Brumotactillophobia. Go ahead and say that three times real fast...kinda rolls right off the tongue doesn't it?
I realized I had it when I saw this photograph of my Nephew Kirk and his daughter Jordyn. Kirk had a birthday last week and I think he wants to be a Viking:)
Notice their plates...Kirks is a real mess...but Jordyn ...I coveted her pretty pink divided plate immediately when I saw this photo on Facebook (photo used with permission)
Anyways Brumotactillophobia is an irrational fear of food touching. It is a quirk I have had as long as I can remember.
My stomach has compartments...I am convinced of it. Perhaps it is my CDO (Compulsive Disorder Obsessive) in hyperdrive! Or is it a control issue?
Sometimes I have a plate and several bowls at the supper table...you know one plate for my steak and my steak sauce way far away from my steak even though I drag my steak through the sauce I do not want it touching until I want it touching...the other bowls would be a salad and a potato...not together... separate bowls..and if I had a slice of bread it would be off my plate on my napkin...and holy moly if I had a pickle it would never be on the plate or in the bowls...it would be on the far corner of my napkin no where near the bread. Pickle juice on any other food is unacceptable to me...Far Guy doesn't care he balances his pickle and bread anyplace on his single plate. I try not to look at his plate or anyone elses while eating.
My eating habits are just chaos...and it is getting worse as I age. I watch lots of cooking shows...and when they stack food up all nice and pretty...stuff under the meat and stuff on the meat... it nauseates me...I am not a good one to take to a buffet...when Far Guy fills up his plate I cannot look at it because I will start to gag.
It is exhausting for me to put more than one food on my plate...If I put three foods on my plate I would be continually pushing them far apart as possible. I will never put Jello on the same plate as meat, veggies and mashed potatoes...ever. No red/orange/lime colored mashed potatoes for me or melting toward my meat or veggies... Jello Alert!! Jello always needs its own bowl.
I can eat soups and hotdish because it is all cooked together! So see I am a little bit normal!
Far Side
Sorry? People (not you obviously) eat mashed potatoes mixed with lime jelly?? I don’t know what to say.
ReplyDeleteI don’t have a problem with my food touching. But I do have Misophonia so if anyone sitting near me eats loudly it makes me feel really sick and angry. Dogs can eat as loudly as they like, it doesn’t bother me at all. People eating loudly? It’s horrible.
While I don't have that issue, I've known several people who do. I've never thought how my plate could make someone with an aversion to food touching might feel. It makes sense it could be off putting.
ReplyDeleteAs a child I used to eat bites on alternating sides of my mouth. Yes, I actually kept track. And I still keep a bite of my most liked food to last. There is no word for that, except perhaps, weird. :)
That's okay...I MUST have the toilet roll on top side facing down! lol...can't help it!
ReplyDeleteAnd if I go to someone's house? I "fix" theirs, as well! lol
Happy Thanksgiving!
hugs
Donna
I always change the loo paper top side down. Unfortunately my mother liked it the other way. It was a constant battle between us.
DeleteHa! I have the same affliction! In fact, one time I got one of those trays as a gag gift and I actually used it!
ReplyDeleteI don’t like my foods touching on my plate, but I’m not quite as obsessive as you! 😂 RHill, TX
ReplyDeleteMy son's first wife was like that. It is a thing.
ReplyDeleteI would never ever put jello on a plate with other foods! Oh ick! However, I've done weird things with my food that would horrify you more than likely.
I do have a plate that has separate sections for those who cannot have different foods touch.
You should get one! The one I purchased years ago, lets me set up a meal in the plate and put a lid on it. I can microwave it and have a meal all set to go with three large sections in it.
How on earth do you survive Thanksgiving? I imagine, everything separated!
This is my fear. Trypophobia is mainly visual. If you have this phobia, you might feel anxiety, disgust, and discomfort when looking at things like:
ReplyDeletelotus seed pods
honeycombs
coral
seeded breads
Swiss cheese
scabs or lesions on skin
aluminum metal foam
pomegranates
sponges
pebbled or graveled roads
bubbles
condensation
cantaloupe
a cluster of eyes
I think we all Have some quirks.
I'm a little bit this way. There are a couple of things that can touch, but the rest goes into separate bowls/plates.
ReplyDeleteI have never head of such a thing but I can imagine it is very hard to eat outside the home with that to contend with. I would also guess it is a good "diet" in that it limits how much food you put on your plate at any given time, especially when dining at a buffet place. It has me curious though. Does food touching apply to sandwiches?
ReplyDeleteSandwiches are fine but I like simple ingredients.
