I wish I could eat fish, but I have a terrible aversion to anything with fishy taste. I can eat scallops that are not fishy and dry smoked Albacore tuna or Sturgeon that are pretty much like smoked turkey. This aversion happened as a child in New Orleans,but nobody could remember a seafood related illness or adverse effect.
More than likely it was due to my Father's love of all aquatic creatures salt water or fresh that were obviously plentiful in the big queasy. Everything was dumped, alive, into the sink before trying to avoid boiling in a large aluminum pot. The list of boil-able victims included, but not limited to, shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and crawdads. All kinds of fish were cooked but not usually boiled.
Some of the most unfortunate victims were eaten RAW including clams (that curl up when lemon is squeezed on them), oysters, and the worst of all, sea urchins (erizos de mar in Chile) that are mostly purple gonads with a symbiotic crab that has to be alive to prove freshness. The crab is placed in the mouth first, and if it moves it's fresh, and then chewed to kill it. No movement, spit it out and reject the urchin. This may only be the way its done in Chile, and since I don't go to sushi places I'm not aware of the Japanese customs.
My aversion remains of unknown origin!
I feel deprived on scuba diving trips while everyone else gets fabulous sea food while I get free range chicken or stringy goat.
