What seemingly basic ingredient can you simply not bear?
People think I'm insane, but I simply cannot tolerate celery. I don't like the taste, the flavor, the smell. I don't like it raw and I don't like cooked. If there is celery in a tuna salad, chicken salad, potato salad--then I can't eat it. What seemingly innocuous foodstuff makes you crazy?
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68 Comments:
Garlic! I really don't like the addition of garlic on most anything at all, but so many people just love it.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 5:01PM on 08/29/07
Capers . . . hate 'em!
ride&cook at 5:20PM on 08/29/07
Okay, I may be ousted from SE but I need to say I don't like onions (any variety, either cooked or raw)! I have a very keen sense of taste & can detect any onion when someone tries to pass them off in a dish prepared for me--ha--ha!
JEP at 6:08PM on 08/29/07
Cooked cabbage, YUCK! I like it raw when its nice and crunchy but when it's cooked it makes me want to gag!
kitchenlove at 6:09PM on 08/29/07
Rosemary. Both the texture (little woody stalks) and the flavour (perfumey and pine tree-ish). I'm a bit ashamed not to like it, but I can't help it - I just think it's vile.
caley at 6:21PM on 08/29/07
Love everything mentioned so far . . . my own food nemesis is the oily and sodium-enriched anchovy.
hatlady at 6:41PM on 08/29/07
Green Bell Peppers must not come anywhere near my food. They taste plain nasty, and overwhelming, and have a habit of making the entire dish taste like Green Pepper. Bring me red, orange, yellow, purple, or any hot pepper you want, but keep the Green Bell Peppers far far away.
lo82070 at 6:45PM on 08/29/07
Raw tomatoes. I know I should be ashamed of myself but I just can't stand the texture and the weird sweet/savoury taste! Even the best Italian tomatoes...just can't do it!
Mitsi at 6:49PM on 08/29/07
Mayo
The Guilty Carnivore at 7:17PM on 08/29/07
Got to add my support to the Tomato comment, actually I don't really like them cooked, but they are very hard to avoid so I have to get by. However I can't ever eat them raw just not possible.
JoseShivers at 7:21PM on 08/29/07
I second the the green bell peppers!! I also can't stand canned mushrooms, its all bout the texture. Mushrooms any other way are great.
ClutzyCook at 7:40PM on 08/29/07
Great question!! I have a reputation for being a really picky eater, despite my adventurousness, because I hate a few really common vegetables: raw onion, mushrooms, and green bell peppers. (I also can't stand eggplant or turnips, but that doesn't come up very often.) Mushrooms literally give me nightmares when I eat them, raw onions make me gag, and green bell peppers just taste to me the way body odor smells.
producestories at 8:25PM on 08/29/07
I hate celery too! Keep it out of everything please.
pezbabypez at 8:36PM on 08/29/07
Green Bell Pappers without a doubt. I can't even stand the smell of them cooking! I'm so glad others share this aversion.
eatnutmeg at 9:06PM on 08/29/07
I can't think of any ordinary foods that I hate, but, I am getting a bit tired of balsamic vinegar. It's just boring and over used. I'm not talking about the syrupy aged really good stuff, I'm talking about your run of the mill balsamic vinegar that people splash so liberally on everything.
seyo at 9:37PM on 08/29/07
Count me in on the anti green bell pepper group. Other ordinary foods I don't like...cottage cheese (taste & texture thing), jello (texture thing) and pickles...these cannot even be near anything I eat.
Pawsinhand at 11:01PM on 08/29/07
Cucumbers. But I love pickles. Go figure.
BaconUnwrapped at 11:17PM on 08/29/07
while i can deal with eating bananas plain, i can't stand the taste of them in any other preparation. when i was younger (and embarrassingly bratty), i used to refuse to go to the local smoothie place for this very reason - i insisted that they didn't scrub out the blenders well enough between orders and that i could always "still taste the banana" from the smoothies made before mine. looking back, though, i'm pretty sure i was just delusional.
kmalladi at 11:22PM on 08/29/07
ok I don't like green peppers either, they are not ripe and usually give me agita. Now the tomatoes thing I used to agree with then I discovered how to bring out the flavor. When you cut up a tomato you should salt and pepper it. This brings out the natural flavor.
