Nadya- I know it's a pain to deal with, but I'm somewhat glad I'm not the only one that goes through this.
The fatty parts are typically the worst for me! I hate the texture so much!
toastedsmoke- My husband is the exact same way with onions as you are! If it's blended away into something and doesn't have that onion texture, he's fine, but seeing/feeling actual chunks of onion and he's done.
I can talk about animal parts just fine, my only real issue is eating them and (sometimes) watching other people eat them. My dad actually grew up on an old-fashioned farm and had to help slaughter and clean the animals as a kid, and while I never experienced anything like that as a kid myself those stories gave my nightmares
theox- I think you've hit the nail on the head with a lot of your post, and the first thing that comes to my mind is that yes, it's embarrassing because I
know I come off as being childish. My friends and immediate family know and accept it, but outside that little circle, it can get weird. It seems more socially acceptable to dislike any or even most veggies!
And under normal circumstances, it isn't an issue for me. I'm typically buying, cooking, and ordering my own food, not relying on someone else's choices. But I was staying with my aunt and grandma for a week in January, and while shopping at the mall they wanted to go to one of their favorite restaurants and get a big order of buffalo wings for all of us to share. But . . . I can't deal with the little gristly parts and connective tissues on the bones; whenever I do order "wings," they're boneless. But that particular restaurant didn't have that option, and since they do know I like chicken, I didn't have an excuse. So I just told them them I don't like chicken "on the bone" and got some really weird looks! And one night my aunt fixed some roast for dinner, and I suffered through it out of politeness, just as I suffered through most of the meat dishes my mother cooked us when I was growing up. I felt just like a little kid again, and not in a good way.
And at my in-laws' house? Sigh. That household is a completely different culture when it comes to food and there's also the language barrier; they're Mexican, speak primarily Spanish, and eat a lot of traditional dishes I'd never heard of before. MIL thinks I'm weird for wanting to put cheese and veggies on tacos since
real tacos only have meat, and has laughed at me for always using a fork; they pick up their meat, beans, cheese, and many other foods with torn-off tortilla pieces and I'm not very comfortable doing that (plus I don't want the simple carbs in the tortillas anyway). They often eat items such as goat, beef tongue, and soups with with huge bones right there in the serving bowl. Yes, I've sampled the goat, the tongue, and just about anything else that admittedly looks "weird" to me, and typically dislike the flavor and/or texture. I do try to be open-minded when I try something new. The tongue is spongy! I didn't think I'd enjoy the pork tamales but I actually prefer them over the chicken tamales. And I guess I should point out that the flavor of most meat is too much for me anyway . . .
So perhaps my palette for meat never grew up, as you've implied? Chicken breast certainly doesn't have a strong flavor and I prefer the dry texture. The thighs just seems greasy and really gross to me.
When I have a burger, I request for it to be extra well done and need to have condiments for it. I want it to be dry, and if I don't have condiments, I don't like the strong taste of the burger itself. Well, it's more that the flavor is just too much for me after a bite or two. I'm like that with steak; I can never order a whole steak because it's just too much meat flavor for me after one or two bites (plus I can't deal with the fatty parts anyway). My husband often orders steak, and sometimes he'll offer me a bite, being conscious not to give me any pink or fatty areas. And if I'm in the mood, I'll take that bite, and each time I marvel that I indeed like it a lot, but that the one bite is quite enough. It would be too much for me to try to eat any more if it, if that makes any sense, as the flavor is sort of overwhelming. I do like pork sometimes but don't eat very much. I've had venison and rabbit, neither of which I cared for. I've never liked the dark meat on turkey but love the white, as far back as I can remember. I like small amounts of bacon but the flavor quickly gets overwhelming. I've also had buffalo, ostrich, and pheasant, all of which seem to have an overwhelming flavor that's just too much for me. When it comes to meat, I always go back to something bland, dry, and virtually flavorless I guess. Oh, and I used to enjoy seafood, but became allergic as a teenager.
So when we head to the in-laws for any kind of visit, MIL is always offering me food! But I typically can't handle their meat dishes, I rarely drink soda, can't have seafood, can't have anything with apple juice (most of the juice mixes they drink contain it and I'm allergic), can't have diet drinks (I've got a bad reaction to aspartame) . . . and on top of all that I'm trying to diet. Add the language barrier to the mix and trying to visit can be a nightmare. Sometimes I feel like they're trying to bend over backwards in order to cater to me, or that they must wonder how on earth I can weigh so much when I barely eat anything at their house. I certainly don't mind bringing food that I'm more comfortable having, especially when I can share. I've been known to bring big bowls of fruit salads, vegetable salads, or a casserole for everyone (whether or not anyone else eats any is a different story) and as I stated before, even my own meat. But . . . food is such a huge issue there, and I don't want it to be.
They even make a big deal about what to give me to drink when I've already made it clear how many times that I'm just perfectly fine with water.
The other night was just the worst though, feeling embarrassed and even rude over not being able to stomach the chicken they'd gone out of their way to fix especially for me, and me not really having any other options for dinner but to wait until we left. I could totally understand an outsider to the situation thinking I'm just being a drama queen, but at the same time I feel like they should know me by now as I've been a part of the family for five years.
BTW, I love animals in general and I do like snakes.
Back in high school, I was the only one in my biology class that would hold Matilda, our teacher's boa constrictor.
But when it came to having to dissect frogs in the same class, I was able to do it (even got an A on that anatomy test!), but was the only one of my classmates that cried in the process of cutting the outer stomach open. I even cried when I had to slice into a live planeria (a flat worm that can regenerate) for a class assignment even though the slice wasn't going to kill it; even though it was a brainless little worm I really didn't want to hurt it. While I was genuinely interested in anatomy, there was no way I was taking the next class up as I knew I wouldn't be able to handle dissecting a cat.
I'm an extremely sensitive person in general; for example, I would prefer to catch a spider so I can let it go outside rather than kill it. So maybe that's part of my problem? I need to feel detached from seeing a piece of meat sitting in front of me as a dead animal, and have trouble with that unless it's processed beyond all recognition. Otherwise, I can't stomach it.
Hmm. Maybe I do need to see a therapist.