Foods you're embarrassed to hate

[patti]

Curry dishes. I *want* to love curry, I really, really do, but I'm not there yet.

I hate cilantro, but I'm no longer embarrassed to hate it. Last night I saw a repeat episode of Larry King Live with Julia Child as his guest. She hates cilantro, too, so I'm in good company.

[TheMatt]

Curry dishes. I *want* to love curry, I really, really do, but I'm not there yet.

patti, is it any type of curry? Thai? Chinese? The myriad of Indian? Just wondering. I'm the kind of person that hate coconut curries, but loves just about all the others.

[patti]

Curry dishes. I *want* to love curry, I really, really do, but I'm not there yet.

patti, is it any type of curry? Thai? Chinese? The myriad of Indian? Just wondering. I'm the kind of person that hate coconut curries, but loves just about all the others.

One of the reasons I still have hope for curry is that my experience with it has been very limited. I've never had an Indian or Thai curry dish, only Chinese, and it overpowered the dish so much that I could not tolerate it. I will admit that I've only tried it two separate times, but found it so unpalatable that I've been afraid to try it again. I read about all these magnificent curry dishes and think I should like them, particularly Indian ones. Is there hope for me?

Edited August 22, 2004 by patti (log)

[Randi]

Curry dishes. I *want* to love curry, I really, really do, but I'm not there yet.

Ooops! I forgot. I hate curry too!

And ketchup (except as a base for cocktail sauce for shrimp)

[Muffin210]

Shiitake mushrooms. Other people must love them, because they're always turning up in restaurant dishes and they are so expensive. I like mushrooms in general, but there's something about shiitakes...even if I smell them, it grosses me out.

And bananas. Hate them!

[frdagaa]

Curry dishes. I *want* to love curry, I really, really do, but I'm not there yet.

Growing up, I hated curry. Then I figured out that what I really disliked was standard bottled curry powders (e.g. Spice Islands) that have a lot of fenugreek in them. That fenugreek taste is the only thing about curry I dislike (and even so it's tolerable). BTW, fenugreek is what's used for imitation maple flavoring; don't like that much either. I also discovered when drying some watermelon solids (don't ask) that watermelon has a fenugreek taste way in the background. WAY in the background.

[Chef A]

All mushrooms. I have to make them taste good every day for people, but they still taste gross to me. Sorry to all who love the fungus grown in s@#%. Mushrooms are icky.

[jgarner53]

I forgot to mention coffee. It is actually one thing I'm quasi-embarrassed about. It's always seemed like the "adult" drink. Like you can't be an official, card-carrying grown-up unless you drink coffee. I know my brother learned to drink it when he had kids. Maybe the lack of sleep overpowers your natural sense of how it tastes?

I love the smell, and don't mind it in small doses in a recipe (particularly with chocolate), and I've been known to quaff the rare mocha or a cappucino in Italy, but on a day-to-day basis, I just can't do it.

I'll stick with my tea, thanks. And dammit, I am a grown-up! I have a mortgage, bought my own car, my own furniture, I work for a living and pay taxes. And if that don't make me a grown-up, well to you!

[rvanrens]

Again, not for lack of trying. However, I'm not embarrassed to think that cilantro tastes like soap, and not in a good way.

I'm told that this is a genetic thing; for some people, cilantro DOES taste like dish soap. I'm one of them.

[tryska]

anything cooked rare.

i'm not embarrassed to hate it, altho people do try to make me feel embarrassed.

[tejon]

This has been a very interesting thread. Good to know there are others who love food but dislike some specific items. The article on supertasting was especially interesting - I'm guessing I fall in that category. Growing up, I ate only the blandest things because condiments and seasonings were just too much for me. I often pick up on flavor differences that no one around me can, for instance. It's more of a curse than a blessing overall - there are so many highly flavored foods that I just can't eat, foods everyone else loves. As I get older I am more able to tolerate more, and I keep trying, hoping to one day eat blue cheese and enjoy it, or sip coffee with everyone else. That's where I'm embarrassed: these are foods I don't have any issues with other than the flavor, and at times I feel like a small child in what I'm able to stomach.

[Cusina]

I don't enjoy capers or leeks. Just don't trip my trigger.

I also, though this isn't gourmet, have been embarassed when presented with some goodie or another that contains sweetened condensed milk. I just can't stomach the stuff. I have a huge sweet tooth and it's not like me to turn down dessert but, honestly, I think it reminds me too much of regurgitated breast milk. Not a good association. This happens sometimes with very rich creme brulee as well.

[Cusina]

One more thing... MealTutor, your response made me laugh and your web site is beautiful. Wish I lived in Buckhead so I could try one of your classes. No bugs though!

[TheFoodTutor]

One more thing... MealTutor, your response made me laugh and your web site is beautiful. Wish I lived in Buckhead so I could try one of your classes. No bugs though!

Thank you! I've gotten so many wonderful compliments on the website since I started posting here on eGullet, and I wanted to point out that, while the business itself was my idea, the website was designed by my boyfriend and partner, Bruce. I guess he really is good for something, after all.

Maybe I should put a disclaimer up that I don't do bug cooking classes. Hmm.

[Katherine]

Pickles.  I've tried very hard to like these as well, and it just isn't to be.  In combination with mustard, it means having to order special ad Mc Donald's.  Since I don't eat there anymore, the embarassment is more part of my childhood and teenage years.  But I'll still be at a casual restaurant, diner, and infrequently someone will ask "are you going to eat your pickle(s)?"

In my reality, food which is clearly not going to be eaten is fair game for the other hunter-gatherers around the hearth.

