To get a bit impatient with really fussy eaters (adults)

[atthewelles]

I'm not talking about people with medical conditions which preclude certain foods from their diet or people who have anxiety issues re certain types of food/ different foods touching each other on the plate etc

But adults who just turn their noses up at anything other than plain meat and potatoes and act as if vegetables, pasta, fish, anything containing spices or garlic or cooked in a sauces is on a par with serving up roasted worms are a bit irritating - difficult to cook for and impossible to please when trying to meet up in a restaurant.

AIBU to think grown ups should at least try a few different foodstuffs and be a little bit open minded about what they're prepared to eat?

Actually, the food behaviour I really hate is when women start making a big whiny stupid girly issue out of how 'naughty' they are being by eating more than a cabbage leaf and a mouthful of steamed chicken. I know that they have been brainwashed into this vile mindset that it's immoral for a woman to enjoy food and not care if she's not thin, but it's still infuriating.

On the subject of ubiquitous ingredients that seem to appear in every dish nowadays, could I just mention Chilli. It is in everything. I don't know how many times I've ordered something like chicken pie, meatballs or whatever in a restaurant, the menu describes it and there is no mention of chilli, and when it arrives and I bite into it I get that tell tale burning feel.

I suffer from acid reflux and eating a dish loaded with chilli can leave me in agony for several days. I would think I'm far from unusual so could restaurants and food suppliers:

a. Make it clear if a dish contains chilli

b. Stop bloody putting it in everything, from scrambled eggs on toast to Macaroine cheese.

My mum won't drink water but drinks gallons of tea instead. I've never found it a problem.

Same with her liking extremely plain food. I've taken her to very good restaurants where they have no difficulty making grilled chicken or steak or fish with chips and boiled or steamed vegetables.

I wouldn't take her to an Indian, Chinese, Thai or a pizza place because she wouldn't like anything and I wouldn't want to make her miserable and hungry just to prove a point about my superior palate.

Limited
I have never heard of anyone going to an Indian or Chinese or pizza place to prove a point about their superior palate. They usually go there because they like Indian or chinese or Italian food.

So on a hot day,if really thirsty but you had no tea or coffee or squash would you mother have a tantrum about the water or would she just drink it.

People, not necessarily you or the supertasters either, have been making comments about their superior palates on this thread atthewelles. That's what I was thinking of.

But your OP did say that people who turn up their noses at anything other than plain meat and potatoes are impossible to please when cooking for them or trying to eat in a restaurant.

I don't find that to be the case with my plain eater. She wouldn't be rude enough to call spaghetti 'roasted worms' but that would probably be the image it conjured up in her head.

She eats prawns but only if they're shelled because uncooked and whole they make her think of woodlice. I should think that's a pretty common connection for a lot of people. You can't shake people of their irrational thoughts for your convenience.

She's been to France, Italy, Spain and Greece and had no problem eating because in the West we tend to eat the same things. She particularly liked Florence because in Tuscany they like brown food. Also IME Italians are incredibly conservative about their food, even down to a regional basis sometimes, so it's quite common to be fussy.

Lots of northern European cooking centres on meat and potatoes because that was what was available.

It's only when you get to the Mediterranean that you find food cooked with tomatoes and olives. If you don't like it, you don't like it.

I've come back to this thread as the fussiest eater I know (basically only eats vegetarian food or meat that has been minced and disguised within an inch of its life) amazed me by ordering paella at a restaurant as they were 'trying to expand their tastes'. They visibly struggled with the shell on prawns, crabs legs and mussels but made a valiant effort. Goes to show we can all try if we want to but I'm still not eating garlic!!

No sock she wouldn't have a tantrum. She always carries a small water bottle just in case it gets boiling hot on the train or she gets a tickly cough. She'd just prefer tea.

Don't know why. Suppose it's preference really. I don't like beer or lager or soft drinks so if I was in an Indian, Chinese or Thai restaurant and they didn't have water I'd go without unless I was parched because I don't like wine with that food. I'm sure one of those cooks could serve me food that would go with wine but unfortunately I've never eaten with someone like that.

But I've never been in a restaurant that doesn't serve water or tea either so it's never been a problem.

She's also been to Hong Kong and Thailand but took her own food. The case must have weighed a ton with all those tins of salmon but she wanted to see the places and needed to eat.

It turned out she was staying in international hotel chains serving Western food. So that was all right. The Chinese and the Thais managed to find things she liked from their own cooking too but they treated her more as a challenge than an irritant.

Then she is not one of the people we are talking about

The people who we are talking about re water,would make a large drama about the water.

Yanbu.

I encountered a child who was guest yesterday who wouldn't eat a yoghurt as it had bits in, ffs. He was greedy too...

I really liked sea urchin (mentioned up thread)
But then I like all seafood, offal, I eat my steak blue and am quite partial to durian and okra.
However I hate chicken...what's that all about then? It is the stringiness that gets me, I also hate the texture of bananas (again too stringy). So I can see to some extent that people have issues with texture. I still eat these things though because I cannot abide fussiness!

