Who is the pickiest person you'd ever have to cook for?

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Here is something to think about. When I'm invited to a gathering/meal, I know it is not to leave w/my belly as full as I can get it. It is to visit, see people, catch up, share, it's not for nourishment or for a free meal. Most people can be happy w/just a little bit(if there is nothing they really like). I see it as being rude to disapprove of a meal GIVEN to you. It is more polite to eat respectively as it is a gift that they put alot of love and work into.

Maybe I'm get'n off topic.

I couldn't have said it better myself, Al, and I don't think it's off topic at all. I personally think that "picky eaters" in general are on a rude power play....and I just don't play that game. They love to have attention brought to themselves in my experience, therefore they are not invited to partake in my cooking. Simple.
 
my husband was the hardest and picky's person to cook for. well done (cremated) beef. and fried chicken. no fish, sea food, . only ate corn and green vegs, both plain. loved potatoes no rice, bulgar, etc. made me crazy. he is gone now and would gladly cook anything he wanted , in order to just have a meal with him again.
 
my husband was the hardest and picky's person to cook for. well done (cremated) beef. and fried chicken. no fish, sea food, . only ate corn and green vegs, both plain. loved potatoes no rice, bulgar, etc. made me crazy. he is gone now and would gladly cook anything he wanted , in order to just have a meal with him again.

He's there, babe.
 
... I personally think that "picky eaters" in general are on a rude power play...


I'm not sure that's the case. Individuals who make a dramatic event out of it at the dinner table want to draw attention to themselves but I think they are in the minority.

Most food dislikes develop during childhood where new tastes and textures are introduced frequently. If a mom cooked bland foods and hated onions, there's a good chance that will be instilled in the child. Not always but often.

My SIL dislikes a lot of stuff I use on a regular basis but never makes a stink over it. He just doesn't eat an item or picks out the stuff he dislikes. He has tried to like stuff but some things are just beyond him.

I don't like it but accept it. He's always welcome in our home.
 
For me I guess my ex. No sauce on spaghetti only butter and parm. Made a fuss when I made sauce for me. Only white/steamed rice and that had to have sugar on it. Same with cottage cheese. Had to have sugar on it.
Fried anything was fine as long as it was "normal". Chicken,pork chops, etc. Not real big on sausages unless it was breakfast. No Mexican food. No Chinese food. No Italian unless it was as I said the spaghetti was done. The only veg. was corn, and green beans.
My family always had me at least try everything once. If I didn't like it, that was okay, at least I tried. Some things that I didn't like then, I do now. My tastes change all the time. Some of the TNT still stick with me. Some didn't.
The best part of all of that with the ex was as I was learning to cook as a late teen and early 20s woman. In later times, I went to culinary arts schools and traveled the world. YUM! Now with a new palate and new husband, of almost 20 years, things are much better. :ROFLMAO:
 
My son-in-law!

Won't eat onions, mushrooms, olives, lamb, any meat that has a hint of pink or twice-baked potatoes because they look 'suspicious'. I'm sure there's more but that's all I've run into so far.
Haha that's funny...I wonder how his face looks like every time there's some 'suspicious' food served. :mrgreen:

my parents.

i never knew how picky they were about certain ingredients until i started to cook for them as they got older.

the first time i tried was when my mom broke her arm a few years ago. i went to their house to cook a couple of meals to give her a break (my dad knows there's a room in the house called a kitchen, and that food goes in raw and comes out of there cooked, but that's about it, lol).

i proceeded to cook one of dw's recipes, lemon mushroom chicken, and one of my faves since they live near the beach, calamari and scungilli marinara. :chef:

i found out that mom hates mushrooms, and neither will each squid or conch. :(

now i ask first if they'd eat things before i plan on making them.
really? wow. how come you never learned about the food they didn't like while you were growing? like of course your mom will not cook food with mushrooms if she doesn't like it..

In my case, I would try to cook food that I know my guests will like since I invited them to come over and visit I feel it's my obligation to serve what interests them or what they like..
 
