"Who-Knows-Why?" dislikes

[Bada Bing]

I pretty much never start such a wide-open thread, but I am curious about how certain others relate to me in this theme.

I bet those of us who consider ourselves very widely interested in foods and flavors--we're the opposite of picky eaters, if you will--still have certain flavors that somehow don't click for us. Of course, cilantro is well known for being repellent to some people because of genetic reasons. So we can maybe take that off the table as "solved."

For me, someone who truly relishes variety in foods, I can only think of two ingredients that just somehow seem wrong to me, unless done in a subtle way: tarragon and hazelnut. I can't even say that they taste bad, exactly, but that they seem "wrong" for me.

Any others out there like that? (I'd like to discourage replies from people who have a long laundry list of things they dislike, because that's getting into another question.)

[Riccardo]

Bergamot, as in Earl Grey tea. Seems like it belongs in a ladies' garment drawer sachet.

[goodhealthgourmet]

Yes! It's like drinking perfume or eating potpourri.

I also can't stand chamomile - it has a musty, hay-like "old paper" smells that nauseates me.

[williej]

Cooked raisins. I love dried raisins; absolutely detest cooked or baked raisins. I hate it when they make cinammon buns and put raisins in them. They are called cinammon buns, not raisin buns!

[Veggo]

Can I cite one possible exception to your raisin rule? Golden raisins in a Veracruz sauce with capers and green olives and other ingredients make a delicious savory-sweet sauce for fish and shrimp.

[Rasam]

I am curious whether anyone in this forum shares my hatred, my abhorrence, my detestation, of breakfast cereal, which seems a very popular food and a multi billion dollar industry.

How do I loathe thee, let me count the ways:

1. It's sweet and I prefer savory breakfasts
2. It's cold and I prefer hot breakfasts, though some cold things are good in the summer.
3. It tastes thin and unsatisfying, I like heartier fare.
4. I cannot get over the suspicion that it is made with pencil shavings, sawdust, etc. How could someone take something good like corn and turn it into cornflakes? Wasn't Kellogg some kind of crank who wanted to promote higher morality through cold baths and breakfasts?
5. If my life depended on it and I was starving, I could tolerate muesli/granola types of cereals with whole grains, nuts, dried fruits, etc. But the regular kind - even if I ate it I would feel like I was starving.

The rest of my family loves the stuff and eats large bowlfuls almost every day, for breakfast and lunch and snacks and dinner.

Am I alone in my loathing?

[Jay F]

I don't eat cold breakfast cereal. I don't hate it. I just have so many other things I like to eat.

[hill food]

" I cannot get over the suspicion that it (breakfast cereal) is made with pencil shavings..."

does Roald Dahl walk among us yet? I hope so. good to see you around!

[Rasam]

:) I must have channeled RD without realizing it.

However, great minds think alike. :)

[Perilagu Khan]

I actually like several breakfast cereals (some sweet, some not) but the benefits don't measure up to the cost. A big bowl of cereal doused liberally with milk is a rather expensive breakfast, it seems to me.

[Veggo]

Tell us how you feel about Rice Krispies....

[maxie]

Spotted or black bananas. Blech! They smell bad, taste rotten, and have a off-putting texture. I like mine yellow only, please. Baking recipes often call for well ripened bananas. The authors allege them to be sweeter, with more banana flavor. I taste less banana flavor, more taste of decay.

[TXMandy]

Oh yes Maxie! I completely forgot about this one and couldn't agree more. Although I will use overripe bananas for breads and things, I can't stomach a plain banana unless it's very light yellow.

[hill food]

for me it's the texture that has become unacceptable. I don't have an issue with soft foods (mostly) just bananas.

[bodie358]

Sweet potatoes.

[Dagney]

I am trying to think of a food that I DON'T like...

this could take some time.

[EWSflash]

Hazelnut, dill, epazote.

[TXMandy]

Radishes and water chestnuts. They both taste like gritty, dirt to me. Yuck!

[vttp926]

I am right there with you on the water chestnuts. The texture is just off to me.

[Heatherb]

I have a friend who calls them "crunchy air bubbles" - absolutely despises them. :)

[Chemicalkinetics]

I am the opposite here. I love water chestnuts, raw or cooked. As for radishes, it depends on the preparation. I like fully cooked radishes, and I like picked radishes. Not a big fan of raw radishes.

[Perilagu Khan]

Radishes may be my fav-o-rite vegetable. I can scarf a whole sack with nothing but a bit of salt to dust them with.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Hmm, I am sure there are plenty of foods which do not seem right to me. I am not a big fan of spinach unless it is cooked thoroughly.

[Violatp]

Does it squeak in your teeth? And is sort of metallic? That may be the iron content, I think, for me...

I like cooked spinach, too, but raw just...squeaks.

[Chemicalkinetics]

<Does it squeak in your teeth?>

Yeah, that.

The blanched spinach is ok. Whenever I eat at Korean restaurants, the spinach is fine, and when I follows some Korean recipe to blanch the spinach for long time, it is ok too. However, if I do a direct saute or stir fry, then I get this weird feeling in my teeth. :P

[Violatp]

Decadently rich creamed spinach - now *that* I can get behind!

[Chemicalkinetics]

<rich creamed spinach>

I do like it too.

[Wahooty]

It's oxalic acid crystals from the leaves that give you that "squeaky" feeling. I've been able to reduce it to less-annoying levels with a good dunk in deep, cold water - running water rinses won't do much - but it's difficult to completely eradicate with raw or lightly-cooked spinach.

[Violatp]

Huh. Interesting! Are there other greens or vegetables that have that?

Edited - I looked it up and it looks like it's in lots of other foods that I like but don't get that same sensation.

