Foods you inexplicably hate

[Shannon_Elise]

Can't eat cilantro, which is a pain because there has been an influx of Mexican immigrants on the Westside of Columbus and the food at these taco carts is great - provided I can tell them to leave out the cilantro (and I don't speak Spanish).

Onions, the raw and the cooked. Don't get me wrong. For others I cook withthem, but the sight of a slimy, cooked, diced piece of onion makes me gag.

Otherwise, there isn't anything else that I won't try (and probably like). Now, off of egullet, I get "gasps" and "guffaws" when I say that I refuse to eat at the Olive Garden and that their food tastes like it has been frozen and refrozen four times. In central Ohio, that's heresy. It's not about what you wont eat here, its about where you wont eat.

Shannon

[johnsmith45678]

I don't like plain yogurt. Can't stand to eat more than 2-3 spoonfuls.

I'm not a big fan of plain bananas either.

[miladyinsanity]

The only way I eat non-scrambled eggs is egg salad. Poached eggs, sunny side up etc, Blech. I don't like egg yolks in hardboiled eggs either, unless there's a spicy sauce or some sort accompanying the rice and eggs.

I did go through a period when I wouldn't eat eggs because when I cracked open one, there was a bug inside. Eeeeeek!!! I was...10? I wasn't a girly girl, but food isn't supposed to have bugs in it!

I never used to like cilantro, and it still makes me gag to bite into it, but I can't imagine steamed fish, for instance, without it now.

I can't stand dried shitake mushrooms. The smell of them soaking sends me running out of the kitchen, and I don't eat many dishes that have them. I don't really like the fresh ones either, but I can cope.

I don't like raw veggies in my sandwich. Meat + Cheese + Bread = May's sandwich. Period.

And raw tomatoes....*faints dead away* Just no, just no.

Ketchup, tartar sauce, most salad dressings, and mayonaise (except in egg salad) never ever pass my lips.

[christine007]

I like plain (New York style?) cheesecake, but the flavored stuff, blech!

I saw mint chocolate cheesecake, ugh that was nasty.

I hate liver in any form, including pate, yuck.

I'm a cheap date, I guess.

[Megan Blocker]

People can never believe this, but I really don't like cheese.

Over the years, I've come to appreciate it in certain forms (in most pasta dishes and salads, on pizza, melted brie on a baguette, cream cheese, a goat cheese tart), but, by and large, I don't like cheese.  I'll eat literally anything else, but not cheese, especially at room temperature and on a cracker.

I once had someone tell me it was like not liking bread.

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Since posting the above almost a year ago, I've been trying to make myself like cheese. My friends Miles and Hall had me over for a cheese tasting, and it was ok. I made it through, and I even liked some of the cheeses.

I did discover that I really don't like fig bread.

I still don't understand the almost sexual desire some people have for cheese, though. To each his own, I suppose!

[Arianna]

I have a few that have already been said: Raw onions (although I like cooked ones), ketchup (yucky sweet mess, and I work in a frites shop!- I will eat it if at some point it becomes savory, like in tonkatsu sauce or curry ketchup), sweet pickles (who thought of that?).

Here are my weird ones:

<b>Pizza!</b> I know I am going to get maligned for this, so let me clarify. I like pizza in it's traditional form- a thin piece of flatbread with sauce and maybe some cheese or some mushrooms applied SPARINGLY. But what I can't get over is American pizza, with it's dripping grease and the cheese that slides off and so many toppings who even cares about the bread underneath. This is a hard one because it is the food of choice for so many people, including my boyfriend's mother, who insists on pizza and nothing else for her birthday and mother's day dinners. Needless to say, I eat before we leave to go to her house.

<b>Stone Fruits!</b> Actually, this isn't a dislike, but a genuine allergy. I get hives all over my body if I eat raw stone fruits (cherries, peaches, plums, etc.). If they are cooked I can eat them without the hives, but honestly, I remember the idea of the hives and that puts me off. It's a true bummer, because I do think they taste ok, and since I live in Washington State we get tons of local fresh ones at the farmer's market. I am always tempted, but then I remember the horrible itchy terrible hives and I stay away.

As for your other dislikes, I can offer explanations for some of them:

Cilantro- some people have a compound in their saliva that makes cilantro taste like aluminum or soap. It's natural, don't be ashamed! I am very happy I do not possess this compound.

Any general dislike of a flavor like Bitter (coffee), Sweet (cheesecake and chocolate), Sour (pickles, olives), or Salty (pickles and olives again)- Your tongue is divided into those four categories by region. Some people have more tastebuds in certain parts, some people have less- it's all good! When you have a sweet tooth, it's really a sweet tongue!

Edited May 22, 2006 by Arianna (log)

[Carlovski]

Celery and Cucumber.

When I mention this people say 'But it doesn't taste of anything, why don't you like it?' - Well If it doesn't taste of anything, why should I like?

But it isn't true - I can detect the tiniest bit of Cucumber in anything - I've eaten kebabs, drenched in vicously hot chilli sauce, but one rogue sliver of cucumber and I can instantly detect it.

