Foods people hate
Here’s an article about certain foods many people hate, and why.
Among them are some of my favorites: cilantro, for example, which I fell in love with the first time I ever tasted it, some time in my twenties (“where have you been all my life, cilantro?”). I’ve often been puzzled by some people’s hatred of it, as well as of raw tomatoes and raisins. I know plenty of people who can eat cooked tomatoes (as in sauce) but can’t abide raw, and/or who love grapes but carefully pick raisins out of any pastry in which they might find them.
I can’t say the article really explains all this; do people really dislike raisins because they resemble feces, for example? And whose feces do they resemble, pray tell? Perhaps, if you stretch it a bit, those of mice. But I can’t say that’s anything that ever occurred to me before.
And fennel? Who doesn’t like fennel? Especially roasted or braised.
Now licorice: that’s another story. It’s one of the few foods I detest.
I can’t believe that liver isn’t on the list! Of course, foie gras is another story entirely.
Speaking to tomatoes, I like sauces and ketchup, but raw tomatoes are nasty. The taste and texture kill them for me. (I guess it’s the salt and other spices in the sauces that make it work.) As for raisins, which I don’t like either (though I like grapes), it’s a texture thing… and a deep seated dislike for bait-and-switch tricks when I think they are chocolate chips. Betrayal like that leaves scars.
…so yeah, the article is pretty accurate to my experience. I can’t stand mushrooms or pulp in my orange juice.
The one that I get the most grief for is my dislike of onions. I don’t like the taste, smell or texture of the beasts. That’s apparently uncommon, though.
I actually find most of those foods quite nice or at least edible. What I can’t believe isn’t on that list is garlic! Even people who claim to love garlic can’t stand the smell it leaves on your breath (which smells like garlic, too, so surely they should love it?). And garlic seems to be getting more and more popular, so when I go out to eat at restaurants or people’s homes, I constantly discover new foods that I once loved that can be spoiled by the overpowering stench of oh-so-trendy garlic. Give me “soapy”(??) cilantro any day!
Can’t stand tuna, except tunafish sandwiches or tuna and peas in whitesauce on toast; don’t like fennel, licorice, or anise; like liver, but not foie gras; fish roe is out, except beluga caviar.
My elderly Mom likes raw and cooked tomatoes, but only if they’re red, although she loved all tomato colors when younger. A niece likes pasta and detests spaghetti.
Raisins — I don’t like ’em but I like grapes. In breads and such I find raisins to be a “hard” distraction. I also think they are too sweet. I sorta like them by themselves, and also sometimes in salids. But not in bread.
I like sardines and brussel sprouts.
My in-laws and I differ when it comes to mixing food. I tend to keep it seperate, they mix everything and think I’m odd since I don’t.
Its taken me awhile to come to the conclusion that there is a lot of individual variation in humans when it comes to our less noticeable, more subtle, individual characteristics, things like individual perception and taste.
After all, we are each collections of billions of general and specialized cells, cooperating together, to form many organs, glands, and structures, and secreting and reacting to probably hundreds of thousands of different chemicals as well as electrical energy.
So, despite the “one size fits all” “norm”whose profile were are measured against, we all have individual variations and quirks.
Thus, for instance, although “normal” body temperature” is 98.6 my “normal” temperature is 97.0, and just this week it was confirmed that although my heart’s electrical output, as measured by an EKG, says that I have had a “silent heart attack” sometime in the past, the fact is that this never happened; my heart is perfectly fine but is generating electrical signals that are just a little off the norm.
I say I see something as “purple” but is it the same color/shade, hue, and chroma “purple” as you see? Who knows? And in the case of cilantro, it tastes like soap to me.
Anne: I believe it’s only raw garlic that causes the breath to smell. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.
Also, one taste I detest is that of artificial sweeteners. They just don’t taste right to me. So it’s sugar (or maple syrup or honey) or nothing.
Regarding cilantro, I thought it was genetic. Depending on the genetics cilantro actually tastes differently to different people. I am in the group where cilantro tastes bitter.
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I have no idea what the deal with tomatoes is.
However, I (and oddly enough my siblings, but not parents or kids, their grandkids) are in the group that is OK with processed tomatoes but not sliced/raw tomatoes.
I attributed it to bad memories of my mother canning tomatoes, but who knows.
NYT says cilantro tastes like soap.
It has been a long time since I ate cilantro, just remember I don’t like it.
