mussels, squid, worms, fishing lures, etc.

BamaVol

LOL You just have to bend the barbs first with your pliers. Absolutely delicious.

Glamette

Natto is the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten. Really slimy and just all out gross.

NotSoFrequentColorado

First I think the phrase “for the life of you” needs to be defined. Most people would adjust their food prejudices based on circumstance. I propose these categories:

1. Things you would die of starvation before you would eat them if they were the only thing available. I think most sane people would put zero items on that list.

2. Things where you would be willing to skip a meal if they were the only foods available for that meal.

3. Things you would skip if they were among several offerings for that meal. But MIGHT be willing to eat if they were the only thing on offer. (For me that would include sushi).

I’m going to limit my list to category 2. And first of all I will say that most of the things people are listing I actually LIKE. (LOVE lima beans). And I will try ALMOST anything once as long as I can stop at one bite if I hate it. (Going to Iceland soon - might try ONE bite of the fermented shark).

My category 2 list:

Dog, cat, horse or monkey - never have, never will.
Raw oysters (love them fried)
CANNED peas (love them fresh or frozen)
Insects or spiders (although I was forced to eat some fried grasshoppers or ants once in a high school sorority initiation)
Grubs or worms
Brains
Licorice
Shark’s-fin soup
any endangered mammal
raddichio
anything super-spicy
a dessert I ate in Vietnam called “sweet soup”
tapioca

84fiero

It's an idiom, implying that one can't do something or would find it very difficult to do. It doesn't have to mean that someone literally wouldn't do it if their life were on the line, though it could.

Babaduck

Everything on my hated list has been tried repeatedly, so I can genuinely say that I hate them. I'm actually allergic to blue cheese which is a pain in the rear as it hides in a lot of dishes, especially sauces. In fact a "leading" Italian chef told me that Gorgonzola isn't blue cheese... after I declared the allergy!

Bell Peppers
Coriander/Cilantro
Blue Cheese
Olives (so much so, I wrote about it - http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-s...lets-1.2877786

barbdave

Having grown up on a farm, no offal is too awful.

diburning

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Is fur (of any sort) or birds' beaks (bone) even edible? (I'd imagine both of those would have very little nutritional value if any, and an atrocious texture!) If not, then you wouldn't ever have to worry!