I'm not picky about much, but can't eat everything..
Apple peel and olives. Apple peel because it does really unpleasant things to my teeth, and olives because a) they're icky and b) I'm not sure they do me much good. Also mushrooms, but that's more because I just don't enjoy them rather than a severe hatred.

That's pretty much it in terms of pickiness; however my slightly knackered digestive system also cannot handle: caffeine - severe intolerance, dairy - moderately intolerant, bananas and I avoid excessive amounts of fruit, and consecutive meals of soya or fish (basically I think my body can't handle large quantities of it, but is fine if the portions are spaced out. Dairy, caffeine and bananas I avoid completely, though.)

I do feel for the people who are properly allergic to food (i.e. they go into shock), however being noticeably intolerant is in some cases worse as it can take a long time to figure out what the common factor is, stress makes it worse, and all the time you're not feeling 100%.

Still, it's not bad. Avoiding caffeine is easy (although, watch out for alcohol with caffeine in - it's dangerous stuff). Dairy free food is slightly harder but the reward is cooking from scratch, and there's loads of asian and middle eastern food out there which is suitable.

You do get some odd looks asking for a drink of hot water though, or eating cereal with water rather than milk.

Plus - couscous, pasta, quinoa, soya mince, rice, fennel, nuts, dried fruit and suchlike. yummy :)

I don't agree about rhubarb or courgettes. Both are great if cooked properly. Rhurbarb is very sharp - it is *not* sour. Remember to cut/scrape off the ends/stringy bits, cover it in caster sugar and use lemon rind in the crumble.

Courgettes are easy to mistreat - insufficient cooking and they're soft and mushy. Too much heat and they burn - it takes practice(a thick bottomed pan helps). I make a great courgette curry which a friend found excellent after initially being apprehensive.

Also - finding insects on veg. Vegetables grow in the ground FFS! Just remove them, chuck them outside, wash and cook the veg!
(syllopsium, Fri 2 Mar 2007, 18:21, Reply)