When I moved to the USA from Canada, my new friends made a point of taking me to a “real” Mexican restaurant. Well, I found out everything tasted like soap…Damn you, cilantro!
I can’t explain all my disfavored foods, currently and from the past, beyond I “just didn’t like some things, and still don’t like some of them”. At one time I despised brussels sprouts, and sometimes still cilantro, fresh tomatoes, egg plant, and walnuts. The last three because they were so acidic. I have learned to like most foods with exception of raisins (though not because of look, the taste just… I don’t like the flavor/texture profile, mostly, but I love currants).
I really try to find types of foods, or ways of preparation, that make almost anything at least edible. It’s almost a hobby. I haven’t been able to find a way with mutton (lamb, definitely, just not mutton). Brussels sprouts was a lot of work. I had to become familiar with the bitter parts of my flavor ability, then ease my way in, starting with milder cabbage, butter, salt, and pepper.
I guess I love to love food, if I can find out how to change my dislike I will. It’s fun to learn new cooking methods, alternative recipes, and challenge myself. I can’t quite call myself a foodie, I don’t have access. But I can say, for my part, I do the best that I can.
Living in the Middle East for many years, I was forced to drink cardamom coffee (to avoid insulting my hosts). I literally had to choke it down.
I eat everything. But i can’t eat ice cream with one of those little wooden spoons. Something about that dry texture on my tounge gives me the heebie jeebies.
I confess to being the “Tomato Guy”. I can take a raw one and warm it in the microwave for 20 seconds and eat it. I can eat anything that has anything at all to do with a Tomato but I can not stand it raw. Even if it’s seasoned. Can’t explain it. I think it’s the cold liquid flavor of it just puts me off…
SteveH,
My mom has the same reaction to wooden spoons. Can’t stand them!
They don’t bother me at all, but I can’t stand stainless steel bowls, counters, etc. I don’t know why, but metal brushing against metal makes me shiver.
I am also in the anti-cilantro camp, FWIW 🙂
Marmite – Love it or hate it. I hate it, but two of my three kids love it.
Oh, stainless on stainless absolutely freaks my senses. I hadn’t thought of that. Almost any metal on metal. Some meals I have simply excused myself from for that reason. Fingernails on chalkboards? Go for it, I will help. Most things thought to be annoying are fine, just not that. I am very careful when cutting foods with a fork and knife.
With tomatoes I realized that some were far too acidic, same with walnuts and egg plant. I have found types that are less acidic, enough to be edible and actually enjoyed, for all save egg plant. Those things used to literally burn my mouth, like cheese on very hot pizza, leaving bits of skin loosened on the top of my mouth and parts of my gums.
Most food bias/hatred occurs as a child either being forced to eat something a childs taste might dislike but an adult would like OR your parents imprint their bias on you. Some dislike of food comes from being too old to accept something new and strange when you are finally exposed to it. But the worst kind of food bias comes from self styled experts and pseudo-experts who convince us that there are good foods (magic foods) and bad foods (toxic, empty, etc.).
Now licorice: that’s another story. It’s one of the few foods I detest.
What? why, you, you….communist!
I know plenty of people that think cilantro tastes like soap, so it must be fairly common.
Try ordering food without cilantro in the bay area; it’s like the Monty Python Spam skit (“but there’s only a little spam in it!”)
Licorice i believe is latin for “the liver of candies”.:)
Blame genes as well as experience. As a child I ate some red berries that made me violently sick, and for years could not abide fresh tomatoes, but I grew out of it and love both fresh and cooked/sauced tomatoes.
The cilantro gene is present, though, and I find the plant completely repellant. Parsley I love, and I can enjoy ground coriander, which is related.
To mushrooms I have a deadly allergy, but used to eat them before that developed. Raisins I adore, as I do fennel, and ginger and eggplant are not a problem. Brussels sprouts are among my favorite foods, and I like many liver variations as well as stinky cheese.
Neo, garlic breath can come from cooked or raw, I love garlic and don’t really mind garlic breath. Licorice I wasn’t fond of as a child but now really like, especially the very intense Italian kind. I’m always happy to have the licorice jelly beans others disdain.
I don’t personally know about cilantro, but I’ve read that there are some people who love it and some who hate it. It’s the same way with mushrooms, and I’m definitely in the “hate” camp there. They make my skin crawl.
