MikeFromTokyo

My rule: No farmed or frozen shrimp from Thailand. The shrimp industry in Thailand is exploitative of workers (who are often victims of human trafficking), and wreaks havoc on the environment and animal populations whose habitats are destroyed by irresponsible shrimp farming practices.

The True Cost of Shrimp: http://www.solidaritycenter.org/file..._of_Shrimp.pdf

Thailand's Shrimp Farms threaten rare Fishing Cats:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technolo...-fishing-cats/

Nationwide chains ranging from Trader Joe's to Costco and Walmart all sell frozen farmed shrimp from Thailand, and by purchasing it consumers are unwittingly supporting this destructive industry which violates human rights.

Exploited workers who suffer under illegal working conditions, as well as animals and their habitats pay an enormously high price for the cheap shrimp available in our supermarkets and from restaurant chains.

mauld

My list of food rules includes:
-No peppers ever (yes, and I will diligently pick out each and every red, green, white etc pepper from all foods prior to eating)
-Mayo on roast beef sandwich with swiss
-Plain grilled american cheese sandwich (NO bacon, tomatoes etc) smashed really, really thin
-No 'hot' fruits-- which means basically I don't eat fruit pies
-Yes to warm, liquidy chocolate pudding and barely chilled jello
-No ice in milk (hubby does this all the time, and he knows it annoys me!)
-No gravy
-Very lean meat, -- no fat or grizzle (so no prime rib), and not for heath reasons. it is just the fat is very unappealing to me
-Love white bread and if I think I want to eat healthy, I'll go for seeded rye--but definately not whole wheat
-Ice cold coke (no pepsi please) and NOT diet.
-Only fresh squeezed oj
-Toasted onion bagels with butter (no other kind)

TOMFORD

I don't like it when people squeeze lemons using one hand while putting the other underneath to catch the seeds that might fall out. If I wanted to drink the sweat from your hands I would tell you.

h15t0r1an

Oh yes it should.

Everything ale.penazzi has written is correct. He's writing what real people eat in Italy, not what they eat when they go out to a nice restaurant when they might have an extra course.. And in a higher level of restaurant, at least in the north, Italians are less likely to make one of those courses pasta these days.

But at home it's different. Many Italians could not survive if at least one meal each day is not pasta.

FinalCallDXB

Surely a discussion of cultural food norms in a thread on personal food rules is somewhat missing the point.

Setting aside more fundamental preferences on processed foods, free-range etc a few that spring to mind:

Bacon is made from pork, anything else is not bacon
If my yolk isn't runny then the egg is overcooked
Pineapple has no place on a pizza
Tea must be served with COLD milk, warm milk tastes wrong
Sauce should be mixed with pasta, not sat on top.
Mild hot sauce is an oxymoron, and serves no purpose

braslvr

With the exception that tea must be served straight up and iced only, you are absolutely correct.^

tolsti

McDonalds for breakfast, KFC for lunch and Pizza Hut for dinner does not constitute a balanced diet.

wqurg

Mayonnaise belongs on neither burgers nor fries. That is catchup's job.

kipper

That's about the opposite of how I like my grilled cheese sandwiches, from cheese (usually anything but American) to bread (thick Texas toast or sourdough.)

Altoid

My biggest rule is in every city I visit I must have at least one "good" meal. This mostly goes for when I was country hopping in Europe, but applies everywhere.

readywhenyouare

No American cheese....ever. The taste and texture are enough to make me gag.
No sauerkraut
No pickles
No coconut (the flavor is fine buts its the texture I hate)
Not a fan of capers or olives but I will tolerate them
Mayonnaise should be used sparingly
Steak should be cooked no further than medium
Hamburgers should not be well done, I'd still like to see some pink
I like bread to be warm or toasted
I don't like crinkle cut french fries. For some reason they always taste bland to me.
Food should be well seasoned. I will note that I always taste my food before adding additional seasonings. I think it is rude to the chef when people automatically add salt/pepper before tasting the food first.

I'm not a fan of hot drinks
I like my drinks well chilled
I highly prefer Coke but will drink Pepsi products...
Only Coke should be mixed with liquor... Pepsi is too sweet
I want to be able to taste the alcohol when I order a drink

lili

These are your rules so why should I interfere? I won't.

But I will add my own rule:

Neither Coke nor Pepsi should be mixed with liquor. This solves the next issue: being able to taste the alcohol.

jackal

This is the first list I've seen posted in a while on this thread that actually makes sense to me and mostly agree with.

Do I have any pictures at all of you at any DOs without a glass of something in your hand? Can't think of any.

kipper

No pickles or sauerkraut? How do you survive where you live?

jackal

Not a fan of [the idea of] scrapple, either. Fortunately, there is a decent selection of fairly authentic Mexican restaurants not far from me.