I'd rather ask for no lettuce or refuse to eat something than have a dining experience full of more gagging than a hardcore porn video.
My partner still has to have her chicken and bacon burnt to the point of being crispy, but after a couple of years of training steaks are mercifully rare - hehehe, nah I love me some steak! Blue when I'm only cooking for myself, rare if it's the two of us, as I'm too lazy to time out two steaks at once... pork and lamb are (mostly) too fatty for me, and she doesn't like'em by taste, which works out well. Have you tried suggesting having one or two vegetarian nights a week it's really healthy, and personally I don't miss the meat on the nights (not one a week, I'm just not that organised) that we do it, a nut roast, a been salad, soups and breads? You could always try to escalate to a raw-food night, so many things just taste better that way; mushrooms, broccoli, fish - I don't recommend potatoes though
Funny, I have a very fussy mum. One of the things, amongst many, that she doesn't eat is chicken. We barely ever had chicken when we grew up, so much so that I thought it was a luxury meat till I started doing my own groceries at uni. My GF is also fussy but in a more general way, ie she sill expect that anything new tastes crap. She is much better now after a few years together. I found out recently that her whole family is very fussy too. As for me, I honestly don't have much time for fussiness. Of course I have preferences (like nothing sweet with my meat please), but they are not strong enough to prevent me from eating anything. We have an 8-month-old baby now, she seems to eat everything we throw at her. Fingers crossed.
My sister in law is so fussy it's an absolute nightmare whenever we all go out for a meal. I'm talking at least half an hour studying the menu with a face like she's sucking a lemon, discussing every dish in minute detail with my brother before dismissing each one having predicted the worst-case-scenario. Oh, and we always have to call the waiter over at least twice for questioning. I don't think she's ever enjoyed a meal which is ironic because she's as big as a bus.
I've nothing against large people but honestly, she's so fussy it's comical. Imagine Shane MacGowan (of The Pogues) standing at a bar, pessimistically discussing the pitfalls of each and every drink before reluctantly ordering his beer/short. And then moaning his way through each one before leaving absolutely blotto. That's what it's like. Still, nothing that a month on a remote island with nothing but a fishing net couldn't cure.
Do a blind taste test. Cremated steak vs juicy medium rare steak, and see what she like then. If she still prefers the cremated steak there is no hope.
I am fussy eater but only thanks to 27 years of being a coeliac (can't have anything with Gluten). Mine is pretty acute in the sense that something that is below the codex limit (gluten parts per milion) - thus deemed Gluten free - is a problem. I have to check everything I/we buy just in case the recipe has changed or if the product has randomly added Gluten (Wheat, Rye, Barley etc). I also have a problem with oats which makes things "fun".
Fussy eaters annoy me. So many people in the world are starving, and someone doesn't want to eat their broccoli? Come on! I (like many of you) am the one who cooks most of my family's food, and they will eat what I serve how I serve it, or they will not eat until the next meal. There's simply not enough hours in a day to serve up four differently cooked meals every time. It has been a struggle sometimes, but now (four eyars after the kids were born) our meals usually go without any complaints. Most meals are made from fresh ingredients as well, and I do not believe in Cooking good ingredients to death! Chicken is served in various ways obviously - but it is always served when it is juicy and delicious. Lamb should obviously be pink in the middle, and the same goes for venison, duck, or any number of game (which we get regularly in my neck of the woods). So OP, you've got my full understanding.
It sounds like there are some real under lying issues here. I think you need to discuss things with her and ask her to start reading up on food preparation. It could well be that this was how things were cooked for her when she was young and she is afraid to try things differently. Cooking things to a crisp removes nutritional content and is not really good for a person let alone a growing child.
I have real problems with eating most vegetables in that I cannot stand the taste of most of them and will start to heave if I try. Even those that I can manage, such as plain peas, carrots and sweetcorn I have to really force down if I am to eat them in any quantity. The thing is that I would love to eat a LOT more veg if I could, I have tried just about everything in terms of sauces, flavourings different cooking methods and so on but it always ends up the same, the rest of my dinner tries to escape along with them... As for my mrs, I've given up asking her what she wants for dinner as the conversation normally goes along the lines of: Me: What do you fancy for dinner? Her: I dunno. m: ok, what about [option 1]? h: nah, don't fancy that m: how about [option 2]? h: nah, not in the mood m: I could make [option 3]? h: no, don't want that m: Oh I know, [option 4]? h: hmmm... nah, not tonight. . . . . . m: OK, what DON'T you want for dinner? h: I dunno m: What do you mean "I dunno"?? You've just said no to 4 choices, you seem to know pretty well what you don't want... I now go more along the lines of "ok, #### for dinner, want anything else with it?" Last night I got some sausages out when I got in to defrost and told her I was having a sausage sarnie (not had one for ages) and asked her how many she wanted and what she wanted with them (ended up being spinach leaves with a little dressing on and some Dutch curry sauce for the snossages).
