No seafood of any kind. No hush puppies either...reminds me of seafood.

The only things in this world that are Green and Good are Mountain Dew... and *Money*!

In other words... salads suck.

Hey, wait a minute - I'm Green and Good :(

Don't worry... wasn't including mammals in this.:)

Seafood
 

Fully agree! Absolutely NO SEAFOOD for me. That includes any mussels, shrimp, octopus, seaweed, etc. Had fish poisoning while attending USAF Technical School at Amarillo AFB, TX in 1963-1964. 80 some troops had their stomachs pumped - not a pleasant thing to endure!!!:mad:

Aren't dragons technically reptiles? :p

Well, there's your problem right there. I have never once had edible fish more than 100 miles from the coast (and, in fact, 9 times out of 10, the fish I have even along the coast south of Ketchikan, AK has been pretty mediocre.

Come up to the fresh, ice-cold waters of Alaska and you'll experience an entirely different level of seafood. After having lived in Alaska for 17 years, I learned that if I see a fish dish on a menu outside of the state, I should instantly discount it. Outside of Alaska, it simply is not possible to get fish fresh enough to avoid that fishy taste. Fish should not taste fishy!

(I squirm at the thought of shellfish, so I won't argue that you should eat mussels or anything else, but there are few things on this earth as tasty as a fresh-from-the-water grilled salmon steak or pan-roasted halibut.)

Shouldn't be talking about other FTers but Green Dragon posted a link to her picture years back. Having seen the picture, I'm 99.999% certain she's a mammal. :D

Thanks you cblaisd for providing this link in another thread. I'll add a few of my personal rules here (I don't have many):

1. Don't eat fried chicken, ribs, or any other obvious hand food with a fork and knife. You just look silly and pretentious, and you won't enjoy the food as much.

2. Fruit and cheese are perfectly fine next to each other. Please don't combine them into a single bite.

3. No ketchup on a hot dog if you're over 5 years old. It's mustard or nothing.

4. Any liquor that cost more than $30 USD per bottle should not be mixed with a soft drink.

5. If you're paying, don't pay attention to anyone else's rules. Do whatever tastes best to you (except for #3, that's kind of a golden rule :)).

Do you treat others to your opinion on #3 when you see it being violated or about to be? ;)

Uh-oh. I often eat my chicken drumstick by grasping the small end, holding it vertical on the plate, and then using my forking to shave off meat. Same, sometimes, with pork spareribs.

Mea culpa :D

No salt on fries

No mayo

When it comes to spice level, medium would be my limit :o

Funny to look back an almost decade, and see that other than drinking a broader range of diet sodas, my tastes have otherwise failed to grow up. As I've crossed the 40 mark in the mean time, I doubt they ever will!

It has been a long time! Not much has changed for me either except for having to reduce my spice (heat) level from insane to mildly crazy.

Here's a couple of new ones.

Eggs: Top 2 or 3 favorite food. Can eat them every single day and never get tired of them. Love them cooked almost every possible way, except...
Can not and will not eat fried eggs with any brownness or crispyness whatsoever. MUST be slow and gently cooked, whether hard or runny. Also can't stand scrambled eggs overcooked or browned. I would rather have runny whites...
Eggs II: Nothing goes better with eggs than CRISPY fried potatoes, either hashbrowns or pan fried homefries.

Crusty French or sourdough bread: Another top favorite food.
Don't even THINK about bringing that disgusting plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar out with that gorgeous basket of fresh hot bread. Salted butter only.

Only occasionally with close family members. There's a life rule that supersedes personal food rules - "Mind your own damn business". You can eat your ketchup-soaked hot dog next to me with no fear. :D

I'm just going to assume it's slathered in BBQ sauce and no napkins are available! :D

You made me think of #6 (just thinking of different utensils or lack of them), which is that cultural food rules apply to everyone when they are not at home. Meaning, as examples, don't go looking for a fork in a Tokyo sushi restaurant or REMEMBER to use a fork and knife on your drumstick if it's appropriate in that country!

