Just commenting in solidarity about the tomatoes, and the way in which that makes standard cuisine really challenging in all kinds of places. For some people, tomatoes are so standard that they don't even think to list them as an ingredient.

My ex liked to complain only half-jestingly for many years about trying to cook stuff we'd both eat. (Even though I'll eat anything... except tomatoes.)

It's even harder in a way because I KNOW it's purely psychological. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what its origins could be. I tend to say, "I was savaged by a tomato as a small child" (and in fact I have a very vivid memory from when I was VERY small of my grandmother -- who could not believe that anyone would not like lovely meaty Jersey Tomatoes -- holding out a giant slimy slice towards my face).

But because it's purely psychological, as I've gotten older I've been able to put limits on it. Pizza sauce? Just fine (usually; chunky need not apply). Many other sauces, okay. When my ex peeled and seeded the tomatoes, I totally ate them in the cilantro salsa she made. So it's kind of a texture thing, I think -- the goop and the seeds and the rubbery skin and the slimy flesh.

But it's also something I try really hard not to let interfere with being polite. If I am over eating at a friend's parents' house or something and they serve up a big ol' dish o' tomatoes with tomatoes on the side, and there is absolutely no way to escape, I can succeed with mind over matter. Plus really, even most Italian restaurants feature non-tomato options.