I’ve used big wooden kitchen spoons for years without a problem, but the little flat ice cream spoons make me afraid of getting a splinter in my tongue.
I’ve never heard about the stainless-on-stainless phobia before. I’ve recently bought a number of nice stainless steel pots and pans, and just tonight I received a set of stainless steel utensils to go with them. I haven’t used them yet. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I can eat almost anything, but I don’t enjoy things that are too vinegary, especially some of the pickled fish things. Raw store-bought tomatoes are completey different from really ripe ones. The first are OK, the second great. We used to sprinkle a bit of sugar on them when I was young.
We have a house guest from Nepal, and we will be doing some Nepalese cooking over the holidays. Cilantro is big there, so I’ll see how it tastes in a new blend of flavors. Right now, it’s not something I dream of, but I enjoy a bit in things like guacamole.
Fascinating. Of all the things people have named above, only liver and brussels sprouts are for me in the struggle-to-choke-it-down category, though I have mellowed somewhat about the sprouts, since my wife loves them and cooks them fairly often. Now I merely dislike them. Not fond of licorice but I don’t just hate it.
I must say I’m happy to hear that some people are freaked by those wooden spoons. I thought it was just me. I really can’t eat more than about half of a popsicle for that reason. It’s a little shiver-provoking just to hold the stick, and miserable to touch it with my tongue or teeth.
I am convinced that I’m allergic to an essential oil in eggplant.
But everything else I eat!
There is nothing on the list that I despise, but that’s only because they left off turnips and rutabagas. Maybe they aren’t considered people food any more…
OK, I just started up a batch of bratwurst and sauerkraut, and the steel spoon on the steel pan didn’t bother me.
Used to despise Brussels sprouts, now I find them super tasty. Used to enjoy broccoli, now it is my least favorite food.
The true worst, perhaps because it was not part of my childhood, is stinky fermented bean curd. I am told it never goes bad, it cannot spoil any more than it was when you bought it.
I have a nearly-full jar in my icebox. Let me know if you want it…
I don’t mind most of the foods in the article, but with regard to cilantro, both my sister and my nephew are in the “cilantro tastes like soap” camp. I was mystified by what they meant, but one day I ordered some Thai food and the cilantro in that particular dish did impart a soapy flavor. I’ve not had that experience since, though.
As far as liver, which Tom Murin mentions in his comment, people eat fewer organ meats these days, so that’s part of the reason why it’s not mentioned, I imagine. Some research, though, suggests that since liver is so high in vitamins B-12 and D, its absence from our diets may account for the increase in deficiencies of these vitamins. I don’t mind liver and actually like it in some preparations, but calves liver is the best choice, and it is very difficult to find these days. You can find beef liver but rarely calves liver. Several of the big chain groceries near me don’t seem to carry it (I’ve been looking lately), so that leaves mainly stores with ethnic clientele, and very expensive specialty markets.
WHAT? No “man when he was a caveman evolving”explanations?
Actually in reality, future plans entirely eliminate the unfilled vacancy of basic fundamentals which closely scrutinize new innovations. The free gift still continues.
I have two drinks i won’t drink through a straw. Beer and iced tea. And i don’t know why.
In the mid 70’s I discovered Mexican food. There was a taste in many items I could not replicate cooking Mexican at home. It took years to discover the missing ingredient was cilantro. Now it goes into everything Mexican that I cook, usually as a garnish, and especially in my home made salsas. It’s good in many Oriental dishes as well.
Tesh said….”The one that I get the most grief for is my dislike of onions. I don’t like the taste, smell or texture of the beasts.”
How dare you insult my favorite food like that. What are you, a baby killing communist?
Geez. What a bunch of neurotics. Get outdoors once in a while folks. Joking … (hands up with palms outward) just joking …
In fact I agree on the disgustingness of organ meats.
Did have a fellow up at deer camp though (North Italian heritage and a good cook) who used to ceremoniously prepare fresh and thinly sliced venison liver in a skillet, with onions and bacon, etc.
The aroma was so good, I actually came this close, to trying it … once.
I can’t believe that no one mentioned the stinkier kind of cheese. The very smell of parmesan makes me gag.
A lot of things taste different from raw to cooked. Tomatoes and onions are just two examples. I like tomatoes in all forms, but raw onions can completely overpower any dish, so I like them only in small doses. On my burgers, I like just a few slivers rather than an entire slice.
