Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

People who salt and pepper their food without tasting it first.
People who cut long pasta with a knife.
Ketchup all over everything. This includes hot sause people who put hot sause all over everything.
Coffee dribblers who somehow manage to dribble coffee all over themselves and the floor and the table and you.
People who serve their children chicken nuggets for every meal.
People who do not make their children sit at the table to eat.
People who take their cannot sit at the table and chicken nugget childen to a restaurant or worse your home.
People who eat with their mouth open.
People who eat greasy pizza with their hands.
Fry stealers. You know who you are. Leave the fries in the bag till you get home.
People who put their forks in your plate without asking.
Finger lickers. The Nigella Lawson mmmm ahhhh whole finger in the mouth people. Just ewwww.
People who come to your home and demand that everyone pray the "blessing" and then take 8 minutes to get it all out while the food grows cold.
People who throw their food down so quick that it looks like a contest then they sit and watch you take your time.
Restaurant "rushers" that inform the server and everyone "we are in a hurry" when in reality you are not.
People who pick up the take out but do not check the order or make sure they have all the condiments.

I am tired this may only be a partial list.

When I cook for a dear friend of mine, I have to bite my lip not to scream, as she eats all of one thing (say potatoes), then moves on to the next (veg) and the next, without getting any interplay of flavors and textures whatsoever. Of late, I have wised up and started serving her dishes--like pastas or curries--that are difficult to separate.

I personally can't stand people unwilling to try new foods. "Eww! Sushi! I've never had it, but EWWWW, no way!" It makes me want to poke a fork in their eye.

Picky eaters, dieting eaters, ketchup freaks or anyone who needs to sauce everything, people who need to eat everything w/knife and fork (including my dad), loud/open-mouth chewers.

Reeeeeeeee........aly slow eaters

I think adults who make a "ewww" face or more when someone mentions a food they personally don't like, is my biggest food related irk. Keep it to yourself! So childish and judgemental (often involving economic class and culture), and I think less of the person when it happens.

I agree, Adam! Sometimes I just want my own thing and I don't want to share with the whole table. Also, related to Internet Rockstar's peeve: people who judge what you're ordering. "Oh, a milkshake!? I wish I could have that but it's so much fat, and I'm watching my weight." Shit like that. Starve yourself with sprouts and nuts, but let me have my chocolate malted in peace please.

megnut...yes! I agree...I hate when people list of their diet restrictions while ordering. "I would have that but it's too much fat" or "that looks so good but I am not eating suger right now" whatever! just shut up and eat something!

People who have to justify eating, e.g., ordinarily I wouldn't eat this much for lunch so I'll just skip dinner. Get real.

Pickiness. This one hates cilantro. That one refuses to eat mushrooms. This one will only eat tomatoes if they have been mushed to a pulp. I also know a lot of people who just flat out refuse to eat vegetables, even at the tender age of 30.

I've resolved this somewhat in my dinner parties by making all of them potlucks. That way, people bring what they want, and I get to cook the stuff I want to eat as well.

Also, women at work who only have salads at lunch and then pop a giant bag of popcorn 1 and a half hours later.

1) People on Weight Watchers who obsessively tell you how many points are represented by your meal. If I cared, I would be on Weight Watchers myself.

2) Adults who get upset if different foods are touching on the plate. Such irrational behavior I can accept from a child, but from an adult? Ridiculous!

At restaurants, people who think it's "tacky" or somehow "uncool" to take home the leftovers even when they thought their meal was delicious.

I can't stand it when people talk with their mouths full, spewing and spitting food everywhere, then proceed to ask me for a sip of my drink. Right. Exactly what I want--their food floating in my beverage! Gross!

Also, I hate it when two or more people order the same exact dish. I'd rather get a few different things and have everyone try a little. Variety is great!!!

Lastly, this one is gonna annoy a lot of people, I know. But I can't stand it when I am out with my s.o. and offer her a taste of something I think is really amazing and she declines responding "I know what salad (or fill in the blank) tastes like. But she hasn't had THIS one! Look, I know it's silly but that's just how I am! I want people to at least TRY new things once!

Also, folks who eat their meat well-done. My Mom won't eat ANY kind of meat unless it's- literally- black and charcoal-ized on the outside, and every drop of juice has long been cooked out of it.

the word yes, carrot cake is DEFINITELY not weird. Sounds downright delicious to me!

In response to Mags, it's one thing if I've never had anything like the salad you're offering, but maybe I'm just really full or enjoying my own plate enough to where I don't want to take on the additional calories. Believe me, if I turn away a bite, it's not that I'm picky! :)

In fact, picky eaters drive me crazy. If someone has an allergy or one or two things they won't eat, okay... but if you have a laundry list... then you've got deeper issues and/or you're uncultured.

My grandmother is in her 90s and she's the pickiest person in the universe. She always has been, but now it's gotten a lot worse. I think it's b/c she never traveled and was exposed to different foods by her parents. To her, fresh produce is rabbit food, canned goods taste stale. If the label says Nov 2009, it's not fresh and she wants us to return it or make a call to Del Monte. It's complete insanity. She hasn't been to a grocery store in years and she doesn't understand some brands no longer exist. If I bring her the liter of Pepsi she requested and they've redesigned the label, then it's not the Pepsi she wants and all hell breaks loose.

Despite this experience with grandma who is now very much like a difficult child, I still don't get parents who only feed their kids junk b/c it's easier. This is when you have the upper hand and I think that's getting things off to a rocky start. Maybe when I have my own, I'll have to stick my foot in my mouth here, but my plan is to just puree whatever foods the adults are eating, exotic or not. I have friends who were fed this way as children--and were never catered to--and they're the most adventurous eaters I know.

I think introducing kids to different foods from different cultures as early as possible is an extension of shaping them into adults who are open-minded and accepting in all areas of their lives.

Cheese in a can. As I was leaving the grocery store last week there were whole boxes of it staring at me as I walked out the door, on special. Surely someone who couldn't resist a bargain is now eating it, and that makes me sad.