I have to come clean here, and place myself firmly into the ranks of picky eaters we are discussing. I hate onions. Hang on tight here though, i cook with them on a daily basisi, and my favorite snack food is onion rings. I know I know, don't ask.
My DW swears to the "fact" that sour cream is disgusting. I use it quite a bit in my cooking and have taken to buying it, and putting it in old cottage cheese containers, and ditching the original container, cottage cheese is another one of her least favorite things. With her it's all about texture. Most foods she won't eat (or won't eat voluntarily
) are on the list because of texture. Beans are victim number one one THIS list. The rest of her 'dislikes' I have discovered are things that aren't so pretty on the shelf, and she's never actually tried them. I simply stopped asking if she liked things because when I did, she'd say "no" until i realized that in DW-speak, that meant "I've never had it, but it's ugly" artichokes come to mind here.
Her DS is another story all together. He hates everything. Except my cooking. Easiest trick in the book here, I simply dragged him into the kitchen with me, and let him cook. He at the ripe old, well wisened age of 11 had never been in a kitchen. Now, as long as HE is acting as my sous (he hates it when i call him 'a boy named sous') he will eat anything.