I do not like cilantro except in mini itty bitty tiny small amounts.
I don't like asparagus. I make it all the time but it tastes off to me.
JerzeeTomato at 1:45AM on 08/30/07
commodity meat such as battery raised chicken or beef by any of the big players.
coolname at 10:17AM on 08/30/07
Mushrooms and Bell Peppers
susanl at 10:19AM on 08/30/07
Another banana hater here. I don't like the taste and they give me heartburn. Nothing else gives me heartburn, just bananas!
And JEP, my daughter shares your hate for onions. I used to think it was only a problem if the onions were visible in her food. One time, I put a minuscule amount of grated onion in a dish. She tasted it and said that she couldn't see them, but she knew there were onions in there!
Library Lady at 10:32AM on 08/30/07
Mayo, whip cream, pickles, rye and arugula. I used to hate olives, but I've come around. When I was a kid, I ate so much raspberry jelly that I couldn't eat it for fifteen years.
Kelly Spitzer at 11:17AM on 08/30/07
I hate, hate, hate celery too! I can pick it out of soups, dips, salads, pretty much anything... It's disgusting! The only time I ever use it is if I'm making dressing for Thanksgiving, you have to use it then.
Tara Tot at 11:18AM on 08/30/07
Nutmeg. Yuk!!!
KItkat at 11:22AM on 08/30/07
Olives and capers. Which is weird because I love other salty things.
On the texture end as opposed to taste, I cannot stand any chunks in my yogurt, which limits me to things like vanilla, or here in Canada, lovely maple flavour. I'm pretty wacky about texture, hate flan, love mushrooms, I have no idea why.
wellred at 11:58AM on 08/30/07
I also despise green bell peppers (although I do like the other colors, mostly when they're cooked). I'll eat food that's cooked with them, but I guess it's something about the putrid green color they get when they're cooked, or their weird taste (like the other bell peppers, but minus the sweetness). I'm also not a huge fan of raw celery or radishes, which are often so bitter that you can't really discern any other flavors. Oh, and I dont really like the cheese on take out pizza, since it's usually super heavy and tastes entirely of oil and salt.
And I'm a little ashamed to admit this, but until this summer, I really really disliked chocolate. I've come around to the expensive stuff, but I still can't stand Hersheys or anything like it.
ChristineB at 12:44PM on 08/30/07
Me too on capers.
hereandthe at 12:55PM on 08/30/07
I'm the opposite of kmalldi - I haaate the texture of raw bananas, though the flavour is fine and I love them in smoothies. This is odd, since I do like many of the things that other people don't because of their texture - cottage cheese and jello for example.
My all-time nemesis is caraway seed. I have had many a good cheese and bread combination ruined by them.
flye3076 at 1:40PM on 08/30/07
Pickles. I find them so detestable that if a restaurant puts a pickle on a plate, it means, drat I forgot to tell them not to, and it also means I can't eat any of the chips/fries/parts of the bun that were near the pickle, and got contaminated.
Also peas - I pick them out of the buffet fried rice at Wegmans.
Mayo or any type of cold mayo-based salad like noodle salad, egg salad, potato salad.
I'm a supertaster, so these foods aren't just unpleasant - they give me the dry heaves. Fun fun!
vermonted at 2:59PM on 08/30/07
Me too on celery, mushrooms, rosemary (UGH), onions and green peppers!
flootsmith at 3:45PM on 08/30/07
I can't tell you how pleased I am to hear from all my fellow celery haters! Whenever I tell people I can't take the flavor, they say, "But celery doesn't have a flavor!" Yeah, right.
But then they must simply be as mystified by me as I am by the garlic, caper, onion, mushroom haters here. Although I'm definitely on the green pepper train....
klg19 at 3:51PM on 08/30/07
I will NOT eat cinnamon!!! Yueeck! I hate the smell, the taste, even the color... & I hate "what do you mean you don't want a cinnamon candy, they are so good!" No. they are not. BAN CINNAMON!!!
akprincess72 at 5:11PM on 08/30/07
It might not be considered basic, but I can't handle anything with an almond extract flavor. If a cake or baked good tastes of almond extract, I can't eat it. The smell is intoxicating--the bad intoxicating!
