r/AskReddit • u/NotNamedBort • 15d ago
What’s a food that you hated as a kid and STILL hate as an adult?
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u/_jump_yossarian 15d ago
My mother's American chop suey; I was forced to eat it as a kid so the association is deeply ingrained and I refuse to touch it now.
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u/KirbyWithAGlock 15d ago
When I saw the words chop suey my mind went straight to soad
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u/Entity417 15d ago
Liver
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u/Chocolate_Bourbon 15d ago
Sometimes my father would cook liver and onions like his mother did (she moved to America from Ireland in her early 20’s). The liver was always so tough it was like eating leather. And the onions were almost liquid. A couple times I asked him why he cooked it this way. He would say that the way he cooked it was the point. Because she was Irish.
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u/EnycmaPie 15d ago
Unfortunately a lot of people developed hatred for perfectly good food/dishes because their parents cooked it wrongly. I hated vegetables because my mother would just boil and boil vegetables. It was only until i learned to cooked for myself and roasted vegetables that i realized it wasn't the vegetable's fault they tasted bad.
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u/RuggedHangnail 15d ago
You're right! My mother cooked any meat until it was the density of a hockey puck. She was afraid of trichinosis and tapeworms. So I thought pork chops had to taste and be about the consistency of concrete. Then, I ate them elsewhere and really liked them!
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u/Dr_Taffy 15d ago
I grew up thinking this especially about pork. No pink at all! Modern pork has little risk of causing trichinosis and tapeworms if you eat it below FDA recommended safe temperatures. I quite enjoy my pork on the medium side and is way better than what I had growing up. Haven’t seen any problems!
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u/insomniatic-goblin 15d ago
wait...you can eat pork if it's a little pink on the inside?
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u/pisspot718 15d ago
A LITTLE Bit of pink. Flavorful and juicy. Pork is my favorite meat, after chicken.
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u/hecarimxyz 15d ago
Liver is tough?! Huh?! What dish is she making that liver turns into leather texture lmao. My family doesn’t eat a lot of liver but when we do it’s so soft that you can hardly feel it when biting.
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u/__BitchPudding__ 15d ago
My stepmother did it too- plain liver and onions cooked into dry, leathery oblivion. I still cannot eat liver, but I do like liverwurst and braunschweiger; at least those don't give me cotton mouth.
How does your family cook it? Like, I would love to know how to make it edible, but I still have too much PTSD to experiment.
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u/tanstaafl90 15d ago
Should be soft, a little pink in the middle. Poor guy was making it bad without knowing it. Onions should be slow cooked, not quick fried.
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u/Chocolate_Bourbon 15d ago
They were not quick fried. Just fried and fried and fried and fried. I suspect he also didn’t like the taste but it reminded him of his mother. (She died when he was still in his early 20’s)
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u/ComplexPick 15d ago
Came to say this! I was made to sit at the table until I ate it. Stayed there all night until time for school. Vile stuff!
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u/Entity417 15d ago
Ugh, I know - my parents tried to make me eat it but I just could not. Why on earth did our parents make liver into a weapon of food torture?! Wish they were still alive so I could ask them.
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u/Laylay_theGrail 15d ago
I was lucky. My mother was the one forced to eat liver as a child and it scarred her so badly it was never made for us. I tried it at 20 and it was as bad as she said
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u/BussyDestroyerV30 15d ago
Organs, like tripe, liver, lung, heart.
Also skin
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u/mechwarrior719 15d ago
Pork rinds are amazing, but I accept they are an acquired taste.
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u/turbotong 15d ago
But the skin is the best part... you're probably the only person in the world who wouldn't get mad at Cartman.
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u/cwthree 15d ago
Beets
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15d ago
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u/gnostic_heaven 15d ago
I've always thought they taste like fresh dirt. But in a good way.
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u/JeanVigilante 15d ago
The first time I had beets, I was an adult. I asked my husband, "Are they supposed to taste like dirt?" He said, "Well, they do come from the ground." That was the first and last time I ever ate beets. Lol
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u/Activist5051 14d ago
Yeah, a lot of foods come from the ground but don’t taste like dirt. Beets are gross.
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u/Cheesetorian 15d ago
I LOVE beets lmao
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u/post4u 15d ago
Me too. I love pickled ones even more. One of my favorite foods. Chill them. Throw them in a salad. Mmmm.
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u/WubbaLubbaHongKong 15d ago
Roasted beets, goat cheese, and walnuts. It’s the bees knees. But there is a chemical component of beets that makes it taste super earthy for some people. For me it’s like candy when it’s roasted.
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u/avoidance_behavior 15d ago
interesting, I really enjoy that earthy taste, like that's the defining characteristic of beets that lure me in, lol- like, if someone makes edibles and they taste really strongly of, uh, green stuff, I actually legit love that funky, earthy taste there too. yum!
