Foods that you are *supposed* to find delicious?

[plk]

Aha, I thought of another one: malt flavor. As in chocolate malted sodas, ovaltine, and those round malt candies covered in chocolate that you only really see at movie theaters. I have bought them accidentally, thinking they were chewy caramel balls covered in chocolate. So disappointing, especially since the texture is so unpleasantly hard and crispy, like pumice stone. However, I do not mind malt flavor in beer. That may be because the beers I like the most are very hoppy and the offending malt is minimized.

[johnsmith45678]

Tofu -- it has absolutely no value, taste-wise. I'm not crazy about it when it's mixed in with other stuff either. But since it's supposed to be healthy...

[dividend]

I dislike the overpowering pungeny of rosemary. The only way I've ever found it palatable was in a pasta dish with tuna and onions. I think it's becuase it's almost impossible to get it to be a background flavor. Even the smallest hint in a soup makes the soup taste of nothing else. I also don't really like sage or too much thyme for similar reasons, but those aren't active aversions, and there are dishes with each one that I enjoy.

And gin. It tastes like I'm trying to drink the Christmas tree. Blech.

These all have a similar flavor profile, so I think that portion of my tastebuds must be hypersensitive.

[enurmi]

Rosemary. I just plain don't like the taste! Give me thyme or basil ( ) any day.

And veal-- I don't like the taste, the texture, anything... It's been awhile since I've tried it, so I'd be willing to try it again, but no guarantees.

[johnsmith45678]

And veal-- I don't like the taste, the texture, anything... It's been awhile since I've tried it, so I'd be willing to try it again, but no guarantees.

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I don't dislike veal, but I ate it many times when I worked at an Italian restaurant and found it overrated. It didn't have any flavor, compared to beef. It was just much more tender -- sort of like fillet mignon, which I also find overrated. It also seemed ridiculously cruel to subject calves to the conditions at the time for such an end result.

[andiesenji]

Salsa.

Raw onions burn the mouth. Raw tomatoes give me canker sores. Cilantro tastes like soap.

All of it together is just hideous.

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Scallions too?

I prepare a peach and mango salsa, with fairly mild roasted peppers, about 1/4 the heat of jalapeños, no tomatoes, but I do add some roasted tomatillo. The only raw onions I use are the very sweet ones or scallions. If I can't find sweet onions, I use shallots (which I always have growing in pots).

No cilantro!

[Philip-Thai]

Surströmming, the Swedish fermented herring is probably the most revolting dish on the planet. I can not be inj the room if somebody opens a can.

I also have difficulty with some live edible insects and certain varieties of freshwater fish. But Surströmming takes the vomit prize any day.

[paulraphael]

I get it. This is where we "out" ourselves as true phillistines.

Ok, here goes:

-eggs. i'm fine with them as ingredients (use them by the dozen when baking) but they gag me, both from taste and texture, by themselves. this is a real handicap at brunch. and omelettes LOOK so good, and are such a great idea. i wish i could enjoy them.

-avocados

-liver

-tofu (my girlfriend is Taiwanese, so this has caused some friction)

-kim chee (most of it has a smell that sets off my fight or flee instinct. but recently i had some ... labelled "lactic acid bacteria" kimchee ...yum! ... that i thought was delicious)

-paté ... probably because of the liver

-urchin

and some take-it-or-leave-it delicacies (these don't gross me out, but I don't love them):

-foie gras

-caviar

[CdnLifeguard]

Like a few others, mine is Cheese.

Sure I can handle melted cheese on my Pizza, or in a similar application. But try to get me to eat a raw piece of cheese. NO WAY. I still try it every while hoping, that it's just something childish and I am afraid to like it. But alas, every time I try, I nearly vomit.

This is not just your Safeway Cheeder cheese and such, but actually good cheeses still do it to me.

As much as I wish to enjoy them, I just cannot. Can't even force it down.

[titmfatied]

I'm a human garbage disposal and consider myself very open to new palate experiences. I very much want to appreciate food the way others do. I figure if someone else enjoys it there's just an angle I'm missing. I keep trying sushi and it's just...not ...happening. Raw oysters are yummy and I'll eat them by the dozen. I wholeheartedly love fish, just cook mine please.

Lima beens give me flash backs of being five years old and desperately wishing I had a dog around to spare me from a pile of cold lima beans and a look on my moms face that indicated she was going win this one. Mom won the battle (after two hours and considerable pouting) but the forever-five-year-old in me is steadfastly determined to win the war on lima beans. No more for me, EVER! (and I'll give you a dirty look if you tell me you enjoy them!)

Had a strange experience today and it went this way:

I'm not a big fast food eater but every now and again nastalgia strikes a chord in me and I must obey. This morning at about 10 AM I gave into primal desire in the form of a cheeseburger from Burger King. Thankfully my friendly neighborhood Burger King will honor a burger order at 10 in the morning. The burger was made fresh and looked darn near like one you might see in a commercial. I had a grin like a vampire in a blood bank and felt like I just made the deal of the century with my dollar. Corporate Suckers!

Now, usually if I'm in the mood for a cheeseburger I wolf it down in under 20 seconds. Today I gave in to curiousity and decided to chew it very slowly to 'savor' the trashy goodness. OMFG WAS THAT A BAD IDEA! The complex burger 'flavor porfile' jumped up and said hello and it was totally wretched and NASTY! Let's just say one can really aquire an appreciation for the quality of meat The King exposes his subjects to using this method. The strange thing of it was after my one slow bite experiment I wolfed down the rest of it in two bites and it went right back to tasting of wonderful trashy goodness. I felt really dirty and from this day forth I solemnly swear that I, <insert my name here>, so long as I'm not drunk, will nevereverever allow another fast food burger to pass through my lips so long as my loving heart is fortunate enough to beat. I'd also like to issue a double dog dare to anyone here to take the 'Slow King Challenge'. I'd like to try it again as I'm thinking maybe I just had a bad burger but I'm scared to ever expose myself to that foul, rancid taste again.

