[Bungleau]

Hmmmm.... okay, here are two stories from my past.

First, many years ago when I was about 8, my mother and I got into a "discussion" about whether I was going to finish dinner at my grandmother's house.

My grandmother had made golompki -- stuffed cabbage rolls, for those unfamiliar with the poorly-spelled Polish. I liked the inside, but did not want to eat the cabbage leaves themselves -- after baking for three hours (or whatever), they were limp and soggy with the consistency of scum on the top of cold soup and the taste of a piece of paper. Naw, I'm not still bitter [img]smile.gif[/img]

Well, after two hours at the table (with everyone else long gone and doing things around the house), and me being forced to finish before I could leave the table, I finally won the "discussion" -- I took one more bite and promptly [img]graemlins/1puke.gif[/img]

So baked cabbage leaves and things of similar texture are on my list.

Okay, on a more pleasant note... I was around 22 and doing a stint as a chaperone for a group of exchange students to France. As the "teachers", myself and the responsible adult were invited to almost every host parent's home for dinner, snacks, cocktails... the list went on. Many of the things we were served are local delicacies, and often things prepared differently from what I'm used to. Pulling the shrimp apart was new to me, but I still enjoyed.

If I didn't care for something, I made it a practice to try two of them, in case the first may have been bad. That's a practice I keep with to this day.

At one home, we were served smoked oysters. Now, I'm a midwestern steak-and-potatoes guy, and seafood has never been high on my list. I tried the first one, all slippery and slimy like it might not be dead yet, and decided I had to have my "confirmation bite". Second one was as bad as the first, and I decided I didn't like smoked oysters. The other teacher ate my share, and she and I had a good laugh about it afterwards.

Next day, we go to another family, and our hostess walks in with a tray, proclaiming that she has heard that "Americans love smoked oysters!" [img]graemlins/2puke.gif[/img]

The other teacher looked at me and laughed.

I had one, and had another. Didn't like them either.

So smoked oysters are number two on my hit list. I like other kinds of oysters, just not smoked. At least, not yet.