121 replies to this topic

[liuzhou]

I think I'm the least fussy eater on the planet, in as much as I will try anything twice (they might not have cooked it properly the first time). I regularly horrify the more junior members of my extended family with tales of things I have eaten and then gone back for more.

There are things I prefer not to eat - American style fast food mainly - but I don't actively dislike them as such. If I had to, I'd be OK.

But there is one food that I just can't abide. I know it's popular and most people like it, but I can't deal with it at all. I have no explanation for this.

I just don't like it!

Unfortunately, I live in a place which seems to virtually survive on the stuff. It pops up everywhere. It is sold by itinerant street vendors on every street corner. It appears at official banquets. It is used everywhere from ice cream to pizza. Even KFC does it.



Sorry, but no thanks.

What do you (irrationally) not like?

Edited by liuzhou, 29 November 2012 - 11:05 PM.

[Mjx]

I find creamy, milky substances in savoury contexts retch-inducing.

This takes the following off the table: creamy sauces, cream soups, most cheeses; I'm put off by things that even look creamy or have a creamy mouthfeel (e.g. sauces with a lot of nut butter).
I find any form of dairy/dairy simulacrum in coffee quite repulsive (ditto, Irish cream and their ilk), and although I'm mostly fine with dairy/dairy-like components in sweets, if I was told that dairy would never pass my lips again, it would not break my heart.

I find the texture of cooked eggs off-putting, although I can swallow a raw one with no problem (although what with salmonella and all, I seldom do this).

Even the smell of bananas will make me leave a room to avoid messy unpleasantness, although as a child I could eat them if they were green and essentially flavourless.

Weirdly, although I could once eat nearly raw steak with no problem, it often puts me off now. No idea why.

In case anyone is wondering how I navigate the cream soups, cream sauces, and compound butters that show up on friends' tables when I'm invited over to dinner, I have to admit that I do my best to discreetly determine whether one of the problem items is going to be present; if it is, or I'm not sure, this virtually guarantees that I'll be sitting down to dinner a bit buzzed, since in that state, my food issues recede from gag-inducing to merely 'somewhat unpleasant, but manageable'. At restaurants, I just ask a bit about what's in the various dishes, and choose something that poses no problems.

None of this is my parents' fault, by the way; they did their best, but even threats of violence couldn't tame my gag reflexes, and they eventually became tired of my being sick at table, and gave up ;)

[liuzhou]

I could once eat nearly raw steak with no problem, it often puts me off now. No idea why.

Oh dear!

Change does definitely change though. I clearly remember one tortuous meal where my parents (rather sadistically in retrospect) refused to let me leave the table until I ate every morsel of the overcooked fish they had served. It was disgusting. They did point out that I liked fish the previous week - we ate fish every Friday despite being non-Catholic. It was all they could buy, I guess.

My parents were determined I was going to eat the goddamned fish and a 9 year old me knew I couldn't. I finally broke the impasse by vomiting all over the table.

I didn't eat fish again for about 20 years. Now I am virtually pescatarian.

[minas6907]

I too am not a very picky eater, I'll eat just about anything at just about any temperature. The most prominent thing that comes to mind is a red sauce. A marinaria type sauce is something I'll put up with, but I really dont ever crave it. Out of any dish, I have such a hatred for angel hair pasta with plain red sauce, it is so boring, it screams crappy Italian food. I love red sauce that has as addition of cream, and dont mind it one bit on pizza, but using it as a dipping sauce never made sense to me, nor ladeling a glob on angel hair. Now that I think of it, for some reason I really dont like the angel hair pasta shape, not really sure why. I like linguini, and my favorite is penne, but I'm not sure why I hate angel hair, I think its from the weekly trip to the local crappy but popular Italian restaurant as a child. Btw, I'm not dissing Italian food, I have in mind more of the pasta places like Buca (I loathe that name)

[Hassouni]

bananas (but not plantains), white button mushrooms (most other kinds I like), and much offal (esp liver - HATE the texture) are things i cannot eat without gagging.

Edited by Hassouni, 30 November 2012 - 01:05 AM.

[ChrisTaylor]

Milk and bananas. Kidneys, too, unless they're tempered with gravy in a pie. The smell of kidneys in the pan makes me think of things I really don't want to consume.

