my "i-don't-like" list

there isn't much i won't eat. i am a culinary adventurer and the world is my dining table or grocery store! but like anyone, there are some things i won't eat at all; there are also some other things i keep trying in hopes one day i will like it. it's not a long list but here it is:

• artichokes;
• internal organs like tripes, stomach, lung, kidneys, brains;
• extremities like hooves, tails, ears and snouts;
• sausages like boudin, andouille and blood sausages;
• salmon;
• shrimp;
  
• and canned tuna.

i don't eat artichokes. period. recently, i tried it again, prepared by a CIA trained chef, and i was still pulling a funny face. i ususally tell people i'm allergic to artichokes but in reality, i got really bad food poisoning as a child off of them and have never been able to get over the olfactory memory. once artichokes are steamed, they must be eaten within 48 hours. after 72, they can become poisonious. i spent five days with diarhea and vomiting. i was 8, perhaps. i have never forgiven artichokes for such a betrayal.

as a rule, i don't even get served internal organs so i don't have to worry about eating them. my grandmother grew up on a farm in northern france where one ate the whole animal. she used to gross me out in the kitchen with some of the things she'd cook up - scrambled eggs with baby calf brain, fried lung or kidneys. though i have eaten tripes to verify what they were for some of my more trepidacious dining companions. gag. basically, i won't eat it.

about ears and hooves and such, one word really: ewwww. however, i have had ox tail soup and sliced ox tail at korean restaurants and enjoyed it. but i'll never just order some ox tail soup, i'll always go for the chap chae and kalbi.

boudin, andouille and blood sausages are foods i grew up with because my grandmother loved it and ate them regularly. i used to hate them because i knew what they were and thought it was disgusting. i still feel the same way but if one of those types of sausages makes it to my table in a french restaurant, i will try one piece. recently, i saw a picture of blood sausage, pork knuckle terrine at restaurant gordon ramsey in london and i actually wanted to taste it. it looked gorgeous and it reminded me of the amazing boudin noir i had at Le Bouchon on Damen and Armitage.

i never was a fan of salmon, mostly because it tasted like fish. i know, it's so stupid to say that but that heavy fish flavour has always been the ultimate offender for me. for years, i refused to eat fish. i found it insulting to the palette until i learned about fish like grouper and monkfish. as i got older, i ventured deeper into seafoods and found there was a lot i didn't care for. however, i try to stay open and keep trying for hopes that one day, i'll be able to actually buy fish and enjoy it at home. ironically, i absolutely love sushi - tuna, crab, lobster, scallops, and eel are my favourites - but i don't care for the salmon or yellowtail (again, with the fish-yness). but i LOVE smoked salmon from scotland and nova scotia. go figure.

i keep trying shrimp because it's the most ubiquitous of all the seafoods but i am almost always disappointed. on occasion when i've had chef tastings at nice restaurants like opera or marche, they were excellent. but for the most part, shrimp always leave me under whelmed. when i order singapore noodles (one of my all time favourite foods EVER), i usually substitute the shrimp with chicken because shrimp does nothing for the dish.

despite all this, if i were served these foods in someone's home, i'd eat them to save face and show gratitude to my host. i just don't know if i'd enjoy them. i guess i'll have see how they're prepared. that's my adventurous spirit again, always optimistic and eager!