I'm going to be on an airplane for Dallas in less than 48 hours

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checking email. sorry.

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But isn't this how people do think about food? The food you grew up eating is in one category, and food from other countries with unfamiliar ingredients are in another. It's similar to language - French and Chinese have nothing in common linguistically, but if neither is your native tongue they're both going to get filed in the same part of your brain under "other languages."

But people will still say things like "I don't like ethnic food," which is a ridiculous statement unless the person saying it thinks all ethnic foods are alike.

I think that's usually just shorthand for, "I don't like foods I'm not familiar with."

Like, Mexican food and Chinese food and Ethiopian food really have nothing in common other than being originally from places other than here, and putting them all under one label kind of makes it seem like that "not from here" quality is what defines them.

Have you been to my neighborhood? There is a restaurant on the closest corner. It's called Papas and Tacos (hee!) and it makes spaghetti, falafel, tacos, burritos etc., some sort of Armenian pizza thing and pizza. I think it's an ethnic restaurant.

well, I know someone who literally did not like anything except beef and potatoes and macaroni and boiled vegetables.

Seriously.

This is the kind of person who does not like "ethnic food."

I think that's usually just shorthand for, "I don't like foods I'm not familiar with."

Yeah, that's how I'd read it. If your position is "I don't like trying new things," then it doesn't matter how different Thai and Greek food are from each other, just that they're both different from the food you know.

(I think this position is ridiculous because if you don't try new things, how do you really know what you like? But there are people in the world who really are that picky/set in their ways.)

My parents are like that - Italian is the one non-American cuisine that's not "too foreign" for them to like. They haven't enjoyed Japanese steakhouses other relatives and I have taken them to despite liking grilled chicken, rice, and mixed vegetables (which my mom sometimes cooks with teriyaki sauce at home!). And while Mom at least liked the scent of Chinese takeout I used to bring home, she's afraid to actually try anything like that herself.

I consider it a huge victory that both really liked the Mexican place I took them for New Year's Eve when all the other decent restaurants were packed.

(I think this position is ridiculous because if you don't try new things, how do you really know what you like? But there are people in the world who really are that picky/set in their ways.)

ah, describes my mac to a T.

It was me, too, for a long time. Even a few years ago, when I went to dinner with Jessica and Ethan and Deb Grabien (and maybe a few others?), when I heard we were going to ... (Wow, I don't even remember. Afghani? Ethiopian? Something like that.) I was terrified. I grew up on Wonder Bread and canned vegetables and Dunkin Donuts, so anything really spicy or really *different* made me nervous.

And then it was delicious! Which was part of how I learned to stop worrying and love the new cuisines.