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What are your food aversions?
Mine is canola/rapeseed oil. It's ubiquitous here in the US, but it tastes like old liquid cardboard to me. And it's the most popular cooking spray!
What bothers you?
Mine is canola/rapeseed oil. It's ubiquitous here in the US, but it tastes like old liquid cardboard to me. And it's the most popular cooking spray!
What bothers you?
Seafood.
My parents do not eat any seafood, so I never ate any growing up and had it hammered into my brain as a child that seafood is gross. This is probably the greatest disservice my parents ever did me! I have tried as an adult to develop a taste for various seafoods with minimal success. I can choke it down if I have to but there is a psychological block that I just cannot overcome.
I grew up nearly as far from any ocean as you can possibly get in the US. We never ate seafood but I didn't have any negative exposure, just none at all.
I moved away for college and got invited to a birthday party at a hibachi place and tried sushi on a whim and holy fuck sushi is so good. I am sorry you have to miss out on that.
I am jealous!
My wife thinks I'm weird cause I don't like any seafood that tastes like the sea or fish or whatever. She tells me that's the point.
I like crab, sushi, tilapia, smoked salmon, shrimp, that kind of stuff. But yeah, if it tastes like fish, no thanks.
I can't fathom what does taste like fish to you if the several fish you named don't count.
A "fishy" taste would be what the ocean smells like. Have you ever been near a pier or anything? That smell? That's what a "fishy" taste is. It smells and tastes the same.
Tilapia tastes as close to how that smells as any other fish to me tbh. Probably more so than something like a fried and battered cod does.
Do you only like smoked salmon and not salmon that's cooked other ways? I definitely will agree that smoked salmon tastes less like that smell than cooked salmon does (but I like both).
Yeah Tilapia definitely has some of that flavor, but it doesn't bother me as much there. But that's also a fish I usually fry for fish tacos.
I mostly only like smoked salmon. Grilled salmon isn't bad and I'll eat it prepared in other ways, but it would never be a primary choice for me if I had other options.
Actually as an aside, I've been thinking about my weird preferences lately and peanut butter is another one. I will happily eat a spoon of peanut butter, but I very much dislike it in other things. I'll still eat it, but again, it would never be a primary choice for me. Peanut butter cookies? Nah. Stuff like that.
I'm guessing that one has to do with the strong flavor of peanut butter and how it kind of taints everything it touches. Much like fish, actually...
Ah, I can see the rest of the taco fixings contributing to it not being as bad in fish tacos.
Peanut butter is something I definitely have to be in the mood for, so I can feel that. If I'm not in the mood for peanut butter, can't stand it.
Interesting.
All tuna are warm blooded. The Bluefin can also thermoregulate. There's nothing squishy about them, they're more like our cows than even a chicken.
What if you try a grilled bluefin tuna steak?
Broccoli, Cauliflower and Brussels Sprouts taste awful to me. Always have. Boiled cabbage is also on my shit list.
I don't drink root beer, for the simple reason that it makes me throw up. I suspect I must have had a bad experience as a child, but one sip makes me gag.
Canola oil, on the other hand, seems almost tasteless to me, and it is my primary cooking oil.
I was exactly the same as you! I could not stand broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprout and as you said boiled cabbage.
Now that I am a middle aged person, as cliche as it sounds, I started to care a bit more about my health with the new year. Last week, I forced myself to eat some broccoli (and zucchini) and it wasn’t half bad. What I did was I found a cheat. With some garlic yogurt and a bit of MSG, broccoli and zucchini’s taste profile take a backseat to that of garlic and yogurt and become somewhat a pleasure to eat. I was so surprised how good it tasted, I ended up preparing it two dinners in a row.
I am now slowly preparing myself for Brussels sprouts. I think that’s a tougher challenge, especially compared to cauliflower given how close they are with broccoli which I already started liking, but we’ll see. One thing I don’t think I’ll ever be able to accomplish is getting over how gross boiled cabbage is to me, though. There’s this dish called Kapuska and whenever my mom made it when I was a kid, I’d either lock myself into my room or just leave the house. I simply could not stand the smell and I still can’t. That being said, to this day, I love munching on pickled cabbage. Given how low calorie it is, that is also a cheat code for those who want to lose weight. (Though it’s pickled, so gotta watch out for excess sodium.)
I hope you don’t give up!
Sprouts : Blanche, then quarter (or, half them if you're feeling frisky), stir fry them with a bit of maple syrup and cashew nuts. Or walnuts. Or some paprika spiced seitan or something. You're welcome.
I'm pretty fond of this recipe myself: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1890-roasted-brussels-sprouts-with-garli
Sprinkle some parmesan on top for a little something extra. Divine.
One of my favorite dishes is a Sheperd's pie with Brussels sprouts ("hachis parmentier aux choux de Bruxelles").
