Unpopular Food Likes/Dislikes: Table for One

[Bastet]

What's something everyone around you seems to love, but you can't stand?  What do you love to eat that has your family, friends and coworkers turning up their noses?

 

This is what gets me the most "How can you not like that?!" reactions: I don't like potatoes.  In any way, shape or form other than a french fry cut so thin and cooked so crispy it no longer tastes like a potato.

 

I also don't eat cereal, because the entire concept of floating crunchy food in milk is bizarre to me.  I ate some dry as a kid when I'd spend the night at someone's house where that's what they had for breakfast, but I don't remember what kinds and I didn't care for any of them.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Bastet

[joanne3482]

Eggs. I do not like eggs unless they are baked into a cake, cookies, cheesecake, etc. I will not eat a plate of any style eggs. Apparently I've always been like this. My mom said that even as a baby I wouldn't eat them. 

[Bastet]

I like egg whites, pretty much any style, but not yolks - I cannot stand the taste of egg yolk.  Which is easily accommodated now, but as a kid I could basically only eat eggs at home because back then if you asked in a restaurant if your omelette, scrambled eggs or whatever could be made with the egg whites only, the server looked at you like you had two heads.

Edited August 8, 2014 by Bastet

[BizBuzz]

Pizza

Chocolate

Mint

[GreekGeek]

I don't care for olives. (Olive oil is OK.) Nobody I know seems able to remember this, so that I have to mention it every time, and every time I get the "What kind of Greek are you?" remarks.

 

I don't like a lot of the "fancy" soft cheeses like Brie if they're too strong and smelly. I like the hard cheeses better: cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan, heck even American and Velveeta.

 

I'm pretty "meh" on tomatoes. Even now, when actual vine-ripened tomatoes are everywhere, I can't work up much excitement for them. I like them better as tomato sauce and ketchup.

 

I posted about this in the Childhood Favorites recipes, but I love Hostess Sno Balls. Also those sugary kid cereals, though I'm a bit embarrassed to buy them. 

 

I like the cream soup casseroles that serious foodies turn up their noses at (apart from the green bean casserole). 

[Bella]

I hate the texture of tomatoes! Hate, hate, hate! Hate!

 

I love the flavor and cook Italian quite a lot, but the first thing I do is put any tomatoes or tomato products into the blender and puree them into a liquid.

 

I believe I would starve to death before I'd bite into a tomato. Probably not, but I'd lose enough weight to become seriously malnourished.

[bigskygirl]

I do not care for seafood or wild game meat. The sight and smell makes me gag.

 

I do like to put A-1 Sauce on food. Some people may find that weird.

[photo fox]

I hate steak.  Maybe it's just the contempt of familiarity, because I grew up on a livestock farm and it was common for us to eat it, but it does absolutely nothing for me.  It is the absolute last thing I would ever order at a restaurant, and I'm always astonished at what other people will pay to have it.

 

In fact, beef in general could disappear from the meat counter, and I wouldn't notice.

[WendyCR72]

I hate steak.  Maybe it's just the contempt of familiarity, because I grew up on a livestock farm and it was common for us to eat it, but it does absolutely nothing for me.  It is the absolute last thing I would ever order at a restaurant, and I'm always astonished at what other people will pay to have it.

 

In fact, beef in general could disappear from the meat counter, and I wouldn't notice.

 

<GASP!>

 

It's okay, @photo fox! I'll gladly take your share of steak/beef if you don't want it. Huge carnivore that I am!  :-)

 

I despise corned beef and cabbage. I mean, uber hate. And I'm Irish. I tell my family my Irish genes are recessive and my French ones have taken over. But yeah, no. Hate the smells, hate the taste, hate it all.

 

I'm also not fond of mashed potatoes, although I will eat them, but the only potato forms I like are French fries (bad for you) or twice-baked potatoes (see French fries). Love these two options, but that's where it ends.

 

And don't get me started on potato salad. Eeewww.

[Bastet]

I hate beans of any kind.  Which means I hate chickpeas, which means I hate hummus.  Which seemingly every person I know puts out as a snack.