Definitely falls into the "who knows why?" category.

[Chemicalkinetics]

If it is oxalic acid, then potatoes are known to have tons, but I never have that same feeling in my teeth from eating potatoes.

[Wahooty]

Where are you seeing that potatoes have tons? USDA seems to think they're pretty low in oxalic acid.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp...

[Chemicalkinetics]

Thanks for the correction. You are correct that potatoes have a fairly low g/100g oxalic acid.

Yet, a typical potatoes weight more (dense) than other vegetables. For example, a potato has 20 fold less oxalic acid than spinach, but I can imagine a typical potato weighs much more than spinach of similar size. Therefore, by volume (e.g. g/cm3), potatoes may come out quiet high. I will look this up later.

My initial belief was that potatoes are used to remove rust and that it is the oxalic acid at work.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8478446_oxal...

[sr44]

When I was growing up, my mother raised New Zealand spinach, a green that continued through the summer unlike real spinach. To me, it felt like eating fur.

[Chemicalkinetics]

<To me, it felt like eating fur>

I cannot even imagine what you are talking about. :D

[sr44]

It didn't bother her so I was clearly wrong.

It was a BIG patch of NZ spinach.

[fldhkybnva]

I used to get spinach teeth every single time and hated it and actually stopped eating it for a while, but recently encountered a random spinach craving and just needed a spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette. I went on a mini-spinach salad binge for a few weeks and noticed that the spinach teeth sensation went away. Perhaps, I just learned to ignore, but it seems like it just wasn't there at all.

[Wahooty]

In my personal experience, it definitely seems like some batches are better than others in this regard (age of the leaves seems to be a factor), and I have never personally noticed it in swiss chard, etc. But I'm a lot more likely to eat spinach raw or lightly cooked than the other green leafies that seem to have a fair amount of oxalic acid. Cooking through does take care of most of it.

[Chemicalkinetics]

<Cooking through does take care of most of it.>

Yeah, I notice it, but I also think it depends how the spinach are cooked. Blanching or boiling help a lot, but stir fry does not. So I feel that water is needed to extract and dilute whatever is causing it.

[jmcarthur8]

I found that a good squirt of lemon juice on sautéed spinach just before serving keeps the dry mouth feel from happening. I never noticed that feeling in spinach salads.

[fldhkybnva]

The spinach teeth returned after and I just stopped eating it. I love it and bought a bag I guess in hopes that I'd just deal with the spinach teeth but just couldn't bear it for a salad. Tonight, I blanched for a minute or so and then squeezed out all of the water and laid the spinach on towels to get the rest and then continued to saute as usual. No spinach teeth so it works at least this time in case any spinach fan with spinach teeth want to give it another go.

[Perilagu Khan]

Lemme tell ya', simultaneous Spinach Tooth and Pine Mouth is a livin' hell.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Good dunk in cold water for how long?

[Wahooty]

I don't time it, but if I want to saute my spinach, I fill up my salad spinner with water, dunk the spinach, agitate it every now and then as I'm doing other prep, then drain and spin before I cook. It certainly doesn't get it all, but I find it does make it less annoying, if for no other reason than you get rid of any sandy grit that compounds the problem.

[Chemicalkinetics]

<if for no other reason than you get rid of any sandy grit that compounds the problem.>

Oh yeah, now I remember that part (sandy grits) too.

[Heatherb]

Celery, lima beans and cauliflower. They're like my trifecta of loathing.

[Gloriaa]

I hate cucumbers and obviously pickles. I really wish I liked them, hate to be picky but there is something about the taste that I cannot stand. The other thing I hate is egg salad, just gross to me.

[jlhinwa]

Oddly, I love cucumbers, especially English cucumbers, but dislike pickles of any kind.

The fact that I dislike vinegars except balsamic vinegars may explain that oddity.

[hill food]

I love pickles of all types, but hate cucumbers. or rather they have a vendetta on my GI tract.

[Perilagu Khan]

I much prefer pickles to cukes.

[laliz]

so I went to my list of disliked foods and I could pretty much figure out why I don't like them. A couple puzzle me.

Kidney Beans. I like white beans, I like black beans, I like garbanzo beans, I will even eat lima beans, but I spit out red kidney beans like they are poison. ruins a lot of chili experiences.

the combination of orange and chocolate. I don't know why. Love oranges, love chcoolate. do not put them together.

Smoked . . . . nuts, fish, cheeses, and poultry (like the year my nephew brought honeybaked smoked turkey to Thanksgiving. every one oohed and aahed and I took one taste.
I like smoked meats like ribs and brisket etc.

don't understand why not nuts, cheese, fish and poultry.

[hill food]

I despise kidney beans, but I can explain my aversion, it's the skin texture.

[OCEllen]

Mint. Any form, peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen...even the smell...yuck!

[pine time]

Agree about peppermint, altho' I'm okay with the other mints.

When I was a kid, Mom gave me a minty Pepto Bismol to settle my stomach. Instantly vomited. So much for Pepto.

[Isolda]

I always thought that was the desired effect from Pepto. People drink the horrid goo and instantly get sick and feel better.

[mrbigshotno.1]

Can't stand any kind of artificial apple flavor, especially "sour apple" candy. Although not a food, anything that smells even remotely like baby powder is horrid. There are some women's perfumes and air fresheners called "powder room", if I'm around them for more than a minute, I've got to find a place to throw up.

[suzigirl]

+1 on the baby powder. And I have the same aversion to the smell of cinnamon . At Christmastime they put those horrid cinnamon brooms in the grocery stores and it turns my stomach every time

[alliegator]

The smell of actual cinnamon is fine, but those brooms just really piss me off. When you're shopping and trying to decide what you would like with what, but your brain is cinnamon fogged, it's not a fun time.

