Onions, cilantro, ginger -- life would be easier if they didn't take like yuck

Whereas I am perfectly happy to go on hating pickles for the rest of my life :)

Oatmeal! I really, really want to like it but even the smell is problematic for me. I'm willing to give it another shot as I like oatmeal in other dishes (oatmeal raisin cookies, do they count?) but just not hot oatmeal. I'm ready to embark on an oatmeal push if anyone has suggestions that may win me over.

Raw tomatoes! I love them cooked, and they're so red and shiny and juicy and beautiful, but I just don't like them. I don't like them on sandwiches or in pastas or eaten like apples (like my husband does). The only way I can eat them is sliced wafer-thin on white bread with real mayo, and then, only if they're from someone's garden (or the CSA).

Foodie fail! ;-)

oysters. I finally had to admit it. I really don't like them unless they are the very small ones. It's awful because I love all other shellfish and it's a fun experience to drink a crisp white and have a plate of oysters. I just don't love the texture. We didn't really have them in southeastern massachusetts.

raisins.

Does beer count? Much to my husband's chagrin, I absolutely HATE any and all types of beer. I literally can't even take a sip!

Beats and avacado

Foie gras. Carrots. Cilantro.

My issues are usually with texture, not taste. This makes me severely dislike food like mushrooms and oysters.

I also very much dislike avocados and cilantro, though I've tried hard to like both!

I've only very recently started to like raw tomatoes (I, like omglawdork, previously only liked them cooked). I only like fresh locally grown ones though.

Fiddleheads. Just thinking about them turns my stomach.

Stock / bouillon. I have always (since birth) hated soup because of this. Limits freezer meal options, but I just can't eat it. Trouble is that that that stuff is not only in soups and gravies, and I taste it through everything.

Eggplant is another big fail.

I really wish I liked avocado / guacamole . Every once in a while I try some, but so far I still don't like it (little bit of lemon juice mixed in does not help on bit)

Mushrooms. I can manage a broth or diced fine in a ravioli filling, but I just can't stand the texture. I think I actually like the flavor. I've had lots of opportunity to TRY to like them. I'm a vegetarian, and so many loving hosts have bbq'ed me a portobello or served me a big side of "meaty" mushrooms at a dinner party. I always smile, thank, and eat. After all, I CAN eat mushrooms. I just really, really don't like to. Alas.

cauliflower, even after making the cauliflower soup from ad hoc to see once and for all if I liked it, I hated it while everyone else raved about it.

I still have an aversion to onions since I never ate them as a kid. I love love love carmelized onions, but still find myself eating around them out of habit.

eggplant. same as cauliflower, I've had it 5 different ways and still don't care for it.

cilantro. I'm one of those people that has the genetics that makes it taste like dish soap. It pisses me off that my grocer stocks it right next to the flat-leaf parsley, I've made the mistake of picking up the wrong bunch two or three times

Mushrooms. I can take them in small doses (on pizza), but couldn't imagine eating a portobello sandwich or something similar.

From everything that I hear people say, I would love to like them. However, I taste nothing but musty dirt whenever I get a sizable bite.

More for y'all, I guess.

Seafood. I keep trying it and I keep not liking it. I did have a good salmon at an expensive seafood restaurant, but that was about it. Shrimp is sometimes OK, but the fishy taste is not yummy.

Sushi. I've tried 4 times to like it, and recently have only found one roll I can tolerate (crispy shrimp roll). I want to like it so bad! Also olives. Yuck.

Lima beans. I've had them all ways, but they are the bane of my tastebuds.

I've found that most folks' food dislikes are texture based, with some exceptions for strong flavors like cilantro or seafood. Reading through the list, it's surprising to see how many consistencies there are!

okra! but i have a feeling if it's deep fried i'd like it.

I can't stand celery. I have tried it in different things, like tuna salad, but I just can't eat it. I really hate the smell as well. The only way I can possibly eat it is if it has been simmering in soup for a very long time and no longer has any texture or taste.

I also can't stand large amounts of ginger, or maybe just the fresh stuff. It smells and tastes like soap. I can use the powdered kind in small amounts in dishes, but as hard as I try, I can't bring myself to like large amounts of it.

Olives - I always try them, whenever there are olives on my pizza or in the sauce i'm eating, I always think "How bad can they really be?" But I always end up picking the rest out after eating one or two.

Fruit cake, too. Like, rich moist christmas cake or christmas pudding. It baffles me why I still don't like it because I adore everything that goes into it and sometimes I even get cravings for it, the smell is just divine, but it's a taste that I just cannot get my brain to like. Annoying!

I started a list a few years ago titled Things To Learn To Like. Success stories thus far include: blueberries, pickles, capers, unsweetened yogurt, and olives.

I'm still working on raw onions and fennel, and I've got no interest in learning to like potatoes or ketchup. (yes, I know, bizarre.)

Rapini (it's so bitter) and melons (gak). I try a tiny bite of melon every couple of years, and nothing ever changes, I hate it as much as I did as a child.

Raw onions. Raw celery. Oysters. Salad. I am a foodie and I hate salad. Sorry, food gods!

Cilantro and Olives

I have tried and tried to like cooked Broccoli and Cauliflower. I love them raw, but no matter how lightly or not they are, once the heat hits them they turn gross to me.

I actually experimented to see how "much cooking" it took, hoping it would lead to liking them. Alas it didn't.

Raisins. Ugh, they are so disgusting..

Broccoli rabe.

BEANS! How sad is that? I want to love beans, I just can't get over the chalky texture. The only way I can eat them (and this is a very recent development) is in Dave Lieberman's black bean soup recipe (minus the 10 strips of bacon) - pureed to an inch of their life. The husband tries so hard to get to me to eat "just one kidney bean" but I just can't do it. Turns my stomach :(

I absolutely despise fish. I keep trying it; different types prepped different ways and I STILL hate it. I find it less offensive when raw but most sushi has seaweed in it which I think tastes like fish. Sashimi's sort of ok but still,*gag.*

I plan to try freshwater fish and see if that's any better. I know fish is good for me, it's just nasty. Weirdly, I will still cook with fish sauce (I just hold my breath until it's mixed in with whatever because OMG, it STINKS!)

I have no desire to learn to like oysters. Blech.

@Daigan, try roasting them in a really hot oven (maybe 375-400 degrees F) until they're caramelized. Toss 'em with salt, pepper and olive oil first.

Raw Oysters, Okra, Papaya...although I do try them every now and then just to be sure.

Mushrooms. Blech.
I can't put one in my mouth without feeling like I'm going to puke (taste and texture are both an issue) . Fresh, fried, stuffed, battered.... Nothing does it. The only instances where my stomach/palate tolerate it is if it's in small quantities on ready-made/delivery pizza (eg. tasteless and also dried out), or if it's sliced very thinly/minced and incorporated to sauces such a spaghetti sauce.

SO many things...shrimp! Onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cilantro, eggplant (though maybe if it were disguised enough), ...oh the list goes on. I WISH I loved every vegetable!

suggestion for mushroom haters who want to try something new? if you don't like the texture, try dry sauteeing them in a pan. once they are quite dried out, you can toss in a little olive oil, garlic and parsley. the dry sautee leaves the texture drier, cooked but without that sometimes slimy-ish sheen that they can get.

for broccoli and cauliflower people, toss with olive oil and sea salt then roast in a hot oven til they get carmelized. it is deeeeelicious!!! :)

Blueberries and cantaloupe. Bleh.