Erm, yes and no, sock. I've seen views on this thread that aren't very tolerant, especially to someone who travels with tins of salmon and teabags, but that's the way things go and I wouldn't have it differently.

BYT I travel with a bag of freeze-dried coffee, a mug and the exact-sized spoon I like, and I'm terribly sophisticated but just like to start the day the way I like to start the day.

I also have to add that as a child I wouldn't eat yoghurt with bits in and don't think that's odd. I also wouldn't eat the fruity jelly at school because I thought the grapes in it were peas. Apart from that, given food I would eat, I could have been described as a greedy child by the unkind.

I also liked sea urchin with black linguine, chili and tomatoes. And chicken and offal except for chitterlings.

So I can see to some extent that people have issues with texture. I still eat these things though because I cannot abide fussiness!

This.

Everyone has likes and dislikes. It moves into fussiness when you refuse to eat food you dislike.

Has anyone changed their mind then?

Anyone become a tiny bit more understanding of why some people have issues around food?

Thought not

I'm veggie so automatically an annoyance. But I am v sensitive to hot spices and there are some non hot spices that I just can't stand the flavour of. So that makes me fussy. I am not v experimental with food but I am not hurting anyone - I might be missing out in your eyes but it isn't something that I'm bothered about - like anything in life ; some find it more interesting and enjoy experimenting with new flavours and some take it to another level altogether when you get your gastro types and some are plain boring types - does it matter?

There are some fussy eaters who are v restrictive to the point of possibly malnutrition - not from starving but from lack of critical vitamins and minerals. They can cause long term damage which might not be apparent straight away. But when it gets to that point I would think it is probably an actual issue about food more in line with disorder maybe in it"s extremes

So I can see to some extent that people have issues with texture. I still eat these things though because I cannot abide fussiness!

But some people really cant just eat it anyway. I know I cant, and I understand that people on the autisitic spectrum can be particularly prone to this. I can imagine that a lot of high function people with ASD could be thought of as fussy when actually they have a real problem. Its the assumption that a person is fussy that annoys me, there are many many reasons for rejecting certain foods (not least of which, "I just dont like it"!) and I would bet that genuine fussiness is in the minority when you consider SN, hyper sensitivity to taste, MH issues, eating disorders etc.

It moves into fussiness when you refuse to eat food you dislike.

I dont like olives, should I eat them because you say I should? No. I am an adult and if I dont like something then I am not going to eat it just because you think its nice! If you invite people to your home then you either ask if there is anything then particularly dont like, or you accept that you may serve something they wont want to eat. A good host would be concerned about their guests comfort, not about making a point that they are "fussy" eaters and should get over it. I would be mortified if a guest didnt want to eat food I had made, I would not be angry with them but annoyed at myself for not checking.

Seems to be point scoring to me.

Flatbread
Everyone has likes and dislikes. It moves into fussiness when you refuse to eat food you dislike

That makes no sense at all.

Why on earth would you eat food you don't like? Having dislikes isn't being fussy, everyone has dislikes. Fussy is turning your nose up at everything and not trying it.

I don't like coconut, the smell of it makes me heave. That's not fussy, I just don't like it (actually I hate it, it's horrible). But to you that is fussy??

Yes, that is fussy.

No one is saying eat coconut everyday. But if you are invited somewhere and there is coconut in the meal, just eat it without comment. It is not going to kill you.

I'm really fussy, but I feel a bit better after reading about how much fussier than me some people are.

People generally cope all right with my fussiness (don't eat pasta, gravy, tomatoes, nuts, celery, cooked fruit of any sort, cream, peas, olives, puddings which aren't chocolatey - nothing too unreasonable).

I get really impatient with greedy smug sods who eat every bloody thing going and think this somehow makes them superior. C'est la vie.

But if you are invited somewhere and there is coconut in the meal, just eat it without comment. It is not going to kill you. And what if it makes someone retch? Would you be happy sitting next to a dinner guest who was close to yakking up their meal because of a certain ingredient?

You might think that is attention seeking, but for some people it would happen and they really cant help it.

Oh yes I don't like coconut either.

I couldn't eat coconut in a meal without vomiting. I'm sure that would cause more offence than me saying: "no thanks, I don't like coconut."

If they are not allergic, then of course they can help it.

It is just childish to say you will 'retch' if you eat something you dislike. Lack of self-control and a bit of attention-seeking thrown in.

I actually have stomach cramps when I eat avocado. I would still manage to eat guacamole or any other form of avocado if it was a served. Ok, I would feel mild physical discomfort for a couple of hours but after that I would be fine. So what is the big deal and why create a fuss?

Severe food issues are not attention seeking. I would rather never eat out than draw attention to my issues, so I rarely do. You clearly lack any kind of understanding that other people may have serious problems with certain foods, just because you dont have experience of it, doesnt mean that it doesnt exist. But then this isnt the first time I have seen your posts lack any kind of empathy or informed comment.