[suzigirl]

Exactly. I don't mind cinnamon rolls or bread but that cinnamon broom smell just makes me literally gag.

[Jay F]

One more who hates cinnamon broom stench.

[suzigirl]

I was afraid I would get bashed for not liking the smell. It is so foul.

[Jay F]

Last year, Whole Foods was very cooperative in getting it away from the front door. The smell was so strong, you could smell it inside and 100 feet away. This year, they didn't go near the door with it. Unbelievably, it's a very popular item.

[suzigirl]

I know. They sell like hotcakes. I used to work in a Publix and they put them near the bakery where I worked because they felt it would draw the traffic into the department. I saw people putting them in their carts all day long

[Jelly71]

Oh, how I hate those things!! I am allergic to cinnamon oil and if I spend too much time in a store, inhaling that, I will be miserable for days. It burns my throat.

This year Fresh and Easy put the brooms in plastic bags, and it made my shopping days so much easier. One of the 12 zillion reasons I love them.

[akachochin]

Can someone tell me what a "cinnamon broom" is? I've racked my brain and cannot neither recall hearing the term nor imagine what it is.

Thanks.

[Jay F]

You are so lucky. They're these faux-cinnamon things that Whole Foods started selling here about five years ago. They display them outside the store in a box that's roughly 5' x 5' x 3' high. They stink to high heaven, and a lot of people are allergic to them.

Since they were so popular at Whole Foods, the local grocery chain started to carry them two or three years ago. Now there is no way for me to avoid the stench.

Thankfully, Whole Foods has moved them as far as possible from the door, so I shop there most often during fall. They get rid of them right after New Years, I think.

As to what is broom-y about them, I don't know. I have never gotten close enough to actually look at one.

[pine time]

At our stores, they're actually shaped like a small broom. Some folks decorate them with Christmas-y things.

Mr. Pine cannot abide cinnamon (the real thing). I made him an apple pie this morning, and it has lots of nice spices, sans cinnamon.

[Jay F]

I love *real* cinnamon, so I hate these broom things all the more for making people think they are what cinnamon smells like.

[suzigirl]

Publix has carried them at Xmas time for twenty plus years. And if you get close enough they are a bunch of twigs bound together to look somewhat like an oldfashioned broom. Wretched things.

[fldhkybnva]

We had one of these things on our wall for many years, I can still remember the stench.

[suzigirl]

I am so glad i am not alone here. I cannot understand how people can drink Goldschlager and the like. Liquid cinnamon broom. Shudder

[fldhkybnva]

Nope, argghhh. In college, I witnessed more shots of Goldschlager than I'd ever hoped for. Each time, I cringed just watching.

[hill food]

while we're dissing fake cinnamon product, does anyone else recall the brief fad in the mid-late 70's of soaking toothpicks in spicy cinnamon oil? it was popular with the stoner kids at school. I never understood the appeal, but then I didn't smoke pot in those days.

[suzigirl]

I do remember that but it was the eighties for me. A girl brought the bottle of oil to school and it broke in her pocket and burned her skin. The result was that you had to be 18 to buy the stuff. Only a handful of kids could get their parents to buy it so they sold them for a quarter a toothpick.

[AmyH]

Late 60s for me. I never understood the appeal of those toothpicks, or atomic fireballs (which I think must have been loaded with cinnamon oil) or 'red hots'.

[hill food]

verification I wasn't imagining this (if off by a few years here and there), is good enough.

[Perilagu Khan]

I loved cinnamon toothpicks. My dad used to buy little packets of them for me. They were stingingly hot. An early indicator that I would grow up to be a chilehead.

[Isolda]

Wait! Goldschlager is a drink? My husband brought a little bottle home for me from a long business trip and I thought it was a flavoring extract. It's still sealed because I've been trying to figure out what to put it in. Now I know--the trash bin! Holy cow, I could have poisoned the family with l'essence de Christmas Tree Shop. Thanks for sparing us!

[suzigirl]

That's where it would be in my house. But if you like cinnamon schnapps you'll like it. I can't even smell it without tummy flops.

[Violatp]

I think I've only ever had it once, in college (natch), but might there be a place for it in a hot apple cider drink? Or is it just too vile?

[suzigirl]

As a hater, that actually sounds like a perfect foil for it. I would try that if someone made it. Its a bit syrupy. Its is one of the reasons I started disliking the smell. I had been drinking to much and the next day I had to clean the shotglasses with the smell coming up from the hot water. I was hungover and the smell just was to much.

[Violatp]

Yeah, I can relate. I had a similar experience with Rumplemintz. UGH.

[ohmyyum]

The first time I got drunk was on creme de menthe. I had to switch to kid's bubblegum toothpaste for about a year.

[hill food]

maybe in gingerbread cookies or stollen. a riff on rum balls.

[amazinc]

For me, it's licorice, fennel, anise, tarragon, or any of "those" flavors. They all taste artificial or tinny to me. Don't know why, but just can't do those.

[Violatp]

I get that, too. Those are all variations on a theme. Eau de Black Jelly Bean!

[juliejulez]

Same here. I can sometimes do fennel seed like when it's in sausage, but that's about it.

[Violatp]

Oh! I don't get lavender. I really, really dislike the scent to the point of headaches so it baffles me that people eat it.

[jlhinwa]

Me too, Violatp! I am actually quite allergic to lavender, which is problematic as no one understands how someone could not enjoy that fragrance. Beyond being really allergic to it, I dislike the smell strongly and cannot understand why anyone would want to flavor food with it. Lavender chocolate? An abomination!