Edited March 27, 2007 by titmfatied (log)

[savvysearch]

I don't know if I am supposed to like this, but I dislike peanut butter and wheat bread.

[rooftop1000]

I don't know if I am supposed to like this, but I dislike peanut butter and wheat bread.

←

peanut butter only goes on white bread, the day you buy it

tracey

[MattJohnson]

I too am generally a garbage disposal...

Thinks I'd rather leave on the plate:

okra

popcorn - texture thing i think

Things I just don't link

anise flavor - in very small doses, its ok, but as a main flavor... no thanks

fried banana - I got really sick once in thailand and my body associates that illness with some fried bananas I had. My wife had them, and was fine, but for some reason, my body decided they are not for me.

Something I used to hate, but made myself like:

olives - I ate them till I started to understand why they were good. I still can't eat them like candy, but I can enjoy some nice olives now.

Edited March 27, 2007 by MattJohnson (log)

[Chef_on_the_go]

1. Uni

2. Caviar

3. Offal/ organ meats. I'll eat a little bit of sweet breads if they're soaked in milk and pressed thin. Pan fried so they're crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside. I ate at an Alain Ducasse restaurant, and their sweetbreads were enormous fatty globs of snot!

4. Foie gras. I don't care for it. The only time I've had it and enjoyed it was in a pate when I was in France. The stuff from France really tastes so much better than what we have in the states.

5. Eggplant. I don't really care for it. I think it's the slimy texture of the fried eggplant I had as a kid.

6. Frogs

7. Snails

8. Alligator

9. Anything artificially lowfat

10. Most things anise flavored

11. Margarine and Crisco give me the willies!!

12. I'm not a huge fan of olives. I can eat a little bit of them if they are in something.

I had a bad egg experience as a kid, but I eat them now.

Edited March 27, 2007 by Chef_on_the_go (log)

[johnsmith45678]

9. Anything artificially lowfat

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Yeah, it just doesn't taste as good. I recently bought some nonfat cottage cheese and can't stand it. I'll probably just throw it out. I love regular cottage cheese.

[juliachildish]

The only food that I really just can't stand (although I'm a vegetarian, so I suppose there are a lot of disgusting foods out there that I've never even tried) is eggs. Any form-scrambled, hardboiled, omelettes. Even things that taste eggy, like custards, flans, meringues...no good.

Everything else (that's not meat) I'll eat, and even mostly like.

I'm glad that I'm not alone in my egg-phobia! Although you guys are surprisingly picky for a bunch of foodies...which I guess is why we all feel sort of guilty about confessing these things!

[BertaBurtonLake]

ewwww...

I can't stand:

eggplant

bananas

licorice/anise/fennel

cilantro (tastes like soap)

shrimp heads or any other shellfish heads like crawfish or lobster

sweetbreads

squid or octopus

chitterlings

lights (pig lungs)

tripe

most anything else is fair game and i re-try things I don't like every few years to make sure my tastes have not changed and I might be missing something. I used to hate liver, okra, snails, mushrooms and some other foods I now adore!

Berta

[Catherine Iino]

Here's the odd thing. For years I was in the anti-cilantro group, and I bought into the theory that it was a genetic disposition. Yes, tasted like dirty dishwater to me. Then, a few years ago, I started to like it. I suddenly got it: the flavor made sense and became appealing. Now, I miss it when it's not there in the cuisines in which it's at home. That really surprises me, but I'm happy about it.

(I wish my husband would have an olive epiphany. I keep telling him he should like olives: he likes strong flavors like anchovies and preserved black beans. So far, no luck.)

[BekkiM]

(I wish my husband would have an olive epiphany. I keep telling him he should like olives: he likes strong flavors like anchovies and preserved black beans. So far, no luck.)

←

I tried olives religiously every six months for years and years on the same theory--and I've finally reached the point where I really do like them and will actually seek them out. But not those nasty black, sliced things in the can... Yuck.

[johnsmith45678]

Here's the odd thing. For years I was in the anti-cilantro group, and I bought into the theory that it was a genetic disposition. Yes, tasted like dirty dishwater to me.

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Yeah, maybe. I've never thought cilantro tasted like soap/dishwater.

[Milagai]

I tried olives religiously every six months for years and years on the same theory--and I've finally reached the point where I really do like them and will actually seek them out.  But not those nasty black, sliced things in the can...  Yuck.

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eh? i didn't know olives came in a can.

i've only seen them in bottles or in tubs of marinade...

milagai

[Aileen]

I detest most pre-made baked goods, unless they're from a small bakery and made fresh. The artificial flavors/preservatives in them make me gag.

[HungryC]

Am I the only person who finds cooked cabbage gross? The smell, the texture, the appearance...I don't like cabbage rolls, smothered cabbage, grilled cabbage, fried cabbage, cabbage casserole. I can tolerate it in pork & cabbage egg rolls. But I do really like raw cabbage in slaw, goi ga, or other salads. Weird, I know.

[Lochina]

The four "foodie" foods that I disliked for many years, and felt I needed to come to like in order to call myself a true foodie, were:

Olives

Sushi

Smoked salmon/other smoked fishes

Cilantro

I continued to eat these things despite not liking them, and can now honestly say that I love all four.

[doughgirl]

Any and all seafood....can't stand the smell or the way it looks. To me, fish just plain stink....shrimp are extremely creepy looking with their veins and beady eyes and oysters look like a hawk of spit floating in dirty dishwater (sorry, I know that was gross).