Same on canola being tasteless, and root beer. But for me I just can't drink anything somewhat licorice flavoured like that, having grown up with extremely bitter traditional Chinese medicine.
Depending on the last time you tried these foods, in the past 15 years commercial Brussels sprouts and broccoli have had their bitter flavor (sinigrin and progoitrin) bred out of them. So they objectively taste better!
I don't eat any fruit. Since I'm in the tropics, that means I detest all tropical fruits.
Same. I'm not in the tropics, but I basically never eat fruit.
Oh!! Lou, that's the first time I've heard of someone not eating fruits*, usually it's leaves and stems that people avoid. What about "sideways" fruit like .... Peas, squash and coconut milk?
'* Edit, Lou and Hobofarmer
I know someone who doesn't like fruits because of the "juiciness". Vegetables are fine, but fruits are a big no no from a sensory perspective.
I dont like olives. They have a strong taste that stand out when they are added to anything.
I did not grow up with olives, and their smell really puts me off. Same with olive oil unless it's crazy fresh, and even then it's merely tolerated. As a result I also don't like balsamic dressing with olive oil.
Supermarket olive stands smell very strongly to me and I walk around them.
Beans, which I feel really bad about because they seem like the ultimate food for so many purposes and I really want to like them.
I think it comes from childhood "trauma" where I was forced to eat bean soup at school and at home and I absolutely hated the taste/texture of it and even vomited over it.
Now, every time I taste beans in my food, I instinctively feel a gag reflex and the taste lingers in my mouth and spoils the whole dish. I've tried different varieties and I think black beans were the least offensive but I still can't really handle them.
I do not consider myself a picky eater. I am one of those people that loves chicken innards. I even eat and like some insects. Even if something doesn't taste very pleasant to me, I usually have no issue finishing a dish even if only out of courtesy. There are only a handful of ingredients I will absolutely not eat because of the taste, but I hate that beans are one of them and make me look like an unbearable picky eater (most other foods I can't stand are stuff you'd rarely come across so it doesn't come up. It's stuff I tried just to say I tried because, again, I'm not a picky eater and love exploring new foods).
For me, it isn't even all beans. Cannellini, black beans, big lupini, are fine as long as the skins aren't too tough. But thick-skinned beans like kidney, navy, and some others have an unpleasant taste that makes me vaguely nauseated.
While I love all beans, I do empathize with this as I am not a fan of lima beans because the skins are just weird and the texture is all wrong. Even when I learned later in life that the cooked version is actually butter beans, I still don't like either of them.
They made for great biology experiments at the table though. I loved to dissect them instead of eating them.
I used to be a picky eater and have lost most of my worst food aversions, but beans are still something I can't handle. But I'm pretty sure for me it's more of a texture thing than a taste thing.
Ground meat/plant protein products and some of the grittier grains. I detest the texture, it's like eating dirt or rodent droppings no matter how it's seasoned or what it's in. Even vegan burgers or plant-loaf usually trigger that horror, the way the particles sit on my tongue without any chewing.
There's no particular trauma or taste aversion I can attribute it to - just a specific texture aversion as unaccountable as an ASMR sensation.
I'm not very picky otherwise - I enjoy strong moldy cheeses, bitter vegetables, potently aromatic foods in general. Except nattō, and everyone hates nattō.
There's something about the beyond meat burgers that I can't stand. They smell like chlorinated dog food to me. Do you also get that impression?
I'll eat anything!
Even snakes? :)
Never tried but I've sure made gross noodles before and those went down!
Blue cheese ruins everything. It's not even the mold I dislike, I love Brie. It just tastes awful.
Peanuts too.
I'm reminded of a quote from a former co-worker who also detests blue cheese. In his words:
A bit dramatic, perhaps 😂 But pretty funny, particularly in the heat of that moment
In the event you haven't seen/heard it, I think you might agree with Cathie that Bleu Cheese Has Mold In It
Deep fried stuff. Working at McDonald's had one positive impact on me, apparently. I have a very very very mild PTSD that comes to mind whenever I even smell it.
I'm a fairly picky eater so I have a lot I could add here haha. Mushrooms, many types of cheeses, and beans are probably my top choices. The texture of mushrooms are off-putting to me, very rubbery and slimy. Blue cheese, brie, and a few others taste terrible to me so I try to avoid them at all costs. Beans seem super versatile and useful but something about their texture never sits right with me for some reason.
For me, anything with mushroom where the physical mushroom pieces end up in the dish. I think it’s a texture thing. I like the flavor of mushrooms. So a risotto made from a mushroom broth? Fantastic. A mushroom risotto with pieces of mushroom grated into it? Terrible.
Interestingly this means that I like almost everything labeled truffle, but almost nothing labeled mushroom. My theory is that truffle is expensive enough that it is added to dishes in small quantity for the flavor, but not large pieces that have the terrible texture.