[Jay F]

I don't like the smell of lavender. I don't think I've eaten any.

[Violatp]

Avoid herbs de provence. It's a main ingredient.

[Violatp]

Right! It's definitely a who knows why kind of thing. No idea why it smells so sharp and...oh, I can't describe it even. But I know you know what I'm talking about!

[Uncle Bob]

Goat Cheese smells and taste like a pen full of goats.
Balsamic Vinegar...Completely destroys anything!

[Perilagu Khan]

I don't think I want to know about you tasting a pen full of goats! ;)

[Uncle Bob]

Yeah well....Ya know what i mean. :)

[BarbaraC28]

I am an odd one. I will eat any other vegetable besides raw peppers and raw tomatoes. I will eat them roasted and cooked but not raw. I will not drink a glass of milk. My throat seals shut when the glass goes to my lips. I am the only one I have ever seen not be able to drink milk. I cook with milk and I eat whipped cream . I also don't like any melon except for Honey dew. and I do not eat papaya or mango, especially no mango.

[hill food]

BC28 - I'm with you on the milk. and honey dew is the money melon.

but for me the big unexplained nemesis is Cornish game hen, I like all other forms of poultry, so it's not that, I like quail and squab, so it's not the size...I like duck and goose, so it's not the fat content.....

[forthetrees]

Eggs in any cooked form are a no-go for me. I just can't deal with the texture and the smell of a plain egg cooking is enough to make me gag.
The one I have to explain the most is strawberries. Every and all strawberries have a rotting/fermenting smell to me. I have tried eating strawberries fresh from gardens before and it's the same thing to me. More strawberries for the rest of you, I guess!

[Dio Seijuro]

Queso dip. Don't know why it's so popular. It feels like I am eating lard.

Variations of American hot sauce. Tabasco, buffalo style hot sauce, chili water. Strange. Don't like Sriracha that much either. It's not because of spiciness. I like very spicy Thai food, Indian food, Korean food, Sichuan food. But I hate hot wings. There's something in the acrid taste and aggressive use of vinegar that seems "wrong" to me in these kinds of hot sauces.

[nofunlatte]

Melons, especially watermelon and cantaloupe. They taste musty to me. I am not an olive eater either, though I can tolerate them as an ingredient. Love olive oil, though.

[Ruthie789]

Smoked salmon.

[Lillipop]

Chinese five spice.Very wrong.Sriracha extremely wrong for me.

[suzigirl]

I agree on the five spice. Wrong wrong wrong. Ick.

[cresyd]

Black pepper.

I like dishes with white pepper, I like spicy food - I can not stand the distinct flavor of black pepper.

Because it's so prevalent and feels like such a ridiculous aversion, I've tried to overcome the distaste with only mild success. In creamy sauces/mashed potatoes it doesn't bother me so much - but I don't enjoy it.

[plasticanimal]

Marzipan. Makes no sense to me, because I like almonds and sugar. Marzipan just seems like a cruel trick to play on children!

[weezieduzzit]

For me it's pork. White meat pork and ham taste rancid to me, spoiled, rotten. It doesn't matter how it's prepared, as soon as I'm past the spices/marinade/sauce/etc. and taste the pork itself I have a hard time chewing and swallowing it. There is one kind of bacon I like and I do like prosciutto but other than those, which I don't eat all the time, I avoid pork.

I do try it every once in a while to see if the situation has changed since that has happened to me with a couple of other foods (I didn't like peanut butter until I was in my 30s, for instance,) but so far it's still a problem for me.

[weezieduzzit]

Oh, and watermelon. I try it every summer and it's still all wrong to me. I love other melons.

[jmcarthur8]

My 'no,thanks' flavor is Concord grape. It's a mental block, I know, but I just can't get past it.

[OCEllen]

Yeah, yuck!

[alliegator]

2 of mine are common: bleu cheese and olives. I find mustard to be strong and overpowering. The next one will have you scratching your heads, it's corn. Don't want a grilled and buttered cob of it, don't want it in a salad, salsa, etc. There is nothing that will make me like it.

[mewright]

I was the same way for years. I think I had the stomach flu during corn-on-the-cob season once when I was very small, but for years I couldn't even be in a house when it was cooking.
I'm better now -- I can eat a cob once in a while.

[alliegator]

Another corn hater! I knew there had to be one out there. I was fine with it until I started taking a migraine prevention medicine. For a bit I had a lot of issues with tastes of foods, but corn is the only new hatred that stuck around.

[Overjoyed]

Bleu cheese and olives both taste like poison to me. Contaminate the whole dish they are in...

[Perilagu Khan]

You wouldn't like my martinis. Garnished with three Roquefort-stuffed, spiced Italian olives, dontchaknow.

[Veggo]

Oh, yeah. Cheers!

[Overjoyed]

Yeah, I'll have to pass :) More for you I guess!

[Violatp]

Oh, I have wondered what scotch actually tastes like to other people that they savor it so much.

To me, it tastes like heat and ash - not so much licking an ashtray as licking a lit cigarette with a long ash on it. Yuck.

It's quite fascinating though, isn't it? That we can taste things differently and yet never really be able to understand what something tastes like to another person.

[Bkeats]

Your description of ash and heat is quite interesting to me. Sounds like you have sampled more of the peaty types where the smoke from the peat fires is really pronounced. Maybe try some of the less peaty ones and you might find that the cleaned ashtray is not so bad to lick.

Getting back to the OP's dislikes, I'm right there with you on tarragon. I want to like it, but there's something about it that just makes me gag. Can't stand anything it goes in. Love cilantro though but I used to hate it. Maybe one day I'll come around on tarragon.

[Violatp]

Can you recommend one of the less peaty ones? I'm willing to take another shot at it.

