So I ate this food with my mouth the other day and hey listen to this:

[elpollodiablo]

But: cheese and seafood? What the fuck is wrong with you?

[Greg Nog]

Has anyone here ever found tomatoes disgusting and doesn't anymore now, incidentally? If so, what strategy would you recommend to ease yourself into eating tomatoes? It's the big fleshy saucy tomatoes that put me off the most (that, and tomato sauces), so I guess I should just start by trying some cherry tomatoes and working my way up from there.

I'm kinda reeling from the animosity towards cheese and seafood.  That's like fifty percent of what I eat in any given day.

Regarding tomatoes:  I imagine that cherry tomatoes would be a fine starting point; when I was a kid, we used to have them growing all around our front door, so on the way in or out of the house, I'd often pop one off the vine and eat it.  You might try taking a cherry tomato, halving it, then dipping each moist half in balsamic vinegar, and sprinkling it with a bit of sea-salt.

[alex]

But: cheese and seafood? What the fuck is wrong with you?

I offer no excuses for not eating milk that has gone off and slimy ocean dwellers.

I'll try my luck with cherry tomatoes one of these days, though. In fact, I guess I should just start a long-term project to expand my vegetable palette, one per month. I'll have to devise a plan. April is already the month of the sweet potato (I've never had any animosities towards sweet potatoes, they just never crossed my path before), May will be cherry tomatoes, June will be asparagus (or perhaps the other way around, in case asparagus is already more difficult to come by in June), and so on.

[Andrew_TSKS]

Has anyone here ever found tomatoes disgusting and doesn't anymore now, incidentally? If so, what strategy would you recommend to ease yourself into eating tomatoes? It's the big fleshy saucy tomatoes that put me off the most (that, and tomato sauces), so I guess I should just start by trying some cherry tomatoes and working my way up from there.

as a child i hated tomatoes themselves but loved tomato sauces and ketchup and such. i think it was just that tomatoes themselves were so much of a stronger tomato flavor than sauces and ketchups that it repelled me initially. as i got older, i started to like them. i'd say by the time i was 10 or so i could eat a tomato and enjoy it.

also, with your objections to minced meat and tomato-based products, you would undoubtedly die of starvation within two weeks if you tried to live off my diet.

[heather marie]

I thought you were a vegetarian, Andrew?

[andronicus]

i think it was just that tomatoes themselves were so much of a stronger tomato flavor than sauces and ketchups that it repelled me initially.

Which is funny because, having eaten mostly garden tomatoes through my childhood, store-bought ones taste basically like water with a skin to me.

[ellaguru]

Canada, maybe. It's not very common here at all.

Poutine's mostly a French Canadian thing. Not so much in the civilized parts of the country. So go right ahead and dislike it.

Also, it's hard to get good poutine outside of Quebec (easy as it is to get the crappy stuff), because the English have much stricter health regulations, so the curds you get around here are a pale imitation of the glory of which they are capable. But I do make sure to try to have some poutine when I hit Montreal. Less important than the steak tartare meal, though. Also, "Italian poutine" (oddly enough, poutine with, basically, sloppy joe poured on top of it instead of regular gravy. Not sure how it gets to be Italian at all) is a most excellent dish that will nearly completely clog your arteries at a single sitting.

[Andrew_TSKS]

I thought you were a vegetarian, Andrew?

not anymore. to be honest, i haven't been for about a year and a half. i don't eat much meat, but it happens on occasion.

really, though, i mostly eat morningstar crumbles rather than meat, so your point pretty much stands. that said, i would be surprised if alex was any more into the vegetarian substitutes than she is into the genuine article.

[diesel_powered]

You might try taking a cherry tomato, halving it, then dipping each moist half in balsamic vinegar, and sprinkling it with a bit of sea-salt.

 

[alex]

really, though, i mostly eat morningstar crumbles rather than meat, so your point pretty much stands. that said, i would be surprised if alex was any more into the vegetarian substitutes than she is into the genuine article.

I've not come across them, but I wouldn't rule out that I might eat those, actually. Is that basically crumbled tofu, or what? My main objection to ground meat is on a conceptual level, really - I only like meat if it's very, very lean, which is obviously not true of the stuff that is minced up for the production of ground meat, where you just can't be sure what's really in there. (I'm a little inconsistent in that I do eat sausage, but less so than I used to be, in that these days I really only eat the sausages that my parents bought directly from the organic farmer who made it, so there's an element of trust involved that they're not going to throw anything gross in the mix, even though I'm sure if I were to watch the production process, I'd still find it pretty gross.)  Less worried about tofu on this level. I'm also not keen on the texture of minced meat, but in my experience, meat substitutes tend to not get the texture quite right anyway, so I might be able to eat that stuff. I wouldn't go out of my way to try it, though, that's for sure.

[heather marie]

really, though, i mostly eat morningstar crumbles rather than meat, so your point pretty much stands. that said, i would be surprised if alex was any more into the vegetarian substitutes than she is into the genuine article.

I've not come across them, but I wouldn't rule out that I might eat those, actually. Is that basically crumbled tofu, or what? My main objection to ground meat is on a conceptual level, really - I only like meat if it's very, very lean, which is obviously not true of the stuff that is minced up for the production of ground meat, where you just can't be sure what's really in there. (I'm a little inconsistent in that I do eat sausage, but less so than I used to be, in that these days I really only eat the sausages that my parents bought directly from the organic farmer who made it, so there's an element of trust involved that they're not going to throw anything gross in the mix, even though I'm sure if I were to watch the production process, I'd still find it pretty gross.)  Less worried about tofu on this level. I'm also not keen on the texture of minced meat, but in my experience, meat substitutes tend to not get the texture quite right anyway, so I might be able to eat that stuff. I wouldn't go out of my way to try it, though, that's for sure.

the frozen "meat" crumbles are basically soy/vegetable protein. the texture is similar to ground meat, but the taste really takes on whatever you flavor it with. i don't use these because they're expensive and processed faux-meats tend to be loaded with sodium, but i do use TVP quite a bit. i never liked ground meat when i ate it, for much of the reasons you described, but i really love this stuff. i think it's more of the protein/fiber factor more than anything that sells it, though.