I used to have an aversion to mushrooms (texture thing) but I've slowly overcome it by making an effort to add them to my favorite foods, and/or by adding something to them that balances out the squishyness. Same thing with squash.

Olives, beets, and pickles. I can stand olives if they're chopped very fine in a tapenade with a ton of Giardiniera in it to cover the flavor, or if they're the flavorless-from-a-can kind, but that's about it.

I keep trying beets over and over again, but they just taste like dirt to me. I'm afraid they will end up on the "don't like, under any circumstances" list.

I always want the pickles on my fast food burger, just to get that little bit of tang I expect, but I can't stand those either. I generally pull them off and feed them to my dog (he loves a mustard-covered pickle!).

I have always disliked the texture of meat, just too chewy (always used to push it onto my dad's plate as a child). I found that I did like sushi, but since I can't say that I miss it now that I am vegan because there are way too many delicious types of vegetable sushi rolls.

And on the fennel, I tried it for the first time last year when I grew some (to attract beneficial insects to my garden) and it made me want to gag in it's raw state. But after some experimenting roasting it or putting it in a ratatouille are tolerable ways to eat it, still wouldn't say that I would go of my way to eat it.

Mushrooms

Absolutely no onions. Even cooked. I've gotten to the point that when I'm at a restaurant and we're only at the drink order stage I feel like blurting out 'NO ONIONS!!!' just to make sure I don't accidently have to bite into an onion, haha :)

Sushi

Eggs. I go to brunches and watch with envy as other people eat their scrambled/poached/omelette-ed eggs.

Oh, and mushrooms too.

I have really tried to work on all of the thing I hated as a child (I was pretty picky) and there are a few thing that I hate to admit that I still just don't like.
-I cannot stand things that belong to the black licorice/fennel group of flavors.
-I keep trying to like Beets (they are such a big part of my CSA box)
-eggplant and cauliflower, I don't strongly dislike them, I just prefer not to eat them often....

I will keep trying with all of them though, and I will never turn down food that is cooked for me. Maybe some day I can get past it!

Kaffir lime leaves. While their flavor is often described as citrusy, they smell strongly of soap to me.

I had the same problem with fresh cilantro but something must've clicked one day because now it is one of the herbs I enjoy the most.

I keep trying with the kaffir lime leaves but no luck so far.

Fennel. In fact, that entire flavor family of anise, liquorice, fennel, no no no.

And bell peppers. I can tolerate a tiny amount as part of a larger dish, but I literally get a gag reflex when people eat big large spears of them near me, the smell is so horrible to me. I WISH I liked them because they are so good for you and such a lovely-looking vegetable, but ahhh no thanks.

I also agree about oysters, but that doesn't really qualify because I have never had a desire to TRY to like them, I can live a full, rich life without oysters!

tequila. I SO want to be one of the cool girls, but I just can't do it.

Mine is a spice. For the life of me, I don't like saffron.

I know. It's the holy grail of spices. I just can't figure out how to like it.

papaya - can't get it close enough to mouth without the smell bothering me to the core.

mint in savory foods - love the smell, but the taste just doesn't connect.

Most seafood...shrimp, sushi, octopus, mussels, raw oysters, lobster, trout, salmon...I just can't get past the smell and texture.

Also, watermelon and corn on the cob. Taste and texture are icky, and both are a pain in the arse to eat.

I'm always fascinated by people's food preferences and dislikes. I'm surprised no one has mentioned cottage cheese or coconut, I know so many people who have strong aversions to one or the other!

two words : SWEET PICKLES.
gross

Lamb. My husband is from Ireland and loves his lamb. I've tried all my life to like it, I just can't deal with the taste. So inconvenient!

tomatoes! once they are cooked, they are delicious, but if i eat a raw tomato (accidentally, of course), i will spit it out.

Onions of any variety, celery, most seafood (except Cod/Halibut), caraway seed

It's so nice to read that others are as crazy as I am.

I hate cooked fruit. I think it's a texture thing for me. Way too mushy. It really limits my desert options.

Also, celery.

Cheese. I used to eat it as a young kid and then my tastes changed. It's not even just cheese by itself; I won't eat anything with cheese in it. Yes, that means no cheesecake and no pizza. The smell just turns my stomach.

I'm glad I'm not the only cilantro hater! It makes me feel less crazy because everyone around me loves it.

I also hate raisins and anything licorice-y tasting at all.

I'm shocked at how many people hate onions! I love them so much. I would DIE if i had to cook without them :)

Cottage Cheese. Barf.

I am a huge cheese fan and have happily scarfed down even stinky cheeses. I love milk, I love ice cream, yogurt and pretty much every other dairy product, but I have always hated cottage cheese. I usually give it a try every year or so, but I am pretty sure I am ready to give up on future attempts.

Never met a leafy green I didn't love, except Swiss chard. I'll still eat it for medicinal purposes if that's all there is, but it always tastes chalky and mildewy, even fresh from the garden. Gimme kale, mustard, collards any day.

Also: raw oysters, caviar, beer,meringue, icing (aka frosting), nanaimo bars, extra-dark chocolate, powdered soup mixes.

Goat cheese. The barnyard tang is so strong, I can't stand it. Any kind of goat or sheep's cheese, really.

Fish and seafood. It's not even that I don't like it, although I'm not a huge fan of the smell. I've tried all kinds and haven't cared about any of it. It's just not food to me.

Mango and olives. Keep trying, keep failing.

I honestly can't think of anything I hate at the moment.

But I'm seriously so amused by all the people who hate mushrooms, tomatoes (seriously?????????), and olives. I think I could live on those three. :)

Fish. Like someone said before, I've tried many varieties prepared in different ways, but I just can't get into it. When I was small I liked canned tuna, but not anymore. The smell, taste, and texture gross me out.

Oh, and coconut. Love the flavor, hate the texture.

dill pickles! i really want to like them, but they are just too tart for me! i like bread and butter and sweet pickles, but the dill just doesn't do it for me. sad.

Yogurt. Ick.

1 - Olives. I want to like olives sooo bad, I want to sip on a martini and feel sophisticated! Does matter what kind of olive it is, I just can't eat them!
2- Beets. They taste like dirt...

http://rachelsrecipebox.wordpress.com/

Beans! It's a texture thing...I just don't like how pellety they are. I love baked beans because they're soft enough, but I'll pick them out of just about anything else. I want so much to like them, but I just find them too frightening.

Also, diced tomatoes. Canned or fresh. I like tomatoes in wedges, in (smooth) sauces, and I LOVE cherry tomatoes. But if they're diced, I just can't eat them. I don't know why.

Oh yeah, and pie crust. Yuck.

Yogurt. Cinnamon. Raw peppers.

Tempeh.

Beets. They're good for you and supposedly tasty, but I hate them in all preparations. My husband loves them and grew two rows in our garden. Good luck eating all of that, honey.

I can't do salmon. I've tried. I just can't. I'm still coming around to fish in general, having grown up with no fish other than shrimp, canned tuna, and those gross breaded orange roughy filet things from Market Days. You can understand my bias, and why I'm genuinely trying to get over it. But salmon just does NOT work for me.