My DH is the pickiest person, ever. So I cook for myself and make sure he has plenty of burgers and hotdogs. Of course I always offer what I have fixed for myself and on rare occasions he will try it and is always surprised when he likes it. Sometimes I just don't tell him what I put in something, knowing he won't touch it if he knows of specific ingredients.

I sliced strawberries and added a bit of sugar to them, allowing them to macerate. I got my own bowl and added a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream...it was heaven. I told him it tasted horrible and then he had to try it...he was shocked to find out about the sour cream and later had a bowl of his own.
 
Haha that's funny...I wonder how his face looks like every time there's some 'suspicious' food served. :mrgreen:


really? wow. how come you never learned about the food they didn't like while you were growing? like of course your mom will not cook food with mushrooms if she doesn't like it..

lol, as an adult in one of the grestest foodie cities in the world, my tastes grew well beyond the meals that my mom had made for us as kids. that's not to disparage my mom's cooking in any way whatsoever. her simple and hearty meals gave me my love for eating and cooking as a start. i couldn't owe her more for what she's given me, and a love for food is the just one of the many things.

in any case, i was clumsily trying to make something that would be new to them, and a tnt to me so that it would be good. it was a surprise to hear they never liked something since they never complain about anything.

even with the meals i made, they politely choked down the food so that i wouldn't be terribly disappointed in my failure. now THAT's the kind of attitude that displays grace and intelligence. very unlike the "too bad if you're my guest, you'll eat my slop or go hungry" kind of thing.



you know, i just realized that these sentiments seem appropriate with mama's day coming this sunday.

happy mother's day to all of the moms out there who have done for your children what mine did for me.

i love you mom.
 
My step-mother. In fact, I've never cooked for her in the 16 years she's been married to my father.

In her case, it's probably an undiagnosed mental illness. Kind of hard to explain. Basically, she will only eat fast food because it's wrapped in paper. She literally (without exception) eats fast food for dinner every.single.night. She won't eat with metal utensils... only plastic utensils that have been factory wrapped, and she won't eat off of anything but disposable plates that have never been used. That means she won't eat at a sit down restaurant and she won't eat food that anyone cooks on a stove or in an oven. She will only eat fast food and microwaved food that is prepared using plastic and served on paper plates. She has been this way all of her life (according to my father). So, her diet consists of hamburgers, chicken nuggets, french fries, hot dogs, Dr. Pepper, soups you can heat in the microwave and vegetables you can steam in the bag (this is new for her, actually, as they are a newer invention), processed cheese that is individually wrapped, deli meats and individually packaged processed foods. She won't eat steak, fish, most vegetables, any fruit except banana, no dairy... well, you get the point.

I guess, according to what my dad says, that it has to do with sanitation. I once asked him in private if she understands the sanitation practices in fast food (I once managed a McDonald's in college) and he told me that I could never talk about that.

So... she is definitely the pickiest eater I've ever met.
 
Yikes velochic, thats pretty scary. Thats some serious OCD going on there. Is she healthy with that kind of diet?
 
Yikes velochic, thats pretty scary. Thats some serious OCD going on there. Is she healthy with that kind of diet?

No... she's not healthy at all and is overweight (which I am too... not as much as her, but still I can't say much in spite of the fact that I eat very healthfully). She's in her late 50's (much younger than my father, who is in his 70's) and her health is worse than his at times. When she gets sick, she's sick for weeks at a time... she doesn't recover well.

You cannot even imagine how awkward this problem is. It makes EVERYONE uncomfortable.

I believe there is more than OCD going on with her, but still... she's definitely THE pickiest eater I've ever met!
 
OMG Velochic, I was just about to say the youngest son of my partner was the worst eater in the world, but I think even he has to admit the defeat in the face of your stepmother...:wacko:
I wonder what kind of educational background she has, I mean not just school but also from her mother, and amongst other relatives and associates. It does seem like a pretty serious mental disorder and no wonder she is overweight and unhealthy.:huh:
Unfortunately at her age it will be very difficult, if ever possible, to change her attitude with what she eats, I just have to feel very, very sorry for her...:(
 
No... she's not healthy at all and is overweight (which I am too... not as much as her, but still I can't say much in spite of the fact that I eat very healthfully). She's in her late 50's (much younger than my father, who is in his 70's) and her health is worse than his at times. When she gets sick, she's sick for weeks at a time... she doesn't recover well.
Small wonder considering her diet! Likely she won't consume enough calories to help her heal!


