Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Wow, do I ever need more coffee ... I meant to write, "To me, it's just an expensive way to eat butter". Anyone have an espresso IV pump?? :-(

Pudding... I know this sounds mad, but I am very sensitive to textures, and the texture of pudding is so incredibly unappealing to me. By the way, everyone from my grandmother to my husband thinks I'm crazy for this!

PsychSarah - for a friend of mine, it's Jell-O or for that matter, anything with gelatine, including Bavarian creams. She just wretches at the thought of putting a wiggly block of food in her mouth.

I've never understood the appeal of grapes in chicken salad. I put a bite of chicken salad in my mouth expecting something savory. If I get a blast of fruit in there, it just grosses me out. Living in the south, I have to be very wary of this kind of thing!

Anchovies, except as an ingredient in Green Goddess dressing. And sardines. Tiny salty, oily fish hold no appeal here; or raw fish, for that matter, and steak tartare. Octopus and mahi mahi. (Does anyone see a theme here?) On the other fin, absolutely love shellfish, and, yeah, give me lobster with extra butter, please.

-Pie crust, phyllo, any sort of flaky pastry thing.
-Honey. Possibly my least favorite flavor ever.
-Oysters, lobster, and crab. All other seafood, I love.
-Raspberries. They just taste rotten to me.
-Nutmeg in savory foods.

-Retro junk food that always appears on foodies' guilty pleasure lists: Wonder Bread, Hostess products, iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing, soda. That stuff doesn't taste good and never has.

-Risotto: A waste of good stock. Always sounds like something show-off foodies make.

-Lettuce-based salad with fruit. (Especially spinach with strawberries.)

-I agree about fruit pies and cobblers. I don't have a problem with the texture, but I can never bring myself to use good fruit that's in season for baking.

On the other hand, I *love* runny poached eggs.

Yulinka Cooks

Aunt Jone said: "Oysters- snot on the half shell? No, thank you."

ROFLMAO!

I'm sure I'm in the minority here, but mine is potatoes. (I know, I know, even my own mother thinks I'm insane.) They just don't taste good to me, in any form. I'll eat a few fries if you put them in front of me, but only if they're completely non-soggy and have plenty of salt (bonus point for malt vinegar). You can keep your baked or mashed potatoes, and your chips. I could live the rest of my life without ever eating anything potato and be perfectly happy.

I do love sweet potatoes though.

And... you all can pass the shellfish (especially lobster -- no butter, please -- and oysters), runny egg yolks (not runny whites - eew), mushrooms and blue cheese right over here! :)

Oh, and one more thing... will you "genius" chefs out there please quit putting crap like lobster in mashed potatoes?

Only thing I really don't "get" is foie gras. I've tried it a few times now. I just don't get it. I read people rave on and on about the magical qualities of foie, but meh. I got nothin'. I don't dislike it, I don't think. I'm just sorta ambivalent. It definitely wasn't the palate-altering experience I've had described to me before.

Oh, and maybe the newfound infatuation with offal. I'm not sure I get that either. I don't know that I've eaten enough to really pass judgment, but you can't open a magazine, book, or site without someone extolling the virtues of candied veal eyebrows or some such.

You green bean casserole haters should try making it from scratch. It certainly makes you feel better about it and it actually tastes good.

My wife hates all cooked fruit. Me -- I'll try (and usually enjoy) everything. Except raw tomatoes...yuck! And it has nothing to do with my upbringing -- I'm the lone wolf in my family on this one.

Dominic
the zen kitchen

Those "artifical foods"---Jello, Cool Whip, artifical sweetners, fake fat...I need the real deal!

I'm like psychsara- no pudding. I try to avoid anything with a gelatinous, slimy texture. Especially pre-made chocolate milk that's been thickened with carrageenan... ARGH! I do understand why other people like pudding etc., but that dreadful slimy chocolate milk turns my stomach.

@corycm - candied veal eyebrows... hysterical! No offal for me either, TYVM.

Too funny! I was just thinking about this the other day.

TASTE -- I truly enjoy almost everything, but a few flavors can turn me off to an entire dish. A few that come to mind are chipotle/adobo, lemon grass, and anything more than the subtlest suggestion of tarragon. Too bad for me that chipotle and lemon grass have become oh so trendy. I just don't get it :-(

TEXTURE -- I dislike almost all things foamy or airy. E.g., cotton candy, whipped cream (unless it's whipped till it's almost butter), meringue, foam on coffee drinks, marshmallows, etc. I'll consume 'em to be polite, but I'd rather not! There are a few odd ones that I can't eat, like tongue, fat (as on steak, etc.), semi-raw egg whites.

Oh. And menudo. I don't know how anyone can eat tripe... that stuff is beyond revolting (taste and texture both). Actually, the only innards I'll eat are sweetbreads -- they are heavenly!!! I'll give the rest to the dog.

Pasta salad. Does anyone really *like* slimy, cold, flavorless noodles tossed with unappealing random stuff? or is it just a convenient picnic/potluck item?

I second deeoh's vote for grits. Why? Fried are ok, but boiled, you need to throw in a lot of butter, cheese, etc. for them to taste like anything.

Caviar - probably because I first tried it while pregnant. Haven't eaten it since and the boy's 23 years old!

okra.... eeeeeew!!!!!! like eating mucus.

I never liked meat, seafood, eggs or dairy products- hence my transition to veganism was practically instinct.
I also never liked honey, meringues, potatoes, bread, yeast or wheat products and nearly all nuts
Cant stand 'snack' food- like chips and cracker or maggi noodles. Avocado tastes too mushy and bland.
There's a whole lot of stuff I don't like I cant be bothered listing
I think I'm just an extremely picky eater

Smoked foods. They just taste like they fell into the campfire and someone fished them back out..