On a side note, I HATE marzipan. Truly, absolutely, wholeheartedly hate the flavor and the smell.
kmnola at 10:47PM on 08/30/07
popcorn--my wife loves it, will eat it for an entire meal when I'm not around, but I can't stand it. This seems odd to me, because I enjoy almost everything, including most of what people have listed so far.
jscheck at 12:22AM on 08/31/07
cooked fruit -- no pie for me, thanks.
latteaday at 12:42PM on 08/31/07
I too, boycott Green peppers. When I was young, my mother would make Stuffed green peppers, which I disect to get at the stuffing, leaving the pepper behind. The smallest amount overpowers everything!!!
Also, and I know this sounds odd, but while I love the flavor that caraway seed gives, to bite into one sends me right up the wall.
letthemeatcake at 1:42PM on 08/31/07
Any kind of raw onions, I will eat onions only if they have been minced very finely and have been cooked for a long time. I can't handle the texture of onions at all, I thought I wouldve grown out of this by now, but nope still hate it.
Sarahrm at 1:50PM on 08/31/07
I don't like onions either actually! I know I said garlic before, but onions probably top garlic now that I think about it. Yuck! See JEP? You're definitely not alone.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 2:10PM on 08/31/07
Ketchup.
czken at 3:41PM on 08/31/07
When my son was little he would pick the mushroom 'crumbs' out of a casserole made with cream of mushroom soup!
NanaJoie at 4:03PM on 08/31/07
Definitely cilantro. Fresh cilantro has the ability to ruin anything it comes in contact with for me.
chasgoose at 7:28PM on 08/31/07
Parsley. It's pretty as a decoration ....
Mayo
paris221966 at 10:16PM on 08/31/07
Cinnnamon - too overpowering. I usually sub allspice.
Cilantro - tastes and smells like dish soap to me. Parsley gets a nod instead.
suegsf at 12:31AM on 09/01/07
I hate raw onions, but love them cooked. I hate green olives but love black. And I hate hate hate anything with a licorice flavor (fennel, anise, etc.).
kendraburt at 8:33AM on 09/01/07
Water chestnuts are probably the only thing I would refuse to eat. I can't taste them, but the crunch when you accidentally bite into one delivers a shock that makes the rest of whatever the water chestnuts are in unpleasant. Maybe they're not really a basic ingredient, but they're still pretty terrible.
Amy_Leigh28 at 9:18AM on 09/01/07
Bananas, jello, and cottage cheese. And its all about the texture. For the same reason I don't like cheesecake-even Lindy's (NYC). Okay, cheesecake is not a specific food, but I know people find it strange that I simply do not care for it.
robinp at 4:59PM on 09/01/07
Fresh cilantro, raw carrot, and anything that even resembles licorice. I can't even stand root beer. I like the taste of mushrooms, but can't eat them because of the texture. I also don't like pepperoni.
skylar0ne at 6:51PM on 09/01/07
Green pepper. Any vegetable cooked "tender-crisp." Either serve them raw or cook them through! I love just about any fish but absolutely cannot stand salmon.
Michigander at 8:38PM on 09/01/07
Celery haters, I never knew there were so many of us!
Lippy at 11:16PM on 09/01/07
If it's basic ingredient we're talking about then.. hmm.. raw tomatoes and raw garlic. There are some things I don't really like, but I don't make my way around them.
winny at 7:56AM on 09/02/07
Mayo (taste, texture, and allergy), Ham (texture), Hersheys (why waste the calories on something that tastes like wax? give me GOOD chocolate instead), Black Olives, and Button Mushrooms
pbisNOTmyname at 10:19AM on 09/02/07
I have to stand behind the pepperoni and black olive (only the canned type) haters-they are the two best ways to ruin a fine pizza pie. Also, tender-crisp veggies; what a great point. Green beans top the list of things people love to under cook- that waxy/grainy texture of an 'al dente' green bean is truly one of natures punishments.
coolname at 11:24AM on 09/02/07
Celery and green pepper haters unite!
When raw they both have an unpleasant watery crunch and a weird taste-residue that refuses to leave my mouth. Even worse cooked!
I hated chicken for a long time because I'd only eaten it roasted with celery, and I thought all that gross taste was coming from the bird.
