Do you enjoy introducing friends to new cuisines to which they're unfamiliar?

Question

Whether it's food from you own ethnic culture, or from a culture that you love yourself, do you enjoy introducing friends to new types of cuisine from all around the world?

True, some people can be picky eaters and not be very adventurous...but have you ever been able to win someone over to a particular cuisine (e.g. Chinese, Italian, Ethiopian Indian, Thai, etc.)? After all, eating is a social activity, and it's more fun when you have a bunch of people enjoying and exploring food together.

In my case, I've introduced a lot of friends to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. Surprisingly, almost every one has enjoyed it. Some of my friends have enjoyed it so much to the point where they've now started to feel cravings for it from time to time.

Answer 1

I used to. I've grown weary of it. I can't get why people think being finicky about food is finesse or something. I just cook what I cook. They can eat what they want.

Answer 2

You would be surprised at the sheer # of people who are apprehensive about sushi without even trying it!  So I am in the habit of taking my squeamish friends for their first sushi experience and ALL of have them have loved it!

Answer 3

It's actually easy for me because my friends will come over to my house and be like "Your house smells so good, it smells spicy, what are you cooking?" which is kind of embarrassing for me but they like it, so whatever. Anyway, they always ask to sample Indian food and they like it, so I don't have to do anything. I don't really ask people to try anything unless I know they want to. But I knew this one girl who was convinced Indian food was "gross" -- without ever having tasted it. So I tried to convince her to at least try it since, come on, you can't decide you don't like something unless you try it, but she refused. Whatever. Some people are just scared to try new things, I guess.

Answer 4

Yes, my sister-in-law to gourmet cheese at the factory -- she began to gag.  I didn't expect that.  We should have let her try the cheese in private.

Answer 5

Well it depends.  Very few friends I have are open minded.  They seem to have already made up their minds regarding certain things before even trying them.

My friend is so uncultured that when I took him to a bubble tea place, he was so chicken to even add tapiocas to his drink lmfao...  He was actually hesitant to even try the tea itself!  He grew up on pasta, meat and potatoes lol.

So I don't even bother for the most part.  

A select few however seem to be so open minded that when we go out and I introduce something new to them; its like second nature that it just happens.  No conversations whether or not we should "give it a chance or not"

We just go up, look up at the menu and order whatever  the heck we feel.  And for the most part, we all end up either introducing each other to something the other party has never tried before (often times where they fall in love with the new "discovery" lol) or; we all explore something totally new to each other for the first time.

Just the other day a good example of this ^ was when me and my best friend went to a restaurant and I suggested he try the oxtail with rice.

It was the first time he ever tried this kind of food.  He is from Portugal and has never really eaten oxtail while growing up.

He agreed and he enjoyed it!  He didn't make any issues about it at all.  

Wish I had more friends like him ^

Answer 6

hey there, im an indian but i also luv thai, chineese, itialian, mexican, british n many other foods. i think it is good to introduce friends to new cusines because our world is so large and nobody knows everythingn and by sharing our cultures we make the world a beter plzce. food is an important , unique and delicious ;P aspect of culture. I love trying new things but i also advice you that you should be careful and ask you r friends if they agree and don't go to new places that you havn't tried either with the sensitive ones. also don't forget to be careful about your allergic, fussy and scared friends and always tell them what tey are ordering (sumthimes restaurants name ther dishes in differnt lnguages and might no t have clear descriptions)

hope i helped

keep exploring differnet cusines!!!

Answer 7

Yes, I used to work in the Middle East and I love to cook Iranian or Arab dishes. People are often surprised at it.

Iranian food in particular has a lot of mean-and-fruit combinations, like chicken and plums, meat and peaches, and so on. After they get over their surprise, they usually love it!

Answer 8

I have been on the receiving end of new cuisines.  I have a very adventurous friend who has introduced me to new cuisines.  One of my new favorites is Indian.  However, I am of hungarian descent and have introduced a friend to one our dishes one holiday.  It is always fun to try new things.