Why do most restaurants insist on drowning fish in sauce...or even worse, give you a huge hunk of lemon to squeeze on? There is nothing better than fresh fish. Simply prepared, baked, broiled or grilled. When I see people squeezing lemon juice over it, I get ill. It doesn't enhance the taste of the fish. It masks it. Order the chicken next time!

I think many places sauce the fish to cover up that their cook or chef tends to slightly overcook it. Especially for more delicate fish like red snapper, which are harder to get right and then you lose all the flavor with the sauce.

Ick! Lemon on chicken?? ;)

Just kidding, however, a lot of this thread seems to have gone beyond personal food rules, to what people think others should or should not eat or how they should eat it.

Bound to happen. If a rule applies to me, it should apply to everyone. :)

I hate waste. If I don't like something, and it's on the table or my plate, I'm glad to see other people eat it rather than throw it away.

The one exception is mushrooms. I revile the things so much I'd really rather not touch them, have them touch any food I'm going to eat, or have anyone who's been touching/eating them touch me -- so I ask my wife to avoid them when we're eating meals together.

Not only do I love every type of mushroom I've ever tried, I purposely often include extra in dishes as they have almost no calories and I find them filling. A wonder food.:)

PS. My favorite (American) Chinese restaurants all have at least one thing in common. Judicious use of many kinds of mushrooms in many different stir-fries and soups.

Another rule. No coffee. Nothing coffee flavored. No dark beers that have that similar roasted taste as coffee.

I love fruit but will not eat it unless it has been cut and the core (apple, pear) or stone (peach, apricot, plum, nectarine) has been removed.

Same!

Three simple rules:

1. No processed food.
2. No fruit with meat - fruit as a dessert but never with the main course.
3. No margarine or other fake spread, anywhere, EVER.

I would agree with this most of the time. But last fall I discovered that Crown Royal Vanilla mixes very well with apple cider.

I suppose it's more of a general rule, as cost doesn't necessarily relate to quality, and most flavored liquors are made to be mixed.

Unsalted butter only

I hate mayo as a condiment.

I'll try anything once.

I was just reminded of one of my personal rules:

No raisins in anything. They are an abomination.

How else can we make liquor in prison?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ea/29...f8c7f6ea5e.jpg

Mmmm. Warm raisin pie a la mode. :)

Candied fruit in fruitcake is nasty.
There is no mincemeat pie that is good. They are all nasty.
Peppercorns in salami are nasty.

I generally don't go to chain restaurants when traveling that are available where I live--with few exceptions. (For example, the Olive Garden in Times Square would be off limits when visiting NYC, but Waffle House is acceptable since there are none in California.) As for exceptions, going to somewhere like McDonald's in another country can be acceptable if the purpose is to try a menu item that isn't available in the US.

As for food in general, I'm not too big of a fan of mushrooms but I'll eat them if provided.

Reminds me of morels on steak in Paris. That was a mighty fine dinner. ;)

That's an interesting rule, nice if you can actually follow it. Is much of your travel for business? I find it nearly impossible to avoid chains completely when on business. Often I'm ducking into a Panera, or Subway or something similar on my way to a meeting.

Most of my travel is personal so I have some flexibility. ^ Last time I traveled for business, however, I managed to accomplish that with no issues. (Hotel provided free breakfast and the conference provided free lunch, leaving only dinner to have to figure out.)

Reminds of a scene from the Office where Michael is excited about going to corporate in NY. He can't wait to eat at his fav seafood place: Red Lobster and his fav Italian Rest: Sbarro's. (Though it may have been Olive Garden...Im getting old.)

1) Ketchup goes on the side, never on top!
2) Gave up meat 3 years ago and haven't looked back. Would love to give up seafood but haven't gotten to it. Especially as it becomes harder to find wild caught fish at the typical grocery stores
3) I usually eat one thing on the plate at a time.

I would love to kick processed foods like most of you but haven't built the discipline for that yet

Fast food overseas is a completely different thread! :D

I hate food touching. Different foods need to be in their own area. I hate meat put on mashed potatoes, chips or vegies. Put it straight on my plate.

Me too. No mixing.

They make plates to help you.