 

I have never liked spaghetti, whatever the sauce.  My mom is a very good cook and makes a meat sauce that people rave over, but my childhood memories of spaghetti nights are of devouring salad and garlic bread and suffering through the small portion of spaghetti I was made to eat. 

 

The very smell of most vinegars makes me gag.  Even the 10:1 diluted white vinegar I use to wash my windows requires me to hold my breath.  This trend of drinking apple cider vinegar to cure all ills?  I'll just die younger, thank you.  I like balsamic, and I can handle rice vinegar or red wine vinegar mixed in with other things.  But the rest, no.  I think that's part of the reason I also hate mustard.

 

As for unpopular likes, I put mayonnaise on my hamburger and hot dog buns.  That's not particularly odd here in Los Angeles, but I get some serious looks elsewhere.  But since I hate mustard and don't much care for ketchup, mayo is my go-to condiment.

[LuckyBitch]

I love most vegetables but can't take brussels sprouts or beets, no matter how they're made. I love sweet potato fries, but won't eat sweet potatoes baked or in a casserole or pie.

 

I absolutely hate radishes, always have. I love sauteed onions, or caramelized onions, but don't like raw onions at all.

 

I like most fruit, but I'm not crazy about strawberries. Forget strawberry shortcake, yuck.

 

Most fruit pies do nothing for me. I'll maybe have a small piece of apple pie once or twice a year, only if it's warm, but I can live without it.

 

I can't eat something that mixes fruit with food, even if I like both things separately. So, no raisins in my oatmeal cookies, no pineapple on my pizza, no dishes at all that combine fruit with food. I don't like fruit mixed in with food, and maybe it's because I can only eat fruit ice cold, with the exception of a piece of apple pie once or twice a year. Other than that, no room temp fruit and no cooked fruit for me. I rarely eat bananas, (other than in smoothies), but when I do I have to put it in the fridge for a while first. Otherwise, I can't take the mushy texture.

 

I sometimes eat chocolate, but I never really crave it or would miss it if I could never have it again. I'm so much more of a carb addict than a sweets person, and it's something I have to fight daily because I really could live on bagels, pizza, pasta, bread, pretzels, etc. I would rather have a good bagel any day over any slice of cake, another thing I could live without.

 

My kid is the only kid I've ever known who will make brownies, cupcakes, and cookies with me but won't eat them. He eats absolutely no cakes, cookies, pies, etc. He likes chocolate ice cream, so every year we get a good chocolate ice cream cake for his birthday. He doesn't like candy except for some good chocolate, (he loves Trader Joe's Pound Plus Belgium Chocolate bars). He's always been this way. Actually, he didn't even like chocolate until my parents influenced him. They're the ones who introduced him to ice cream and to chocolate.

 

All of the foods that I mentioned I don't like are things my husband loves. He'll eat almost anything. I was a super picky kid and didn't begin to expand my horizons a bit until my mid 20's. Then he came long and influenced me even more, especially since he's a great cook. But, I'm still far more picky than he is and our kid is even worse.

 

One more thing - I used to think sushi was totally disgusting. Then one day shortly before I realized I was pregnant, I got a strange craving for sushi and wanted to try it. I've loved it ever since, which still surprises me. As far as fish, I mostly only like salmon and tuna. I won't eat scallops and I think shrimp is disgusting and won't cook it or go near it. Also, no lobster for me. I still remember being horrified as a kid when my mother brought some live lobsters home to cook and I had to leave the house. No oysters, mussels, clams, etc. Gross. You'd probably have to threaten me with death to get me to even think about eating crayfish. I think I'd rather eat bugs.

Edited August 8, 2014 by LuckyBitch

[photo fox]

This trend of drinking apple cider vinegar to cure all ills? I'll just die younger, thank you.

Haha! Agreed!

As for unpopular likes, I put mayonnaise on my hamburger and hot dog buns. That's not particularly odd here in Los Angeles, but I get some serious looks elsewhere.

Yep, me too. If they don't have mayo available I'll use catsup, but i can't abide mustard, especially the awful day-glo yellow kind they put out at ballparks. I also use mayo on my fries if it's available.

I don't like pickles, except for the sweet pickles my family cans. So a burger for me is meat, cheese, lettuce, onion, and mayo on bread (not a fan of store bought buns).

