picky eaters.

When I was a child, I was labeled that most common of childhood afflictions: picky.

I was never offended by the term. Ok, picky it is. I liked what I liked, namely chocolate cake, hot dogs, and cereal.

Here's what I DIDN'T like that gained me the "picky" designation:

beef (unless it's a burger or a good steak)

broccoli

pork (unless it was sausage)

fish sticks

canned tuna

peas

celery

cantaloupe

lima beans

...

That's it.

And guess what?

I STILL don't like those things. 

Unfortunately for me, those handful of foods I didn't like made appearances in nearly every Midwestern meal. 

Church potlucks were the absolute worst. Everything was some kind of hotdish that involved one or more of the things I didn't like held together with cream of mushroom soup. And don't even get me started on Midwestern "salads."

School lunch could be a challenge, as well. My least favorite meal was tuna gravy and biscuit day, which was a frequent flyer on Fridays during Lent. Not only was there tuna in the gravy, but there were peas as well. Woof.

I assumed I didn't like Mexican food because the only kind I had ever been exposed to was school lunch Mexican - hard shell tacos with ground beef. 

I assumed I wouldn't like Chinese food because I had never had it.

I knew I liked Italian food because it's mostly pasta and cheese. 

I don't remember when I started trying more food - I know it was well into college, because James (who I have now known for 18 years) remembers thinking of me as a picky eater. 

Turns out? I'm actually not a picky eater at all.

I just hadn't been exposed to many different types of food.

It helped to be dating James, who likes almost everything. When we'd go somewhere, he'd always offer to let me try his food. And I always did. That was the turning point for me. Doors were opened.

I thought I didn't like fish until we had salmon at a friend's house. 

I thought I didn't like Mexican until we went to an actual Mexican restaurant.

And so on.

I love Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai food. I've had limited experience with Indian food, but I like what I've had so far. I would eat Mexican all day, every day. I still like Italian food, but now I get way more stuff in it.

I can't think of a single cuisine that I would group into an "I don't like this" category. There are certain things I'll avoid, but there's always something for me. 

Funny story: I was in Berlin a few years back for a grad school class. Our professor had lived there a few years back, and he was excited to take us to some of his favorite restaurants. He asked what we would like - there were 12 of us - and one student said, "I don't like Asian." Our professor hesitated for a second and said, "...any Asian? That's a big cuisine." The student replied: "I don't like how it smells."

(That trip to Berlin involved stops in Iceland and Denmark and introduced me to such delights as currywurst, döner kebab, Aperol, smørrebrød, and pears on pizza. Chef's kiss.)

Vacations are when I find the best food. I was in weird fruit heaven when we went to Jamaica: lychee, Jamaican apples, passionfruit, guava, soursop. 

One of my all-time favorite meals was in Massachusetts, and it was squid-ink pasta. I dream about that dish. 

That same trip, I tried my first lobster outside of a single bite at Red Lobster decades ago. I also dream about lobster.

I will admit I do have a hard time trying weird meat. I've tried plenty of unusual (to me) seafood (shark, octopus, squid, eel, crawfish), but I'd be hard-pressed to try a Rocky Mountain Oyster. I have had alligator and rabbit, but they were in sausage and pasta, respectively. I did try James's ostrich hot dog last year, and I have regrets.

Shark. 0/10 recommend.

But the good discoveries just keep coming! Until about a year ago, I thought I didn't like sushi - not because of the raw fish aspect, but because I couldn't handle the seaweed taste. A friend introduced me to the incredible concept of soy paper, and my life was changed. Now I love sushi.

Now that James and I have a tiny person of our own, we're doing our best to expose him to all kinds of food. People have commented that they wouldn't have thought to give whatever kind of food to a kid, but we want him to have a broad culinary experience. Phineas is super into seafood: he loves shrimp more than anyone I know, and he'll dig into salmon and catfish. He likes food pretty spicy, like andouille sausage. He loves Chinese food. He eats whole bell peppers like apples. 

Moral of the story: I was never actually picky - I just didn't (and don't) like traditionally Midwestern-style food. Sorry to all the hotdish aficionados out there.