Oysters DO have nervous system
I was intrigued by the claim below that oysters have no nervous system. According to the site linked to below, they do.
See section 3.2.9
(chase, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 18:06, Reply)

'taters
I'm not at all picky when it comes to food.
I used to be when i was a kid.
Only ate macaroni with cheese, because bolognese sauce looked 'weird'. Hated vegetables (as one does as a kid) and generally hated 'dutch cuisine'.
Which is, too quote the great Denis Leary, You put everything in a pot and then boil it for 7 hours, so you can eat it through a straw.

My mum thought it would be a good idea to install a certain schedule, so that every monday would be dutch cuisine, wednesday was pasta day, thursday fish and chips, friday was a celebratory chipshop day etc.
Cue me running off to the goodness of grandma's home made chips or davie's mum's pancakes every monday.
She tried everything. Leaving me at the table untill i finished (imagine mom asking me please to go to bed at 11 as she wanted to go to bed herself) being grounded (so what, I'll read comic books for a couple of days) or even stopping my allowance (cue grandma again) .
Nothing worked.
Today, I eat almost anything. Whenever i go to a restaurant that has something weird, I'll try it.
Except for dutch cuisine.
Boiled potatoes with any kind of 'true dutch' veg.. forget it. I'll never eat it, i just can't get it down my throat.
(Bokbiertrol, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 18:02, Reply)

I used to be terribly picky
but 3 trips to northern China cured that, as you either eat what you get or go hungry. Even if that involves eating deep fried battered starlings. Whole. I've also just got back from a trip to Romania, where at this time of the year there isn't any veg, and the diet consists entirely of meaty things, suet and bread or other grainy things. Leaves you a bit addled after a week. You've got to have 5 bottles of beer a day just to keep things *ahem* regular.
( Milkman Dan, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 17:41, Reply)

ikky
I used to be a fishmonger, and was forced to try an oyster so that if anyone asked me, i could tell them what they were like.

lets just say it was a bloody good job no one asked, as the answer 'fkuking rank' wouldnt have sat to well with my mostly elderly customer base.
(UnstableDan Bah, Humbug! ooooh, humbugs, nyom!, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 17:06, Reply)

Mixing meat and veg
Interesting fact: oysters have no brain or nervous system. If you're vegetarian because you don't like harming animals, they should be okay. No nerves = no pain. No brain = no suffering.

Story!

I once knew someone at university who had a phobia of mixing fruit with dairy. She would be horrified if you ate a fruit-corner yogurt in front of her and, get this, would ASK IF YOU COULD MOVE if you did so whilst sitting in a group with her in the refectory...

...umm, okay. No. It's your irrational phobia. You either deal with it, or get it cured. Don't make it my problem.

Another at university; she was a vegetarian, of the kind who demanded her housemates not have meat anywhere she can see it. She would hide any meat she found in the back of the salad tray in the fridge so she wouldn't have to see it, without telling anyone, ending up with rotting, festering meat because her housemates, laid-back as they were, just assumed someone had pilfered it and wrote it off.

She would leave bossy notes around scolding them for leaving "meat juice" on their washing up in the sink.

I made it very clear that I wasn't that much of a prat when I became vegetarian.
(Musuko, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:51, Reply)

YEH GO ON
FRANK FRANK FRANK FRANK etc etc
(UnstableDan Bah, Humbug! ooooh, humbugs, nyom!, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:47, Reply)

im not much of a fussy eater
but i may have been in my youth. i too suffered the joys a holiday to france as a niave 12 year old. curse my lack of attention in fench lessons. one fateful night:

"bert ici le cheval pour le dejuner"
"say what?"
"le cheval - cest delicious"
"arrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

le cheval cooked with fried with typical french flair (a cold fryingpan wafted towards it from the far side of the room).

it was foul. i hated the french for years after that

ps might still do
( bertisfantastic bert is a sleepy bear, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:46, Reply)

Frankspencer
I'm NOT eating Frankspencer.

But I will read his stories - well, with varying degrees of revulsion.

If enough of us beg - will you oblige Sir???
(james_tiger_woods is going to start his killing spree on the, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:45, Reply)

haggis...
God's testicles. Big, meaty spicy boulders of yum.

Fish Sausage, on the other hand, is the devil's wiener. literally. processed fish that's shaped into sausages and then canned in brine. We lived in Paris for a while when I was young, and my parents kept trying to get me to like it at random intervals. after about 2 years of retching at the thought of these pinky-grey sausages of doom, they gave up. thank god.

EDIT: these fish sausages are called Quennels. If they're made from Pike (a particularly vicious breed), they're "Quennels de Brochet". My mother thinks I'd quite like them now. I disagree.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:40, Reply)

Come on frankspencer
Let's see some food Pr0n
(grandmasterfluffles Come to my Armageddon party on, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:39, Reply)

Steamed......
Steamed Haggis is the way forward.

Really.
(james_tiger_woods is going to start his killing spree on the, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:18, Reply)

did anyone see kill it cook it eat it last night?
just made me peckish
(Poptart epic lurkage ended at, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:16, Reply)

Has it been done?
Our daughter, when she was very small was incredibly picky...would only drink milk, from the breast.
(E-mail Zola Son of Che, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:14, Reply)

Team Christmas Lunch
A few years ago, our team vegetarian (let's call her Marion) decided to arrange our Christmas lunch down at the local Indian restaurant.