@LuckyBitch, crayfish remind me of insects, too. *shudder*

[Snow Apple]

Shrimp. I'm famous in my family for hating shrimp. My mother tell the story of when I was little that I refused to eat it because I thought they will crawl around inside my stomach and that's why I don't eat it to this day. I don't remember that, but I think I just don't like the taste. I've accidentally bit into one a few times and it was bad.

[MichelleAK]

I loathe (as in, it will make me sick to eat it) spaghetti, lasagna, or any other combination of red sauce and noodles.  Cream sauces are fine; pesto sauces are fine; cheese sauces are fine; but no red sauce, except on pizza.  I also hate cooked tomatoes.  Also, mushrooms are gross, and I don't like onions.  I like onion flavor, but not onions, except in onion rings. 

 

Strange loves?  I don't really have any, except for mincemeat pie.  I also prefer black licorice to red.  Oh, and like Pearl Forrester, Chicken in a Biscuit is my favorite snack cracker.

[Bastet]

While I love lobster, crab, shrimp, oysters, mussels, scallops, abalone and squid and like clams and crawfish (although I'll admit I didn't try the latter until my first trip to New Orleans), I don't much care for fish.  I'll eat tuna, halibut, catfish or salmon if it's served to me, but there better be some sauce I can load up on or lots of breading.  And I don't even like being in a sushi restaurant; I smell fish for days.

 

Like someone above, I don't like cooked fruit.  So I don't like fruit pie, and when people put fruit on the grill at a barbecue for dessert, I make sure to snatch some first to eat cold.   

 

I love most vegetables, and like most of them either raw or cooked, but once you cook a carrot I cannot stand it anymore.  I get tired of answering "You don't like carrots?"  I love carrots, just not cooked.  I don't like cooked cabbage, either, other than Brussels sprouts.  I'm not a big fan of cooked tomatoes, but it can be okay in certain recipes - on a pizza, or baked stuffed with spinach and parmesan.

 

I would rather skip the meal than eat pot roast, meatloaf, chili, or beef stew.  I love a good steak or burger, but a lot of other beef dishes are not at all my taste. 

Edited August 9, 2014 by Bastet

[bosawks]

Peanut butter and jelly is the work of the devil.

[WendyCR72]

Thanks for that reminder, @bosawks! Well, except I like peanut butter.

 

But jelly? Is disgusting. The texture, the overly sweet taste, yuck. Hate Jello, too. Wobbling protoplasm? Yeah, no.

 

To add, I'm weird. I like CEREAL marshmallows, a la Lucky Charms, but I HATE the usual white marshmallows and, therefore, REFUSE to eat S'mores. REFUSE. But I'll eat the graham crackers and chocolate. And for the above reason, Marshmallow fluff? Also nasty.

[LuckyBitch]

I hate that marshmallow fluff. My brother loved it when we were kids and he used to have it with peanut butter in a sandwich, but I never liked it. 

 

I'm not a fan of jelly or jams either. I usually eat peanut butter plain on toast with nothing else. 

 

Jello? Ugh, my mom made it all the time when we were kids, so did my grandmother. Hated it then, hate it now. Don't even get me started on ambrosia. I want to know who the hell created that?! It's like a bowl of some sickly sweet vomit.

[WendyCR72]

OMG, @LuckyBitch, I always said ambrosia looked like puke. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so!

[Bastet]

As evidenced by this thread, there are all sorts of things I don't like that other people do, and people have listed as hates things I love, but I'm well aware that's just how life goes.  Ambrosia, however, is one of the few things I just don't understand.  My mom loves it, as did my grandpa, so she'd make it for holiday dinners sometimes.  My dad doesn't care for it, but I cannot even stand to have it near me on the table.  I find the idea of it revolting.  I'm truly blown away that people eat it.

[ebk57]

Wow...thanks for reminding me that I hate PB&J.  Just give me the PB - Skippy, extra crunchy, thanks.  I remember going to the movies with a friend and her dad.  They brought PB&J and bought popcorn...with butter.  Yuck.  Fortunately, I like the movie - That Darn Cat.  Yes, the original :-)

 

One thing I do love that others don't is anchovies on my pizza.  Came to that later in life, but now I love them.