The correct phrasing is, "Aren't you going to eat your pickles? Can I have them?"

Foie gras stuffed prunes. How you can put together two perfectly good foods and come up with something so foul is a mystery to me.

And what I really hate is when a perfectly good chocolate dessert has fruit mixed into it in any way, shape or form.  To me, the only acceptable fruit that goes with chocolate is bananas.  And even that's marginal.

The smell of fruit flavored chocolates can ruin the interior of a candy shop for me. I think it must have something to do with the blend of artificial flavors used, and the way they permeate each other, because I have no problem with pastries with chocolate and fruit.

I just thought of another one.  Skinless-boneless chicken breast.  Why am I embarassed to hate it?  Because that's what EVERYONE in Southwestern Ontario likes to make for dinner!  Boneless-skinless chicken breast is so awful and tasteless.  Why not at least leave the bone in and the skin on? Then I can at least look forward to some crispy chicken skin.  But there are so many more flavourful cuts of meat, and even more flavourful cuts of chicken, that I don't understand why people always opt for boneless/skinless chicken breast.

That's interesting. I think this is a result of the health-conscious eating here. Skinless breast meat has a whole lot less fat that dark meat with the skin. Funny thing is that in Asian societies, the dark meat is preferred because it has more fat.

Yes, hold the hard, dry chicken breasts, please.

How very fortunate for that man.  My experience has been the opposite - I have known a number of people who suddenly and permanently lost their sense of taste/ smell.  In every case, it occured after a bad cold. 

The meager sensations that were left were for very spicy foods and sweet things.  Spicy is not so much a primary flavor as an irritant and sweet does not seem so dependent on smell. 

Nonetheless, the net effect was that all of these people gained significant amounts of weight trying to get the pleasure of taste.  Way too many desserts!!

I temporarily lost my sense of smell a few years back at the tail end of a bout with bronchitis. It took a while before I realized that there wasn't anything wrong with the mint or sage, but with me.

I hear the food tasted different then. I don't think I ate more desserts, but my daughter says everything had lots more black and red pepper. And grease.

Oh, yes, and the smell of airline coffee, enough to make me nauseated. Not remotely tempting.

[bloviatrix]

I believe my disgust with stinky cheese is well documented on this site. And believe me, I've tried to get over it. Just today, I stood in the cheese department of Fairway trying to enjoy the smell, but it just disagrees me. Last week I picked up some pecorino. The first tastes were ok - just salty, but the finish made me gag. I find it tastes like vomit.

Other than that, I don't like the taste of liver. But give me chopped liver or foie gras and I'm fine.

I think for me a lot of it has to do with the way things smell. We joke that I have scent hound DNA because I pick up all sorts of smells and scent is very related to taste.

[gariotin]

I agree on capers and the even more vile and gross-looking caperberries. My mom used to mix capers into tuna salad when I was a kid and I remember picking them out one by one. I'm also not big on chocolate - think it's a genetic thing, as no one in my family likes it much. People think we are freaks.

[wnissen]

Am I the only one to be embarrassed that the thought of insects is repulsive to me? I know that it's just a cultural thing, and that insects probably taste pretty good. I even have a worm (maggot?) in a tequila-flavored lollipop, that I'm sure would be good to eat. But I just can't bring myself to try it.

I know this sounds silly, but I've never met a shrimp I wouldn't eat, so why not other arthropods?

[frdagaa]

Hey, FoodTutor...if you ever DO decide to do a bug class, let me know. The way the skeeters chomp on me, wouldn't mind getting back at 'em.javascript:add_smilie(%22:raz:%22)

[AzRaeL]

I know this sounds silly, but I've never met a shrimp I wouldn't eat, so why not other arthropods?

cuz Shrimp is Yummy and Bugs are Gross :)

[TheFoodTutor]

Hey, FoodTutor...if you ever DO decide to do a bug class, let me know. The way the skeeters chomp on me, wouldn't mind getting back at 'em.

Suddenly, I'm inspired to write a recipe for maggot-and-rice pudding. With regular rice pudding, you already have little chewy bits all through it, so the maggots would just be an extra flavor and texture element, with added protein to boot.

Now, should I go with cardamom, or cloves?

[Knicke]

Oh, oh, OH! oh NO!

FoodTutor, you've successfully ruined rice pudding for me! And just after I got over the tapioca fish-eye paranoia. Ok, maybe it's not ruined forever...but for awhile. Maggots...ick, ick, ick.

Edited to ask, why can't you have both cardamom AND cloves? Or is that overkill?

Edited August 24, 2004 by Knicke (log)

[TheFoodTutor]

Sorry, Knicke. People just seemed to be running with my "all bug" food class idea. There does seem to be something especially gross about the fact that you wouldn't be sure which part was which in a rice pudding. But, to me, it would just make me think, "Well, I was OK with the chewy bits before I thought they might be maggots, so what's wrong now? As long as it tastes good, overall. . ."

I do think cardamom and cloves together would be overkill, because they're fairly strong flavors, to me. I guess it would depend on how strong maggots taste.

What am I thinking? Bleah.

I should just go back to working on my recipe for Cumin Candied Cockroaches.

[Knicke]

FoodTutor, if you get stuck, here's a place to look for inspiring insect recipes...

Eat-a-Bug Cookbook

[laurenmilan]

I don't like any olives that aren't black and come from a can that says California.

And boy, those olive bars look soooo tasty! Glistening orbs in various oils with bits of herbs and spices. Plus, I love finger food.

Me too! It's the one antipasto item I don't absolutely love.