[Perilagu Khan]

Dalwhinnie. The Khantessa likes it.

[Violatp]

Cool, thanks! I'll try and report back. :-)

[Jay F]

I have read that I am a supertaster (I don't like 90% of the foods on the supertaster list). Also, I don't eat any kind of cooked egg where you can distinguish yolk from white.

I am not "widely interested" in all kinds of foods, however. I'll eat different Asian foods if you put them in front of me, but I never make them at home, nor will I suggest going to an Asian restaurant. If you want to, and you bring it up, I'll probably assent to going, but except for sushi, I wouldn't suggest Asian in a million years.

I don't think this makes me a picky eater, but I don't think of picky eating as a bad thing, more of a sad thing. I had a brother who ate six foods when we were growing up, so I know from picky. I'm not picky.

[Bkeats]

What about Asian food do you not like? I have a hard time getting my head around clumping all Asian food as one group in the same way as if someone told me that they didn't like European food. There's no more of a common thread through all Asian food as there is in European food. Ranges from spicy to bland, wheat or rice based, grilled meats to raw fish. There's a lot of territory between the asian steppes to the pacific ocean. Lots of different kinds of food in between. I don't like them all, but I'm stumped by how Asian as a category is not interesting.

[Jay F]

I don't like fish sauce. I don't like soy sauce (though I'll eat a teeny-tiny bit with sushi). I don't like fermented cabbage. I don't like daikon. I don't like most of the vegetables they serve with Chinese food (bean sprouts, water chestnuts, baby corn, broccoli).

Indian food I can eat in restaurants, but I don't like to make my house smell like Indian spices. Even so, I only eat Indian food when someone else suggests it.

Overall, in all my years on the planet, besides Chinese chicken salad, I have simply never felt inspired to cook anything Asian again and again. It's just not my thing. And cooking is how I mostly relate to food, rather than eating it out.

Also, if you'll reread the thread title, we are talking about "Who Knows Why?" dislikes, and I answered in that spirit.

[Bkeats]

Ok, it seems Asian means Indian, Thai and Chinese, and perhaps Japanese and Korean are included. i understand your point about you can dislike what you dislike and no one can tell you that you're wrong for doing so. My question was more directed to your use of the term Asian food. I have a much bigger view of Asian food as I include all cuisines from the Asian continent. Plenty of places there that have never seen fish or soy sauce. Heck some of the central asian cultures never seem to eat vegetables at all. Not much in the way of spices either. Lots of grilled meats.

[Jay F]

I congratulate you on your "much bigger view."

[MGZ]

I'll simply submit that the "who" needed to solve many of these objections specializes in something quite different than tastes, but as a Nation, we have grown quite afraid of couches.

[ttoommyy]

??????????????

[goodhealthgourmet]

He's saying that most people would uncover the reasons behind these issues on a shrink's couch.

(Not saying I agree, BTW.)

[MGZ]

Not "most" - "many".

[Motosport]

Thanks, I never would have figured that one out. I thought they were posting to the wrong site.

[ttoommyy]

You took the words right out of my mouth Motosport.

[ttoommyy]

"Oh, I have wondered what scotch actually tastes like to other people that they savor it so much."

I will be 52 next week and up until a few years ago I could not stand scotch, whiskey, rye or bourbon. Now they are my spirit of choice in a cocktail, straight up or on the rocks. I went from hating the taste to adoring it. The smokiness, the mellowness, the earthiness, all of it. And I have no idea why this happened.

[MGZ]

"I have no idea why this happened."

As I suggested (albeit, apparently, with too much subtlety), there are two factors in taste aversions: one physical, one psychological. If the former was the basis, it appears you "acquired" a taste. If it was the latter, I can't really help you. Then again, it could have been a complex combination of the two that permitted you to "learn" to appreciate the flavor.

[ttoommyy]

Didn't really need an explanation, but thanks, doc. Do I owe you a fee or was this on the house?

[Violatp]

Interesting! Well, I'm 40, so we'll see what happens over the next decade. I wouldn't mind being able to order a Manhattan!

[cgarner]

Lima beans… I am a bean fan, I like all kinds of beans, legumes and pulses but Lima Beans taste wrong to me
Even just picked fresh, perfectly prepared (according to my husband who LOVES the stuff) it just doesn’t taste right to me

[Wahooty]

PEAS! I have tried for years to figure out why I hate peas, because they are such an innocuous food. I think it's both flavor and textural, because I'm not a fan of pea shoots either, but I like snow peas and don't mind sugar snap peas. None of this makes any sense to me, and my mom is always amused by how much it bugs me. But if I don't like something, I like to know WHY I don't like it - that helps me either learn to like it or know what to expect when I encounter something similar.

Know thy enemy and whatnot.

[Janet from Richmond]

Boiled or deviled eggs. I am constantly amazed not only do people eat them but they really like them.

Cottage cheese, those curd things are gross.

[pamelak52]

Fresh raspberries are tolerable, but anything raspberry flavored - even naturally - I find revolting. Raspberry jam, smoothies, sauce etc. Nothing ruins a chocolate cake like a raspberry filling!

[MysticYoYo]

I feel the same way about grape flavored anything. I hate grape jelly and anything "grape flavored" doesn't taste remotely like grapes.

I'll eat green or red grapes or drink wine but won't consume anything labeled "grape flavored". Yuck.

[juliejulez]

I don't like eggs. The taste, the look, the texture, all of it. Cooking method doesn't matter for me, I don't like them scrambled, poached, fried, hard boiled, or any other method really. I'm fine if they're cooked in stuff like cookies, and I can stand french toast as long as it's not still soggy from the eggs, and I can use them for when I do breading on meat, but I don't like eggs by themselves AT ALL.