Also, tofu.

I will try just about anything once....but I too have my limits. I absolutely hate cloves and nutmeg. You see something very appealing, take a bite and ewwwwwwwwww gross, spit and politely sputter into a napkin!! Its ruined by the use of nutmeg, It can ruin any entree or dessert. I love cinnamon, but not on savory items. And cloves, grossssssss. I once bit into one by accident and actually vomited. I actually hate the smell of them now in potpurri. Please, please leave out the nutmeg and cloves if you entertaining!!!!!!!
as for the others mentioned about,
love over easy eggs on top of hashbrown potatoes!!!
love grits with jam
love love loooove boiled okra with tomatoes!!! perfer boiled over fried,
love all types of shell fish, but emmm..can keep the raw, dont care for hepatitis.....dont care for sushi and the possible microbes either....
Not a big fan of brat sausages either, possiblly the spices arent appealing to me. Cant stand the taste of fake flavorings either, I want the real deal or nothing at all. If you cant "cook" a real meal, lets go out for dinner. :)

Pieds Des Anges: I agree, I don't see what the fuss is. After eating chocolate I feel sick, bloated and thirsty

Pieds Des Anges, I agree about chocolate culture. I like chocolate fine, but I hate that people act like chocolate eating is a bit naughty in a saucy sort of way. It isn't. It's just chocolate.
Kerosena, I too hate white pepper, and my boyfriend is always trying to sneak it in to things. I can taste it even if there is a minimal amount, and to me it tastes rancid.
Stumbler02 - I hear you about the meringues. What's the point? They're not bad exactly, they're just utterly useless.
Cybercita, I too dislike okra. The taste may be lovely, but I am turned off by the snotty consistency. Ugh.
I think my least favourite flavour of all time is fake 'purple' flavour. In the UK it is called currant, in the States it's grape. Even smelling it is enough to make me gag.

I thought of another: cilantro! I know it's because I'm one of those people to whom it tastes like soap, but...I really can't imagine that it tastes so good to everyone else that it belongs in every single possible dish.

Also, any dessert involving peanut butter is repulsive to me. Peanut butter cup candy is okay (though close), but things like peanut butter cake, cookies? Ugh. Also can't stand sweetened, shelf-stable peanut butter like Skippy.

Interesting point about taste vs. texture. My dislikes are all about taste, while some others feel more strongly about texture. I can't really think of a food I dislike due to its texture...bring on the pudding, okra, cappuccino foam, and especially grits! (Though I am with you, caley, meringues are pretty pointless.)

choc_puddin - so sorry... but out of curiosity, what *do* you eat?

cyber cita - totally agree with you about hazelnut coffee... yuck, what an awful smell! I'm at the point where the only ways I'll eat hazelnuts are whole and toasted, or maybe chopped up in chocolate. Nutella, hazelnut truffles, etc., frangelico - can't handle 'em.

My sister hates cumin. And I sort of understand why - in some forms, it tastes/smells like sweat.

I should've added that, even when I ate meat, I never understood the appeal of corned beef or pastrami - I'm as big a fan of fat as anyone, but fat and all that salt is just too much.

Truffles (the fungi not the sweets)! They just make everything taste so heavy and ... weird.

I also cannot figure out how people can like Sea Urchin. I've tried and enjoyed some pretty bizarre foods in my lifetime, but the color and texture of urchin is just about the most repulsive combo I've ever put in my mouth. Maybe it just wasn't fresh enough, but I'll *never* dare try it again to find out.

I agree with lobster. I was excited to try it for the first time when I was on a cruise, and I was disappointed that I didn't like it and didn't want to say so to my table mates, who seemed to enjoy it. It is overrated though. I agree crab is better.
New and specialty drinks are overrated, such as Coke Zero, that coffee Coke soda, weird colors of Pepsi, bottled teas, energy drinks, etc. I haven't tried most of them, but marketing all these specialty products when the basic stuff is best -- that makes them overrated.
Fennel. I find it tastes like black licorice, and I despise it. Once I got a bagel with fennel on it (which I didn't know until after I bought it), and even after I picked it all off, the flavor was still there in parts. Yuck.
I agree that the popularity of dark chocolate is enough to make you gag, but it doesn't stop my desire for chocolate!
I also don't get why innards are so popular. I've never tried them, so I can't judge them by taste, but the idea of eating certain parts like kidneys and tongue really bothers me.
I have to say, though, that I love fried eggs, especially dipping toast or hash browns into the yolk. Perhaps it is because I liked fried eggs when I was a kid.
I don't jump on any food bandwagon. I just eat what I like and don't care whether or not all the "cool" people like it!

There are things I just don't like (mushrooms, coconut), but things I don't 'get' are:

Arugula: That stuff is vile and chefs use it in everything!
Lobster: It taste like dirty water.
Reuben sandwiches: Just ew. Don't like rye. Don't like 'kraut. Don't like pastrami or corned beef.

I find a lot of these pretty shocking--especially coming from food-o-philes! Egg yolk, mushrooms, blue cheeses, arugula (!!!), grits (!!!!!). I feel that many people have had run-ins with bad versions of these foods, e.g. there are a LOT of bad grits out there, but good ones are really something special. Maybe I'm just into things that are "acquired tastes" but I count most things listed here among my favorite foodstuffs (green bean casserole, a notable exception).