Celery is more of a texture thing, but again, one tiny slice and I know it's there.

[phaelon56]

As for your other dislikes, I can offer explanations for some of them:

Any general dislike of a flavor like Bitter (coffee), Sweet (cheesecake and chocolate), Sour (pickles, olives), or Salty (pickles and olives again)- Your tongue is divided into those four categories by region.  Some people have more tastebuds in certain parts, some people have less- it's all good!  When you have a sweet tooth, it's really a sweet tongue!

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I feel obligated to point out that really high quality coffee that has been properly roasted and brewed is not bitter. But most people including, I suspect, many eGulleteers - have never had really exceptional coffee.

A sweet tooth... ahhhh... a blessing and a curse.

[Cook456]

People can never believe this, but I really don't like cheese.

Over the years, I've come to appreciate it in certain forms (in most pasta dishes and salads, on pizza, melted brie on a baguette, cream cheese, a goat cheese tart), but, by and large, I don't like cheese.  I'll eat literally anything else, but not cheese, especially at room temperature and on a cracker.

I once had someone tell me it was like not liking bread.

←

Since posting the above almost a year ago, I've been trying to make myself like cheese. My friends Miles and Hall had me over for a cheese tasting, and it was ok. I made it through, and I even liked some of the cheeses.

I did discover that I really don't like fig bread.

I still don't understand the almost sexual desire some people have for cheese, though. To each his own, I suppose!

←

Megan,

I'm just the opposite. I am starting to eat cheeses like goat cheese and raw milk cheddar with crackers. But don't give me Brie...and don't put cheese anywhere near me when I have pasta.

When I was a child, I actually made my mom wash off the cheese she mistakenly put on my pasta, and resauce it.

[Ohba]

Coca Cola. Undrinkable, along with all its carbonated cousins.

[Khadija]

The only way I eat non-scrambled eggs is egg salad. Poached eggs, sunny side up etc, Blech. I don't like egg yolks in hardboiled eggs either, unless there's a spicy sauce or some sort accompanying the rice and eggs.

I did go through a period when I wouldn't eat eggs because when I cracked open one, there was a bug inside. Eeeeeek!!! I was...10? I wasn't a girly girl, but food isn't supposed to have bugs in it!

I never used to like cilantro, and it still makes me gag to bite into it, but I can't imagine steamed fish, for instance, without it now.

I can't stand dried shitake mushrooms. The smell of them soaking sends me running out of the kitchen, and I don't eat many dishes that have them. I don't really like the fresh ones either, but I can cope.

I don't like raw veggies in my sandwich. Meat + Cheese + Bread = May's sandwich. Period.

And raw tomatoes....*faints dead away* Just no, just no.

Ketchup, tartar sauce, most salad dressings, and mayonaise (except in egg salad) never ever pass my lips.

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We would be kindred food-dislike spirits, if it weren't for the egg salad business. When I was a kid, I would only eat eggs scrambled. Now I am okay with eggs in most forms (poached, fried, etc), as long as they are hot. I have a big problem with foods that I think should be hot, when they are cold.

I dislike lots of condiments, too. Ketchup is okay on hamburgers, hot-dogs, and french fries. Nothing else. Salad dressing cannot come out of a bottle (not snobbery about packaged foods, I just hate every dressing I've ever tried that comes out of a bottle). But the most hated food-substance in the world is mayonaisse, in any form.

Egg salad is horrendous, because it contains both cold eggs and mayonaisse .

[Megan Blocker]

Celery and Cucumber.

When I mention this people say 'But it doesn't taste of anything, why don't you like it?' - Well If it doesn't taste of anything, why should I like?

But it isn't true - I can detect the tiniest bit of Cucumber in anything - I've eaten kebabs, drenched in vicously hot chilli sauce, but one rogue sliver of cucumber and I can instantly detect it.

Celery is more of a texture thing, but again, one tiny slice and I know it's there.

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OK, cucumbers definitely taste of something. I hate it when people say that!

I'll take yours! You can have all my stinky cheeses.

[Megan Blocker]

When I was a child, I actually made my mom wash off the cheese she mistakenly put on my pasta, and resauce it.

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Seriously? She must have loved that!

[divalasvegas]

Iced coffee. Blech! Coffee ice cream yes, but when drinking it, it's got to be hot as in MacDonald's lawsuit hot!

Wrapped Sandwiches as in any food wrapped up and sealed--burritos for instance--I think this may be more of a food phobia. Just the thought of biting into a huge wrapped log of concealed food is a complete turn off for me. I like my sandwiches on bread or "open" like delicious warm tortillas that I fold around the fillings of my choice.

Undercooked/Med. Rare Pork. I know, I know: pork doesn't have all the nasty bugs it used to and is raised leaner and needs to be undercooked to keep it juicy. Well not for me. That's why I avoid purchasing ultra-lean cuts of pork like tenderloin. There's just something so delicious to about perfectly cooked--not dried out--pork.

Green Tea Desserts. Really enjoy hot green tea, but green tea in desserts are a no-no.

