The other day (i.e. right now), I was procrastinating and I took this Buzzfeed quiz (as you do when you're hard core procrastinating) about how much of a picky eater you are. It wasn't a huge surprise, but I'm not a very picky eater (I don't eat Marmite, blue cheese, kidneys or liver, if you're interested), but I know quite a lot of people who are.
Since I eat pretty much anything that's placed in front of me (except for Marmite, blue cheese, kidneys, liver and probably things like brain, etc.) it's hard for me to understand why so many people don't eat things like ... tomatoes, for example. Or eggs.
I once had a friend who could eat eggs, but couldn't bear to break them open or cook with them. I had another friend who could eat tomatoes cooked, but not raw, and only if it had been pulverized into a mushy consistency or a sauce.
John doesn't eat cheese (legend has it that he once fainted during a school field trip to a cheese factory - he was five) or foods with a lot of cream or dairy. But that's mostly because he's lactose intolerant (and a bit of a baby, if you ask me).
As a child, my parents tried to make me eat pork liver (which is popular in Chinese cuisine) and I hated it. So much so that I'd gag or retch at the table, but my mom kept insisting, "You don't know if you like it if you don't try it!" Which is probably true for the first time you try any new food, but the fact of the matter was that I "tried" pork liver about 25 times and still hated it.
I've tried explaining that, while I'll eat almost anything, it doesn't mean I'll necessarily enjoy it. For example, I don't love cooked bell peppers. But I wouldn't pick them out or refuse to eat something if bell peppers featured in the recipe. And, I don't love having seeds or nuts in my salads or food in general (except for cake, of course - cake is always an exception!). But I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid a toasted pumpkin-seed and fennel salad, for example, or refuse to eat something that had chopped hazelnuts sprinkled on top.
So: are you a picky eater? I'd love to know! I've been asking a few people recently and have been fascinated by their answers. What wouldn't you eat if it was placed in front of you?