 

Also came to olives later in life...specifically on a trip to Italy to visit my brother several years ago.  Olives and wine... yummmmm.  Better late than never!

Edited August 9, 2014 by ebk57

[LuckyBitch]

OMG, @LuckyBitch, I always said ambrosia looked like puke. Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so!

 

@WendyCR72 , I almost said in my post, "Wendy, I bet you don't like ambrosia, either." Ha, I kind of knew you wouldn't after reading your last post.

 

@Bastet:

 

 

 

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Edited August 9, 2014 by LuckyBitch

[BatmanBeatles]

I don't like egg yolk so I'm one of the few people who will eat eggs Benedict with a scrambled egg. That's also the reason why I don't like potato salad or egg salad sandwiches.

 

I only like the flavor of onions. I don't like the crunchy texture, there fore I often use onion powder.

 

I only eat fresh tomatoes if they are straight from the garden. Store bought ones tastes like cardboard.

 

I don't like green peppers on pizza.

 

I don't like Miracle Whip

 

I hate black licorice.

 

I don't like cola drinks of any kind, nor do I like Mountain Dew.

 

I don't like processed cheese like American or Velveeta.

 

I don't like a lot of store bought or cakes from mixes.

[bigskygirl]

I like mushrooms on pizza, salads and soups, but I do not like mushrooms in spaghetti sauce.

[LuckyBitch]

Two weird things we do around here that I wonder if others do as well:

 

Mr. LB likes to put potato chips in his sandwiches. I've never seen anyone do that until I met him. The funny thing is that the first time his sister visited us and stayed over, she made a sandwich one day and did the same thing.

 

I like ham and swiss sandwiches, and I also like pickles. Sometimes I just take a slice of ham and a slice of cheese and wrap them around a dill pickle spear and eat it that way. Mr. LB thinks that's weird.

Edited August 9, 2014 by LuckyBitch

[GaT]

I hate lamb. I mean HATE lamb. I can't stand the smell, & if I'm out to dinner & someone orders lamb, I have to pretend they ordered beef that went rancid & try not to keep gagging. I also don't like goat cheese, catfish, most Indian food (I'll eat dal sometimes, naan, & tandoori if I have to) & except for California rolls, I won't eat sushi.

 

I love most vegetables but can't take brussels sprouts or beets, no matter how they're made. 

I LOVE brussel sprouts & beets & have since I was a kid. I was one of those kids who always ate spinach or broccoli because I thought they tasted good.

[ramble]

@LuckyBitch I used to loved to cruch up potato chips on my PB&Js. I don't keep chips around or I might still do it. I've also done the pickle wrap. I like thinly sliced roast beef with a light layer of cream cheese wrapped around a pickle.

I have a crazy love for spinach dip. Yummy, cheesy goodness. I don't just eat it with chips, but with baked potatoes, chicken, beef, vegetables. I could eat it with a spoon. I also love bread with chocolate. It's not the same now that I'm gluten free because I don't care for the bread as much, but I do love the combo & miss it.

Hates/Dislikes:

Raw onion

Cucumbers

Coconut, except the oil for popcorn

Mayo, except if it's mixed in something (like chicken salad or corn dip)

Most fish, although I like most other seafood

Cabbage, raw or cooked

Black walnuts

Raisins

Jello, ugh it jiggles

[mlp]

I'm not a fussy eater at all.  I don't care for okra, cilantro or, gag, Miracle Whip but I'd eat all three if I was out somewhere and they were served to me.  The one thing I absolutely won't eat is black walnuts.  People pay premium prices for them but I can't stand them.  I love English walnuts but black walnuts to me taste like they're toxic.

[ramble]

The one thing I absolutely won't eat is black walnuts. People pay premium prices for them but I can't stand them. I love English walnuts but black walnuts to me taste like they're toxic.

I mentioned those too. Yuck! We had a yard full of black walnut trees growing up & we'd gather them & people paid good money for the nasty things. IMO they ruin anything they touch. They also stain your hands when you handle the the interior of the hull.