I like both grapes and raisins, but even though they are the same fruit, they *are* different. It’s the same with plums and prunes – both of which I also like.
I *love* liver and onions – assuming the onions are cooked thoroughly and the liver is a good cut. Everyone else in my family hates liver, so I rarely get to eat it. DNW, I can almost smell from here that “fresh and thinly sliced venison liver” that your friend prepared with bacon and onions.
I never cared much for Brussel sprouts or spinach. I used to love broccoli, but it seems that as I get older I haven’t liked it near as much as I used to.
I don’t even know what cilantro is. But if it is in most Mexican food, I must like it okay. What I don’t like is guacamole. And I don’t know why because as far as I know, I like all of the ingredients separately. It must be a texture thing.
Roy–I’d agree with you about onions. I can only tolerate raw ones in small doses, and that also applies to green onions, which I often find too liberally sprinkled on Mexican, Thai or Chinese food. I don’t mind cooked onions for the most part, though.
Even people who say they don’t like Brussels sprouts are sometimes amazed to discover how good they can be when they are roasted. They lose the bitterness, but they have to be fully cooked.
Poi and lutefisk I have to choke down. Otherwise, bring it on. One reason I have to be disciplined in my eating. Just about everything tastes good to me.
Liver -mmm good! Brussel sprouts – yes! Raw tomatoes – nice thick slices please. Tomatoes – cooked, diced, in salsa, baked, canned, any old way. Cilantro – yes. Raisins – the sugary energy helped power me up many a mountain. Turnips -yes! Garlic – love it! I’m a food junky.
Kurt & Roy: I can’t stand onions, except on White Castle or Crystal hamburgers (go figure), and in soups or sauces if they’re cooked down so far they’re unrecognizable. It’s not the flavor that bothers me, it’s the texture. To me, biting into a large chunk of onion, cooked or raw, is like chowing down on an earthworm. Don’t like beets, either.
I’m fine with cilantro, tomatoes, liver (minus the onions), and the vast majority of “normal” American foods out there.
Raisin-related joke.
The recent purchaser of some expensive “smart pills” wolfs a few down, then spits them out and yells, “Hey, these are rabbit pellets!”
“See? You’re getting smarter already!”
Cilantro … is that the stuff that gives food a metalic taste? I’ll pass, thank you.
I love this thread and I rarely comment but…
1. Garlic trendy??? It’s been eaten for thousands of years. About thirty yrs. ago a restaurant opened in SF called the Stinking Rose. All dishes include garlic. It proved so popular that a branch opened in Beverly Hills.
2. “Calves liver is hard to find” I don’t mean to be rude but where in the world do you live?? BTW, beef liver grilled to medium rare and seasoned with lemon juice is delicious.
3. I love most organ foods. Fried brains are delicious. But just about the only food I really dislike is TRIPE!!
I’m pretty much like J.J. @ 11.57 . . . I like most everything, cooked or raw. I agree with Neo on licorice though. Tastes like brake fluid to me. Nasty!
And yes, I do know what brake fluid tastes like.
I’ve heard that the soapy cilantro taste is a genetic trait, sort of like the way some people experience “asparagus pee” and others have no idea what you’re talking about. I, for the record, LOVE cilantro but my brother hates it for its soapy flavor. I and my offspring, as well as my sister, experience “asparagus pee” but our mother does not have the slightest clue what we mean.
Liver? Barf.
Cilantro? Love it.
Onions and garlic – Can’t live without ’em.
Tomatoes? Can’t live without them either…in any form.
Avacados – Can’t bear ’em after a VERY bad experience with a “super chalupa” in a San Antonio Mexican restaurant…wish every one didn’t think they are such a treat…it’s HARD picking those yucky green lumps out of a green salad.
Licorice – so so, but why not eat chocolate it you want something sweet and black?
Cilantro tasted soapy to me until I had children… weird. Now I love it.
My husband and I eat a lot of garlic; although ordinarily he can go without a shower for days and smell perfectly fine (delicious, in fact)(and I don’t have this trait – I can’t make it through a difficult phone call without breaking a sweat), garlic does come out through his pores. Luckily neither of us objects. Garlic breath is only unpleasant to me if it’s stale – fresh garlic breath is A-OK!
I always thought everyone experienced “asparagus pee.”
I forgot – Neo, how can you like fennel but not licorice? What’s your feeling about anise?