There are certain mushrooms whose texture doesn't really work for me, but otherwise I'll eat just about anything.

Deviled eggs and egg salad, mostly a texture thing as I love eggs otherwise. Also any time I've tried Indian food I have either hated it or just been very underwhelmed by it.

Cottage cheese. I try it every year, different varieties, mixed with different fruits, nuts, honey, etc. No luck. The consistency really turns me off!

I think it's so funny that so many people have such an aversion to onions... For me, it's like if there aren't onions in a dish, I don't really like it.

For me, it's yogurt. I try it all the time, all different varieties, and sometimes I do like it. But usually that sour yeasty taste really grosses me out. It may be texture too, because I don't really like pudding either.

Also the smell of bananas can make me gag, though every now and then I crave them and enjoy them (though only if just barely ripe, still with some green).
I agree about papaya! Smells like sewage.
And I am a die hard seafood fan, I'll eat anything from the sea- except salmon. Funny because that seems to be everyone's favorite. I'd rather eat octopus.

Fish/seafood with the exception of canned tuna & kiddy fish sticks; fennel/licorice/anise; beets; lamb/mutton/venison. Just ick.

@ a.hidden.bird
A lot of people who don't like cilantro may have genetics to blame for that. There's a percentage of people who don't like cilantro because it tastes soapy to them and it's purely due to a genetic difference in the taste buds. Thankfully I am not one of these people. Salsa wouldn't be the same for me without it!

That being said, I absolutely cannot stand gin. To me it will always taste like I am drinking a Christmas tree no matter what it's mixed with. Mushrooms and olives are also certainly on my list. For mushrooms, it's because to me they often taste like dirt and olives, well I can't explain that one. I like salty things so I feel like I should like olives but the flavor just doesn't do it for me.

EGGS. They look delicious but smell SO GROSS. I can't even be in the apartment if the boyfriend is making an omelet.

Olives, celery, and (sometimes) eggplant. Mushrooms have grown on me over the years.

yogurt (my brain thinks it's snot), cilantro, sushi (always makes me vomit), eggs (also always makes me vomit)

I also am repulsed by olives, ketchup, pickles and beer....but I don't wish that I could like those things.

Salmon! I've tried it baked, smoked, in sushi form, as lox, even the roe -- I just can't make myself like it!

Olives, most anything pickled or containing too much vinegar, cinnamon, marzipan, shiitake mushrooms.

There are other things that I can't think of off the top, but I will try and try again, just in case my feelings change, but the ones I listed still don't do it for me.

things I have learned to like: olives, celery, yogurt, cream cheese, goat cheese, salmon, beer (but only if it is very light), cheesecake

things I still do not like: carrots, sushi with raw fish (veggie sushi is fine), papaya, cottage cheese

I also have a problem with eggs, more specifically egg yolks. I love a good egg white omelette, but there is something about the smell and taste of the yolk that gives me the heebie jeebies. I want to love them, especially when I see the pictures of barely-poached eggs resting atop a salad or nestled in a bowl of soup, but I just can't get over the taste. Luckily they're really the only food that I can't tolerate, so I guess I am more fortunate than some!

bananas
cooked tuna and salmon

and i hate celery, but i have no intention of ever trying to like it. it's just plain disgusting.

oysters (but I love mussels and most seafood)
mustard greens and radicchio (but I like every other bitter green)
That is it, I like pretty much every other thing that is not chicken, pork, beef, etc..

This is definitely an interesting and fun post! I loved reading all the different reasons people have for disliking some of the same foods, from obscure to very common.

As for myself, I know there are things I strongly dislike/hate, but they aren't coming to mind right now. Some things off the top of my head . . .

-Bacon, cold cuts and sausage. I like pork (for the most part), but I've never liked bacon (too salty), not even the fake kind. Therefore, I hate it when they automatically add it to salads. I don't really like cold cut meats although I can tolerate it if there is nothing else to eat. I do prefer chicken or turkey cold cuts. And I also don't like sausage, including salami and pepperoni. Again, I can tolerate some of them, but the thought of eating it turns me off.

-Beer and wine. Beer I absolutel do no like at all. No exceptions! (Actually, when I was in Sao Paulo, I had a sip of their dark Brahma and I have to say, the taste was quite agreeable) Wine. I do love Sangria, I have enjoyed some merlots and cabernets, but for the most part, I don't care for wine. I want to love and enjoy it, but when I start sipping a lot, I tend to ask myself, "why am I drinking this?" Then again . . . I don't like MOST alcohols/liquors/cocktails. I don't like the bitterness. I also don't crave drinks and I don't understand/see the point in having a cocktail when there are other refreshments (straight up mango juice or pineapple) one can enjoy.

Olives. I love salt, olive oil and pickles - why don't I like olives. I make myself eat them and it's just not working. Oh, and I love tapenade - just not olives...

Raw tomatoes. Melons. (It must be a texture thing). Every summer I try to like them and while I can eat them now I don't enjoy it. I'll be trying again in a month or so.

Just last night I tried liver for the 1st time. I'm putting it on my "don't like" list, but I'm not too sad about that one.

I have almost the same issues as spongebobmyhero! I'm an adult, and I love eating, as a hobby and social activity, but...I...hate...celery! It repulses me through and through.

Same with cilantro. Blech. And I've only recently been able to eat ginger...it's still hard.

Also, kasha. That stuff tastes so bad to me!

Eggs. It really bugs me when breakfast/brunch places only have like 1 or 2 non-egg options.

I didn't grow up eating them, and the smell has always bothered me. I don't think I will ever like them and I've given up the idea of trying.

okra
wheat germ
hot raisins

Asparagus. I love most other veggies, but cannot stand asparagus, even when prepared well. Every now and then I try it to see if my tastes have changed, but so far not yet.

I also can't stand pineapple.

Cashews. Can't stand the taste.

Kimchee. Can't stand the taste or the smell.

Fruits/Vegetables - Beets. Blueberries. Pickles. Try as I might, I'm still not crazy about fennel. (I seem to be in good company with all of these)

Meat - Ham & breakfast sausage

Anchovies. My daughter and I really tried to like them on a pizza but we had to throw them away. No good.

Mushrooms, beets, cilantro.

I've made good progress with avocados, and like guac now and avocados in salad, but once I've had so much, it starts really grossing me out for some reason.

Edemame is similar, I can have a bit, but after awhile it starts turning my stomach.

Rye bread and sourdough I also just don't like!

Sweet, eggy yeast breads. I guess I'm not surprised not to see this one on here yet. Everyone else likes challah and danish and brioche but for me somehow bread is bread and cake is cake and never the two should meet. Unsurprisingly, I like sourdough and rye breads best of all. But oddly enough I find putting jam or honey ON the unsweet bread delicious.

Also, zucchini. Its a texture thing, because I'll happily eat it pureed in soup or grated in cake or casserole, but hunks of dry-yet-slimy zucchini get picked around.

I sympathize with the yogurt people, because it hits my gag reflex hard too, but I really like it IF I can put lots of granola/nuts/fruit in it. The problem for me seems to come in trying to swallow something not quite liquid without chewing.

What a great topic!