Trying to be ultra-organised, she asked them to fax us a copy of the menu. She then phoned them with our choices the day before so that they knew what we wanted and could have our starters more or less ready for us when we arrived.

So far so good.

Except, it transpires that Marion is the pickiest vegetarian on the planet. She doesn't like green vegetables! Despite going to great lengths to ensure that we all made our selections 24 hours in advance, she didn't!

Consequently we had to waited 20 minutes while she hummed and hawed over precisely which combination of the only 3 non-green vegetables on the fucking planet that she wanted on her plate, before they then had to go and cook it! AAAARGH!

And she had facial hair.
(Reverend Fister "a disciplined fuckwit", Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:13, Reply)

vegans are weak and weedy


the ace thing is that this guy's name is Kenneth Williams.
(apeloverage committed the vile act of onanism on, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:10, Reply)

where did it all go wrong?
yes, this topic seems to have gone slightly askew.

jester spits 'da troof' (im down wit da kids)

its all about random things you wont eat for random (and often) amusing reasons.

not a chance to force opinions, or even castigate people for their beliefs/illnesses/genuine intolerences.

lets re-find the love people.

i used to hate school mashed potatoes.
lumpy texture made me gag and retch, which actually caused a girl on my table to vomit all over her own lunch once.

I got a bolokkin' for that!!
(UnstableDan Bah, Humbug! ooooh, humbugs, nyom!, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 16:07, Reply)

Wading in
big-girls-blouse, I agree totally... I'll go into this little quagmire in a moment.

You're right never-right (ho ho), ever seen Lurpak butter? A big grey mess, tasty though. Plus I love the little trumpet playing Lurpak boy (no not that way you sick bastards!)

What the hell is wrong with (some of) you people? oh my god the peas are touching the meat and woe betide you eat them on the wrong order or on the wrong day or something. THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE BEANS ARE ALL WRONG or THEY'RE NOT ALL FACING MECCA! Try living in Africa for a month and see how well you get on without food beginning with the first letter of the number of items of food on your plate.

Some of these stories are just f'ked up. Fair enough I can understand if you were traumatised as a kid by an evil family member or someone knocked a stack of beans on you when you were 4. Otherwise GROW UP.

And if you've got a belief, for whatever reason, ie you're a vegetarian, only eat Camel on Wednesday, fine. Tell me if you like, you're welcome to your ideals. People that force their opionions on me or tell me that I'm evil for eating meat however can FOAD. In fact I'll probably eat hamburger/whale meat/your mum in front of you just to annoy you if you do! Then laugh at you and your pathetic anaemic frame as you use all your strength to pick up a spoonful of tofu. (No offence to the veggies/pescatarians(sic) who don't force opinions on me, natch.)

As for vegetables, I used to hate them. Try them steamed though, and they're actually pretty good! I can't believe in 24 pages no-one's suggested it! That goes for evil greenery such as broccoli, cauliflower, etc. Spread some butter on broccoli before steaming and it's a whole different taste sensation. I bet most of you have your vegetables boiled... no wonder you all hate them!

As you can tell I'm not really a picky eater, I'll try anything once, and then probably try it again to make sure. There's different ways of cooking food as well, like above, so try it, you never know.

Obligatory length/girth quip would go here but frankspencer's posts have been relatively on-topic this week...
(Jester_, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 15:57, Reply)

Cream Buns
I've just had 2 very large cream buns from Somerfield.

I feel ill.

The moral is to buy quality cream buns from M&S as Somerfield food is shite.....

Incidentally, fig rolls do indeed look like dog snacks, but I rather like them occasionally.

I've now got 2 boxes of Jaffa Cakes to eat - it's chow time!! :o)

Another tenuous post methinks, but who cares?
(james_tiger_woods is going to start his killing spree on the, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 15:51, Reply)

I hate looking so picky!
Ok, I'm veggie and thats my choice.

First of all, let me point out that most of the decent vegetarians you won't even realise ARE vegetarians. We don't go on about it, or make any kind of fuss, and there's plenty of other things to eat, so you could easily spend a week with me without realising that I just choose the non-meat options. I recognise that while its right for me (I don't miss meat, never crave it, and am nutritionally sound), its not how others choose to live. As for 'vegetarians' who eat fish and chicken ....

The bit where I start to look picky is my gluten intolerance (being investigated for celiac disease) and lactose intolerance. I know that some people make a fuss about food, but if you actually have these, they can have a huge impact on life. Gluten makes me so ill - it actually causes swelling in the lining of the brain that causes all sorts of nasty problems .... anyway, long story short, I miss bread, pasta, pizza, ice cream, all those things sooooo much.

