Disallowing certain ingredients does not restrict one’s range of recipes that much. That is how some traditional cuisines came to be, in countries where the local religions forbid certain types of foods. For example Islamic countries. They just found ways around pork and alcohol, and judging by the popularity of Middle Eastern cuisine, it’s not as if they’re any worse off for it. The same thing happened recently with vegetarian or vegan food. So many recipes are explicitly branded as vegan that it’s not difficult for a vegan person to find things to eat.
I find myself at the midpoint of the two approaches to eating. On one hand, I don’t have any specific ingredients which I altogether avoid for other reasons than the fact that I absolutely hate their taste or find the idea of them yucky. I rather avoid certain classes of meals than of ingredients. I find myself new stuff to eat by rummaging the internet for recipes, and then whatever those recipes demand, I add in my shopping basket next time I go shopping for groceries. I don’t need to diet, have gotten good at counting calories, and rely on that and on my own feeling of satiety to maintain my weight (as well as the trick of leaving home for hours at a time without eating out in town). I’ve tried cutting some stuff off my list of allowed foods (big classes of foods, such as everything sugary) and followed it successfully for months, then suddenly I started getting such strong cravings for the disallowed stuff and such a feeling of nausea when trying to continue eating my regular foods that I found it impossible and not worth it to continue.
On the other hand, this international, experimental way of cooking is absolutely completely not the way things are done around here. I always wind up with what my relatives regard as weird fancy gourmet food as opposed to the traditional food in my country. I mean, if I asked my grandma about quinoa or zucchini or persimmon or other such foreign-named stuff I eat, she’d just give me a blank stare. Besides, I do consciously avoid most processed food, push myself to eat more vegetables, and impose fairly strict limits on the caloric intakes I find acceptable, even when I’m not consciously monitoring everything I eat down to the tens of kcal. Otherwise, it’s pretty much just down to cravings.
I can’t say much about restaurant eating, though. It’s not a habit for me. I like cooking too much, and tipping, too little.
Disallowing certain ingredients does not restrict one’s range of recipes that much. That is how some traditional cuisines came to be, in countries where the local religions forbid certain types of foods. For example Islamic countries. They just found ways around pork and alcohol, and judging by the popularity of Middle Eastern cuisine, it’s not as if they’re any worse off for it. The same thing happened recently with vegetarian or vegan food. So many recipes are explicitly branded as vegan that it’s not difficult for a vegan person to find things to eat.
I find myself at the midpoint of the two approaches to eating. On one hand, I don’t have any specific ingredients which I altogether avoid for other reasons than the fact that I absolutely hate their taste or find the idea of them yucky. I rather avoid certain classes of meals than of ingredients. I find myself new stuff to eat by rummaging the internet for recipes, and then whatever those recipes demand, I add in my shopping basket next time I go shopping for groceries. I don’t need to diet, have gotten good at counting calories, and rely on that and on my own feeling of satiety to maintain my weight (as well as the trick of leaving home for hours at a time without eating out in town). I’ve tried cutting some stuff off my list of allowed foods (big classes of foods, such as everything sugary) and followed it successfully for months, then suddenly I started getting such strong cravings for the disallowed stuff and such a feeling of nausea when trying to continue eating my regular foods that I found it impossible and not worth it to continue.
On the other hand, this international, experimental way of cooking is absolutely completely not the way things are done around here. I always wind up with what my relatives regard as weird fancy gourmet food as opposed to the traditional food in my country. I mean, if I asked my grandma about quinoa or zucchini or persimmon or other such foreign-named stuff I eat, she’d just give me a blank stare. Besides, I do consciously avoid most processed food, push myself to eat more vegetables, and impose fairly strict limits on the caloric intakes I find acceptable, even when I’m not consciously monitoring everything I eat down to the tens of kcal. Otherwise, it’s pretty much just down to cravings.
I can’t say much about restaurant eating, though. It’s not a habit for me. I like cooking too much, and tipping, too little.