I agree with the women who can't bring themselves to like beer and/or lamb. I WISH I liked beer--seems like it would be fun, there's so much variety, and the people who love it REALLY love it. But I just don't really like it! Just like the poster above, my husband wishes I liked it more too, but it just doesn't take with me.

Same with lamb...I love Indian food and my husband is always wanting to try a lamb dish. But it's just too gamey for me.

Ditto Olives! I figured if I couldn't like a single variety in the barrels in Spain, there was just no hope for me. But I tried every single one!

Mushrooms, for reasons described by other commenters.

Honeydew and cantaloupe - yecch. I love watermelon, though.

Passion fruit. Not even in cocktails.

"Buffalo" flavored anything.

Raw carrots - I like them cooked, but when I try to eat them raw they feel really dry in my mouth, like sandpaper, and I have a really hard time swallowing them. If I'm already dehydrated I have to spit them out, because I just can't ever swallow them. Does this happen to anyone else?

Sheet cake with icing/frosting - too sweet for me.

Bakala - smell and texture don't appeal to me whatsoever.

Lima beans
Passion fruit
Starfruit
Papaya
Mincemeat pie

Ketchup.

I'm very much at peace with hating it. What bugs me are people who act shocked and demand an explanation.

Oysters, mussels, squid, octopus, pickled mango or plum, papaya, okra, cottage cheese, meringue

Ok, haven't really "tried" to like these ;)

The last foods I learned to love were sushi, olives, and pickles, which I didn't like until I was in my early twenties. Now I can't imagine not eating them!

Okra... YUK!

Sea Urchin. Perhaps the foulest thing I have ever put in my mouth and I took several questionable dares in summer camp.

Celery. Oddly, I love celeriac.

Cooked carrots with a glaze. Why do people do this? I also don't like them raw, but I like them cooked into things.

I do like mire poix though. Go figure.

Raisins. A friend once called them "culinary spiders". Shudder.

I tasted durian for the first time a few weeks ago. Blargh.

summer squashes. there are always so many of them. people give them away left and right. it would be awful convenient if i could tolerate the texture.

Mussels. I'm cool with eating raw oysters, but something about the taste of raw or cooked mussels just doesn't sit well on my tongue. But I keep trying them anyway.

Olives. I can take them if they're mixed into something else, but I just can't eat them on their own or in large amounts. Or on pizza.

lamb, persimmon.

learned to tolerate goat cheese.
will eat raisins if it's too hard to pick them out of whatever they're in.

Melted cheese... it tastes like phlegm.

Very small amounts on pizza or pasta aren't terrible, but it still always grosses me out.

I love fish, but hate fish and chips (the dish). It's either the batter or the type of fish that's used... But every time I see it on a menu I have an almost irresistible urge to order it.
Thankfully, my husband reminds me that I won't like it and never do (and he'll end up having to eat it).

so funny to see all of these!

my list...olives and fennel

Another beet hater here.

I'm the only one in my family who doesn't adore them, and I've tried time and time again, but they just taste like dirt. Which is odd, because there's other dirty flavors that I love (mushrooms, for example). But I just can't get into beets.

Luckily, I found a nice guy who also hates them. In fact, we first bonded over our mutual hatred of beets and Pink Floyd.

stilton and other blue cheeses.
I'm sorry but it really does just taste like mouldy cheese to me.

I really wish I could eat rice. It's a texture thing for me I think, but it's in sooo many dishes and restaurants always have it on the side and I wish I could learn to like it.

Also, I am with people on the eggs. I have never been able to eat them and also hate the smell, but at least they are easier to stay away from and I am just fine with pancakes, waffles or crepes when I go out for breakfast. Yum.

I completely understand the mushroom people, however I am no longer one of you. My husband got a mushroom kit for his birthday. I tried a fresh cremini - the difference in taste and texture is unbelievable. If you can find freshly grown shrooms give the a try - you may be surprised.

I am still unable to tolerate tuna fish. I shuddered writing it those words.

I give the 'yuck!' to:

Carrots (raw). Agreed, kathleen3641. Too many dry shards.

Gin = armpits pine trees.

Bloody Marys. And tomato juice or soup, in general. I love and crave all other tomato forms. Tomatoes are my very favorite vegetable. Therefore I conclude that 'tomato juice/soup' is not, in fact, made of tomato.

This was the longest thread that was still fun to read, even at the end.

armpits AND pine trees, that is.

Quinoa - tastes like wet dog dipped in metal! Tried and tried to like it - just awful IMO. Only can stomach it in a veggie burger with lot and lots of other ingredients.

In no particular order:

-Olives (I think I ate too many from my finger tips as a child)
-Hard, Yellow, or Cottage Cheese (I will now eat small amounts of goat cheese, feta, blue cheese in salads and melted mozzarella or parmesan on Italian dishes- significant improvement from when I would pull all the cheese from my pizza)
-Processed Meats (with the exception of bacon, pepperoni, Italian sausage, and fresh Polish sausage)
-Tofu
-Salmon
-Egg Salad (although I love deviled eggs)
-Mayonnaise from a squeeze tube

Cilantro
Swiss Chard
Grits
Mango
Curry

Unfortunately, seafood of any type or preparation. I try again every year, to no avail. No matter how "totally not fishy" I'm told it tastes, I always—ALWAYS—taste it.

Also, eggs. They're OK in cookies or baked goods, but not by themselves. It tastes exactly like eating a fart, if such a thing were possible.

And, lastly, avocados, which to me taste like something our instinct-driven ancestors would have been trained to avoid—moldy, slimy, rotten!

Cilantro

Tofu, beets, okra, raw broccoli.

mushrooms, eggplant(I'm allergic), licorice, papaya, any orange cooked veg....blech.

I wish with all my heart that I could love these foods:

cottage cheese, asparagus, & raw tomatoes.

I've slowly started eating cherry tomatoes and I'm going to try to move up to the other varieties... it's hard, but making sure to start with fruit from my friend's garden is helping quite a bit.

I'll still eat asparagus (I've had it prepared every which way and it still tastes gross) but only because I force myself!

Cottage cheese is always a massive failure. Every few months, I'll try to eat it with some fresh fruit but it ends up going in the compost Every. Single. Time!

Cooked spinach; hate the slimy texture. I do love it raw, though.

mayo/miracle whip
sour cream
cottage cheese
un-sweetened yogurt
tofu
(sense a theme yet?)
egg yolks
turnip
clams/scallops
whiskey

over the last few years i've conquered:
oatmeal (steel-cut oats for the win!)
avocado (so far only in quacamole, but i have hope)
salmon (used to hate it so hard)

Hehe, what odd tastes people sometimes have...

For me it's gellied stuff - jelly/marmalade/sült and also yoghurt creme layers in cakes and desserts. Partly because it contains usually gelatine, mostly because its texture. Some mushrooms like cep/boletus &usually champignons are just way too gelly to me. I like marinated mushrooms like milk mushroom & foods from fresh cantarelles.

Warm/boiled milk (especially in milk soup or the horror called milk-vegetable soup), but I like it in tea, coffe & cocoa or if it's nearly freezingly cold.

Celery, boiled carrots, onions (unless it's marinated or in a salad) - all three taste kind of sweet when boiled/fried to me.

Oddly enough I'm intolerant to crab meat/makra & apricot - I'm instantly feeling ill at low amounts & throwing up at larger amounts.

