Learning to eat everything

[Aloysius]

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Tripe/gristle, weird organs such as tongue/liver

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Co-sign. I never order Pho, for example, with tripe. There is some offal I enjoy (oxtail I really like alot) but tripe, gristle, and tongue I am not into.

-Al

[El Diablo]

f,

"Tripe/gristle, weird organs such as tongue/liver"

I just recently had tripe at a nice Italian place (http://www.zuppa-sf.com/) where they had it as an app special. It was pretty tasty.

For liver, of course you can go with foie gras, which is just delicious. But also try out a basic pate on some crackers. I was very put off by the very strong liver taste from having it as a kid, but there are definitely some very tasty things with a liver base.

Most of the other stuff, you're in the same boat as me!

[Jake (The Snake)]

Every few years I'll be somewhere serving shrimp and I'll think to myself, "hmmm, it's been a while, and it smells really good... I bet I'll like it this time." Every single time I eat it though, I immediately feel like I need to puke. Same thing for lobster.

For many other foods, though, the above line of thinking helps me to like something that I didn't previously.

[El Diablo]

7,

"For me a lot of it was not appreciating my native cuisine (Chinese) when I was younger"

Yes, I was this way with Indian food when younger. Now I love it.

"Eggplant - slightly bitter, nasty texture" - I don't like eggplant either. However, I do really like some greek dishes like moussakka that feature eggplant. I think I'm going to try out some eggplant parmesan and see how I like that. But just plain eggplant is still not something I'm into.

"Uni (sea urchin) - slimy" - Me too. Gonna give this another go at a nice sushi place.

"Olives - not horrible, but so salty" - I used to not like olives at all for the longest time. Get some really big green olives stuffed with blue cheese or jalapeno or something you like. That's how I got into liking olives.

"Cartilage/tendon - same texture problem" - Don't like.

"Scotch/Whiskey - just never acquired the taste, I guess." - See the scotch thread in this forum. I suggest trying out the Balvenie 12 doublewood or any other port/sherry wood scotch that is going to be a little sweeter and smoother than your average scotch.

[JaBlue]

Diablo, you should try crab cakes.

As for me, I'm willing to eat a lot of stuff, but the main thing that I've gotten into recently (within the last year) and never liked before was fish. I tried it on a whim at a nice place and it RULED. If anyone knows of good rundowns on different types of fish or fish meals I'd love to see them as I've only ordered fish at a restaurant 3 or 4 times in my life. I love salmon and hated macadamia crusted ahi [could have been that the prep was bad, but I thought it was flavorless, boring, and annoying. And it cost a lot too!

edit: one thing I always do when I have the chance is try something I've never had before. In one of my recent expensive restaurant outings this was ox tail at an italian place. In spain I had octopus. The ox tail was phenomenal and the octopus was very well prepared but just weird tasting. It was alright but I wouldn't get it again.

[TiK]

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Lobster - I used to dislike it, but have gotten over that. I still don't get blown away by lobster. I'm gonna try lobster at the next really nice place I go to. How about trying this at a steak place? Is surf and turf at a nice steakhouse generally a really good version of lobster? Or should I go with a seafood place to get a really great lobster experience? How about the type of place? Do I need to go to a really expensive place to get a really tasty lobster?

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My girlfriend is a lobster fanatic and she says that one of her more memorable lobsters was eaten at Smith & Wollensky in NYC. So yeah, some steakhouses can do lobster right. She says that the key is that it's not overcooked, or the meat becomes tough and rubbery.

[El Diablo]

jeff,

There's spice and there's heat. I don't think there's much to get out of just adding pure heat. But a lot of the spicy foods also have some pretty unique and delcious flavor profiles, so being able to handle a bit of the heat lets you enjoy some tasty flavors. I've found that as I grow older, I lean towards preferring spicier sauces, opting for something like sriracha sauce where I might have previously gone with ketchup (which I still love).

I think the best way to get into good spicier foods is to experiment with ordering various stuff at ethnic restaurants.

[citanul]

Diablo,

I think my favorite lobster foods I've eaten have starred lobster that had been hacked in to bits: Lobster risotto, and a baked lobster & pineapple dish I had at some random seafood place in Mexico. I can understand not being in to it, as many people believe (understandably) that they are just conduits for whatever citrusy/buttery sauce you feel like putting around. But hey, I've never discriminated against anything else on the basis of being nothing but a good sauce transporter. I'm not really a fan of dismantling the damn things myself, and I've never really found a huge lump of lobster to be the most efficient presentation. Thus, steakhouse can't be my favorite places to do a lobster.

Mussels I really like. Mussels with marinara is good, but kind of boring and mostly relies on the marinara for taste. Mussels that have been steamed with beer, onions, and garlic - now that's a keeper. One of my favorite dishes in Chicago is a fire roasted mussels served with a butter sauce and sort of coated with a hot spice mixture. But like lobster, a lot of the time when you're eating mussels, it's really for the other stuff, and depending on the presentation and preparation it's often more work than it's worth... I guess shellfish just seem to have less individual taste and edibility than "fish fish," and become butter transporters more than anything else. I do agree on crabcakes though, they are almost always good if you get them anywhere decent.

jeffnc,

Whatever dude, you're totally in the right here. There's hots that have flavors (and jalepenos and even jabaneros have flavor that is not just heat) and then there's just hot for pain sake. There's no great reason to "up your tolerance" in order to be able to suffer just a bit less when you are suffering. There's ways of prepping jalapenos that involve less heat. If you want to prep something at home that will accomplish this to see if you actually like jalapeno flavor, try making a guacamole, and putting in a couple jalapenos. When prepping them before chopping, halve them lengthwise (or even quarter) and remove all seeds and as much of the white connective tissue as you can. The pepper will still have some heat, but you'll get much less, and much more of the "fruit" flavor. All you're really missing out on is: pain, buying more beers, machismo, and the endorphine rush. (Not to say there's anything wrong with any of those things.)

7on,

Wtf, who is serving you cartilage and tendon and telling you you're supposed to like it?

All,

Tomato juice, yuck.

[El Diablo]

Ja,

I'm a big fan of doing that (ordering something new) and typically try to do that for one item I'm getting at a new place, especially if it's a house special.

I posted about this place in the SF thread (http://www.hayesstreetgrill.com/index.html). It's a great way to try out various types of fish at a nice restaurant without breaking the bank. Of the current stuff, I'd highly recommend you try the seabass and the steelhead. I just had steelhead for the first time recently (see my Coco500 review in high-end dining) and it was great.

Black cod, sea bass, salmon, and ahi tuna are four fish you'll often see on menus in the bay area. I like tuna, but think it can often be sorta blah and boring. Oh, I'm not a huge swordfish fan either. Salmon when good is great, but often can be sorta blah. Good cod is tender, flaky, and delicious.

[TiK]

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"Eggplant - slightly bitter, nasty texture" - I don't like eggplant either. However, I do really like some greek dishes like moussakka that feature eggplant. I think I'm going to try out some eggplant parmesan and see how I like that. But just plain eggplant is still not something I'm into.

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With eggplant, it's really important to pick one that's not too ripe (then it gets really mushy and gross), or too unripe (then it's hard and bitter). A lot of places, I feel don't use proper eggplant selection (I almost said table selection haha) and end up using eggplants that are too ripe or not ripe enough, ending in a dish that's not very good, not because of the eggplant, but because of eggplant selection/preparation.