Not eating something for medical reasons is fine, and isn't really the issue... Its those people who won't eat something for stupid reasons like it's the wrong shade of green or because of some fad diet or ******** number... Also this, I know plenty of people who've been put off certain foods for [almost] life because of their parents [grandparents in some cases] complete inability to cook said foodstuff...
I think it is possible to train your palate. I use to hate cheese, even the smell made me baulk. But I liked the look if it, was impressed by the different varieties. I wanted to be a cheese eater. I started with very mild cheddar in a sandwich and gradually worked my way up. I have no problems with the pongiest on crackers these days. I will eat anything. Nothing tastes 'bad' to me. I just like some things more than others. I feel quite sorry for the fussy ones that miss out on all the amazing tastes that are out there.
Understand that completely. I have that problem with a few foods because my mother (despite having a culinary degree with Honours) is a pretty terrible cook. She once gave me food poisoning with a lasagne and her chilli was just awful. Really cheap Iceland frozen mince, the kind you reseal and put back in the freezer - Yuck.
fixed that mate. Lamb is such a versatile meat, just because it's not red in the middle doesn't mean it isn't juicy dripping moist and absolutely off the chart flavour, with a bit of cumin and some of it's other fantastic best mates in the flavouring world http://images.notquitenigella.com/images/slow-roasted-lamb-shoulder/a-roast-shoulder-lamb-2-1.jpg I've never been a fussy eater, I'll eat anything (can lead to weight gain) My parents always told me to pretty much stfu and eat it, so I eventually learnt about it and now I loooove cooking. Cooking is one of my things. That and paintball. (I AM new here ) I hate sweetcorn though. Thanks school dinners and fishing. F**K sweetcorn. My better half however, now shes not usually fussy and I've converted her to a hundred and one things she didn't used to like (tried it once and written it off eg. dodgy prawn cocktail at the pub) Her mother though... don't get me started. She's so damn neurotic about food poisoning it has understandably rubbed off on my girlfriend. I sometimes catch her in the act of cutting the food I cooked her into bits and inspecting it meticulously for pink bits. Yes Yolanda, if you cut open a real butchers sausage, you will find evidence of it once being an animal in there somewhere. And yes it's cooked. I don't want to boast, but I know my way round a damn kitchen, and I find inspecting someones food the height of rudeness. She is however my far better half and is forgiven, but not without a stern look and an "I know what I'm doing shut up and eat it." You would think that she had forgotten about her refusing to drink red wine 3 years ago. Now she can blind taste the difference between a Chilean Merlot and a Rioja (to anyone who knows wine, you could hardly find 2 wines MORE different, but to beginners, this is quite a step forward) as far as advice goes OP, pay for her to go on a cooking course. Simple as that, fun, a present, she learns, she tastes new stuff, she can't argue with a chef/tutor, she might cook for herself, and it might put her at ease with food. TLDR: I hate sweetcorn. My gf likes red wine now. Send your wife on a cooking course, instead of blaming her for being neurotic about food, treat it like she doesn't trust or understand food because of media hype, poor thing. Ultimately you aren't born like it, so she has probably been conditioned by media and upbringing.
I am personally a picky eater, due to allergies (eggs, most nuts). HOWEVER, unless I am allergic, I will at least try just about anything, and I cook quite well (if I say so myself - much better than most restaurants in Namibia). I know a few people that wouldn't eat Lamb/sheep, until I made it (traditional Afrikaans stew made over coals, called a Potjie). I KNOW people that eat their meat "dead", but I tend to tell them that I don't do that. I am on an educational mission in that regard: People should eat better (not more - BETTER), healthier, and learn to appreciate food more. So I offer that I will make the meat they brought (mostly over coals, since making food for people in my case often involves Braai), but I will make it to MY spec. It's perfectly healthy, and I will even make it well done, but if they want it charred, they can cook their own effing food. 9/10 times, they take my offer and enjoy it. The other 10% can't be helped.