[liuzhou]

I can see this is going to turn into a list of my favourite foods - apart from c*rn.

[Tri2Cook]

Of the things I've tried, only 4 have managed to make that list...

Liver - from any animal in any form, disguise it as you will, I can't get it down. I've tried over the years. I've wanted to like it. I don't.
Chitlins - singularly the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth. Made two attempts at it in the past. There won't be a third.
Tripe - only tried it once in menudo gifted to me from a friend. Tried the broth/sauce and thought it was awesome, got a bite of the tripe and the rest went in the trash.
Sea Cucumber - strictly a textural thing. I could probably learn to eat it but don't feel the need or desire to.

I've never met a fruit or vegetable I didn't like. Not saying one doesn't exist, I haven't tried everything out there, but so far I like them all.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

For me it's eggs in all of their myriad presentations - scrambled, fried, poached, omlettes, over easy, sunny runny, you get the point. I can't do it, I vomit. Explosively.

Other things that could disappear entirely and I wouldn't mind: Lima Beans (my father was inordinately fond of them, which meant they were in absolutely everything, and I kind of burned out on them), Liver, and most Tripes.

[PSmith]

Odd thing - I don't think there are many foods that I don't like. There are foods that I don't like as much as others.

I blame my "lived through WWII and rationing" parents. As a child I was made to eat everything on my plate and did so by leaving the nicest things to the end. I guess I was never really allowed to dislike food.

If I was pressed, I would say that I dislike tripe. That is probably the only thing I refuse to eat. Having said that, it is a few years since I last ate tripe, so I might try it again if it was offered.

[liuzhou]

Change does definitely change though.

Ooops! I meant:

Taste does definitely change though.

[nibor]

Raisins in certain contexts
In hot cereal: when bloated up they look like cockroaches floating in goo
In cookies: they look like chocolate chips - what a let-down...
In ice cream: unimaginably foul !!!

[radtek]

Menudo. Pretty much it's the musty smell of the tripe and the thick layer grease that is off-putting. Absolutely disgusting.

And due to a traumatic first experience with eggplant when I was a young child it is very hard for me to eat it. Though I guess if prepared properly eggplant would certainly be taken over Menudo.

And Tapioca pudding. My brother tormented me while I would spoon it in by saying: "mmmm... creamed lice!" Never been able to eat it since.

I'll try almost anything except bugs.

[lindag]

My parents believed that children should eat what was put on their plates - all of it - before they could leave the table.
As a result of early training I will eat (and enjoy) most everything.
I am continually amazed at their number of people I come across who are like Mikey - they hate everything. Things like milk, fish, beans, dark meat chicken...the list is endless!
What a boring life.
There are really only two things that come to mind that I won't eat: liver and hominy. I had to eat them as a child but I will not willingly ever eat them again.

[rotuts]

green bell peppers. celery. liver 'as liver' but not as in Pate.

[liuzhou]

What a boring life.

I wondered how long it would take until someone got judgemental about other peoples' dislikes.

Please just list and explain (if you can) your irrational dislikes; they are just as boring as everyone else's.

Edited by liuzhou, 30 November 2012 - 07:24 AM.

[chileheadmike]

Sweets. I rarely eat them. I had a small piece of pecan pie on Thanksgiving. Other than that, cake on my kids' birthdays.

Liver, except foie gras.

Natto. Blech.

[sparrowgrass]

Turnips and beets--they taste like dirt.

Coffee or coffee flavored anything.

[SylviaLovegren]

My parents believed that children should eat what was put on their plates - all of it - before they could leave the table.
As a result of early training I will eat (and enjoy) most everything.

I really don't think that has anything to do with it. In fact, sometimes the opposite. I once put sugar on my scrambled eggs instead of salt and my mother made me sit there until I ate every last bite. It took me about 2 hours. 53 years later I still can't stand the taste of sweetened egg.

Also grew up in an oyster loving family. I have tried and tried and tried to like oysters. I love clams, and crabs and shrimp. Not wild about mussels but can tolerate them. But I just hate oysters.

And most gelatinous meaty things -- chicken wings, cow ears, tripe, sea slug, etc. I have a real hard time at authentic Korean restaurants.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I'll try almost anything except bugs.

What have you got against bugs? Well-prepared, they're delicious.