[forthetrees]

I am the exact same way! People keep trying to get me to try them "Oh but I make the best omelet!" and more often than not "You don't even like scrambled eggs?!", as if for some reason scrambling the eggs would make a difference. Glad to see I'm not alone in my egg hate.

[BarbaraC28]

I have a 18 year old son who has not eaten an egg in egg form( he has eaten non visible egg, and mix in egg) since he was maybe 2. He used to eat it with ketchup.That to me was gross, but he ate them. He used to eat mushrooms. Raw cooked ,anyway. He went to pre K and that was the end of mushrooms.He started out eating everything and other than meat, Now he eats most meats and picks out a lot of veggies he used to eat. His younger brother will not eat corn on the cob or onions, or pretty much anything you would find in a salad.

[Jay F]

For me, scrambling *does* make all the difference. I can't bear the thought of putting any variety of boiled or fried egg in my mouth, but if you scramble the egg, I'm your friend for life. It's so weird.

[Perilagu Khan]

Same here. I really like scrambled, but cannot abide boiled and sunny side up sends me screaming into the night.

[jlhinwa]

Me too! Love scrambled eggs and omelettes. Love to make them, eat them, etc. but any kind of egg that tastes "eggy" and has a recognizable yolk....well, I just can't do it.

[Ruthie789]

You are not alone. I have not eaten a fried egg in over 45 years.

[jlhinwa]

Olives (any kind), and olive oil. I think I am the only person I know who cannot stand the taste of olive oil. I cook with it only when the other flavors will overpower the olive oil taste.

Weird, I know.

[kmcarr]

Beets. They always seem to have a faint taste of soil to me.

[ttoommyy]

"Beets. They always seem to have a faint taste of soil to me."

And that's exactly why I love them!

This is a fascinating topic to discuss.

[foodieX2]

I love that earthiness too!

My newest ridiculously expensive addiction is the Sweetfire beets from the Love Beets co. I roast lot of beets and occasionally pickle them but these are so good and so convenient. I have been know to demolish a whole package as an afternoon snack. At $3.99 a package that can get pricey!

[ttoommyy]

I hadn't heard of these before. Just did a search and see they are available at Whole Foods in my area. I will try them next time I am at WF. Thanks foodieX2!

[foodieX2]

be careful- they are addictive!

[Jelly71]

I probably didn't need to know about those beets. I have a ridiculous beet addiction as it is.

[suzigirl]

I know. I Google them and they look insanely good. I am starting to look for them locally.

[AmyH]

My son who hates them agrees with you and says they taste like dirt. I love them.

[juliejulez]

I'm with you there. Also I was forced to eat canned beets as a child at a day care, and I think it scarred me for life LOL

[kmcarr]

jj,

YES!! I had a canned beet "incident" as a child which may certainly be contributing to my dislike. The one time Mom put them on the plate for dinner my sister and I refused; Mom decided this was where she was going to make her stand. Sis and I sat at the table for long, long time before we smothered them with ketchup and choked them down. Thankfully they never made an appearance on our dinner table again.

[ceekskat]

Papaya...let's just say "wrong" and leave it at that. I'm going to add rosemary too.

Also, I know many Indians don't care for strong cheeses but do love olives & garlic :)

[Overjoyed]

Papaya for me too. Tastes like...well, I won't be too descriptive either, but not like something I would ever want to eat!

[Isolda]

No, it tastes like something someone already ate, to me at least. I must be missing some enzyme you need to make it taste good, because my daughter loves it and says she doesn't detect a hint of that already been eaten quality.

[hill food]

eww, I don't think I've ever heard anything described like that!

[Jelly71]

Rosemary for me, too. It doesn't taste like "food" to me. It tastes like perfume.

[The Professor]

I feel that way about lavender. I don't hate it... but have a low threshold for it.

[hill food]

yeah I want to plant lavender and mint and let it be invasive on the yard. would make mowing a lot cooler or heck I will get sheep someday and raise lambs...

[Violatp]

I think mine is maybe more of a like than dislike, but I really don't like peanuts. I don't like peanut butter or peanut candy and yet...I just love peanut butter cookies!

I don't think it's the added sugar, since I don't like candy made with peanut butter.

Weird.

[mewright]

I love peanuts but hate peanut butter and anything peanut flavoured. Don't know why.

[fldhkybnva]

I don't mind peanut butter and will eat it, but I don't get the fascination with it that many seem to have.

[foodieX2]

Most of my aversions are not flavor oriented but instead are due to texture/mouth feel.

okra
canned mushrooms and many varieties of fresh
pickled eggs
olives
wet scrambled eggs/omelets
some meringue
aspic

[Motosport]

Same here: Liver does not taste bad but it reminds me of the consistency of dirt, gritty!!
I know it is not rational. I must have eaten some dirt when I was a kid.

[Motosport]

Conversation with my friend Vinny:
Me: Come on over tonight for dinner.
Vinny: What are you cooking?
Me: I'm grilling some chicken.
Vinny: I don't like chicken.
Me: Everyone likes chicken.
Vinny: I just don't like chicken.
Me: What don't you like about chicken?
Vinny: My father didn't like chicken.
Me: Have you ever had chicken?
Vinny: NO! My father didn't like chicken!

[melpy]

My father is named Vinny, and his aversion to eans made me think that Inhated them for years.

[ricepad]

Tell Vinny that chicken tastes like rabbit or frog legs.

[Motosport]

I did tell him it tasted like Bacalao!!! He didn't go for it.