And Shannon we are definitely kindred spirits when it comes to cilantro although I find that the only cuisine which uses it in a way that it is somewhat palatable to me is Mexican--pico de gallo and salsa for example--though in just about everything else like you I prefer it to be left out if possible. BTW next time you don't want cilantro added, just say: sin cilantro por favor. Muy facil (very easy).

[carpetbagger, esq.]

Fish. I hate fish. I love most shellfish, but I simply cannot stand fish fish.

I guess it all dates back to growing up in Syracuse and having a dad who loved to go fishing. When he came home, I would get repulsed by the sight and smell of the various things he would bring home - salmon, trout, bass, etc. It didn't improve when he actually took me fishing. For those of you who have never witnessed the spawning season at the Salmon River in Pulaski or Oswego, NY, thank your lucky stars.

[johnsmith45678]

Mmmm, I love mayo... I love ketchup...

Edited May 23, 2006 by johnsmith45678 (log)

[lesfen]

Mmmm, I love mayo... I love ketchup...

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Urk. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

[hungryCAT]

johnsmith, you are evil - pure evil!!!

I almost forgot about steak tartar -

holy crap, literally . . .

[Pookie]

Ranch.

I hate Ranch Dressing and it really seems to be everywhere!

It's just so gloppy and bland and yech!

And I have no problem with Mayo so it's not the whiteness of it.

But Eeeeee! We were offered Ranch to go with our wings last night at the pub, NONONONONO! Blue Cheese!

[phaelon56]

Fish. I hate fish. I love most shellfish, but I simply cannot stand fish fish.

I guess it all dates back to growing up in Syracuse and having a dad who loved to go fishing. When he came home, I would get repulsed by the sight and smell of the various things he would bring home - salmon, trout, bass, etc.  It didn't improve when he actually took me fishing. For those of you who have never witnessed the spawning season at the Salmon River in Pulaski or Oswego, NY, thank your lucky stars.

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You didn't even like Friday fish fries with haddock? Maybe from the Jean's potato chip factory on East Fayette Street or Penisi's?

My dad fished in this area less often than yours and although I love fish to this day I was never taken with Northern Pike or bass. I recall having walleye's only a few times and don't think I was enthused. But now that genuine sea bass is endangered I've been informed that the most similar substitute fish for making my favorite Miso Glazed Sea Bass recipe is none other than Walleyed Pike.

You really should come to visit soon - William's restaurant out in Rattlesnake Gulch is having their annual "all-you-can-eat" bulhead dinners

[ghostrider]

Pudding, flan, cream pies, mac & cheese - anything with that sort of squishy texture gets me pretty close to gagging right quick.

Pickles - what's the point? (I mean the gustatory point, I know what the historical point is, we've had this discussion before.) If one appears on my plate, I offer it around; if there are no takers, it gets trashed. Even seagulls don't eat pickles; doesn't that tell you something?

[Jenny McClure]

Just thought of a few more:

Iced Tea & Coffee....nasty stuff.

Scallops, I have tried to like them, just can't.

Avocado. I like guacamole, but by itself, no can do.

[carpetbagger, esq.]

You didn't even like Friday fish fries with haddock? Maybe from the Jean's potato chip factory on East Fayette Street or Penisi's?

My dad fished in this area less often than yours and although I love fish to this day I was never taken with Northern Pike or bass. I recall having walleye's only a few times and don't think I was enthused. But now that genuine sea bass is endangered I've been informed that the most similar substitute fish for making my favorite Miso Glazed Sea Bass recipe is none other than Walleyed Pike.

You really should come to visit soon - William's restaurant out in Rattlesnake Gulch is having their annual "all-you-can-eat" bulhead dinners

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we'd pick up penisi's when we lived in east syracuse, but then once we moved to liverpool, it was off to the euclid on fri night. i typically got something other than haddock and fries. I did have it a few times.

when i come back, i pretty much hit up the same places over and over:

san remo's pizza (only place for chicken wing pizza now that lorenzo's closed)

antonio's

erawan

bluewater grill

blue tusk

dinosaur (although i hear it's really going downhill these days)

whatever new place has opened that my parents think i'll like (ex. the mission)

NOTE THE ABSENCE OF BULLHEAD DINNER OPTIONS!

[Mel Altenderfer]

Bananas are repugnant in every way to me unless mashed and cooked into banana bread. I can't even stand to peel one because the smell makes me retch.

Canned tuna. It is a testament to how much I love my dogs that I can bear to open a can and feed it to them.

Mayo is good when mixed with other things (chicken salad or a creamy dip) but is noxious on sandwiches and (especially) hamburgers. There is one restaurant where I will eat frites with basil mayo on the side but nowhere else in the world will I consume mayo solo.

Ketchup. For a while I feared they would kick me out of Pittsburgh (home of Heinz) for this. It looks like congealed blood and tastes like crap.

Lima beans. There is no reason for them to exist, period.

[johnsmith45678]

I've never liked blue cheese.

Plain avocados are gross, but I love guacamole.