[spaceytraci1208]

I don't like walnuts; they have a funny aftertaste to me

Black licorice tastes like evil

I tend to scrape the "cream" out of oreos; I'd love it if they sold the plain cookie

In the last couple years I've discovered that I don't hate eggs, but I'm very particular about how I like them prepared.

[EllieH]

Dislikes:

Raw tomatoes -- so slimy, such an awful texture.  Also, hated spaghetti/ tomato sauce in general as a kid, but I've grown up to eat that on occasion.

Olives, but olive oil is okay

Onion, raw, or cooked in big chunks like onion rings.  I'll put it in soups and such if the recipe calls for it, where you don't really notice it in the end product.

Coconut -- just no

Black licorice -- too strong and awful

Bananas -- I loved them as a small child but at some point that turned.  I've heard people tell stories before about either getting sick while eating some food or trying to eat some food while sick and just never being able to stomach them again, and I kind of wonder if that happened to me with bananas, but I was too young to have a concrete memory of it now?  And I have had a few bites of banana pudding and bananas foster in the past few years, so perhaps I can eat them, just drowned in sugar.

ETA: Hard boiled eggs, the smell just gets to me.  I love eggs prepared a lot of other ways, as long as the white is set enough (scrambled, fried, poached, etc.)

 

And finally, in sort of a weird category unto itself --

Mushrooms -- but I wonder sometimes if I could like them, I didn't grow up eating them, don't really know how to prepare them, don't really know how they should taste?

Edited August 9, 2014 by EllieH

[Shannon L.]

I'm zipping through this thread quickly and will get back with a list later when I have time, but had to comment on this:

 

Most fruit pies do nothing for me

Same here!  Warm fruit in that syrupy goop?  Yuck. 

 

Just real quick before I sign out, while it's on my mind:  I can choke down almost anything in order to be polite, but I will go out of my way to pull out any raisin or piece of celery (unless it's softened so much in a soup that I can swallow it w/o biting into it) that I find.  ::shudder::  I don't even like the smell of celery.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Shannon L.

[imjagain]

I hate watermelon! The texture is disgusting to me.

And everyone I know seems to loves it.

[BatmanBeatles]

 

I don't like walnuts; they have a funny aftertaste to me

Neither do I. Yet, they are supposed to be very healthy for you.

[VanillaBear85]

I hate watermelon! The texture is disgusting to me.

And everyone I know seems to loves it.

I completely agree about the texture. I put a slice through my juicer once and that was slightly better, but I still dislike the taste.

I hate arugula. Beets taste like dirt to me.

[LuckyBitch]

Speaking of tasting like dirt, I hate sage. I grew some one year along with my basil, parsley, and cilantro. Then, I used it in a Lydia Bastianich pasta recipe and I couldn't eat it. I hated the taste; it ruined the whole dish. Blech, never again.

[imjagain]

I completely agree about the texture. I put a slice through my juicer once and that was slightly better, but I still dislike the taste.

I hate arugula. Beets taste like dirt to me.

Yeah, I juiced it before too. Not as bad but, yeah it was still watermelon flavor.

[WendyCR72]

I hate watermelon! The texture is disgusting to me.

And everyone I know seems to loves it.

 

Friend! Watermelon is nasty.

[Bella]

I do not understand watermelon. It isn't vile to me, it's just so boring that I don't see the point in eating it. It has a pleasant smell, but that doesn't make it a worthy food. I don't eat roses, either.

[ramble]

I enjoy watermelon but not the standard store bought kind. They're bland & sort of tasteless. Organic one are better but expensive. I like well grown home grown ones. They are sweet & I add a dash of salt & they taste like summer to me.

[Bastet]

Yeah, even when they're in season, the watermelons at the store are awfully bland.  I get mine from a local grower who is one of the few people still growing the kind with seeds, and they're delicious.  A little salt, sitting outside after dinner -- it's like childhood.

Edited August 9, 2014 by Bastet

[Shannon L.]

 

I do not understand watermelon. It isn't vile to me, it's just so boring that I don't see the point in eating it. It has a pleasant smell, but that doesn't make it a worthy food

Agreed.  Every one that I've ever tasted, I'll describe as I did tea:  it tastes like someone tried to make kool-aid and put too much water in it.