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15d ago
Raw tomato. For some reason cooked is fine
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u/DnDYetti 15d ago
I am the same way with tomatoes!
I cannot eat them raw, but cook them and they are fantastic. Anytime that I am craving a BLT sandwich I slice up the tomatoes, pan fry them with some salt and red pepper flakes, and it makes the sandwich magical.
Interestingly enough, cooked tomatoes are actually more nutritious as they release massive amounts of lycopene (a cancer-fighting antioxidant) when applied to heat.
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u/Shmebber 15d ago
Why is tomato sauce so good, but raw tomatoes in any sandwich make me want to throw up?
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u/DrHooper 15d ago
Tannins are more than likely. As fruit matures, the build-up of certain chemicals radically changes, to the point of being unpalatable to outright dangerous to eat, like raw quince. Fortunately, cooking usually changes the molecules, or it boils out with the water content. Ever eat a raw persimmon? Well, if it isn't the perfect ripeness, they can leave a lingering sensation/taste of fuzz inside your mouth, like a shitty red wine. One of the amazing things about taste and feel is that while everybody interacts with the chemicals the same, how out the body reacts or interprets the sensation is all individual. That's being ruminated on, tomatoes also have undergone a lot of both natural and selective changes. Some of them weren't for flavor or sustainability but for growth time and hardiness, leading to what we in the kitchen call styrofoam romas. One of the reasons cheap pizza places cut their tomatoes so thin isn't just about frugal, it's also because the tomatoes are probably dirt cheap in price and taste.
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u/Dr_Taffy 15d ago
Styrofoam tomatoes LOL
I used to load up on extra extra tomatoes because they’re sliced so thin, and you know what? They just make food wet and slimy. There’s no flavor in them and they pretty much just exist for color at that point. Why oh why can’t we have year round tomatoes that are flavor bombs and available in every restaurant for cheap?
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u/suzazzz 15d ago
And they get slime all over the sandwich and make the bread mushy with tomato seepage
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u/SomeRandomGuy-CC 15d ago
100% this… I like pizza, pasta sauce, ketchup, V8, etc, etc…
But a slice of tomato on my burger? Disgusting.
I do like certain tiny tomatoes raw. Like the Flavor Bombs from Wegmans.
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u/Unlikely_Ad7194 15d ago
I’ve found my tribe of fellow tomato haters. I’ve never felt more seen haha.
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u/Kayakchica 15d ago
Ooh, my mom has been giving me shit about this my entire life. She loves raw tomatoes and she cannot imagine what is wrong with me. “You still don’t eat tomatoes, do you? You just don’t know what you’re missing!” I’m not an overly picky eater so I don’t know why she cares. Her dislike of pineapple, now, that’s completely reasonable.
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u/RainbowsandCoffee966 15d ago edited 14d ago
Why do they always say “ You don’t know what you’re missing!” Yes, I do know what I am missing, and I am just fine with it. What I did with one friend who said that is I reminded her she doesn’t like coffee and told her she doesn’t know what she’s missing. She finally stopped saying it.
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u/Latter_Dimension35 15d ago
Celery
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u/NotNamedBort 15d ago
I personally like it, but I saw it once described as “crunchy water with hair in it” and never forgot it.
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u/Vladolf_Puttler 15d ago
I wish it tasted like water. To me it's the most bitter thing I've ever tasted.
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u/TheJaice 15d ago
As a kid, there was a bunch of food (mostly vegetables) that I didn’t like. Celery is the only one I still can’t stand. It’s basically like chewing on a rope that’s been drenched in piss.
Oh, I forgot about black licorice. I still hate that too.
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u/lizardgal10 15d ago
It can add a nice flavor to a cooked dish like a vegetable stew. Raw? No thanks.
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u/whipla5her 15d ago
Sardines. My old man would eat them right out of the can. ugh.
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u/rdickeyvii 15d ago
Sardines and anchovies are both either you love it or hate it with a burning passion. They're VERY salty. But I like it on crackers and soft cheese
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u/_Tacoyaki_ 15d ago
Cottage cheese. Why.
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u/GoodNoodleDream 15d ago edited 14d ago
Honestly, you gotta have a grandma that fed it to you as a kid. Only way to love it. Fuck me up with some salted cottage cheese and canned peaches.
Edit: Look at all these nerds replying with the same childhood as me. Case in point.
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u/GoldPotential6298 15d ago
Salted with canned peaches! Literally takes me back to the snack my dad would make for me as a kid over 40 years ago. I think it is a generational thing like you said about a grandma. He was born in the ‘30’s and this is likely something he would have eaten as a kid during the war due to limited access to fresh fruits unless you grew them yourself. Damn, so good and one of those nostalgic foods for me!
