Discovering new foods

I must admit there are quite a few items in the vegetable section of the grocery shop that I pass. Living in western Canada, there is a big Eastern influence and some veggies that I am unfamiliar with.

I do use bok choi which is nice, but haven't tried gai lan, gai choy, large radishes (not sure of the name, but they are as big as eggplants).

Though I suppose if I had a dish with some of these veggies, and a lesson on prepping them perhaps I would branch out a bit.

It is amazing the amount of diversity in food stores and restaurants.

I couldn't bring myself to try meat type stuff. I could get very queasy very quickly, although I do eat meat.

Anything else I would be up for trying though.

I will try anything once and have discovered amazing things. I am lucky in that I'm surrounded by people from all over the world and try their food as they try mine. I brought up my kids to know I wouldn't force them to eat anything they didn't like but they had to at least try a mouthful first and if they thought it was foul they could spit it out as long as they did it discreetly. They're all great cooks as adults who try all sorts of new delicious things.
A Lebanese neighbour introduced me to pomegranate molasses. Lovely stuff in food, and mixed with sparkling water it makes a delicious refreshing drink (it's very syrupy so it needs a stir).
I don't like some things about the way we eat now. A lot of food is bred to travel well, out of season and is now pretty flavourless. although attractive to the eye. Strawberries spring to mind so I grow my own.

I'm quite conservative in my tastes.
Good old home cooking does for me.

I can't stand fish, but have often given it a try from someone else's plate (with permission!)
I must have tried so many different combinations of fish dishes, but I don't like fish!

So I tend not to bother with things I know for definite I dislike.

I cannot bear sloppy food like porridge. I like dry and crunchy.
I also dislike fat and fatty foods.
Except for unsalted butter which is wonderful...

I'm not going to ask what middle class is because we're talking about food.
Recently GabriellaG54 recommended M&S fish fingers so we bought them, had some and binned the rest. Sorry GG54, they don't compare with Birds Eye imo.
I've discovered M&S sell a tub of mashed avocado and lime. Lovely on toast.
I too am not very adventurous.

I can’t bear coriander. It tastes like tea to my palate. I hate tea. I got a jar of sun dried tomatoes in a hamper last year. They transform a basic pasta sauce into a tasty sensation. Chopped up they go a long way and I use the oil as a dressing or as a drizzle over new potatoes. I keep a jar in the larder now.

Apparently coriander tastes like soap if you have the appropriate genetic makeup. - interesting as when I was a child I thought this but later decided I liked it a lot.
I also disliked mangoes and capers but love both of these too!

My father used to bring “odd foods” back from trips to London. He brought an avocado back once (loved that) and I was amazed at the size of the stone. The other delight was the first time I tried a lychee... oh bliss!

Tripe and pasta in any form, YUK!

How boring GabbyG - and still to be obsessed with an out of date class system -oo -Er!

You may be suffering from that well-known disease of old age
“Hardening of the attitudes”

Having been introduced to what people in those days might have classed as “fancy foreign foods” at a very early age I find it hard to dislike much, but would draw the line at chocolate coated locusts I suppose. ???

We are all working class.There are very few in society who do not need to work for their living and who do not rapidly find themselves in the financial soup if for any reason their job ends.

I confess I have never enquired about someone's social demographic antecedents in my life.I take people for what they are when they are. Does anything else matter?

annsixty

Sadly, there are few if any, 'working class' people living in my immediate area or in the few groups I belong to.
I am in complete agreement with your comment but I can't really seek out particular sectors of society as I wouldn't know where to look.
Friends just happen to be middle class.
Almost all of my adult life has been spent with mixed groups, after all, I'm working class myself and proud to be so.
This morning, when talking to a young woman in JL customer services, I had a lump in my throat on hearing her pronounced Liverpool accent.
It's my home town and I'm super proud because it's the people who make it a very special city.
We chatted for ages about the changes and I felt a terrific bond.
I certainly don't aspire to be anything other than working class. A false veneer isn't my bag.

I’m a savoury over sweet as well now which I never thought would happen as I loved cakes and puddings as a child.

Whenever DH and I go out for a meal we agree to share a starter and a pudding with whatever we each want for a main as we can rarely do 3 courses each as we get older! Occasionally we choose a main each and he’ll choose a sweet and I’ll go for cheese and crackers which we also share.

I do not think we become more fussy, but our tastes change as we grow older. I have never had a very sweet tooth and as I have got older I enjoy sweet things less and less and, eating out, tend to have a starter and main course but pass on the dessert. If I snack I will look for something savoury rather than sweet.

I also think we have more dislikes because we have had opportunities to taste more foods and know what we like and what we do not.

Hi All

I'm another that hates coriander, it's like a mouthful of disinfectant, yuck! I also cannot stomach any seafoods other than cod and salmon. Other foods that don't grace my plate include: cucumber, black pudding, cheesecake and dark chocolate (in/on anything other than as a sponge cake) - I am sure there are loads more as I seem to have become more fussy about food as I have aged.

Our local fruit shop introduced us to Cotton Candy grapes recently. They taste just like their name!

I've always loved curry, but the dhal they served up in Sri Lanka was so delicious I was even eating it for breakfast.

We are so lucky to live in an era and a place where we can try any sort of food we fancy. I enjoy just about anything, apart from offal, though I admit I won't be rushing to eat eels, squid or whelks again any time soon.

this.deakin.edu.au/self-improvement/hate-coriander-heres-the-scientific-reason-why
Apparently coriander tastes like soap if you have the appropriate genetic makeup. Poor people who are missing out?

What a lot you are missing Gabriella by only mixing with the middle class and above.
So many working class, I count myself and family amongst them, are the salt of the earth, warmhearted, generous to a fault and generally lovely people.

Me? Adventurous? No.
I'm very conservative food-wise but do I like vegetable samosas however, I make my own and I'm conservative in my private life too. Friends are middle class and above and lead predictable lives - nothing to rock the boat. I'm not quite as predictable as they are but more conservative than you think.

foreign foods?

Gosh you do surprise me Gabriella I thought you would be adventurous.

I don't try foreign foods either.

Kale. I hate the stuff, leathery and veiny. I also never eat ? the smell is awful.
Sickly sweet pineapple juice or the fruit itself is a no-no. Horribly thready as if made from juice-soaked old carpet.
Also ? all seafood except cod and smoked haddock.
I prefer savoury, hard foods and I'm actually quite picky. I'd never let anyone else shop for me ?

DD, who generally loves any milk product tried Kefir and hated it.

I have an aversion to all fresh milk or close to fresh milk products unless 'hidden' in cooking. Milk makes me sick Yoghourt, plain or fruity makes me feel sick, so Kefir doesn't stand a chance. I would probably throw up;

I like trying new foods by ordering two starters (instead of a meal) for lunch when we eat out. Another benefit - it leaves room for dessert!