h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well do you? Is there anything else that you were made to eat, refused to eat, not made to eat but were made to feel that you should as a child?

Also, is there anything that you ate then, without thinking about it, because you were given it, but would not dream of eating it now? e.g. brains on toast (yes really, pre BSE obviously), stuffed heart, brawn,
brown sugar sandwiches as a treat.

Yes, I like sprouts. Not too mushy and not too hard.

I used to eat rice pudding a lot in my youth, but I won't touch it now, because my Mum used to overdo it.

Peas! God how I hated peas. Disgusting green little peas to almost everything.
I'll never forgive my parents for forcing me to eat peas. At the end I just swallowed them and hoped not to choke.

But to be honest, I don't know what a sprout is.

A sprout (or Brussels sprout) is a vegetable that could best be described as a bud-like ball of smooth green leaves, somewhat like a tiny dark green cabbage, about 2 or 3cm in diameter.
They grow clustered around the side of the vertical stem of the parent plant, a bit like a load of green table-tennis balls glued to a 3cm diameter stick.
The flavour is quite cabbage-like, possibly a little more fragrant, but I seem to remember hearing that there's a component to the aroma that some people can smell, and other people can't - one of those genetic sense of smell things.

I don't have a problem with sprouts, especially if covered in gravy, but many people seem to dislike them. Maybe I'm missing part of the aroma - while I have a generally good sense of smell, I'm completely unable to smell Durian fruit, which is supposed to really stink as far as *most* people are concerned.

Personally, I really don't care for cucumber, but I think it's partly the often slimy texture I really dislike. In something like Tzatziki, I don't mind it at all. I'm not too fond of melon, but that's mainly because it's so bland it feels like a waste of energy eating it.

I was rather put off broccoli by the canteen at Bath universtity, since they cooked it so hard and so long that it turned into a load of bare stalks and a floating scum of tiny green leaf balls. Once I worked out how to cook it properly for myself (~1 min in boiling salted water), I realised I rather liked it.

Love them or loathe them, it's not a proper Christmas dinner without sprouts. Having said that, as long as they're still crunchy I do quite like them.
But Rice Pudding! As a child I hated the stuff and have vivid memories of refusing to eat it at school and then being forced to sit for an hour, on my own, in a corner of the dining hall, with an untouched bowl of rice pudding and a clean spoon until somebody finally realised I was never going to eat it and let me go. These days I can just about cope with it if I've made it myself and added nice spices - but please don't talk about that ready made stuff in cans that an ex-flatmate of mine used to wolf down cold every day.

Wow... gotta love them sprouts!

They have to be my number one favourite veg to have on my Sunday Dinner... heaps of mashed potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and my vegitarian gravy...

YUMMMMMMMMMM!

I hate sprouts!

I have tried to cook them in all ways.
I have done them with garlic, I have done them with bacon, I have cooked them crunchy and soft.
I HATE SPROUTS. Moreover, I have never asked my children to eat them.

My children grew up on green trees and white trees covered with cheese sauce, and as adults they still eat them so I must not have over done it.

I love sago pudding with a drizzle of liqueur over it.

What is it with dinner ladies (you know who you are, Mrs. Apps)? You just aren't allowed to dislike anything.

I, too, have been in trouble for being late for lessons due to one of these dragons.

My wife has memories of being force-fed custard, then throwing it up(I don't blame her - school custard bears no relation to that served in the rest of the world).

Ick - Custard. Maybe its just the way my mom used to make it.

and... my British friends have told me that the sprouts here in the states are different from the ones over the pond. I think they are probably disgusting in any incarnation.

I hate carrots... ney... loathe them. I live with two vegetarians for two years who insisted that I try the vegetable thing (at the time the only veg I would eat was potatos and peas). I can get along with most veg now, but Carrots, my god they are vile. The only way I can consume them is if they are in a very hot 'n' spicy veg curry.
Sprouts suck as well. Does anyone know why they are a christmas tradition? Did a shepard bring some to the shed?

There were some *weird* things - I remember a scarily pink form of custard, and some kind of jam tart which was basically a half-inch layer of pastry with about a millimetre-thick film of jam spread over the top. Come to think of it, most other sweets were rather similar, just with slightly different hints of topping.

Presumably for economic reasons, the meat was usually about three-quarters connective tisue, but on the positive side, the cheese they used in cheese and onion tarts was so rough that the end result did have quite a strong cheese taste, and I rather liked it.

There seemed to be some special process that the mashed potato underwent that resulted in a complete absence of any actual potato flavour.

Maybe they are traditional because they are a winter vegetable. Maybe it was one of the few things that was easily obtainable in the old days. Like carrots. Have you ever had them sweet and soured? Might make them more palatable.

PINK CUSTARD, I'd forgotten that.
And semolina with a blob of jam in it.
Does anyone still eat tabioca?

Unless we are in the middle of a war, or a drought, or a locust plague and there is no way of ever finding any other vegetable ever. I cannot see any reason why I should deprive any of these poms that like sprouts, of having their sprouts. I will eat gum leaves in stead, they have a better flavour.

Most vegetables are really good if they are bought fresh, properly prepared and cooked carefully. My children love most vegetables, even the less popular ones - brocolli (trees), cauliflower (in cheese sauce), parsnips (especially roasted with parmesan cheese), red cabbage (with apples and onions), courgettes, aubergines, squashes, baked caremelized onions, runner beans (with butter), Jerusalem artichokes (baked in a cheese and tomato sauce), carrots (glazed) etc. - but only when they are cooked properly. However, the whole family dislike sprouts (I can just about manage them with lots of butter and Hellmans) and therefore we NEVER have them for Christmas Dinner - tradition or no tradition.

My personal dislikes are potatoes, cake, animal insides (offal), pastries in any form, stews, most puddings - especially rice and semolina, curries, fat on meat,anchovies, all forms of beans (including baked beans), ham and coffee (to name but a few)!!

At one time there wasn't a vegetable around that I liked. Now I'm starting to come round a bit.

Sprouts are alright, as long as they are stir-fried with a bit of sesame oil and some mustard seeds.

nothing wrong with a few brussels.
Cucumber on the other hand is annother matter.

I like sprouts although I wasn't too keen on them as a kid but I think this was probably because you're not expected to like them as a kid.
Yeugh - school dinners! Someone mentioned semolina with a blob of jam, I remember that, and it wasn't too bad. I did love the chocolate sponge and chocolate custard - MMMMmmmmmm yumyumyum!!
I've been trying to think of a food that I don't like and I can't. I eat just about anything. The only thing I can think of is liver. I don't like liver - but hey, who does?

You can't beat pate on toast for brekkie and that liquidised liver...mmmmmmm