[HillsofBeverly]

I love cheese, but hate Swiss. My tongue burns when it eat it (acid level)? and it seems too sour/pungent, despite my affection for pungency in blue and aged cheddar. Also dislike provolone, as it seems too mild and I don't know what to do with it.

Also do not enjoy marjoram or oregano (if I can taste them).

[Perilagu Khan]

Swiss cheese fits into my unicity theory. This family of cheeses (raclette, emmenthaler, gruyere, jarlsberg) really tastes so different from anything else. I love them, but can easily see who some people do not.

[melpy]

I used to hate Swiss as a child but don't mind it now. As for provolone, the sliced is terribly mild and somewhat plastic. Have you ever had the hard Italian provolone, like off the wheel. It is the opposite, so flavorful you can almost say spicy.

[fldhkybnva]

I can't do Swiss either which frustrates me as a Cordon Bleu and mushroom burger fan as they both classically come with Swiss cheese. At home it's Cordon Bleu with muenster.

[AmyH]

I'm right there with you on the aversion to tarragon. It's the only herb that I absolutely never use in my kitchen. I love pretty much all other herbs and grow many of them in my garden, so it's not a generalized herb problem. Tarragon just tastes nasty to me.

Coffee is actually another thing that I just can't abide. Not the smell, not the taste. It smells (and tastes, I'm assuming) like sewage to me. I can only tolerate it in other foods (brisket, chocolate cake, honey cake) if it's undetectable. No mocha for me.

[melpy]

The smell used to give me a terrible headache. As a child I hated going to the coffee bean grinding store

[AmyH]

My husband loves coffee and freshly grinds the beans each morning. I can't stand to be in the kitchen when he's grinding and brewing.

[ttoommyy]

For me it is saffron. And like you, I cannot say it tastes bad, just "wrong."

[pine time]

Perilagu Khan's "how different we are!" applies here, too: saffron is one of my favorites.

I'm with the OP on hazelnut, but I'd also add rosemary. I grow it for its flowers and fragrance, but both the taste and mouthfeel--no matter how well chopped--is also "just wrong" to me.

Then there's shellfish, but there we're moving towards dislikes, rather than "wrongness."

[mels]

My nemesis is thyme. When used with a gentle hand, it is fine. I use it in some of my cooking- off the top of my head, in my chicken pot pie and beef stew- but I only use a pinch in a big ol' pot of something. I find the taste to be overwhelming at times. I find my thyme aversion strange because I adore so many herbs and use them with reckless abandon at times. I love strong tasting things in general (stinky cheeses, briney olives, raw garlic) but I just find thyme to be offensive.

[Perilagu Khan]

How different we are! Thyme is my favorite herb.

[Bada Bing]

I love thyme, but I do have a friend who really, profoundly dislikes it, in that visceral way that makes me wonder and made me start this thread.

[suzigirl]

I also only care for tihyme in small amounts. To heavy and it is just to earthy.

[BarbaraC28]

I dislike thyme also. I just skip it when it says to add it to a recipe. I grew in to cumin, and cilantro, but I cant abide with thyme. It really does over power in a bad soapy way.

[Kontxesi]

I don't hate it, but I think most recipes seem to call for too much of it. I have to halve it (or more) or I get overwhelmed by it.

[mpjmph]

For me, it's avocado. I've tried to like it, and it just doesn't work. I find it more or less tasteless, and I really dislike the texture. I used to think I was crazy since everyone else LOVED it, then I found out my mother and at least one cousin have the same reaction. I'll put up with it as a modest component of a composed dish, but generally avoid it. There are a handful of other foods I do not like (like will not eat for a million dollars), but avocado is the only one that I seem to perceive/experience differently that other people

[Perilagu Khan]

I can understand that. The only way I like avocado is in guac.

Okra is another. As long as it's fried very crispy, great. But otherwise, no way in hell.

[Tovflu]

My grocery store only recently (within the past year) started to carry fresh, raw, okra so I began to munch on it raw as a snack. Now I go through absurd amounts when they have a good looking selection. I asked a family member to get me some and they asked how many lbs (with much emphasis) I wanted them to get!

I can totally understand people not liking it though. I'm a little less enthusiastic about cooked okra but I have less experience with those preparations of it (I need to get myself a good okra cook).

[AmyH]

Pickled okra is great, too. Completely different than cooked.

[The Professor]

I love okra...and pickled is the best!

[AmyH]

Pickled was my gateway to the world of okra!

[suzigirl]

Same here. And then fried. Got to boiled with stewed tomatoes and had to put the brakes on. Wrong mouth feel. But i adore them pickled and fried.

[hill food]

I couldn't believe I was the one to introduce my 70 YO aunt to okra, fried or pickled, 2 years ago. her father was a grocer for many years and they ate all sorts of produce, but that one had missed them somehow.

I like okra, corn and tomatoes stewed, but it has to have a healthy shot of hot sauce, or yes it's just a foul pot of goo.

[suzigirl]

Foul pot of goo... now i can properly describe stewed okra. If I find it at my farmers market when it is in season I may try it again stewed but more tomato and less goo.

[hill food]

think of the radially sliced okra as just a thickener but don't over-stew it, leave some texture and definitely add fresh corn and hot sauce. and bay leaves. and (does it even need to be said?) garlic.

[suzigirl]

It doesn't need to be said but that's okay. About the corn though, is it cut from the cob or do you cut the cob in managable sized pieces?

[hill food]

I strip the cob, but to each their own. I suppose frozen would be OK in that context.

[suzigirl]

Okay. Thanks. I will give it another go 'round. I try things again every few years to see if it has changed.

[hill food]

I meant to add: the corn gives the uhh, 'inherent texture' of the okra and tomatoes a nice crunch/counterpoint.

