Eating quirks
This conversation came up today at lunch in regards to Halloween candy -- one girl admitted that she sorted her M&Ms in colours, another said that she ate the edges of the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups before starting in the middle.
For me, it's one of two things -- eating Cadbury mini eggs in batches of colours, and keeping everything on my plate in neat sections. So I'm curious -- all you Serious Eaters, time to 'fess up. What are your eating quirks? :D
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
33 Comments:
It seems I have a lot of candy eating quirks. Here are a few, I eat Kit-kats layer by layer. I chew the chocolate off of any nut, like peanut M &Ms or chocolate covered almonds, then eat the nut. When I eat Twix I eat the caramel first and the cookie last. Aside from candy, when I have mashed potatoes and gravy I make a well in the potatoes and pour in the gravy so that it doesn't touch the other stuff on the plate like it would if it was poured over.
kmgagne at 3:08PM on 11/02/09
My wife (who is, for the record, the loveliest and most charming woman in history) has to have a bit of everything with every bite. So if we're having salmon with boiled potatoes and salad, there will be salmon, potato and salad on her fork for each bite.
I am a separator. I want to eat each thing individually. I'm not neurotic about it; if things are meant to be mixed, I promptly mix them. But I really like individual flavours, rather than everything mixed together.
Other things...I do not like fruit in savoury dishes (prunes in my sauce on a filet mignon? Why not just punch me in the crotch?) And hot dogs are meant to be had on plain rolls with mustard and nothing else (maybe sauerkraut....I say maybe). Also, they are best consumed at Comiskey during a Sunday day game, with copious amounts of beer). Burgers should be had with cheese, mustard, mayo and pickles on soft, buttered potato rolls, and cooked medium-rare.
NotAmerican at 3:26PM on 11/02/09
I have a method for eating a good slice of pizza...I start with the tip of the triangle, because it is the best bite or two. This whets my appetite and I eat the crust, which is filling (and hopefully tasty- like I said, this method is for a good slice) but lacks delicious toppings. After the crust, I finish with the middle. Now I could just eat the slice backwards, but I can't resist the perfect tip, and then I'm ready for the filling crust, and I finish on a good note with the middle.
I really like foods that have a certain element of ritual to them- like artichokes
Gweels at 3:28PM on 11/02/09
I also tend to eat layered things in layers, and by colors. I am not above peeling the chocolate frosting off of a Hostess cupcake or a Swiss roll. I even unwrap the cake of the Swiss roll sometimes.
I also like to spread my mashed potatoes on my meat and bread, but never my vegetables. And I am put off by sandwiches with mashed potatoes as a filler.
PrettyNicola at 3:44PM on 11/02/09
I have alot of "issues" I try to keep secret from other people. Eggs cannot be eaten unless on dry toast. Cheese cannot be eaten unless on crackers. Bacon must be crispy or cannot be tolerated. Soup must have crackers(I have almost moved past this one! Go me!) Chili, macaroni and cheese, and egg salad will only be eaten if I have made them myself. Any butter on any item must be melted completely or it cannot be eaten.
Candy is a whole different topic and usually I eat candy alone because it's best enjoyed picked apart.
BigMan blames me for the eldest child "food must not touch" and "the need a different utensil for different items" issues.
PoorOldMama at 3:47PM on 11/02/09
I like to peel layers off kit kats and coffee crisp bars as well. I try to do the same with Crispy Crunch, but that's usually a sucker's game--they'll always crack and mess up your shirt/lap. Usually I'm about half way through when I realize I must look like a demented squirrel gnawing away at my chocolate bar.
BananaMonkey at 4:08PM on 11/02/09
I eat popcorn one delectable, buttery, salty morsel at a time.
smallkitchen at 4:09PM on 11/02/09
Thank you, Nestle Favourites combo, for pathologizing candy-eating for all Canadians. I too eat Coffee Crisp and Kit Kat layer by layer. The middle of a Coffee Crisp is so yummy!
I also like to eat the crust of sandwiches made on sliced bread before the rest of the sandwich, but I don't *have* to.
wellred at 4:17PM on 11/02/09
my uncle will eat his dinner bite by bite with a little of each food on his plate. when he gets to the end he'll scoop out just a few peas or a tiny bit of potato, so he can end with the perfect bite again.
i like to unscrew my oreos and eat the white stuff before eating the cookie part.
gastronomeg at 4:18PM on 11/02/09
@PrettyNicola - lol I also eat Swiss Rolls and/or cupcakes by peeling off the frosting first!