Actually my taste & cravings vary between salty & sweet - I can sometimes eat chocolate like bread & other times even thinking about something sweet makes me cringe. I tire from salty stuff less easily.

Anything fried in cornmeal - yuck!

HATE papaya. Also raw oysters, scotch, rum, and (how weird is this) peanuts and peanut butter, even in things - for some reason they taste rancid to me no matter what.

Lower on the "can't stand" list than onions are:
- Most meat...I mostly eat veggies, eggs, dairy, and seafood (occasionally chicken, when it's right off the grill). Other than that, I could never could really get down with the texture of meat for the most part.

- Pickles (savory or sweet)...the smell is so yuck

- Ketchup...again, the smell, esp. after it's been sitting out, like on a plate that hasn't been washed yet. Ugh.

- Collard Greens ... I try so hard to like these, esp. since they are at every family gathering and my fam slurps them up, but just can't.

- Super soft fruit ... get it away. Actually, I prefer my fruit barely ripe.

- Oysters... aka, sea foot/tongue

So really, I guess it's texture and smell that turns me away.

Jello, Jelly & Jam. I have a big problem with texture. For that reason I also hate :
Mushrooms
Yogurt with fruit in it
Tomatoes. I really wish I liked them as they are in everything but I just cant do it. No way.
Creamed corn and peas are just horrible as well.
Ketchup and mustard and mayo. never needed. ever.
Blue cheese and blueberries.

Also, not a big fan of cooked veggies period. Any kind. I just love everything raw.

oh and kidneys.
I know offal is just super trendy right now and I really do subscribe to the nose-to-tail philosophy but kidneys just vaguely remind me of pebbles.

Tofu. It's the only thing I dislike that's a taste issue and not a texture thing.

I have tried it a million and one ways and it always tastes like playdough smells.

What an interesting topic! It makes me feel better that I am not alone in randomly disliking things. I guess even food loving people have personal tastes.

I don't like okra or tapioca pudding (texture issues), and I really dislike anise flavor. I can handle cooked fennel, but anything more intense than that and I can't take it.

I also wish I could learn to like combinations of sweet and savory that people seem to enjoy so much - like sweet pickles, hawaiian pizza, etc. They taste gross to me! Although I do like cheese and fruit... (manchego and guava paste... mmmm) I guess that's different somehow?

What an interesting thread. I often think other people are babies when they don't like something and get all squeamish -- wait, did I just say that out loud? (But it's always something they don't like that I do like!) Knee jerk reaction! I've known a person or two who would not eat whole classes of things, like vegetables and fruits, and I was convinced it was a passive way to rebel in childhood that they never let go of, so I think that's where it comes from. I know, I know, people have way different tastebud sensitivities and lifelong conditioning; cilantro is such a good example. My problem is I like everything and way too much of it.

That said, there are some things I don't appreciate, so call me a baby:
-eggplant when it's cooked wrong--as in bitter, undercooked, skin hard. I don't think there's anything wrong in not liking this, since it's just not made right, IMHO.
-sweet pickles or bread and butter pickles (I can eat them; it's just that pickles should be sour)
-before I was a vegetarian, I never liked (and probably still wouldn't like) really fishy seafood, like sardines.

I've converted many people to beets. The trick is roasting them with olive oil, S&P. The marinated ones turn people off.

I need help with strong canned/preserved fish, like anchovies and sardines. On the other hand, I'm okay if that's all I don't like.

Things I have tried to like, but just can't:
Olives (wish I could learn to like these!)
Kidney beans and Lima beans
Every type of offal I've tasted so far
Cottage cheese
Really pungent cheese

Things I have learned to like ... or at least tolerate:
Sardines
Anchovies
Mustard and Mayonnaise (only if mixed in to something such as a salad dressing)
Custard and similarly textured things (flan, creme brulee, cheesecake)
Yogurt (so long as it does not have artificial sweeteners in it! Which rules out most readily available commercial brands)
Tea
Soda
Black beans

I cannot imagine living without mushrooms, onions, cilantro, seafood of all types, and a bunch of other frequently cited items on this post. More for me, I guess! :)

lima beans, cooked raisins, oysters and caviar

tomatoes, eggplant, cauliflower. They very pretty, but the taste......

glad to see I'm definitely not the only one who can't stand olive! Both black and green.

Couple other things: beets, corn on the cob, raw fish

oh my. shrimp, oysters, clams, salmon cooked any way. it just gives me shivers.

dijon mustard is an absolute deal-breaker, as are raw onions and slimy deli meat (i'm looking at you, harris teeter).

-seafood (except tuna)
-mushrooms
-coconut (just...yuck)
-coffee. i love the smell of coffee, but the taste is just so disgusting to me. my aversion to it applies not just to straight coffee, but coffee-flavored anything.
-i don't really like lettuce. i'll eat it, but it mostly just tastes like nothing. i especially dislike it on sandwiches.

I forgot a few and remembered them when looking through these comments.

Melons of any sort. I have tried so many kinds and I just can't stand them.

Any sort of mayo based salad. Egg salad, ham salad, potato salad. They are all so heavy and ham salad tastes like what cat food smells like

Hard-boiled eggs. Don't mind the smell so much, but I can't stand the chalky texture or the taste of the yolk. My husband made deviled eggs and had me try them, I just don't like them. I can eat the white though!

Beets and sweet potatoes/yams. As others have said, beets taste like dirt.

tempeh, eggplant, mushrooms, black olives, meat.

Beets taste like dirt to me as well.
My biggest ick though is cooked peppers, specifically bell peppers. I like them raw but once they are cooked .. YUCK!!
The worst part though is I can taste them in things like spaghetti sauces and such.
Couldn't stand my moms spaghetti sauce because of this...

Hot oatmeal, also cheese cake!

I hate mushrooms. as someone else mentioned, being a mushroom hating vegetarian is tough!

I also don't like eggs. I went through a vegan phase in high school and still can't eat eggs--not scrambled, poached, hard boiled, omelets... I use them for baking but that is it.

Wow, I think most of the items people have listed are my favorites! Other than meat which I don't eat (never said I didn't like it though) the only thing I can think of that I can't seem to like is stuffed grape leaves. Every time they are on an appetizer platter I take one because they look good, but they are just so oily and tangy and slimy-yuck. Things I have successfully taught myself to like are: beer, olives, and raw tomatoes. Can't imagine not eating/drinking them now.

Fatty, bland foods: avocado, macadamia nuts, brazil nuts, white chocolate. Swiss chard, although I love all the related vegetables. Lamb. Brains.

I am a vegetarian, so that rules out all meat, poultry and seafood.
Like so many, I want to like olives. Black olives mixed into dishes are marginally tolerable, but whole olives...ugh. I also want to like melon, cilantro, and hard-boiled eggs...so I try eating them every year or so!

I will never learn to like ketchup. Or baby corn. I don't even really understand what baby corn is, I just know that it tastes like dirt to me.

Recently I have learned to like mayonaise, black licorice, wasabi, brussel sprouts, cabbage, and root beer.

For the beet haters out there: I was converted by a dish of sliced beets that had been boiled to the point where they were tender but not at all mushy and just tasted slightly sweet, cooled, and then topped with candied pecans and really good chevre. I understand it's a common combination - but it's *so* good, and before I tried it I wouldn't touch a beet for anything.