[AmyH]

Yes, the key is not to overcook it so it doesn't become gooey.

[sr44]

Or trim and quarter vertically, then fry quickly in a little olive oil. Much less slimy.

Do not slice in the food processor.

[Perilagu Khan]

Okra is the oyster of the vegetable world. I believe Livy said this.

[Uncle Bob]

'Fry' the okra first. ~ Slice, and fry in a hot pan just coated with oil. ~ Keep it moving by shaking, flipping or stirring. When the 'strings' mostly go away then incorporate it into your well seasoned Okra and Tomatoes.

[mpjmph]

I love okra, but I grew up eating it. Fried is the best, but I'm not put off by the texture at all. During the winter I frequently make stewed okra with 1 pound of frozen okra and a can of diced tomatoes (plus salt and pepper). It's like summer in a bowl...

Tovflu - I've never tried raw okra, but will once the fresh stuff shows up at the farmers' market. I'm intrigued...

[BarbaraC28]

LOVE fried okra.

[Rasam]

I was fortunate enough to grow up with Indian food, therefore I love okra. I have never had it in a recipe where it was slimy, and didn't know it had that reputation until I traveled to the US. Yes, it goes through a slimy phase when cooking, but when it is done sauteeing, it becomes dry.

In the US, I have been introduced to the joys of pickled okra (hot recipe), fried okra, and also raw - just last year. Raw was surprisingly good, when just picked and still warm from the sun and the garden.

When so many people say they hate okra because it's gooey, I just know it's because they have been the victims of bad recipes.

[Perilagu Khan]

I make an Indian version of fried okra. I slice it into small pieces, saute until thoroughly cooked and then sprinkle with turmeric, cayenne and a bit of garam masala. Very nice.

[suzigirl]

That sounds good

[jlhinwa]

I am right there with you, mpjmph. I strongly dislike avacado, despite many attempts to like it. The texture is a problem for me but more than that, the flavor. I don't like the texture of raw bananas but love banana flavor and will eat banana bread, etc.

[suzigirl]

I agree with the bananas. I love the taste but in the last few years I can't get past the texture. Love it in things though.

[EM23]

While I eat a banana daily, and I love bananas in bread and pancakes, I can't stand the taste of banana in any other context, esp. when creamed in pies, custards and smoothies.

[almond tree]

I hate -- no, loathe -- the texture, taste and smell of banana, plain and in any preparation.
Always have. No idea why. It's the only food I feel so negatively about.

[fldhkybnva]

No avocado for me, I just don't get it...smooth, tasteless mush in my mouth. However, I vacillate between liking and hating guacamole. I think it must depend on prep whether I like it or not - sometimes I load up expecting to like it as I did on a previous encounter only to find that I hate it. I repeat this over and over and sometimes it's great and others it's not...bipolar guacamole fan if you will.

[letsindulge]

I cannot truly appreciate dry-aged beef. It seems to "sting" my tongue, and it smells wrong to me.

[melpy]

Interesting, the only thing that has stung my tongue was frozen bacon that hd gone bad.

[Perilagu Khan]

Heh. I love both tarragon and filberts.

I also love bleu cheeses, but I can see why some people are repelled by them. They do have an unusual flavor. And maybe there's the rub. Things that taste truly distinctive are more apt to trigger negative gut reactions than foods/ingredients that have a certain verisimilitude to other foods/ingredients.

[ohmyyum]

I am one of those with an aversion to blue cheese! I don't have the most sophisticated or learned cheese palate anyway, but I am so turned off by the smell alone. I have so far tried cambozola, a goats milk blue, and a roasted pecan blue cheese dip from Trader Joe's-- all of them supposedly on the milder end of thr spectrum, and all of them made me gag. All the others I've encountered, I haven't even been able to bring myself to try.

[sr44]

How do you feel about olives, say oil-cured ones?

[BarbaraC28]

I have just gotten to the point where I can eat greek olives. I love all sorts of green olives. Black olives in a can, groovy. Maybe in the last year or 2 I have eaten greek olives. But the wrinkled oil cured ones. Yuck.

[Perilagu Khan]

Oooh. I love the oil-cured olives.

[sr44]

And what's your position on blue cheese?

ETA--I see your position below. A friend of mine dislikes both blue cheese and olives, and I think there's a flavor connection. I always help by eating both.

[Perilagu Khan]

It does seem there's quite a few folks who loathe them both. Strange, as there's no obvious connection between the two items.

[Isolda]

The only connection I can see between blue cheese and olives is that both can have a slightly bitter aftertaste. I've never met an olive I disliked, probably because their salt content covers the bitter flavors, but there are many blue cheeses I can't stand and the ones in this category taste intensely bitter to me. The ones I like--Stilton, Bleu de Bresse, Gorgonzola dolce--are creamy enough to offset the bitter bite.

[ItalianNana]

Here's one I haven't seen here.

HORSERADISH ! I love heat. Not the problem. But there is something in the flavor that I dislike intensely. I have tried valiantly to like it. I have. On prime rib, etc. There was a Chinese restaurant that served a dish called pork and seeds. The accompanying hot mustard/hoeseradish was eaten with great gusto and grins and much brow wiping by my folks. It was like a rite of passage to dip the slice of tenderloin in the sauce, dredge in the toasted sesame seeds and then make painful sounds, pound the table, produce facial flushes and perspiration then repeat.

I wanted that so much.

*sigh*

[Perilagu Khan]

I feel your lack of pain.

[Emmmily]

Hate hate hate horseradish, wasabi, mustard, bell peppers. Love spicy foods (I spend a lot of time in SE Asia), weird foods (fried crickets, cobra, sea snails), though organs kind of gross me out. Who knows how these things work.