Best of the Hotline: Popular Foods You Secretly Dislike

Some questions on the Hotline have staying power, and for good reason—they cover the questions we ask ourselves time and time again. Join us as we revisit some of the most popular.

Today: Food52ers spill the beans on their food aversions.

We all have them: the things we do not like, the things we will not eat. Rather than admit this to anyone, we just push the offending ingredient around and around on our plate, hoping our dining companions won’t notice. Sometimes we’ll slip it to the dog when no one’s looking—she’s not complaining.

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No one wants to be known as a picky eater, especially if someone else is cooking for us—it’s embarrassing, and some find it rude. But over on the Hotline, LucyS wants us all to reveal the foods we secretly can’t stand. She admits to disliking the following: “Brussels sprouts, anchovies or other very fishy-tasting fish, capers, truffles (the mushroom kind, not the chocolate kind—and I don’t know why), fennel/anise flavors, and peanut butter in desserts.” She’s hoping not to be in the minority with so many dislikes…and is also hoping that other Food52ers will out themselves, because, you know, misery loves company.

Meat and dairy woes

• Third Floor Kitchen justifies a strong aversion to liver: “I used to come home from school and cringe when I saw my mother had pulled out her avocado-green electric skillet. This always meant one of two things: pork chops seared and seasoned with salt and pepper (which I loved) or liver and onions (the sight of which sent me to the depths of despair).”
• Drbabs avoids offal, crème fraîche, heavy cream sauces, and fatty meat, saying, “I seriously don’t get the obsession with short ribs.” 
• Gourmet Metrics doesn’t like cottage cheese, and neither does ChefJune, who says, “It looks like baby spit-up on a plate.”

Eat your vegetables (or not)

• Kbckitchen says: “Cilantro = having my mouth washed out with soap as a child when I sassed my mama.” 
• Savorthis avoids frisée, saying, “It attacks you when you try to eat it, and nobody cuts it small enough.”
• Sweetlolo started a chain reaction of disgust by bringing up her aversion to green peppers. Reiney adds, “Actually I don’t like any raw peppers, and accidentally eating them is made worse by the taste just lingering for ages after consumption.”
• Summer of Eggplant can’t stand beets, claiming, “I’ve tried, I really have—they make me gag.” 

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Fishy seafood

• MaryMaryCulinary says that she despises anchovies, no matter how small the quantity: “And for those of you who think they just disappear into the sauce and provide a depth of unidentifiable flavor, well, you are just mean.”
• Esther Plume mentioned a dislike of scallops, which led to an outpouring of agreement on a dislike of shellfish. SeaJambon chimes in with an aversion to lobster, clams, and oysters.
• Meganvt01 can’t stand eel: “Used to love it but after catching hundreds of the slimy, writhing beasts during the summer, I can’t tolerate even the sight of it!”

Tropical trepidation

• Boulangere mentioned a distaste for coconut water, opening the floodgates of commiseration. Amysarah says, “Ugh, I so agree. And I am a major, life-long coconut fanatic—fresh, anything cooked with coconut milk, coconut pie, cake, cookies, ice cream—love it all. I’m sure the road to heaven is paved in Almond Joys. But coconut water? Vile.”
• Jmburns doesn’t like ginger or mango.
• SexyLAMBCHOPx avoids coconut milk and lemongrass.

Sweet sadness

• Creamtea isn’t a huge fan of cinnamon, especially with chocolate.
• Gibson2011 hates black walnuts, explaining, “My grandmother used to bake with them all the time and again, as a child, when I’d ask if there were nuts in the chocolate chip cookies she’d tell me no. One bite was all it took to realize that was a lie.”
• Melusine can’t stand “anything with a hint of licorice flavor—from anise to fennel to Twizzlers, red or black.” 
• Hilarybee says, “I have always hated peanut butter! No amount of chocolate, jam, or sugar can change my opinion.”

What do you surreptitiously push around on your plate? Tell us in the comments below!