By Estefania Magdalena | Staff Writer 

Since I was little, I have been picky when it comes to eating. As the years passed and having more freedom to choose what to eat, I began to develop food quirks that made me stop eating certain foods because they do not seem “attractive” to me. 

I am one of those people who “eat with their eyes.” This means that if a food is not aesthetically attractive to me, I will probably not eat it because it will not cause me any pleasure. This usually happens to me with, for example, Asian foods like pho since I don’t like to see solid foods “dipped” in liquids on the plate like soups or ramen. 

I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and most of the meals are Italian, Spanish, or a mixture of European and Argentine culture. Although there are Asian restaurants, it is not something very common or something that I have never particularly been interested in experiencing, except for sushi. This has led me to slowly limit the foods I like, and over the years, I realized that my weird quirks have gotten a little boring, and I’m now (a little) more open to trying something beyond the same pasta.  

It is very boring to always eat the same thing, and it is also boring not being able to leave my comfort zone to try different dishes. But I think it’s something that happens to me in general with my life, not just with food. I realized that I am a structured person and sometimes I find it difficult to get out of my comfort zone. It happens to me in other small aspects of my life, for example, when I drive I always listen to the same songs, and usually I always take the same streets to go home.

I don’t eat anything that has “strange” colors, for example foods that are purple. I’ve never tried poi simply because it’s purple, and the times I’ve seen my friends eat it, I just don’t understand what it is.

The same situation happens to me with cakes made with vegetables. To my brain, cakes are sweet and vegetables are not. Therefore ,I cannot eat a cake made of sweet potato (and it is also purple), nor could I eat a cake made of pumpkin.

Another food that I cannot eat is ramen since the noodles are very long, very thin, and very white for the type of noodle that I like to eat. And also the fact that it is a solid food submerged in a liquid, in this case the soup.

Regarding sweets, I do not like sweets that are covered in sugar and, for example, “snake gummies”. I don’t like marshmallows either because they have so many “soft” toned colors and are extremely soft. I have tried them, but I have not enjoyed the sensation in my mouth.

When it comes to eating, not only the taste but the sensation I feel when chewing food is decisive for me to like it. For this reason, I don’t like frozen cakes either. I feel a bit unpleasant when chewing the cold ice cream between two layers of cookies. The same thing happens to me with some fruits such as apples, since the noise that the teeth make when chewing it gives me a feeling of discomfort.

I am not a person who likes to cook, and I am quite impatient, so there are vegetables and fruits that I simply will not eat because I am too lazy to have to peel them. This happens to me with onions, oranges, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, carrots, etc. The only way I can eat them is if they are already peeled, if not then I am not going to cook them either eat them. 

I can’t have beverages that have ice inside, and I don’t like cold water either. I always try to buy water that is out of the refrigerator at room temperature. I don’t like green juices, and I don’t like anything that tastes of coconut either.

Another strange thing that happens to me is that the ice creams that I like are generally dark in color, such as chocolate. I am not attracted to light colored or white ice creams like vanilla, lychee, etc. The only way I can eat light colored ice cream is to have toppings on top that make me not think about the color, for example, colored candies, chocolates, and cookies. Fruits as a topping are not included and I would definitely never eat ice cream with kiwi, mango, or any other fruit topping.

Among the strange things that I like to eat are coffee accompanied by a banana, pizza with mustard and especially the crusts, tomatoes as a snack as anyone would eat a guava, I like to dip the bread in the pasta sauce, and I also like to dip cakes and croissants in hot coffee with milk.

Without a doubt, I am a person with particularities when it comes to eating. My favorite foods are Italian pasta, pizza, cheese, and bagels with extra avocado. Because there are few foods that I like to eat, I am always eating those foods, and it can get boring and monotonous at times.

Since I have started to feel very bored about always eating the same foods, I realized that it is important to try new foods to get out of the routine. I would also like to start trying more local dishes, such as brownies with haupia topping. My challenge for the remainder of this year will be to try new foods and open myself to the possibility that maybe there are new foods out there that I might like and I am missing the possibility to try only because of my preconceptions of the food.