Dislikes

Bryan's dislike of fennel seeds reminds me of an article I read last year about chef's and food writer's own dislikes. It was quite interesting because it was so subjective. Of course I can't remember where I read it. Makes me wonder about the forum members really disliked foods.
Here's a couple of mine
I love butter in cooking but can't eat it on bread or muffins- it seems like waxy grease to me.
I've never liked the taste or smell of beef- go figure. I know this is an odd one.
Passion fruit makes me gag and my throat close.

I do enjoy fennel though.

I can appreciate a good olive, and can tell good ones from bad ones, but I would never eat one on purpose just for fun.

Oh, and licorice. Yuck.

Liver in any form. Pate', foie gras no matter to me. I've tried all variations over the years and just can't stomach any of them. Why take the organ in the body that filters out all the crap then eat it? It's makes about as much sense as eating an oil filter.

Liver in any form. Pate', foie gras no matter to me. I've tried all variations over the years and just can't stomach any of them. Why take the organ in the body that filters out all the crap then eat it? It's makes about as much sense as eating an oil filter.

Right On Carla......those thoughts have plagued me forever.

From the fennel seed thread I can't stand caraway seeds and like Marsha black licorice is YUCK.

My Mom craved rhubarb while pregnant with me. I detest it.

[Robin Garr]

I don't have any absolute food taboos, but I'm not as interested in vegetables as I probably should be. They're usually kind of an afterthought on my plate except for fresh spinach, which I love, or a really good salad.

My motto towards food is a follows: if it isn't moving too fast I'll eat it.

I dont really have a certain ingredient that I dont care for with maybe the exception of mayo,if that counts. I can take it in some salads if used with a light touch. A good homemade aioli can work out pretty well time to time,but that commercial stuff in the jars is just nasty. As far as a prepared food goes...my biggest dislike is creamed corn. Corn never did anything to deserve that.

I don't like the texture of squash, zucchini, or Eggplant. I hate liver in any form, and I can't stand the smell of fish. I know that supposedly, fresh fish doesn't smell, but the smell makes my stomach turn. I've also discovered that Kim Chee smells ungodly. My hubby bought some at our trip to Jungle Jim's last week, and I made him put it outside. I'm not eating anything that smells like that.

my biggest dislike is creamed corn. Corn never did anything to deserve that.

John, Thanks for the big laugh....

I don't have any absolute food taboos, but I'm not as interested in vegetables as I probably should be. They're usually kind of an afterthought on my plate except for fresh spinach, which I love, or a really good salad.

Au contraire, Robin - you absolutely won't eat Velveeta. And none of this "Velveeta isn't food" business - it SAYS "food" right on the package.

I dislike fennel, caraway and anise seeds on the outside of food. ( fennel inside Italian sausage is absolutely necessary as are the other two in certain recipes). Fennel bulbs are wonderful.

No liver except as pate. ( and then it's only okay)

Sorry, but I really don't like country green beans- I believe God intended green beans to be green, not khaki.

Not a big fan of fresh dill, but use just about every other fresh herb in large quantity.

No saurkraut. Ever.

Over-cooked meat.

Little Debbie Cakes. Actually packaged bake goods in general...

I know I'm supposed to love caviar, but I've yet to have it prepared in a way that says : "Man, that's yummy"

Deb

Sorry, but I really don't like country green beans- I believe God intended green beans to be green, not khaki.

Oh, Deb, that one really made me laugh!

I totally agree with you. But I do think all food likes/dislikes are aquired traits.

When I was still teaching, I remember asking one of my seniors upon his return from the week long senior trip to Washington, D.C./New York City, "What was the most amazing memory of your trip?" His reply was "Them Yankees, they don't cook their beans!"

I am violently lactose intolerant.
(the fact that I've made a living for the past few years as a pastry chef is an anomaly those who know what i mean by "violent".)
That said, i can handle a little dairy in sauces or soup, and love a small bowl of ice cream here and there... but can't even put any type of cheese in my mouth without spitting it out.
Also, straight dairy with nothing added won't go down either. If i was to whip cream with nothing added, i can't eat it. Now if i add a sweetener... suddenly i can. I think it has to do a bit with the "sour" aspects of lactose and some sort of subconscious defense mechanism (crazy, i know).

(side note: Believe it or not, their is plenty of scientific research on how lactose tolerance is a genetic defect/mutation. Humans simply weren't designed to consume dairy past infancy - no other mammal does this. Dairy consumption past infancy stems from the first ancient Europeans to domesticate livestock and ended up consuming dairy as a food source to make it through the winter months and when growing seasons were bad. Over generations, lactose tolerance among decedents of these people because more common than intolerance. Which is why most south-east Asians are actually lactose intolerant - over the generations, there was simply no need to develop this trait in a tropical/sub-tropical environment.)

I'm not much of a fan of seafood, shellfish in particular.
The shellfish part purely for textural reasons.
The seafood part mainly because we didn't eat much seafood growing up, so i never developed a taste for it.

I'm perfectly fine eating (and love) most seafood raw though. Sashimi, nigiri, ceviche, tartare... but the taste of nori makes me want to vomit, so maki rolls are out.
Salmon i can eat raw or smoked, but if you even start to cook it - it tastes vile to me.

Certain types of pasta i don't like texturally.
I can buy the same brand made with the exact same ingredients, but a number of types of pasta just don't feel right on my palate.

Most offal.
I realize I'm pretty much committing culinary treason here, but i can't make myself enjoy foie gras for the life of me.
I truly want to, and have gave it numerous attempts (both in hot and cold preparations), but it''s just too "musky" for me (for lack of a better term).
I can get it down, but don't relish in enjoyment of it.

Hell for that matter, I don't care much for truffles either. Fresh, canned, oil, flour, whatever...



It is pretty amazing how you can still be able to utilize ingredients you don't enjoy and make fantastic dishes with though.
Having a strong mental palate is a very handy tool.

I dislike fennel, caraway and anise seeds on the outside of food. ( fennel inside Italian sausage is absolutely necessary as are the other two in certain recipes). Fennel bulbs are wonderful.

No liver except as pate. ( and then it's only okay)

Sorry, but I really don't like country green beans- I believe God intended green beans to be green, not khaki.

Not a big fan of fresh dill, but use just about every other fresh herb in large quantity.

No saurkraut. Ever.

Over-cooked meat.

Little Debbie Cakes. Actually packaged bake goods in general...

I know I'm supposed to love caviar, but I've yet to have it prepared in a way that says : "Man, that's yummy"

Deb

I'm not a fan of caviar, either. I also detest pumpkin pie. Ewww!

Yeah, I'll cop to not liking truffle flavored things, as well. I think it might just be that I don't like the fakey taste of truffle oils, though. The only actual truffle I've ever eaten was in school, and I don't remember any enthusiasm or any disgust, either - sensory overload, perhaps. We sure did taste a lot of things those first couple of semesters.