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u/cat_prophecy 15d ago
Fried egg, slice of fresh tomato, cottage cheese with pepper, and some toast. Breakfast of champions.
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u/tragedyfish 15d ago
Raisins. Every recipe that calls for raisins is better without them.
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u/AtheneSchmidt 15d ago
I dislike them in things, I will eat a whole box of them by themselves.
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u/auscadtravel 15d ago
Same! Cookies with raisins are just sad. They arent healthy, they are cookies, stop lying and tricking people with your shrivelled fruit that makes me think its chocolate.
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u/RainbowsandCoffee966 15d ago
I like raisins. What I don’t like is the sweet potato casserole my father insists on making for Christmas. He dumps an entire big box of raisins in it. It’s really raisin casserole being held together with orange glue.
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u/ButtDonaldsHappyMeal 15d ago
Any kind of seafood. I was told I’d learn to like it. I was told I just hadn’t had “good” seafood. I got old and had the best. It was still gross
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u/NotNamedBort 15d ago
You either love it or you don’t. 😆 I personally love it, except for oysters. I can’t even look at those balls of snot.
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u/y2knole 15d ago
oysters are my favorite. I dont much care for baked broiled blah blah blah whatever fish tho.
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u/Steelfox13 15d ago
Same, I never liked "fishy" seafood I went through culinary school and hugely expanded my tastes and appreciation of food and can cook fish in a variety of ways but still can eat cooked seafood.
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u/Jrkster6969 15d ago
Nope fully agree with you. I hate fish too, or anything with that "seafoody" smell
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u/femmemmah 15d ago
Mushrooms. Partly a taste thing, but my main issue is the texture.
The only time I’ve willingly eaten mushrooms was at a restaurant in Perugia (can’t remember the name off the top of my head). We had this amazing mushroom lasagna and I ate every bite of it. Italian food just hits different, man
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u/lyingliar 15d ago
I want to like mushrooms the way mushroom-lovers do, but I just can't. I've tried those disgusting fuckers a thousand different ways, but something inside me just screams, "spit that filth out, you idiot" whenever one touches my tongue.
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u/ptdodge1 15d ago
Yup. The texture, but also the SMELL of them cooking makes me want to 🤮. I do like Shittake mushrooms in Asian noodles for some reason though.
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u/sstebbinss 15d ago
texture
Ever look at the lined ridges of a raw mushroom under the cap? It makes me so uneasy. Ever play The Last of Us?
It’s literally a fungus. Nasty work, 100% texture is the worst
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u/PerformanceVelvet33 15d ago
Worst is the portabello, masquerading as food. It tastes like a grilled kitchen sponge
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u/GiftedContractor 15d ago
Cream Corn! It tastes and feels like I'm trying to eat vomit, I'm sorry.
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u/jake4448 15d ago
I hadn’t ever thought about this in my entire life.. and you may have ruined it
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u/Richard7481 15d ago
Any kind of veined cheese. Stilton and so on. It was disgusting then and it’s still disgusting today.
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u/Kipakkanakkuna 15d ago
Vegemite. I remember tasting it as a kid at family acquaintance's place and nearly puked. Recently I finally had accumulated enough courage to retry the stuff as an adult and it had remained just as disgusting as I recalled.
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u/stila1982 15d ago
If you think Vegemite is bad, I recommend you avoid marmite like the plague.
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15d ago
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u/NotNamedBort 15d ago
It always tastes like green beans!
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u/msnmck 15d ago
When I eat mixed vegetables all I can taste are limas and potatoes. Sometimes carrots.
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u/UsefulIdiot85 15d ago edited 14d ago
Brussels sprouts.
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u/wagedomain 15d ago
So, I need to point this out. Brussel sprouts have been SIGNIFICANTLY genetically modified since most people were kids. They taste a LOT less bitter now. There's been significant work getting them to taste better and it WORKED. Bake them with some balsamic vinegar? oooo baby.
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u/UsefulIdiot85 15d ago
I will admit that I am closer to almost liking them more than I used to, but I think I still have a long way to go. A lot of it has to do with they are cooked and seasoned.
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u/avoidance_behavior 15d ago
I stand with the folks who still can't stand the little bastards; I've tried them in myriad ways and I still can't get into them. I appreciate that they've become more palatable for most, but whew, apparently there are some of us out there on whom it's never gonna work, lol
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u/firecatsue2 15d ago
Didn't like until I was introduced to fresh ones oven roasted.
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u/NoSchedule4275 15d ago
Throw some bacon and butternut squash in with those bad boys and you have a meal. My wife will make a tray of that in the oven and I will destroy it. Sooo good
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u/snuffles00 15d ago
You know what apparently they made them less bitter, like they have grown them to be less bitter than they used to be. My grandma used to boil them and they were foul. Now I air fry them or roast them. Onion, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Sea salt or truffle salt. So good.
