I ordered a grilled mackeral and found it had bones in it once I started eating it. It honestly ruined my desire to eat it.
Needing to remove bones kinda puts me off wanting to even bother eating said food item. At that point I may as well get something else that doesn’t require additional prep before I can dig in
best thing i did for autism food related things (as well as empathy) was go vegan
all the processed foods always have the exact same texture and taste. There will never be a bone in my vegan fish. No weird bits in a vegan burger. And my vegan bacon is always spot on perfect.
plus it’s a lot less gross and you don’t have to worry about cross contamination
That sound like more a question about the level of processing the food than a vegan vs. meat based issue.
Granted, fish bones is a special kind of bother but you can have the same sensory experiences with vegan food as well. Expecting seedless grapes, but suddenly the cook used grapes with seeds. Expecting boiled out asparagus, but getting crunchy and some that were probably harvested a little to late. Suddenly getting a little bi of hazelnut shell in your salad.
I agree than going vegan might have some benefits regarding autistic sensory issues, but most of “exact same texture and taste” is more a question of hyperprocessing the food.
I’d love to switch at least some of my meat to the vegan versions but I have a problem with the texture of the ones I’ve tried. Think the ones available here remind me of the overly processed chicken nuggets
Try an Impossible Burger if you can find it. I’ve had good vegan nuggets too, I think the brand was either Impossible or Beyond.
and if you’re in the UK, try Unity Diner and No Catch if you’re around london or brighton. They’re spot on, and Unity even do the whole 3D printed meat for not too much more (i’ve never dared try it cause the idea of meat just grosses me out)
The culinary culture in my place doesn’t demand fish to be deboned. Hence, we eat fish with the head intact and eat the head as well. So, I don’t have a hatred for fish bones; it’s part of the culinary experience.
Edit: grammar
For many, it’s the texture simply existing, regardless of culture. You’re mostly just describing what I’d expect a neurotypical approach to be.
Once I had no choice but to eat whatever I could get my hands on other than chicken and pasta, hunger will override everything. Now I went from extremely picky to not picky at all. I’m ready for the apocalypse. I can eat my neighbors if need be.
Fish bone could be annoying, but I don’t hate them that much that I will stop eating the fish if I found a single fish bone. That’s just wasting food for me.
What? A fish bone stuck in my throat? I’ll proceed with eating a spoon of rice and swallow it without chewing it first. A common tips that parent pass it to their children in my place.
I’m guessing that if you have autism, it doesn’t affect your issues with textures in food.
It’s easier to eat mackerel flipped over, skin side down. That way the bones are visible from the top and are easier to remove. Your best bet is removing as many bones as you can before you start eating, then be careful.
Some places remove bones from grilled mackerel for youz but not always.
I prefer all meat off the bone. It’s weird that people like it. Especially fish with bones since you can choke on them.