You cannot even imagine how awkward this problem is. It makes EVERYONE uncomfortable.
Oh yes I can well imagine it. I work in mental health and OCD is hard on everyone, INCLUDING the one who has it.


I believe there is more than OCD going on with her, but still... she's definitely THE pickiest eater I've ever met!

I sympathize. That one wins the prize. You are likely right that there is more than OCD going on. If that IS the culprit though, there is help. CBT has been shown to work well on OCD.

OK, sorry to hijack. I was thinking about picky and I wanted to add that many of the folks I know that ARE picky, are a little embarrassed about it. They can't just stop being picky, and they really hate it when folks point it out. They like to just hide a bit.
 
i think the banana thing is interesting. it's like a food in a wrapper, albeit natural wrapper.

i'm sure you've tried everything, but going with this approach, have you thought of other foods, especially fruits with skins or shells that could be considered wrappers? oranges, for example. maybe peanuts or other nuts.
 
My husband! He will eat almost any meat. The only vegetables he likes are corn, peas, green beans, and potatoes. He eats no condiments at all! No salad, no dressing. Minimal seafood. No fruits except a rare apple. A dessert on occasion but he's just as picky about them.

Drives me bonkers: I wish I could get him to eat mushrooms, broccoli and asparagus. Is that too much to ask? :)
 
My ex GF, she would only eat things that her mom made when she was growing up, which was very limited. Canned veggies only, nothing frozen or fresh. Plain mashed potatos, no herbs, spices or cheese. Burgers, no cheese. Spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti and oh yeah, did I mention spaghetti?
 
The husband...
He won't touch a food if it contains/has come into contact with seafood. If you even mention that you were cooking seafood on the same surface as what you're serving him, he won't even touch a fork to what's on the plate. (Funny, he LOVES ceasar salad --mainly the dressing, which he will lick off of the bowl... He now knows that it has fish paste in it, but still eats it... Hmmm...)
He's not allergic, but just has a "weird thing" --he admits to it--. Aside from that, he'll eat anything and everything... But mention "fish", and he becomes the pickiest person I've ever met!
 
My step-mother. In fact, I've never cooked for her in the 16 years she's been married to my father.

In her case, it's probably an undiagnosed mental illness. Kind of hard to explain. Basically, she will only eat fast food because it's wrapped in paper. She literally (without exception) eats fast food for dinner every.single.night. She won't eat with metal utensils... only plastic utensils that have been factory wrapped, and she won't eat off of anything but disposable plates that have never been used. That means she won't eat at a sit down restaurant and she won't eat food that anyone cooks on a stove or in an oven. She will only eat fast food and microwaved food that is prepared using plastic and served on paper plates. She has been this way all of her life (according to my father). So, her diet consists of hamburgers, chicken nuggets, french fries, hot dogs, Dr. Pepper, soups you can heat in the microwave and vegetables you can steam in the bag (this is new for her, actually, as they are a newer invention), processed cheese that is individually wrapped, deli meats and individually packaged processed foods. She won't eat steak, fish, most vegetables, any fruit except banana, no dairy... well, you get the point.

I guess, according to what my dad says, that it has to do with sanitation. I once asked him in private if she understands the sanitation practices in fast food (I once managed a McDonald's in college) and he told me that I could never talk about that.

So... she is definitely the pickiest eater I've ever met.
I can actually relate to you when it comes to the sanitation thing. Although he's not as picky as your stepmother is, my hubby does not use metal utensils or any flatware. He only use plastic fork or spoon. And it's true, his reason is because of sanitation. I always tell him that we can wash the utensils really well and with hot water etc, and he would say no he will not use flatware. Sometimes he just doesn't have a choice especially if we're eating in a restaurant where he can't ask for plastic fork or knife coz it would be embarrassing. That's why we don't have metal utensils at home, but I am planning to buy one set so I could use it for myself.
 
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