Reply to How do I tell the foodie hosting me I'm a very picky eater?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP -- I'm a picky eater too, but part of being a picky eater is knowing how to make it work in the real world. What is it that you do for a living that you never have to deal with business lunches/dinners in fancy restaurants that do not feature roasted chicken and mashed potatoes?

I was feeling your pain until you mentioned the "exotic" foods that she flies in from other countries as being caprese salad, Indian, and Mexican. While all those may be "ethnic," they hardly qualify as ethnic and are pretty much mainstream now, esp in the big cities. I'm a picky eater too and I find that in order to not stand out in a bad way, I can only tell people 1 thing I absolutely won't eat and find a way to deal with everything else; for me that's sushi (which gets a ton of judgment), but if you say "I'm up for anything besides sushi, that leaves a LOT of different options." You cannot politely say "well I'm up for anything besides sushi, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Thai, or Chinese" because the host will be thinking WTF.

I'm someone who on my own would never order anything besides burgers, pizza, or pasta marinara. There are a LOT of things I don't like -- for me mostly having to do with sauces and cheeses -- I still think plain food w/o too much added on is best. Yet through years of eating out, I've grown to LOVE Turkish/Lebanese/Middle Eastern, and I like Chinese/Thai, Indian, and Mexican. Granted I tend to eat the simplest thing off of each of those menus, but I eat enough things to make it work (chicken shawrma (sp?); any kind of chicken/tofu with veggies; paneer tikka masala or a few other Indian vegetarian dishes; chicken or steak fajitas etc.)

It can be done and the reason it isn't working for you is because you are refusing to try stuff and going in with an "ew that looks like $hit" attitude. You have to try stuff on a repeated basis and your tastebuds start to figure it out. As for your aversion to spice, I'm sorry but that's just lack of exposure to anything besides bland chicken. So what if you ate Indian food and had to gulp water -- you eat it a few more times, you'll get used to it and not need water.

For this dinner, I'd decline. I'm sorry but it's embarrassing for a grown adult to go to a dinner and eat plain naan and water while everyone is chowing down on chicken tikka and whatever else. Of course your hostess comments -- it's REALLY obvious that you're not eating and don't like the food. It's not like you're a 4 yr old and your mom can say "oh Joey had a late snack, he must not be hungry." You're a grown woman who should understand that part of etiquette and socializing includes eating things you may not love, so as to take the focus off the food and to be able to socialize; you're not there for a meal, you're there to hang with your friends -- not much hanging out with happen if your friends are constantly saying "oh why aren't you eating, can I get you something else?"[/quote]

You win! Excellent advice.[/quote]

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