[liuzhou]

What have you got against bugs? Well-prepared, they're delicious.

Everything is delicious if you like it. Or not, if you don't.

Can we please stop with the criticising other people's dislikes or trying to persuade them that they are wrong. Total waste of time.

Edited by liuzhou, 30 November 2012 - 08:05 AM.

[Charcuterer]

As a child I had many severe food allergies and was quite limited in my options. As I have aged those sensitivities have decreased and I am now only unable to eat three things, Fish, peanuts and Brazil nuts. After having my diet imposed on me for most of my childhood I will now eat most anything. Funny thing is that I have little use for sweets and the only two items I can't choke down are cantaloupe and raspberries.

[Brown Hornet]

Chitterlings -- I enthusiastically tried them figuring that I liked to eat every other part of the pig. Wrong!

A popular food that I generally do not care for is lamb. Every now and then I will enjoy a particularly good lamb dish, but it's usually despite the lamb not because of it.

[Crouton]

Goat cheese.... i don't know what it is, but it tastes like a sweaty jock strap. Not that I've ever tastes a sweaty jock strap but one can imagine.

[Ashen]

cilantro/coriander leaves but I love the seeds

cloves and by extension 5 spice powder because it contains cloves.

heart liver and kidneys in general

trying to expand my horizons I have come up with a dish that makes chicken or turkey liver at least partially acceptable though

the livers need to be cleaned up nicely( any bits of connective tissue or veins etc )
sliced thin then blotted dry on paper towel
generous seasoning of S+P (kosher,fresh cracked black)
seared in a hot pan with avocado oil
finished with a knob of butter which I let brown slightly , touch of brandy and pinch of chili flakes.

[radtek]

I think it isn't irrational to not want to eat insects. We don't need to eat them here as there are plenty of sources for protein and calories already. It isn't common in our culture either but that doesn't mean I'm against other cultures eating them regularly. I'm against me eating them.

[rotuts]

also importantly, you didnt have then when you were just a wee little shaver.

I

[radtek]

Forgot one thing which surprises me as it is firmly at the top of the list: watermelon. Can't stand the texture. The smell and flavor leaves little to be desired too. I really embarrassed myself in Germany when I turned down my hosts' offer of watermelon which they had specifically bought because they thought as an American, that I'd like it. I managed to choke down a few pieces to appease them but really it is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.

[FrogPrincesse]

I pretty much like everything (including offal and the common items that have been cited so far). But I’ve always found rice pudding to be off-putting for some reason. To be honest, I did not grow up eating it and I am not even sure I ever had it. It’s just that the idea of rice combined with sweetened milk as a dessert sounds revolting to me. Something about the texture (although I love risotto) and having rice in a dessert (although I enjoy coconut sticky rice). So yes, it is on the irrational side.
I used to hate brussels sprouts, the result of being forced to eat them overcooked and full of sulfurous vapors. I remember eating them as a kid with my nose pinched to avoid the stench and washing them down with plenty of water afterwards. Now I love them when they are properly cooked.
I love most cheeses including some that people can consider very pungent (blue cheeses and aged goat cheeses are a delicacy). However I don’t think I could convince myself to put French munster cheese in my mouth. As opposed to the American muenster, munster has an extremely strong odor and when I grew up, since this was a favorite of my parents, I had to brace myself every time they were going to enjoy a piece. Also there is something about this orange sticky rind… I am not interested in trying this cheese. Camembert and brie used to have the same effect on me (the smell of a ripe and runny camembert… yuck!), but since I’ve learned that the taste is milder than what I could guess based on the smell alone, I can eat appreciate them better now.
Lastly I have horrible memories of milk skin floating on my bowl of hot chocolate as a kid - even when you fish it out, the taste still stays in the chocolate. So the milk skin dessert at noma does not sounds like something I would want to try (fortunately this dessert has not created a trend unlike the dirt/soil items that are popping up everywhere!). However it's a good example of a chef taking something generally regarded as unpleasant, and turning it into something interesting...

[Crouton]

Bad super market feta.... i served it as a dip one time melted in olive oil and one of my guests said "this taste like horseshit". I said "huh?" and he said "No, I mean this really taste like horse-shit". And he was right. Once I tried it, it tasted very much like horseshit smells.