I always have to make sure my first bite and my last bite is whatever happens to be my favorite item on my plate. I try to eat all the not-so-favorite stuff first and save the best for last.
virgogrrl at 4:27PM on 11/02/09
@wellred-you lucky Canadian, I love Coffee Crisp when in Canada. Wish they were available in the states. I also am a lover of Nielson milk chocolate bars...I think they"re called Jersey Milk...delicious!
dmcavanagh at 5:01PM on 11/02/09
I don't like my foods to touch (not even the juice from one running into the other). I think I get this from a couple of cousins who would mix everything on their plates into one big pile and use a spoon as a shovel. It was disgusting.
I remove the caramel layer from a twix in one piece, eat that, then eat the cookie in sections divided by the little indentations.
I separate the layers of sugar wafers and eat them one at a time. They can only be the really good ones that actually taste like something besides sweet cardboard.
beth1 at 5:07PM on 11/02/09
So I take it from the examples/responses these are "candy" eating quirks :)
- I'm one of those folks who eats the rim of the PBcup before the middle;
- Oreos: eat one of the side cookies; then the other side with the icing
- @wellred: I eat the crust first too! (save the best for last )
...actually I share A LOT of the quirks on here....weez quirky!
hungrychristel at 5:16PM on 11/02/09
@gweels -OMG, I eat pizza the EXACT same way - tip, crust, then the rest. i seriously thought i had to be the only person in the world to do that...
@prettynicola, @kmgagne, @wellred etc - kit kats always get eaten layer by layer, but only after biting the chocolate off each end and around as much of the edge as possible. twix is also caramel first.
nalega at 5:18PM on 11/02/09
Are any of you folks in therapy because it sounds as if you have some serious control issues! For years I had to eat my last bite off my husband's plate. We moved and got a bigger table and now I can't reach his plate. Hmm, maybe i need that therapist's name.
ocarol at 6:16PM on 11/02/09
Um, hungrychristel... I share ALL those quirks-- Reese's rim before middle, one Oreo cookie side before the side with the icing, and the crust of the pizza first always (although I eat the middle of the pizza last, not the end).
In general, I always save the best for last-- I eat a little bit of everything on the plate, rotating different tastes, then save a final, perfect last bite of the best flavors!
rballenger at 6:30PM on 11/02/09
Whenever I eat anything (pretzels, cookies) I always eat the broken pieces first.
kasiaw99 at 8:10PM on 11/02/09
Skittles and jelly beans are in color order from favorite to least favorite so if I get sick of eating them I don't miss out on the ones I like.
I prefer mini Reese's cups to the normal size because you can break them open and eat them filling first.
I also break frosted cupcakes in half horizontally and flip the top so that the frosting is sandwiched in between the two halves of cake. It's a lot less messy this way.
gingercookiewithlime at 8:36PM on 11/02/09
I refrigerate my candy bars first. Oh, the delectableness of that cool first bite...
Onepot at 9:24PM on 11/02/09
Kit Kats by layers.
Swiss roll frosting, then unrolling and licking the frosting out, then eat the cake bit last.
Peanut Butter Cup rims, then the chocolate off both sides of the middle, then the perfect peanut buttery insides last.
Nutter Butters insides first, then crispy bits.
:) Good topic.
TurkeyandPickles at 11:24PM on 11/02/09
Have to have A-1 Steak Sauce on super x-x-xtra crispy fries!
Or realll Mexican Hot Picante Sauce on Onion Rings!
ChelseaGuy52 at 12:05AM on 11/03/09
when eating a frosted cupcake, I split it horizontally, flip the top and make a "frosting sandwich" out of it.
czken at 3:32AM on 11/03/09
Can't think of any at the moment. I often take oreos apart, but just as often dip/break them up in milk.
When I was a child I always ate m&m's in a particular order. They ruined if for me when they did away with the tans.
lemonfair at 7:20AM on 11/03/09
@lemonfair--I so miss the tans! *le sigh!*
As a wee tot a loooong time ago, I would separate my Oreos, eat the "plain" side, then put the two frosted sides together to make one lovely, ooooey cookie. Then "they" "invented" Double Stuff. So now, I separate my Oreos, eat the "plain" side, then put the two frosted sides together for an insanely thick nibble. You KNOW than when Nabisco releases the "Quad", I'ma hafta ratchet that sucker up, too! C'mon, you know it will happen...SNL mocked the trend in extra blades on razors, and now we have, what, is it 5 or are we up to 6 now? bladed razors...