Corn syrup is my biggest one. I can taste it no matter what the product - American pop is especially awful. At a work event in Canada I was given a can of non-diet coke and out of desperation, I drank it - only to actually somewhat enjoy it? Turns out Canada doesn't put corn syrup in everything like the States.
I also absolutely detest truffles. Turns out I'm one of the 40% who perceive androstenone as rotten and it's absolutely vile - nearly baby diaper levels of unpalatable for me.
I also don't really like meat that much - it's not so much a texture or taste thing as I just don't like eating it a lot of the time.
Fruit is a weird one somewhat - I like apricots a lot but none of the other stonefruits. I love all the berries and the pride of my garden is a nice raspberry thicket. I also like durian and breadfruit quite a bit too. But I don't like the basics - apples, oranges, pears, grapefruit, etc.
i don't like stuffing and I don't like hard-shelled 'tacos', which are absolutely not tacos.
otherwise I like everything so long as its prepared right.
I don't like bananas, i think they smell too strong and perfumey. Oddly, I do like feijoas, which are also strong and perfumey, so I wonder if the dislike is more due to artificial banana flavor I tasted as a kid.
Brains are kinda grainy in texture, don't want to eat those again.
There's almost nothing else I won't try, but generally draw the line at things with 6 or more legs.
ETA: used to love deep fried foods, now they cause major heartburn.
was it that banana flavored medicine? i loved that stuff.
Coriander/cilantro because of the soap gene. Even a tiny bit can ruin a dish for me. There is frequently coriander added to some Portuguese dishes, which I grew up eating. I used to think I hated seafood rice, but it turned out it was the coriander ruining everything. There's also a dish called Carne de Porco Alentejana made using pork medallions and clams that is absolutely drenched in the stuff. My mom used to make it frequently and it still haunts me to this day. I'm trying to learn to power through because I love mexican and indian food so much.
I also have a similar experience with grapefruit. If there's a small bit even mixed in fruit juice I will know. You know that nail polish used to stop kids from biting their nails? That's what grapefruit tastes like to me. Alcohol and especially hard liquor are the same. I can tolerate beer, wine and cider but the taste of ethanol is still pretty present so I just don't drink alcohol 99% of the time.
Edit: I forgot papaya. I remember eating some and vomiting it up when I was very young (think first memories). Avoid it like the plague to this day. Doesn't help that it smells like vomit.
This one is easy for me: shrimp. I essentially have no other food aversions, but the texture of shrimp is just detestable. Fortunately, I also do not find the flavor to be enticing, so I'm not missing out. But my goodness, the texture. A shrimp is similar to an orange slice; full of little self contained packets that burst as you bite through. But the packets are mealy and made of meat. Yuck! This is most notable with cocktail shrimp, but it is so off putting that I avoid most all shrimp.
I love all shrimp lobster crawfish, but when they're not fresh they can be mealy and mushy, or when they're over processed for "crispness" in some dimsum places they are very off putting to me as well. I also refuse to eat ama ebi sashimi because I find the buttery squish texture unpleasant
Mine is mayo. Always hated it. No, you can't add garlic and I'll like it. No, it can't be spicy and I'll like it. It usually can't even be an ingredient because I'll taste it.
Mayo is pretty ubiquitous here in the States so it does make trouble when I'm trying to order sandwiches but the real problem (and sort of less logical one) is that it's lead to a distrust of any creamy sauce because "what if it's a mayo base?" Even though I know a hollandaise or sour cream based sauce is different, I can't make my brain see it differently.
I get your distrust of white sauce. I'm instantly suspicious of "red" flavouring for fear of it being fake strawberry or fake cherry or that weird processes cherry that remind me of childhood antibiotics
Eggs. Unless they're baked into a pastry or something similar, they're an absolute no for me. Every aspect is beyond foul.
I generally do like eggs, but every so often I get a deep aversion to them and they become disgusting to me. I have to take a break to re-like them again. I couldn't explain why it happens.
Cheese.
Not allergic. Not lactose. Cream cheese is for bagels only.
Personally, texture is more of a struggle than taste. Water chestnuts are the absolute worst. Like chewing on eyeballs
I can't stand water chestnuts either. The texture is off, just like you said, but I can taste it too.
Sour cream.
It all stems from an incident probably 25 years ago. My family went to a church dinner event. Big spread, lots of options. Hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos, chili, and more. I lathered up a hamburger bun with what I thought was some mayonnaise. Imagine my surprise when I took a big bite out of it and learned it was sour cream. And I haven't been able to eat it since.
You know what? Rapeseed oil does taste a bit like cardboard now that I think about it! I don't mind it at all though.
The only strange thing that I cannot stomach is tangerine flavored foods. I thought it was some weird synthetic flavoring, but apparently not, it happens with natural tangerine extracts, whether it's ice cream or San Pellegrino (which I love in its orange variant). This is weird because I definitely do like actual tangerines.