[elpollodiablo]

Daaamn I just had the best wrap ever, basically: Lettuce, avocado, bacon, herb cream cheese and red pepper.

Daaaamn.

[peacocks]

Has anyone here ever found tomatoes disgusting and doesn't anymore now, incidentally? If so, what strategy would you recommend to ease yourself into eating tomatoes? It's the big fleshy saucy tomatoes that put me off the most (that, and tomato sauces), so I guess I should just start by trying some cherry tomatoes and working my way up from there.

I used to despise tomatoes, less than a year ago.  Recently I started trying to make myself like a few vegetables I had always hated (cucumbers, green peppers, tomatoes) to open my world to new food possibilities, try to be healthier and fresher.  One night we were really drunk and walked to this fancy bar downtown and one of my friends ordered a caprese salad: tomatoes, mozzerella, bazil, red wine vinnaigrette.  I was drunk and adventurous so I tried some and liked it- I now will eat a whole big chunk of tomato no questions asked (as long as it has yummy stuff on top of it).  Since finding out I liked tomatoes I also have become fond of cucumbers and can tolerate green peppers to an extent.  It's lovely!

So I think you should get drunk, have someone make you something really fancy and amazing with the center piece being tomatoes, chow down and see what happens.

also, hm I don't eat the fake meat crumbles for the same reason- I read the ingredients and I did not like what I saw.

[heather marie]

Yeah, I won't lie: I like me a good boca chik'n patty every once in awhile, but I tend to steer clear of the heavily processed foods. TVP, tofu, tempeh, seitan or just straight up beans make much better protein replacements for me.

also: tomatoes. I have always loved them, though I think fresh ones are slightly improved if you drizzle a little olive oil on them, sea salt & fresh ground pepper, and heat them in a pan for 2 minutes. Richard and I discovered this a few weeks ago and damn, I love tomatoes and now I want to eat some.

[Greg Nog]

In my family, the most common way to eat tomatoes (and still my favorite) is:

1) Pick tomato off plant
2) slice into 1/4-inch rounds
3) spread mayo on whole wheat toast
4) top with tomato rounds
5) sprinkle with salt and eat.

The abundance of fresh garden-raised tomatoes is one of the few things I enjoy about summer.  My dad is apparently growing seventeen different varieties this year.

[andronicus]

Did you just tell me how to make a tomato sandwich

[peacocks]

it looks like it.

I'm doing an experiment with growing tomatoes hydroponically in different mediums (aluminum cans, gravel, newspaper).  I haven't started growing them yet but I'm looking forward to the taste test when they are ready to eat!

[Greg Nog]

Did you just tell me how to make a tomato sandwich

This one's open-faced!  It tastes more deliciously evil because open-faced sandwiches are taboo in many cultures.

[ellaguru]

I like my tomato sandwiches with olive oil, cream cheese and basil. On a bagel. A little pepper. Open-faced, though, yes.

[Mike24]

I also have become fond of cucumbers and can tolerate green peppers to an extent

green peppers are worthless.  red, yellow, and orange are the way to go.

[Mike24]

oh and in the spirit of the thread, i made some beasts of sandwiches last night that had bbq chicken from a whole roasted bird, caramelized onions, bacon, tomatoes, mozzarella, chipotlle mayo, and avacado.  melted that sucker under the broiler.  oh man it was good.

[alex]

Thanks for the tomato suggestions, people. I think I'll go with peacock's 'getting drunk' strategy, or with Heather's suggestion with the olive oil and so forth, or perhaps a combination thereof. Though I'm not sure I really want to try this in someone else's company, because I'm all too aware of my inability to swallow stuff that I find gross, and I don't want to be spitting out food while other people are around...

Also, TVP very much sounds like something I'd eat.

Also, on topic, I am eating a MEAN potato goulash right now. I accidentally dumped two big chunks of chili powder in there and, well, what do you know, it turned out a little bit more difficult to eat than usual (hot!), but also much tastier than any other potato goulash I've made, perhaps even had, so far. Lesson learned: be more liberal with the chili powder.

[alex]

green peppers are worthless.  red, yellow, and orange are the way to go.

Green peppers are the best kind if you're eating raw peppers. For frying and roasting, red, yellow and orange are indeed the way to go.

edit: though really, green are totally fine even then, and throughout most of the year, they are waaay cheaper than the other kinds (in Austria, anyway), so it's what I go with a lot.

[Greg Nog]

I actually like raw red peppers better.  Mainly, I buy green peppers 'cause they're cheaper, and if I'm cooking them in something with a lot of other flavor and color (like chili), there's usually not a noticeable difference.

[Mike24]

green peppers are worthless.  red, yellow, and orange are the way to go.

Green peppers are the best kind if you're eating raw peppers. For frying and roasting, red, yellow and orange are indeed the way to go.

edit: though really, green are totally fine even then, and throughout most of the year, they are waaay cheaper than the other kinds (in Austria, anyway), so it's what I go with a lot.

ah ok.  i'll trust you on that since i tend to avoid raw veggies like the plague.