 

Ok, here goes--Mexican food.  Over the years, I've found two or three dishes I can eat, but it's never my first choice--or my second or third.  I can't tell you how many times, after moving to California, I was frustrated almost to tears because someone would ask us to dinner and they'd be serving Mexican food.  Or they'd invite us to a restaurant for dinner, their treat, and only after we said 'yes', did we discover it was a Mexican restaurant so I had the added guilt of knowing that they were paying good money for something that I could barely choke down.  I'd look at my husband and say quietly "help me pick something".  I'd almost always end up with a chicken quesadilla.  This is exactly why, when I ask people to dinner, I ask them what they like and don't like.  I've had vegetarians who insisted that we serve meat and they can pick at whatever the side dishes are, but I say "nah....it won't hurt us to eat a vegetarian meal one night" (I've actually found some wonderful recipes over the years that we'll eat on occasion). 

[EllieH]

 

I can't eat these because they make the inside of my mouth itch:

• all kinds of melon

• bananas

• more than one kiwifruit at a time

 

This may be TMI, but do you have a latex allergy as well?  I've got a friend who's allergic to all of the ones I just quoted from your posted as well as latex, apparently those allergies tend to be related

[mansonlamps]

I tend to scrape the "cream" out of oreos; I'd love it if they sold the plain cookie

 

 

Wow, this is the very first time I've ever heard anyone but me say this!  And can you believe so many people love that cream they had to invent double stuffed Oreos?  :: shudder::  The chocolate cookies are great though.

 

Hate ketchup, relish (so much so that, even as a Chicagoan, as a kid I thought I hated hot dogs but it turned out I just hated that neon green stuff stuff on top of them), most seafood, Brussels sprouts and beets.  Nothing too odd.

 

But, wait for it, hate garlic bread.  Love bread, love garlic, love butter, but put them together as garlic bread and no thank you.  I mean I would eat it rather than starve to death but would never voluntarily eat it even if it was on the table.  My friends find this extraordinarily odd.

[jazzygem]

I will not eat any of the following under any circumstances - 

 

• mushrooms
• raw tomatoes
• mayo or any food containing mayo
• pickle relish (but I do like pickles)
• sour cream
• canned tuna
• any kind of bean
• broccoli
• any kind of white potato that isn't a french fry (and the fries must be straight cut. NO CRINKLES)
• any beef in any form that isn't a steak, a burger, or smoked brisket
• eggplant
• un-toasted sliced bread. I can't take mushy bread.
• avocados
• bananas

 

 

That's only a partial list. I'm quite a picky eater.

[bosawks]

Canned cranberry sauce.

Slimy, jiggly, looks like old blood and it retains the SHAPE OF THE CAN!!!!

Worst "food" ever.

[OnceSane]

 

Don't even get me started on ambrosia. I want to know who the hell created that?! It's like a bowl of some sickly sweet vomit.

 

So gross.

 

I also hate coconut & watermelon.  Disgusting.

[GreekGeek]

I don't eat roses, either.

 

You reminded me of another odd food I like--rose petal preserves. It's extremely sweet, but delicious in small spoonfuls. I think it's a Greek/Near Eastern thing.

 

As for watermelon--it's OK but I don't see why people think it's the yummiest treat ever. Ditto for corn on the cob. The latter especially is hit or miss--unless you grow your own and run from the garden to the kitchen where the pot of water is already boiling. Otherwise, the corn can be deliciously sweet or it can taste like wood. I think people enjoy watermelon and corn because of the association with summer, rather than because they're amazingly tasty. 

Edited August 10, 2014 by GreekGeek

[ramble]

Yeah, even when they're in season, the watermelons at the store are awfully bland. I get mine from a local grower who is one of the few people still growing the kind with seeds, and they're delicious. A little salt, sitting outside after dinner -- it's like childhood.

I find a watermelon without seeds to be an insult to a real watermelon. It's like the lack of seeds sucks all the flavor out.

[GaT]

I am fascinated by all the foods that people hate that I love. Things like watermelon & corn on the cobb & brussel sprouts & avocados & beans & lots of other things. I wonder what it is that makes one person love something, & another person hate it?