DeleteI have been to some restaurants you would love. There was one in Tennessee where every food item came in a separate bowl (think fruit dish) on a platter. I believe I ordered chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans. Maybe applesauce. There were a lot of little bowls.
ReplyDeleteI am not that far into Brumotactillophobia. I can have the foods on one plate, not touching. But I have the phobia of eating one entire food before starting another. I have to eat all my green beans before I start the potatoes. And finish the potatoes before moving on to chicken. And the chicken must be eaten before I can have the applesauce. I don't even realize I am doing it, but it is noticeable enough that fellow dinner eaters feel compelled to tell me I am doing it.
I had never heard of this word and it is a tough one to say ....not to mention trying to say it 3 times in a row. I have a grandson that is the same way...Nothing touches and he normally eats one thing at a time. this sorted plate would be the perfect gift for someone to buy you for Christmas. My quirk is having to have my glass totally FILLED with ice. Not just a glass of ice....A FULL glass of ice. LOL..
ReplyDeleteYou need some divided plates. I had a friend like this, only not quite as much as you. Nothing could touch. You probably cannot look at my food photos! Can you have sauce on pasta or is it in a separate bowl?
ReplyDeletePasta like spaghetti is fine with just meat, sauce and pasta...don't add anything else:)
DeleteOh my - I love your post today. I have friends and family who prefer food NOT to touch just like you. I'm more of a stir it all together kind of gal. I ate school lunch most days when I was teaching (because it was 95% delicious), but hated those divided trays because it complicated the mixing up. LOL
ReplyDeleteNot liking food to touch is fairly common. I've never heard of that long complicated word. I personally don't mind some types of food touching and like my bites to vary (vs eating one food on your plate at a time).
ReplyDeleteThis condition is hard for everybody to live with. IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO EAT. .
ReplyDeleteWe have a whole family with quirks here! Smacking, slurping, other diners licking fingers, yuck! My kids will ask each other to Please Chew Quieter. Several of them will not eat food that someone else has made. Loud noises, nope. Our tv is only on when someone is actually watching something, and that volume is MUTED during every commercial. We have sixteen kids, yet our home wasn't too loud and crazy, can you imagine? It takes all sorts of people to make the world go around, as Ma Ingalls once said. Thank you for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteI have that too, just not quite as bad. As long as nothing actually touches, I am OK with more than one thing on my plate. I have taken a lot of ribbing and kidding about my "condition" over the years. When I was in the army, I loved those metal trays with all the compartments, even if the food sometimes left a little to be desired.
ReplyDeleteMy late husband couldn’t stand for his food to touch. He could not eat casseroles.
ReplyDeleteQuick order one of the divided plates/trays like Jordyn’s!
ReplyDeleteI am not quite as strict as you... my food can touch, but I really don't like things all in one bite... so I have a hard time with sandwiches, shepherds pie, cabbage rolls, soup... things like that. Exceptions are hamburgers/cheeseburgers and pizza. But with them, I am very limited on what I put on them.
ReplyDeleteI never knew this was a thing until about 10 years ago when a friend mentioned that she wont let her food touch. Who knew? The mind is a funny thing.
ReplyDeleteWow! You sure hit on a subject that concerns many. I have one son that doesn't like his food touching and another one that has a clicking jaw when he eats. GM
ReplyDeleteLove CDO (Compulsive Disorder Obsessive) - I also alphabetise it the right way ;)
ReplyDeleteAs for food touching - only things that cannot "contaminate" as rice or sallad can just be placed on my plate, The rest happens with care, so that nothing touches and nothing runs!
Jello juice was why I never wanted any from when I was a kid--lol! ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for teaching me something new today. We used to watch the old tv detective show, Monk, in the early 2000s and Monk had this disorder but they never named it. He's shown in many shows separating his food.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh reading this post! I am the same way and my Mister thinks I am crazy as a loon! He always says, "It's all going to the same place.". Well, mine may not and I want it where it is suppose to go!
ReplyDeleteGrace & Peace,
Pam
While I have know people who don't want their food touching, I don't know of anyone quite as phobic about it as you. You win!
ReplyDeleteWe all have our little quirks! It makes us interesting.
ReplyDeleteI can sort of laugh at this while at the same time I feel bad for you having to avoid looking at other peoples plates. I am not that way except I cannot hardly stand to see someone eat a rare steak...I want to prop something up to block my view. Especially if I am eating , too. I want my meat done...
ReplyDeleteWhoa Nellie....it's too bad you can't just "dig in" like the rest of us. One of my kids or more always had to eat all of one food before they would eat the next. Not sure what that is called and then another one would mix it all together. You would not have been able to watch that one! LOL! No matter what, enjoy your meals the way you want.
ReplyDelete