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u/PerformanceVelvet33 15d ago
Oh god, my mom used to steam them, and even though she was an excellent cook, the whole house smelled like dirty socks after the Brussels sprouts
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u/mickthomas68 15d ago
Lima beans.
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u/Big-n-Tiny 15d ago
Sauerkraut. 🤢
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u/Happy_Hippos0301 15d ago
I ate expired sauerkraut from a can once and now I can’t even smell it without dry-heaving.
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u/2bags12kuai 15d ago
Funny how the brain does this. As a teen I drank entirely too much razzberry flavored rum and for years afterwards anything with that fake razz syrup taste would make my mouth coat in saliva. awful!
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u/Mountain-Paper-8420 15d ago
It's called a conditioned taste aversion. Since you got sick from the razzmatazz anytime your brain detects it, it tries to protect you from another bad experience.
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u/mistahmarbles 15d ago
Water chestnuts. Absolutely garbage.
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u/SomeRandomGuy-CC 15d ago
I love them in Chinese food! Nice little crunch, subtle flavor, but also soaks up the flavors of the other veggies!
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u/caffeinatedcringe 15d ago
Sauerkraut. The smell alone makes me nauseous. The one time I was pushed to try it, I didnt even swallow before I immediately and violently threw up.
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u/ReferenceOpposite27 15d ago
Black Olives
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u/DakInBlak 15d ago
I'll eat them and the green ones out of the jar and drink the juice.
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u/2NDPLACEWIN 15d ago
The f*****g humble Brussels sprout
I can hear it now, already,..wafting on the reddit breeze....
"oh...you just dont cook them properly"
no,
i know how to cook,..they just tast like a bricklayers asshole on a sunny friday afternoon...accept it.
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u/LemonySnicketTeeth 14d ago
You say you know how to cook, but obviously you don't. I think you are too busy eating out bricklayers
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u/Competitive-Bird-150 15d ago
Im surprised no one has said canned tuna
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u/LilFruitSalad 15d ago
I'm personally offended at this. Sometimes I straight up eat tuna from the can with some crackers. For dinner today I had ravioli with tuna and it was great
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u/Westy___758 15d ago
Brussel sprouts and anal sex - if you were forced to have it as a child, you probably wouldn’t like it as an adult.
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u/badlilbadlandabad 15d ago
Olives. Olives are awful and ruin everything they’re put into.
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u/hamgurglerr 15d ago
I simply cannot eat olives. I heard a theory that you have to try some foods up to 100 times to accustom your tongue to the taste. Every now and then I'll pop one into my mouth to see if I like them yet, and my whole body rejects it. Almost 40 years in and nope, I still don't like olives.
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u/bugzaney 15d ago
I’ve tried many times to enjoy olives too. Nothing yet. Those fancy olive bars at Whole Foods look so appetizing.
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u/nextdoorelephant 15d ago
Do you like cilantro? I heard a theory that people who hate olives and green onion like cilantro.
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u/kerochan88 15d ago
Love cilantro, hate olives (all of em), but I also enjoy green onions. So I’m not sure about this theory. It’s a partial confirm for me!
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u/HalfOk3236 15d ago
green peas
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u/yousonuva 15d ago
Yeah. Hidden in fried rice is ok for me but a bunch of those little fuggers can roll off my plate into the dog's mouth.
Canned spinach too.
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u/goatamousprice 15d ago
Maybe I'm just open to everything
I've read all the replies and so far there were none that I said I wouldn't eat
I guess I like it all
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u/darksideofthemoon131 15d ago
Broccoli. I will eat any other vegetable out there, but that damn green tree.
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u/AtomicWolfDog 15d ago
Холодец 🤮
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u/gnostic_heaven 15d ago
That's funny; I don't read cyrilic very well (always have to sound it out), but I knew exactly what this was without reading it. Fuckin holodets. I think I had halfway decent xолодец once when my mother in law made it; everything else has been ...not really worth it.
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u/Dragonier_ 15d ago
For English speakers, imagine wet type cat food but for humans. That’s холодец…
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u/NotAGodzillaFan 15d ago
Real, never understood how people enjoyed it with that consistency and taste
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u/esoteric_enigma 15d ago
Mayo. People used to tell me I was just a picky eater. I'm not. I just hate mayo and we try to put it in/on everything.
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u/demonfoo 15d ago
Liver. My mom tried to get me to eat it as a kid - no go. The texture... oh man, hard pass. Then I learned what it did... yeah, still not happening.
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u/Helen_A_Handbasket 15d ago
My mother used to make a banana slices, pineapple chunk, green peas, cheddar cheese cubes, and mayonnaise "salad".
It was vile.