I'm also with you on water chestnuts, Amy_Leigh. An accidental bite of one ruins the rest of the dish for me.
butterface at 1:50PM on 09/02/07
Another vote for bell peppers. I love any type of hot peppers, though.
Kerosena at 8:16PM on 09/02/07
I can't believe that I dont agree with a single thing on this list. In fact at the moment I can't come up with a single (simple ingredient)thing. I used to say I hate raw tomatoes but read here to see how that changed. Black olives sort of (not on my pizza) but I am starting to come around to those "in" things. I had a high school Home Economics (I don't think they even have that class anymore) teacher who used to say at least once a class. "Your taste buds change every 4-7 years" I am beginning to agree.
Sindy at 1:27PM on 09/03/07
All of you picky eaters, go read Jeffry Steingarten's classic
The Omnivore - Learning to eat everything
http://slate.com/id/3152/
This sort of thing reminds me the friend who hates raw onion, tomatoes and any green peppers. But loves all forms of fresh salsa. After I pointed out what is in that salsa he loves, at first he didn't believe me. Now he's slowly starting to appreciate all the raw ingredients he claimed he hated.
Or the other friend who will eat no kind of fish or shellfish, hates them all, but has loved Worcestershire sauce his whole life, dumps it all over food. I told him it's made from fish... now he won't touch it.... sad.
It's all in your mind, your preconceived notions.
peekpoke at 5:41PM on 09/03/07
How the heck can you be allergic to Mayo? It's mostly oil, a tiny bit of egg, a tiny bit of vinegar or lemon, and a tiny bit of seasoning.
A friend wouldn't touch Mayo. I finally narrowed it down to the mustard used to season most Mayo, he hates mustard. Of course when I quizzed him carefully it turned out he ate all kinds of things made with Mayo that he didn't know were made with Mayo, like blue cheese dressing.
peekpoke at 5:46PM on 09/03/07
Caraway. Hate, hate, hate it. Bleargh.
Not fond of capers, but it's nothing like the caraway hate.
I like the taste of onions; it's the texture I'm not fond of. I'll still eat around them; have since I was a kid.
macknitter at 9:01PM on 09/03/07
I hate celery too! My mom always jokes after a big family meal she knows which plate is mine because there is a little pile of celery left.
laura dot at 9:18PM on 09/03/07
I'm not a fan of celery either. But what I really can't stand is cantaloupe. YUCK. The smell makes me ill.
watchforbears at 10:41PM on 09/03/07
Peekpoke--the doctor says its a reaction between the egg and vinegar... and it is really hard to ignore the hives/uncontrollable headache that pop up whenever I eat mayo/mayo based foods.
pbisNOTmyname at 12:09AM on 09/04/07
this won't add much, but i agree that green bell peppers should be banned from any recipe, although i don't mind them raw on a crudite plate.
carriebwc at 1:41PM on 09/04/07
peekpoke, you're certainly entitled to your opinion about this all being in our minds--but what preconceived notion could I possibly have about celery, which I have hated since I first encountered it as a child?
klg19 at 3:34PM on 09/04/07
pbisNOTmyname: "the doctor says its a reaction between the egg and vinegar".
There are many Mayos made with lemon instead of vinegar, and there are vegan Mayos made without egg (which aren't bad considering how little egg there really is in most commercial mayo).
Ever tried them?
peekpoke at 12:52PM on 09/06/07
I've had the ones made with lemon. Still get hives. I've never had a eggless mayo though...
pbisNOTmyname at 11:58PM on 09/06/07
Not overly common, but I can't stand pinenuts. With you on the capers, yuck. And all you celery haters? I love it enough for all of you:)
thebrokedown at 11:18PM on 09/11/07
I can't stand tomatoes or green peppers. My mom's side of the family is Italian, so these two dislikes were particularly difficult growing up(sausage & peppers, peppers and eggs, tomato salad, caprese salad...) I've only recently come around on red peppers. And cooked tomato things like sauce and ketchup are fine by me. Raw tomatoes, though, are horrifying to me and seem always to be added to otherwise perfectly good things in order to "enhance" them; e.g. guacamole, spinach and artichoke dip (garnish), black bean soup (garnish), fajitas and burritos (you didn't tell me there'd be pico de gallo!!)...
i hate raw tomatoes...
jwiener at 9:46PM on 09/23/07