Do you think some of these people who refuse to eat local food on foreign holidays, never actually tried it?

[TunaMayoP]

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5347862-people-who-expect-british-food-on-a-foreign-holiday?page=9&reply=144760434

I suspect that this woman and similar who refuse to eat 'that foreign muck' has not even sampled it. A friend's DF (no longer with us) was like this woman. He even didn't want to know about Spanish omelette which is omelette with onion and potatoes. He ate onion and potato in a savoury pasty or pie. Eggs he ate in various forms.

Surely it depends. If I know something contains an ingredient I don't like or didn't agree with me I wouldn't eat it, the same as at home. For example I've never tried tiramisu and never will as it's coffee so I know I won't like it. I wouldn't care if anyone was offended, you couldn't pay me enough to even sniff it, let alone eat it!

Hmmm @Ponoka7 , if your bowel condition is so severe that incredibly limited foods only are tolerable that is a separate matter to not being able to access "British" food. My son has a chronic and significant bowel condition (classed as a disability) and has to be very careful about certain types of food, but that has not stopped him from travelling widely and sampling the local foods, so long as he is careful with his choices. That has nothing to do with "British" food! It is the same for people with food allergies, again nothing to do with "British" food being available globally, just to suit someone.

My PIL are like this. They really aren't that interested in food in general, they never watch any TV cooking shows like Saturday kitchen or Bake Off and the only meal they cook from scratch is a roast Sunday lunch. Everything else is pre-prepared to put in the oven/air-fryer or out of a tin/packet/jar. They do not enjoy eating out and see it as a huge waste of money.

They are suspicious of anything unfamiliar and stick to what they know because of the fear of wasting money if they order (for example) a Pad Thai or a paella because they might not like it and not want to eat it. Far safer to stick to a burger and chips, or shepherd's pie.

Having said that, the beauty of All Inclusive or even B&B at a hotel overseas is that you can try things without spending anything extra. When we have stayed AI in the past the children have always been encouraged to try things - just a spoonful - see if they like it. If they don't, that's fine. DS developed a love for squid rings when he was about 3, daughter became obsessed with the salad bar.

PILs wouldn't know where to start with a buffet style AI offering, too much choice, labelling can be a bit suspect sometimes like a full description of the type of fish and sauce ingredients in Spanish, all it says in English is "fish". So again, default to the known and unchallenging.

We don't go on holiday with them.

Holidays are totally wasted on some people.

I've never watched anything like Saturday Kitchen or Bake Off, I can't think of anything more boring than watching other people cook. Well actually I can, having to do the cooking!

I wouldn't like ingredients not being labelled properly in an all inclusive but presumably if you ask someone would find out.

What I find a bit odd is when they're at home, do they never eat foods from other cultures/countries?

It's funny all those on this thread saying 'oh, I don't like x at home so won't eat it if abroad'. You're missing the point. If you don't like it, you don't eat it - fine, but I bet none of you then moan about it!

I'm not a fan of French food basically because I like spice! I lived in France (near the Pyranees mainly but we moved around quite a lot) for a couple of years as a child and just found it bland. I think the only thing I really enjoyed was garlic snails 🤣

More recently went to Paris with DH and ate out every night, not at cheap places either. Still just...meh.

I don’t care what other people do. I can’t see me socialising much with people like that but it doesn’t bother me.

I can definitely understand not liking the lack of spice in French cuisine if that’s the thing you go for. I once watched a lovely French couple cheerfully request a ‘nice spicy curry’ in a Pakistani restaurant because they ‘loved couscous’ and it was a bit of an error.

My late dad was in India during the war and said none of the soldiers ever ate local food. Too risky was their view. To be fair, later life he was quite happy to eat different stuff but my mum, never. We went to Kos in the 80s and she got them to cook her an omelette every day.
My first foray into "foreign " food was a Vesta meal as a teenager, never looked back😀

But disliking an ingredient is different to not liking unfamiliar food? You don’t dislike Italian food, you just avoid things with coffee in them?