BobbieAnne at 9:55AM on 11/03/09
@nagella and @gweels - ditto on the pizza.
@prettynicola, @kmgagne, @wellred, @nagela - ditto on the kit-kat by layer, though i haven't eaten those things in ages.
With meals in general - I try each item on the plate individually first and then I always go for the combo bite with an equal portion of each item.
The oddest thing though is in coffee preparation - I grind my beans for 20 seconds to get the right grind for the coffee percolator. And rather than count to 20 in my head, I go over the Lavern and Shirley theme song, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Schlemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated", then let it go for an additional 4 seconds.
yayfood at 10:33AM on 11/03/09
I used to peel the cheese off my slice of pizza and eat that first, but now I eat it from the point to the crust. I don't eat meatballs with the pasta, I wait until I am done with the noodles. Then, I have meatballs, other meat, bread to dip in sauce, and salad.
fatitalianbroad at 10:49AM on 11/03/09
yup, glad to find I'm not so weird after all...
reeses: around the rim, then peel the chocolate off the top and bottom, then the PB
kit kats - nibble chocolate from all sides, then layer by layer
what messy freak doesn't eat their m&m's in color order? I eat the yucky colors first (brown, yellow).
popcorn, chips, etc all must be eaten one piece at a time... people who shove multiple pieces of popcorn in their mouths at one time should be shot.
remember the hostess butterscotch krumpets? I peel the butterscotch frosting off and eat the cake first, then butterscotch. Actually, I do this with anything that can be peeled and eaten in layers.
but the weirdest one, that people have actually commented on... I refuse to put anything in my mouth without looking at it first. Apparently this makes me weird... watch me eating a sandwich and I supposedly go cross eyed right before each bite. It's not enough that I saw the sandwich before the last bite, I must inspect each one.
No, i did not grow up with older brothers who put nasty stuff in my sandwiches.
wasliche at 11:55AM on 11/03/09
I do the pizza thing to! Although I don't bite into the crust, but rip it off in pieces as I eat it.
italiagirl84 at 1:09PM on 11/03/09
@TurkeyandPickles and wasliche, glad to hear I am not the only one who completely denudes Reeses of chocolate before savoring the peanut buttery goodness!
I also need to save the best for last, especially when it comes to salads. I eat all the greens first and am then left with a wonderful pool of cheese, nuts, fruit, and dressing.
When I was a kid, I would only eat the dough part (la mie) of baguettes. A family friend who is no longer alive indulged me in this quirk by eating only the crusts. We'd trade them indiscreetly at otherwise very proper dinners. It's one of my favorite memories of her/food memories in general.
bisou at 11:16PM on 11/03/09
@BananaMonkey--I don't remember the last time I laughed so hard at a comment---bugt only because I don't think I ever realized I probably also look like a demented squirrel while going at the chocolate on my kitkats...
wow.
I am a save-the-best person--Middle of my pizza, wafers in the kitkat, and actually the OUTSIDE of the reeses--I like to take out the middle and save the outside for last. Stopping this save-the-best nonsense has, however, largely helped me drop 40lbs, lol...if you eat the best part FIRST you can skip the rest!
nmarie at 11:37PM on 11/03/09
TurkeyandPickles - I do the Swiss Cake Roll thing too! I think the frosting just comes off easily and tastes better by itself :)
Chew on That at 4:27PM on 11/08/09
kitkats and coffee crisps are chocolate first and then the layers. reeses i like to play differently - eating inside or outside first. cadbury eggs are bite a hole, lick insides, savoring and slowing the sugar-shock.
also, when i was a kid i used to love pulling out the white center of rolls at restaurants and smooshing them into bread wafers and eating those.
blizcheetah at 4:45PM on 11/08/09
I use to dissect my pizza pops. With toothpicks. I'd carefully make incisions all on one side, then peel that layer/top off and eat it. Eat the insides. Then devour the rest.
I also eat my PB&B sandwiches a certain way. It's almost ritualistic how I prepare them too...Top-crust, side to side, then around the bottom eating the rest of the crust and eating the by then gooey-middle.
When ever I eat cashews, peanuts, etc...I pick through and eat all the seperated/broken bits. Then take the bag, shake it up, and pick through again. I'll eat the 'whole' ones last.
eggyzhe at 6:33PM on 11/08/09