I'm actually really not picky at all - the best bit about going abroad for me has to be trying new foods, and there's very little I don't like. I HATE being seen as the picky one just because I can't eat sandwiches or soy sauce, when actually I'm dying to eat the same as everyone else! So f*ck off to anyone bitching about people with food intolerances!
(cherrynicola, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 15:32, Reply)

what do i mean fig roles??
you essentially answered your own question there.

they look like marrowbone dog snacks.

and they taste shite.

anyway, were not here to argue the toss, just to post our own personal foibles.

so yes.

fig shitting roles.
(UnstableDan Bah, Humbug! ooooh, humbugs, nyom!, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 15:21, Reply)

margarine
Is actually grey.

they add the yellow cause its what we're used to with butter....(naturally yellow)

Imagine spreading a big dollop of grey slop on your bread........

Fuck


Bet I've put a few people off it now ....

/Probably not
(never-right -getting it wrong since '78, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 15:16, Reply)

What do you mean fig rolls
Fig rolls are great! they are figgy and rolly and altogether great snacks, I have a friend who is scared of eating them because they look like dog marrowbone biscuits, but hes a damn fool!
(superkitty is neither super nor a kitty, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 15:11, Reply)

I'm having a Ghandi moment !
What a sad world we live in where half of us are starving and the other half will only eat food that is yellow or triangle shaped or begins with the letter R.

Send all the picky eaters to Africa for a month and let them eat fly ridden gruel - I'm sure they'll come back cured.
( girlinthehole, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 15:03, Reply)

I'm
boring. The only thing I don't like is tommy sauce. My stepdad puts it on peas and poached eggs and stuff

*retch*
( Kroney, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 14:58, Reply)

Chocolate
Dark chocolate is the only thing to eat.

I'd eat dark chocolate all the time if I could, but milk chocolate. Just No.

Mind you, I will eat a snickers occasionally - Even I'll stoop to shit chocolate.

If anyone's ever eaten "Hershey's kisses" from the States you might agree with the fact that they're the vilest, most awful, dog vomit you can ever eat.

I think I may have already posted something like this, but meh.
(james_tiger_woods is going to start his killing spree on the, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 14:58, Reply)

A pair of loudmouthed hoons on an internet messageboard
are trying to get me OMGEVICTED because I won't suck their cocks. :'((((((((
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 14:52, Reply)

RACHELSWIPE!!
YES!!!
FIG ROLES.

who created them?

and were they suitably punished?

like when your dad caught you smoking and made you smoke fourty of the fkucers.
i hope the person who made fig roles was forced to devour roughly seven million of the bastads.

oooooh, the time they would spend poo-ing!
(UnstableDan Bah, Humbug! ooooh, humbugs, nyom!, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 14:52, Reply)

Curry
I can't eat Lebanese curry as it gives me the Shi‘ites.
( abefroman skating on the thin life of modern life on, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 14:43, Reply)

my saviour
I once had a dream where I was in grave danger of being swept away by a very large kite I had been flying. My feet were already off the ground and I knew I was moments from being lost to the skies forever, I was genuinely petrified.

Just at the point of no return I felt the reasuring grip of a strong pair of hands on my ankles, gently but firmly pulling me back to earth. I looked around to find my savior was none other than Terry Wogan! and he was surrounded by a troup of cheer leaders, doing the pelvis thrusting type dancing and singing Terry's names along to the chorus of Salt'n'Peppas Push It...
"ooh Terry WOHgan, T-Terry WOHgan..ooh Terry WOHgan, T-Terry WOHgan". ahh push it. etc.

This did not turn me vegetarian though.
.
(Darth Vegas Poke It With A Stick, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 14:40, Reply)

My Name's Grouch, and I was a vegetarian.
The various spats about vegetarianism below have reminded me that once upon a time, I too spurned meat. Not through morals, not through ethics - no. I had a bloody dream.

Ms Grouch of the time was a full-blown veggievangalist. She didn't even like me eating meat in front of her. She was also fond of dragging me to strange, experimental restaurants.

One evening, the cuisine du jour was Nepalese. Nepalese curry to be exact. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I ended up eating a cheese and aubergine curry. Bizarre, but kind of nice. My only mistake was to eat it late at night. Cheese+sleep = hallucinations.

At some point just before waking, I was aware of floating in a big blue pond. It was quite pleasant - sun shiny, light breeze. I floated about for a while, happy as larry.

At which point a dolphin swam up to me. Dolphin was happy. Dolphin smiled!

Then a cow swam up. cow was happy! Cow smiled.

Then my old family dog swam up - the dog that was with us from when we were tiny, and who had died only a couple of years before. He was happy, and smiled too.

And so, floating happily, surrounded by cheerful and much loved animals, my cheese-twisted psyche decided to have my dreaming self pull out a fuck-off great knife and stab each and every one of them in the head.

No kidding - i woke up in a cold sweat, screaming, and with a subconscious disinclination to eat meat. Not a hatred, not a digust at the thought, just a general feeling that I didn't want to eat it. Which lasted a whole year.

So, I guess where I'm going is that sometimes you don't need a physical or philosophical reason to not like a particular food. Sometimes these things just happen.

Next week - how 12 months of protein deficiency and a chronic craving for pork pies brought me back to being an omnivore...
( Grouch would quite like his clients to stop being numptys, Tue 6 Mar 2007, 14:23, Reply)