Picky eaters something to be studied

Duke University's Medical School is conducting an interesting survey online of adults who are picky eaters. According to the blurb on their website, "Most people have foods that they dislike or will not eat. However, for some people, unusual or picky eating leads to distress or problems."

I've been told by many people that I am a picky eater. Friends and co-workers like to point out when I say I don't like something, which apparently I do a lot out at restaurants or when talking about meals.

Even though I write a food column each week in the Life section of the Weekend Pinnacle, I am certainly not adventurous in what I eat. Anyone who reads the column on a regular basis will probably notice the almost complete absence of seafood recipes. It's not something I eat, so it's not something I cook and it's not something I write about. Others who know me personally will also know that anytime a recipe calls for dark chicken meat, I substitute white meat. If it has bell peppers, I pick them out of my serving. If it calls for jalapenos, I leave them out or substitute in a milder pepper. I don't eat tofu, eggplant, zucchini or anything that has an unpalatable mushy texture. I avoid pork chops, pork shoulder, pork tenderloin but am totally fine with pork sausage and ham.

The main things that make something not appealing to me are texture and smell. The smell of curry is enough to make me nauseous and the smell of fish is equally appalling.

I don't eat anything that comes out of the water - except perhaps rice. That includes fish, shellfish, seaweed and anything else someone might come up with. The last time I ate fish I was probably 7 years old and it was probably a tuna fish sandwich at my grandparents' house. I've had friends who have tried to cure me of my dislike of fish. I tried a bite of teriyaki mahi mahi once at a restaurant. It tasted good - but it still brought about a gag reflex and made me lose my appetite. I tried a tiny taste of fish in South Africa at a friend's insistence and again the gag reflex kicked in. He said he didn't realize I actually have a physical reaction to it and asked me to never try fish again. A few years ago I ate a stuffed mushroom that a friend assured me had to crab in it. I swallowed it and ended up sick for days - which perhaps could have been a food allergy but since I never ate shellfish I didn't know about it.

So I thought I might be a candidate for the survey and decided to take it a few days ago. It's sort of the first step in gathering information so there is no long-term commitment to follow up studies or any requirement to taste test things in front of researchers. Once I started taking the survey, I realized that perhaps I am not as picky an eater as I thought. The questions include things about avoiding social situations or not going to restaurants.

I will admit that I do dislike potlucks because I don't like eating dishes when I don't know exactly what is in them. But it is also because I think a lot of people just aren't very good cooks. When I do have to go to potlucks, I generally stick to what I brought and scout out a few other safe dishes. If I am going to a new restaurant, I do check out the menu on the Web site to ensure there is something I like. There almost always is, unless it is a seafood restaurant. So I wouldn't say I stay out of situations because of picky eating habits.

It does ask if you lie to people about your eating habits and I emphatically say no. I am open about all the things I don't like to eat so people know not to offer them to me.

I did try to break out of some of my pickiness this year by making resolutions to eat at five new restaurants and to cook with five new ingredients. I did get a few ingredients I liked, but I also got one that I will never use again. When I made quinoa at the beginning of the year halfway through dinner the gag reflex kicked in and I couldn't finish my plate. Now the sight of quinoa turns my stomach so I've added that to the lengthy list of things I don't eat.

Seafood restaurants are not for me

When it comes to eating out, I have always been a creature of habit. I've eaten out a couple times since the New Year and I always end up at a chain restaurant I've been to a hundred times before - like Olive Garden or Famous Dave's.

Since adding eat at five new restaurants to my resolution list in January (Resolution No. 2), I've thought a few places I'd like to try, but haven't really made much of an effort.

This weekend when I was out and about with my cousin for some wedding favor shopping for her upcoming May nuptials, she suggested we stop at Rosy's at the Beach for lunch. The restaurant is in downtown Morgan Hill and I've heard good things about it so I agreed. But perhaps I should have realized that any restaurant that is in the landlocked Santa Clara Valley with the word "Beach" in the title probably has something to do with seafood.

As it turns out, almost everything on the menu had something to do with fish or shellfish, both of which I don't eat. I was a little worried since my experience at seafood restaurants has been that they don't really do very well with their non-fishy items. Blame it on Hawg's seafood, where I used to go with colleagues at San Jose State. There was one non-fish item on the menu and it was horrendous.

I settled on half a wedge salad and half a portabello mushroom sandwich. There is really no way to go wrong with a wedge salad since as long as the iceberg lettuce is crisp and the salad was good with its creamy balsamic vinaigrette. As for the sandwich, it was good, but it was certainly something I could have easily made at home.

The decor was nice and the restaurant had a locally-owned vibe to it, which I always like. It was crowded enough on a late Saturday afternoon. But it is probably best left to seafood lovers and not those like me who don't eat anything harvested from the water.