I like food.  Let me rephrase that.  I love food, hence my body is naturally crafted to reflect this.  It’s not like I haven’t tried diets and fitness regimes, but I quickly (too quickly) get bored and crave food again.  Some might call it an addiction, but I just eat to live 🙂

Not only do I like food, but I also like most dishes and ingredients.  However, some food does not go well with my taste buds or my food philosophy.  Just to name and shame a few of these offenders.  I have tried some of them, but some I simply refused to even look at.  Let me be clear, I’m sure these dishes are delicious, for some, so it’s not aimed to insult any food cultures around the Globe.

Oysters

• Having lived in Ireland for almost 15 years, and savoured many pints of the black gold, I was also introduced to this Irish delicacy.
• They even have dedicated a festival for these slimy creatures, which takes place once a year in the beautiful city of Galway, where pubs serve Guinness and Oysters all day.
• Some people participating in these food “tasting” events end up with some minor poisoning from eating too many oysters.
• They are server raw, perhaps a bit cold, drenched in lemon juice.  I wonder if the juice is to make I glide down easier, and “burn” the slimy sensation away.
• As for me v oysters.  These suckers should not be consumed raw.  It’s like eating a little lump of snot, like when you have a strong cold.  In my view, oysters should be fried on a pan with vegetables and served on a bed of rice or noodles.
• They probably eat lentils

Seaweed

• I’m sure seaweed has its purposes and I’m sure that it’s healthy, but that doesn’t mean that I would happily eat it.  It’s one of those ingredients that should remain in the sea and provide nourishment for the creatures in the ocean.
• Consistency?  It really depends how it’s prepared.  However, it will always be crunchy and way to salty.  Some strange Danish cooks believe that the sea is a new herb and food garden, but I would strongly disagree.  Leave the sea plants for the fish to eat!
• Probably related with lentils

Haggis

• Goats stomach filled with vegetables and cooked.  It’s bursting of nutritious food, but presentation kills it.  Enough said!!
• Probably stuffed with lentils anyway

Lentils

But, my biggest food peeve is probably lentils.  These little green/grey bean related suckers should not be prepared or used in food I consume.  I know I’m being childish and I know they probably are delicious.  But, have you never encountered something that you do not find any pleasure in eating what so ever?

It’s really the consistency that I mainly dislike.  And please note I use the word dislike and note hate.  Hate is too strong of a word to use for anything or anybody.

Now, just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean that I will rudely gag or vomit when eating these devils, especially not when eating with friends or in public.  I just try to avoid eating dishes with lentils.

Unfortunately that is not always possible.

My beautiful South American princess, and her family enjoy lentils.  It must be a culture or region thing.  As a result, I’m introduced to lentils when having family dinners or if my mother-in-law prepares lentil dishes for my kids.

I know we are in a rescission and that we have to be conscious of what we buy and eat, but there’s no need to be cruel and introduce lentils several times a week.  There are only so many excuses I can come up with, for not eating or working late.

My wife puts me in a tight spot when preparing these lovely dishes.  I have to set a good example for my kids and cannot show them the face of fear.  It’ll just make them copy my behavior, leading to the dark side of food dislikes.

Some very close friends of ours invited us for dinner, and one of the dishes was an exotic vegetable soup with onions and LENTILS!!!  Polite as I am, I braved and faced my fears, and ate a little soup.  I attempted to divide the lentils from the onions, but it was an impossible task.  There must have been at least a million of these green monsters.  So, I soldiered on and ate half the bowl, strongly followed by a pint of coke – the drink not the substance.

I know that I can find many more foods that I wouldn’t touch or eat, but I stick to what I know and like.  When we go traveling I do like to try something new, but still within the same categories I know.  Nothing like fried insects, snails, stuffed innards, boiled animal heads.

What are your food peeves?