That said, the only foods I really have an absolute aversion to are canned cream of tomato soup and canned tuna (and I *will* eat the latter if it's put in front of me).

Whole olives (though Olive bread, pie and tapenade are ok) - this is a huge problem for me as I am Greek and so not eating olives is nearly a sin

Beets - though I haven't tried them since I was a kid

And possibly dandelions, rapini, etc. I can eat them but I never enjoy it.

Besides that, I like and eat just about anything. Most things that people listed are my favourites - fennel, carrots, mushrooms, seafood are my food staples

Converted!: Beets, whiskey, sushi.

Still working on it: Bell peppers, guava, papaya, anise/licorice/fennel, blue cheeses, honeydew, hard-cooked egg yolk, very strong fish (e.g. canned sardines, smoked whitefish), beer, and anything pickled in brine (olives, pickles, capers, etc.).

Bugs (the seafood variety,) turnips & radicchio..I just can't get down with any of them

fish/seafood/sushi -- I can't imagine what I would do if I lived in a place where people mostly ate seafood...

all these comments make me so glad to be an easy to please gourmand.

Anchovies and sardines. Also eel.

But I keep trying!

Beets. I so want to like them--they are beautiful and such a great veggie. I have tried making them every which way--roasted, steamed, in salads, etc. But when I eat them, all I taste is dirt. My husband says they taste earthy...but to me they just taste like dirt. It is such a disappointment.

Another problem veggie for me is winter squashes. I am generally not a lover of sweet (I don't do dessert, don't add sugar to anything) and they all just taste like sugar. Another real disappoint.

Count me in the beets are digusting category. I'd rather eat spoonfuls of toxic waste. That's about what they taste like to me.

I also think kale is nasty.

I've been reading through all the posts. I forgot bananas--don't like the taste, HATE the smell. The hubster knows that any bananas have to stay in the basement, and the peels go out to the trash immediately. (I actually worked for someone who hated the smell of bananas so much she forbid people from eating them in the office and if someone happened to leave a peel where she could smell it--look out. I was very happy working there.)

My husband and I joke we got married because we were the only people we knew who hated tomatoes raw or cooked and ketchup. While we are better about cooked tomatoes 30 years later, you will not find ketchup in our house.

I used to hate cilantro--thought it tasted like soap--but now I actually love it. But I will probably always hate celery, and I'm glad to see I'm not the only one! Like spongebobmyhero, I can only tolerate it mushy in soup. And kasha tastes like a musty basement me to me.

Oh, and I'm not big on yogurt, and get mad at all the commercials that try to push it on women.

1) Cilantro...I travel in Mexico ll the time, so try really hard to get into it. Can't. It's vile.

2) Cabbage...smells like cabbage.

3) Brussels sprouts...ew, baby cabbages!

4) Raw onions=bad breath, painful digestion, pass.

5) Papaya...smells barfy!

6) Watermelon...it's just blah. It's watery AND stringy AND messy.

Oh crap, my husband's right! I AM too picky.

Oh, and injeera! (I suck!)

Cilantro! Tastes like soap...yech.

Also celery...like some others above, I can eat small amounts cooked to mush in things but definitely in NO raw form. I can't eat most tuna and egg salads at cafes for this reason.

I wish I could like salmon -- people keep telling me how great it is, but every time I try it it tastes overpoweringly fishy and a little metallic. I love it raw on sushi, but no smoked or cooked.

It'd be interesting to see a chart of all these responses!

I'm with kariwk w/r/t beets. They're so beautiful--jewel-like, even--when they're cooked and peeled. But the flavor--ugh.

Oh I have a list for sure. Like so many others the list includes:

Beans (texture)..I love hummus!
Mushrooms (texture, I LOVE the taste of them if they're pureed, just cant stand a whole mushroom)
Cilantro (genetic thing, neither I nor my brother like it, it's just detestable to me)
Mayo, I'm fine with it if it's flavored (garlic, mustard, etc), but by itself, no thank-you!

I really wish I liked all of these especially beans and shrooms, I just don't. I am going to try some of the suggestions for the shrooms though as they sound tolerable and I really do wish I liked them.

I've never tried beets or turnips, but I'm going to within the next few weeks to see how I like them. I have high hopes.

Also, raw tomatoes from the grocery store are terrible for the most part (can't stand a lousy mushy raw mater!), but I still love a great (meaty) raw tomato, hopefully this year it will be from my own garden :)

i LOVE buckwheat! but i hate, hate, hate kale chips. yuck. i used to like salmon but now it bores me to tears.

I hate bananas. I think it's a texture thing for the most part, but the smell is pretty awful too.

Seaweed, in pretty much any form, gacks me out. I'm teaching at public school in Korea and pretty much everything has seaweed floating in it or mixed in, so I end up eating a lot of food I would really rather not.

I have, however, learned to like eggs, slowly. As a child I hated pretty much every form of eggs, but slowly learned to like scrambled and omelettes. In university I worked my way up to fried and poached. Here in Korea I've learned that hardboiled quail eggs are delicious, though chicken eggs lack their yolk-to-white ratio.

eggplant & olives

I've tried and tried to like goat, but just can't. Same with venison. No luck with carrot juice or dark chocolate. I only like milk chocolate - I know, I'm unsophisticated :)

Artichokes! The texture and taste grosses me out every time.

Egg yolk. Please don't even make me watch you eat over-easy fried eggs with runny yolks that you soak your toast in as my husband loves to do. Hard-boiled, poached, anything where the egg white and egg yolk stay separate. ug.

Scrambled eggs, no problem now but it's taken work. Tabasco (red or green) has been my magic tasty-potion for those.

Thought I hated zucchini, but what I hated was the over-microwaved mushy version that my mom served me. Now that I know it can be crisp and fresh I really like it.

oh this is so fun!

my hate list:
eggnog
olives
beer, tequila, or pretty much any liquor other than vodka
any form of seafood (even sushi! ick!) or meat other than beef or white meat chicken, although i'm vegetarian for a few years now
raw broccoli
cottage cheese
yogurt (although i can eat it on occasion)
eggs
mustard
licorice
cabbage

wow i'm picky- and to think thats just off the top of my head!
but like others, i couldn't live without avocado, cilantro, onion, tomatoes, pickles or ginger!

Oh, boy...it's a long list for me. I've tried all of these things many times over the years in multiple preparations but still hate them.

-beans (It's both the texture and the taste that I hate about beans, but I love green beans. I think it's because they're eaten in the pod and the pod itself is substantial.)
-beets
-coffee (I love the smell, but if I drink it, all I can taste is the bitterness even with lots of sweetening)
-tea (same issue as coffee, although I can tolerate it better and haven't quite given up on it yet)
-brussels sprouts
-yogurt
-sushi
-fish
-shellfish (Although I like fried clam strips and fried shrimp. The frying changes the texture and makes it better for me)
-cooked spinach (raw is okay in small amounts)
-licorice
-avocado
-mayonnaise

Sometimes I'm surprised my parents didn't starve me into submission.

Mushrooms and cilantro.

