To offer a taste of something (food/sensory issues related)

[sallysparrow157]

If I was out for a meal with someone and they told me, for example in an Indian restaurant, they hate spicy hot food so they always get a korma/plate of rice/whatever and my different meal turned out to be very mild but tasty, I would probably tell them this and offer a little bit on their side plate or to dip a chip into the sauce. If they said they didn't fancy it I'd not push it.
On another thread someone's commented how tiresome and irritating it is to have people constantly trying to persuade them to try things they know they won't like.
Am I being an irritating twat offering a taste of things? I'm an ex fussy eater, I do have sensory issues about certain things (melted ice cream for example is always linked in my mind to dying cats and I can't even watch someone eating it!) so I'm relatively good, if I know what it is you can't handle, at knowing if x foodstuff will meet that category. I'd also never push it. But is it ok to ask?

What's your AIBU? Is it to offer someone a taste of your food? If so no. But this is a thread about at least 3 threads so either just eat your food and be done with it or offer and be prepared to be rejected.

AIBU to offer? Will I fuck people off by doing so? I of course am happy to be rejected (more nice food for me!) but am I being objectionable and intolerant to offer at all?

You wouldn't hack off my husband for example but you would hack off me. I can't bear folk pressing food on me.

I would only offer if someone said "ooh, yours looks nice! I don't usually like spicy/chicken/veggie meals, what is it like"

I wouldn't be annoyed by someone offering out of the blue, but I might be if they went on about it.

It depends. If you KNOW that a person doesn't want to eat something and you still insist on offering it, you'd be a bit patronising. After all, that's how you treat a fussy-eating child. (come on, try a bit. just a tiny bit).

However, if you have no idea about what they do or don't like, it's fine to offer. If they say no, don't offer again.

If you offer and they say no and you accept that. It's fine.

If you then say 'ah go on' and keep pressing it, then it's unreasonable.

In our family we were always brought up to share food and it's no different when we go to a restaurant.

It would piss me off but only because it would make me feel really awkward. I don't like attention being drawn to the fact I have food issues, I'd rather people not say anything and just let me get on with it. Also when I try food and I DONT like it I can sometimes end up vomiting, I usually like to avoid that!

Usually if I want to try something I'll ask the person if it's okay for me to try a small piece, but mostly I won't try anything unless I'm just with my family or at home. So unless you were one of those people, id get a bit annoyed

It depends if it's "would you like to try a bit of x?"

Or "try this, go on it's nice, you will like it, go on" etc etc.

The first is nice, the second is irritating.

It'd be okay to ask someone if they'd like to try it but if they say no, then don't push it. You might not want to answer this, but why does melted ice cream remind you of dying cats? Actually, maybe I don't want to know.

Personally I'd rather people didn't because of the awkwardness. I feel like I have to find a fib to cover up the real reason I don't want to try something so as not to reveal how picky I actually am!

Who eats chips with Indian?

People should be prepared to try new food, even stuff they previously disliked they may now like. You used to love baby food after all but would you eat it now?

I wouldn't with an adult as they are old enough to make their own decisions, as a child I was reluctant to try new foods as I had a food allergy and my parents had to test me every now and then by giving me something with it in (hospital advice - they hated doing it) and it would always make me sick, so I associated new foods with being sick. My family encouraged me to do the dip a chip type thing and would praise like mad when really my chip had barely even gone near it! It did help and I did become a little more open to trying new foods and definitely less scared of them.

As a teenager I was able to push myself and I am now the first one to try new things and have even tried things like olives more than once as tastes change (nope, still don't like them!) I do feel that my parents laid the ground work for this when I was younger though, they didn't expect me to try new things but praised like mad if I even licked something etc, it gave me a more positive association with new foods