The only thing that reminds me of the weird, apparently natural, tangerine flavor is dihydromyrcenol, a synthetic perfume ingredient used to create a feeling of freshness in many perfumes (most famously and possibly most strongly in Davidoff Cool Water) but also in washing detergents etc. It smells like a synthetic metallic tangerine.
With your synthetic tangerine thing, that makes me wonder what chemical compound is responsible for me disliking peas, unless they're extremely fresh. Canned are the worst, but even quite large, sat for a few days in the fridge peas from a fresh pod has a weird smell/taste to me. Fresh off the plant is totally fine.
I bet it's something similar - either an aromatic quickly decomposes into something that's completely harmless but triggering for some people similarly to cilantro, or perhaps it just changes concentration. From smelling perfumes I found out that, at least with smells, different concentrations and/or ratios of the same aromatics can smell like a completely different thing and go from pleasant to disgusting.
I used to be much pickier in my youth, but I've grown to enjoy a wide palate as I get older.
That said, the foods I dislike that surprise people are:
What changed your mind about bacon? Different cuts, prep, just new tastebuds?
One day I decided to try some bacon bits in a soup I was making and was instantly hooked. Not sure what changed, but suddenly I loved the flavor where before I hated it!
This is no joke, but you should try making bacon in a frying pan and add a little water to it. It's a game changer. Once the water evaporates the bacon starts to get crispy on the outside and the inside stays super moist. It takes a bit longer to make it this way, but it's totally worth it.
Oh what! I'm trying this next time I make it. Just a splash when the pan is still not hot, or when bacon is about 75% done?
Past aversion ... weird story.
As a child, cauliflower made me nauseous. Even the smell of raw bothered me, a lot, and cooked, it literally made me throw up. My mom loved the stuff and I had to leave the house when she cooked it. Not an actual allergy, but a very extreme smell reaction to the odor. Hypothetically, if I didn't have to smell it, I could eat it, though I never liked it.
IDK exactly when it went away, but as an adult, I've never had a problem with it, and in fact, I quite like it.
I grew up in the rustbelt, nowhere near anywhere to get "real" seafood, and so I have a huge aversion to fish, tuna, etc. I can handle shrimp, but that's about it. I lived in Baltimore for 18 years as an adult and really tried over and over to like crabcakes...but no bueno. My wife and kids love sushi and seafood so I'm happy about that at least.
American crab cakes are mostly flavoured by that one particular Old Bay American spice. People make vegan versions that taste the same (different texture) -- What about freshly steamed crab with butter?
Anything anise flavored or flavored with a similar taste herb/seed is a solid no go for me.
I also really get sensory ick if i have to use my hands to eat, i need utensils at all times. I eat pizza with a fork/knife etc.
I tend to avoid foods ive eaten constantly while growing up.
My taste buds betrayed me not too long ago and now i avoid stinky cheeses entirely.
Oh and strong perfumy synthetic fruit flavors make me wanna puke - im looking at you fake mango flavor..
I used to have an issue with tomatoes, and honestly sometimes still do. It was never the taste and almost always this weird reflex my body would have when I would try and eat them - I would gag and not be able to swallow the food.
As I got older I realized I have a pretty acidic stomach (maybe GERD? I never got it checked out) and tomatoes are some of the most acidic food you can eat. I've grown to love tomatoes now but I can't eat too many or I get really bad acid reflux and my body reverts to trying to keep the fruit out of me.
Anything slimy.
That sounds vague I know, but it's the best description I have for why I can't stand mushrooms, aubergine, or courgette. Soft on the outside and strong on the inside, instead of the other way around.
Mushy or slimy food. I've got a whole lot of other sensory issues besides food though.
Applesauce, mashed potatoes, congee, mushrooms, and oysters. The smell of cooked mushrooms is also revolting as it smells like athlete's foot to me.
More texture than a specific thing, but usually anything with cartilage or similar, so a lot of meat-related items: tripe, chicken organs, cow tongue is not cartilage but it’s weird to me, the fatty or cartilage parts in steak or pork chops, bacon sometimes (has to be crunchy not chewy), octopus (sometimes it’s cooked ok), some other seafood. Shrimp is ok. Scallops are ok. Fish is ok.
Lately tho, meat in general is becoming less appealing to me. Bacon’s flavor just doesn’t inspire any pleasure anymore, for exact. Chicken wings and any chicken with bones turns me off these days. I keep thinking “this is a dead animal” and can’t get that out of my head. Been eating a lot more veggies and fruit as a result. I used to love pho, and these days the rare beef in it just doesn’t appeal anymore.
I say all this but I know that if I were really hungry — REALLY, truly hungry, I’d eat anything. We are spoiled for choice.