My mom has been trying to get me to like mushrooms since I was a kid, but I just never liked the taste or the texture. If it's chopped up fine and just a little bit, sometimes I can ignore it, but otherwise it just makes me sick. Cilantro just has wayyyy too strong of a flavor.

Both of these things pop up in dishes way too often, so I wish I could like them, but I really can't.

I used to hate a lot of foods but surprisingly I like or even love most of them now. Lentils, asparagus, almost every kind of egg that wasn't part of a batter.... zucchini. The lentils and zucchini were because we had a phase where it was all we ate when I was a kid, and the lentils made me sick. Around age 12 I could eat lentils again, though. I had to be an adult before I could eat zucchini with enthusiasm again, and my husband, who had a similar upbringing, still only eats zucchini because he has to. One year I dyed too many easter eggs, which made hard boiled eggs inedible until just a year or two ago. (Now I can eat them in things, but not plain.)

What I still hate:

* Canned peas. What a terrible thing to do to an innocent vegetable.
* Sea urchin roe. I've had a good presentation of this combined with salmon skin to take care of the textural issues, but on its own it is too strong tasting and has a texture that I can't deal with.
* Aspic. I like sweet-flavored gelatin and I like a good bone stock, but a layer of aspic on anything ... ugh.
* Most soft lunch meats like bologna, though weirdly I do like bologna with mayo and tomato. I can't eat it plain though.

I have a bunch of food allergies and intolerances, but sadly they are to things I mostly like. I have been known to eat a few melons every summer until the reactions have ramped up to the point where it just seems unwise. I tried cooking a melon I was only a little way through when I hit my limit, but cooking it turned out to not deactivate the reaction. However it is the only way my husband will enjoy melon (he loathes melon and "big slabs of meat" and any fish which might have bones, all for textural reasons), so it was a win. (I cooked it into a crisp, using nutmeg and vanilla rather than cinnamon, and it worked out surprisingly well.)

Quinoa-I just hate that bouncy texture.

Oysters too! Very salty and slimy, too much 'sea'.

Avocado-grainy texture.

Do I have textural issues?

eggs. sushi. curried anything. avocados. syrup.

On the other hand, I love cilantro and mushrooms for the resons that most people dispise them.

Food aversions are so interesting. I don't love raw tomatoes although I can eat them now as an adult. As a child they were constantly pressed on me by my father (the grower) who was very hurt that I could barely stand to look at them.

I don't care for most jellied things. An occasional tomato aspic will pass muster (how often does one have that??) but in general I have an aversion to that texture.

But almost every other thing I love. A suggestion for turnips, cook them with potatoes & mash them. They add a subtle sweetness to the mix. I don't fancy them on their own much. And beets only in moderation, although I've found that they combine perfectly with pickled herring (and I'm not otherwise a huge fan of anything pickled).

Grapefruit, ICK. No matter how hard I try..... I once bought a grapefruit soda in Italy on accident, thinking it was orange based on the can. It was somewhat tolerable, but I still cannot eat a raw grapefruit.

Honestly, nothing.

My husband doesn't like blue cheeses and organ meats, which I find rather wimpy and annoying. I just couldn't finish off that whole Stilton by myself!

For most foods, I really think that people have not had the opportunity to taste really good versions of the food they dislike; it is like with colours -- I think just about every colour can be beautiful if done the right way, combined with the right things.

Take okra for example... okra cooked to the point of gooey sliminess is disgusting, but I have had beautifully cooked okra with a lovely tender-crisp quality that made me realize it is actually quite delicious.

Or olives... I agree that almost 99% of olives sold in North America are horrid. However, when we buy olives from Provence from our favourite olive stand at our local French market -- they are divinely delicious. The fresh seasonal olives, so delicate, would change your mind about olives.

But then, there are those who really can't eat egg or tomato -- there is a real aversion. When I was in kindergarten, I threw up after eating chocolate birthday cake at school, and couldn't stomach (much less like) chocolate cake again until my late 'teens... I wonder how many people here have had that experience?

I cannot eat a whole hard shell lobster. It makes me nauseated to look at it. And it smells like low tide. Can't do it.

I can eat lobster meat, but only if someone else has gotten it out for me and the shell is no where to be seen.

curry. Anything with curry in it.

Ok, beets as well, and now I am wondering if maybe there is an issue with beets like there is with cilantro. Some people think cilantro smells like bug spray, others a springy herb.

My whole family think beets taste like sweet candy. I've had it roasted, sauteed, every which way, but it tastes like biting into a clump of dirt. I have no idea what they're talking about. Is there some gene/taste bud I am missing that turns dirt clumps into sweet candy?

1) Oatmeal. I know it's healthy for me and sooo many people love it. I want to. Iv'e tried to. But I just can't get it down. I've tried to think of it as cookie dough, just hot and even that doesn't help. I've heard tons about McDonald's oatmeal and people saying that even the biggest oatmeal haters love it. I tried and hated it. I love the smell (w/cinnamon), but HATE the taste :-(

2) guacamole. It seems like the coolest thing in the world. And sooo easy to make! But the texture is just too thick/slimy for swallowing :(

All Indian food. The spiciness causes my tastebuds to shut down so my head is on fire and everything is tasteless. This is with the "mild" menu items, too. The bf loves it, but he has to get it on his own.

Raw tomatoes, unless they're de-seeded and cut up small.

Kale. Healthy, but oh-so-gross.

Oatmeal. I've recently tried the steel cut style and it's tolerable, but not enjoyable, even with fruit and spices.

Squash. Getting better about it, but mostly only if it's on the spoon with mashed potatoes.

Whole grain breads. I don't hate them, but I prefer a squishy soft white Italian bread, which I know is not as healthy for me.

Everything else that I don't like, I'm fine with not eating!

Oh, collard greens. I tried to love you. You were so insistent on being a large part of my CSA box every week. But no matter how I cooked you, I just couldn't love you. I couldn't even like you. I'm sorry, collards, you're kind of gross.

I just keep thinking of more, and I cannot stay away!

I also despise PEPPERONI, AKA vomit-sausage. I get carsick just thinking about it, but it must be said.

Also, smoked salmon. Actually, the only way that I do like salmon is raw. I don't really like it cooked, and I absolutely hate hate hate it when it's glazed with maple or honey.

And canned tuna. I love fresh tuna, but canned is Yuck-City for me.

I don't know if anyone else has said this but I cant stand ranch salad dressing. I also hate anything cold creamy and savory. Mayo, sour cream, cottage cheese. I also hate salads like egg salad, ham salad, cole slaw and potato salad.

I also have to say offal(organ meat, liver, kidneys etc.) is awful. My grandmother maid me eat kidneys, chitterlings (pig intestine) and chicken gizards as kid. I hate that stuff to this day.

Mustard.

Nothing. I don't think I've ever tried a food I didn't like.

And I'm an adventurous eater: I've eaten sweet breads, foie gras and other pate/terrine, turkey gizzard, tripe, stinky washed rind cheeses, octopus, etc. I love different textures, strong flavors, acid, etc.

I think that is why I LOVE to try new things and I am always on the lookout for new foods to try.