Omg even if someone won't eat it what is the problem ffs

When I met DH 35 years ago, he was a plain eater - meat and potatoes - because that's what he was given at home.

Our first time out to a Chinese restaurant, he wanted Chicken Maryland - because the Chinese's in his home town served it -the only other "Chinese" dish he had ever tried before was chicken fried rice and gravy lol

Yep, for the Chinese take aways to survive they had to cater for the locals tastes

So every time I made something "foreign " lasagne, spag Bol , etc - I got from him " I dont like that ", to which I replied you've not tried it before - eat

He tries everything and anything now and enjoys a variety of foods and happily tucks in to local food when we are abroad

Had the same issues with his children - they had never been exposed to different cuisines , now our son has even sat down and eaten guinea pig when out in the Americas

I went to Benidorm recently and stayed in the Finestrat end. The hotel had predominantly Spanish guests. As I hadn't chosen the trip, I looked on Trip Advisor and people were saying the food was terrible.
It was bloody lovely. I ate my body weight and then some. I can only assume there wasn't enough beige food for some people's liking.

Yes I think it is relevant. He’d been to the UK a few times, but was very set in his ways. And food like lasagne was not what he was used to. Probably like the British woman in Greece.

I have frequently been to Ireland to visit him and other relations. And have been served lasagne by them. As well as bacon, cabbage and black and white puddings.

I was trying to make the point that there are reasons people won't try certain foods. I also wouldn't even try anything that's spicy

I laughed when I saw she was from Newcastle -- of course she is! I am too and so many of my relatives are like this. I don't know if we're singularly unimaginative up there but before I went to uni I'd never heard of houmous, for example, or eaten duck...my mother thinks the only way you can get introduced to a new vegetable is if you marry into a family that eats it (e.g. in her family they had cauliflower but my dad's family had broccoli, which is the only reason we had both)

I'm pretty sure the English fried breakfast, chips, lager and bacardi she wanted aren't recommended for someone with any of those diseases. She's an idiot and a scammer trying to get a quick buck out of shitty rags happy to do her sad face story.

My late dad was in India during the war and really enjoyed eating Indian food as a result.

I can understand people with health issues - physical or mental, and texture issues not eating certain foods, but an adult with no issues other than not liking "foreign muck" that in most cases they haven't even tried is just behaving like a toddler.

Once, on a holiday in Hong Kong we went on a trip to an island to eat a traditional Chinese feast. The gentleman next to me spent the entire evening complaining about the food because he didn't like Chinese food. I politely asked him why he came on this trip and he said it was because his wife wanted to.

He spoiled the evening for everyone who could hear him.

DH was a very plain "British" eater when we first got together. Very much a pie and mash, his Mum was a plain, albeit, good standard cook, from the Midlands.

He didn't like salad or tomatoes, garlic, courgettes, not sure he had even eaten courgettes, couldn't eat shellfish, didn't like fish, or cured meats.....

I'm half Italian, my DM being an excellent cook, and I spent many months in Italy during my life so that's what I ate.

I "cured" DH very quickly. His shellfish allergy we cured by exposure, his dislikes we gave him every day, don't like it, don't get to eat.

Mean, but effective. He now eats everything and particularly loves fish and shellfish, and salads.

It's all to do with upbringing and what you are used to. Our DDs eat everything because they were exposed to it from weaning. They live anything and everything.

I would say it is - I don’t know any French that would avoid local food when abroad, as gastronomy is part of what they want to discover.

That varies person to person. They may be safe foods when on holiday. My DD drops underweight with her UC. If she dropped bacon and sausage, she wouldn't be able to work.

I often think a lot of people have ruined their palates by only ever eating spicy hot food. Food does not become bland just because it has no pepper or chilli in it. There are plenty of interesting flavours that aren't spicy hot and it's sad that some people can't detect them any more.

Literally the most infuriating and boring topic is people talking about perfectly ordinary food they don’t like, always pulling a face as they do like eating fish or pasta or a curry is akin to eating dog vomit. No one windswept and interesting is going on about how they can’t eat Brie because they don’t like foreign foods.