Thanksgiving ham. That's the only thing: the SUPER salty, pinkness is a turn-off. I will still eat it to please, but it will never be found in my home.

kidney: Oh how I want to enjoy steak and kidney pie. Nope.

eggplant: I've eaten it, not a fan of the texture.

brussels sprouts: Husband loves. I cook him a side of it with dinner and cook myself something else.

stilton: This is the saddest of all. It stings my tongue. Tastes fine otherwise. The ones with fruit in them aren't as bad. But not a fan of the stinging.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one with strong aversions to common foods. My husband loves many foods that I can't stand: invertebrates, cilantro, raw tomatoes, cruciferous veggies, olives, anything with mayo. Fortunately, I travel a lot so he gets to eat these things when I'm out of town. It would still be easier to cook if we liked the same things.

Once we went to visit my in-laws and they had cold pasta salad (shudder) topped with shrimp, olives, and radishes for lunch. After that I had to write down all of the foods I hate so my mother-in-law could make something I would eat.

Three things I have learned to like:
Meat; it turns out that my mom just overcooks every kind of meat so I thought it all tasted like burnt leather.
Eggplant; I hate it most ways but Cook's Illustrated has an awesome eggplant parmesan recipe.
Corn; I'm not sure why I hated this one in the first place.

Well, hell, when you call them "invertebrates," no wonder!

Quinoa. I know it is a super food, and I have tried preparing it many different ways...but I have never gotten it to work for me!

Balsamic vinegar. More to do with the ubiquitousness of it than anything else. I'm just tired of it.

Has anyone said parsnips? I have been forced to try them over and over again by my mother (who LOVES them) but they taste like wet stinky feet to me.

I love hot soup, but I will never eat cold soup, no matter HOW MANY "chilled soup" recipes Epicurious tries to throw at me. Gee-ross.

I have also developed an aversion to guacamole in the past few years. I'm pretty sure this has to do with the poor quality, unripe/overripe, tasteless avocadoes we get here in Idaho, but maybe my tastebuds have just changed.

Raw tomatoes. I can eat them in a caprese salad and that is all.

eggplant
chickpeas (though I love hummus)
beans
beets
watermelons
papayas
octopus

GOAT CHEESE - it tastes musky to me. I don't know how to describe the flavor besides being "hormonal."

Sweetbreads, organ meat, tongue - I absolutely cannot abide it. Once I was served liver in Russia and actually thought it was good. Then someone translated - I could not eat another bite. I just can't eat that stuff.

fruit jelly- love pepper jelly, sushi, peaches-smell gags me, all berries, melon, cooked carrots, cauliflower (looks like cellulite), liver, beets, radishes, anchovies, oysters, pineapple (love the juice-hate the fruit), hot pepper cheese...

Raisins, cauliflower, and beets. I've always hated them, and I feel terrible because I'm a vegetarian and I should love crazy stuff like beets!
My hubby is a beet lover and he has tried and tried to win me over- even regaling me with a chapter from Jitterbug Perfume and a meal of beets. But I can only stomach golden beets.
And I hate oatmeal cookies because of the raisins. It's just plain yuck for me.

Melissa23, you may want to stop trying to like eating fiddleheads. I hear that they're highly carcinogenic.

P.S. In case the word fiddleheads means more than one thing, I'm talking about the curled young tips of ferns. They used to be an ingredient in raw green salads.

Liver, Lamb and Seaweed (or as my husband calls it, Sea Vegetable) Yuk!

Also, those folks who think Cilantro tastes like soap, could it be that it is kind of "lemony" and alot of soaps have a lemon scent?

Peas. Yuck.

Ketchup. Whenever I tell people I hate it, they look at me like I have lobsters crawling out of my ears. The texture is like snot, and when it gets warm, the smell is nauseating.

However, I like it in chili. That also gets a lot of strange looks, but I promise, it's very good.

Oh, and cucumbers. But pickles are awesome.

fruit in jello (nasty texture)
ginger
mint jelly
sweet pickles

I feel so bad for all the people who can't stomach avocados or cilantro, as those are two of my favorites! Guacamole is the best!

The two things I can not handle are raw celery and green peppers. I find them both very bitter. I read once that sometimes people are sensitive to foods because they are super tasters (more tastebuds per square centimeter on your tongue) but I've never given myself the test to find out if i am or not.

Also, I had an unidentified mushroom in a shabu-shabu salad at a japanese restaurant that tasted like rotten wood. yikes.

Beer! I've always imagined it tastes like cold urine...

i'm with the mushroom haters.

Cottage Cheese: I can eat it cooked in a lasagne or stuffed shells, but that's the only way - and definitely not raw!

Green Olives: Ugh. Even worse - Stuffed w/ Pimento or...

Blue Cheese: Any kind of cheese with mold or ash is just gross and wrong. Doesn't help when you melt it on something or toss it in a salad dressing - It's simply gag-worthy. Come to think of it, I'm not a big fan of Brie either...

Flavored Potato Chips, Cheese Popcorn, Cheetos: They have all made me barf at one time or another.

Fried Onion Rings: Used to love em, but it's near impossible to get a really good one so I now avoid them all.

I loved this post!

Want & have tried to like: cottage cheese, all melons, sushi, quinoa, olives, scallops.

Don't care to ever like: oysters, mayo.

So funny...I think I have pretty atypical taste. Some of my very favorite things are listed here over and over again. I absolutely love buckwheat, oysters, beets, avocados, mushrooms, etc, etc.

I don't care for tarragon. I'll eat it, but it makes me sad when I see it on a menu or in a recipe, ruining an otherwise appealing dish. I think this makes me a lousy francophile, and it's bizarre because what bothers me is the licorice-like flavor it brings, though I love licorice, anise, fennel, etc. This is really the only one I feel I should get over, mostly because it makes no sense to me.

Green bell peppers piss me off because they overpower the other flavors of any food they're in, and upset my stomach to boot.

I cannot stand tempeh because of the texture and the fact that it looks too much like exactly what it is- a cake of moldy soybeans. But that's pretty much the end of my mold/ fermented food aversion. I'll eat the craziest cheese anyone throws at me and love every bite, for example.

Lastly, I tried tongue once and just couldn't get past the unmistakably tongue-like texture so it's unlikely I'd do that again unless I really had no choice.

Cilantro and lentils.

EGGS!
My complete and utter disgust for eggs goes as far as mayonnaise, "creamy" dressings, meringue, and other lemony desserts where I can often detect an eggy undertone flavor.

I am so happy to know that so many other people realize how much cilantro tastes like soap, it really does!!

Even cilantro scented candles stink!

Cucumbers
Lentils
Lima Beans
Miracle Whip
Offal
Rosemary

KOMBUCHA.
also kefir (even the coconut milk ones).

this is unfortunate since i work at a health food store.

wow... these are delicous foods.... you guys!!

I guess I am lucky to not be a picky eater....

I'd run across hot coals for a kalamta olive any day... 6 years together and I still ask my husband if he's sure he doesn't want fried onions on his burger... I can't get it why he wouldn't just love it....mmmm

try dry roasting that buckwheat first before making kashi , with fried onions , garlic, mushrooms and chicken stock... yummers....

and I still can't think of something I dislike... oh I know
Thrills gum
and liver pate

Alfalfa sprouts.

I gag reflex when I'm even near them. Don't know why.

for you oatmeal haters.. try the swiss version

bircher muesli

google it!!!

I think that eating food is instinctively pleasurable, and see no reason for "converting your taste buds." I dislike a few specific foods, and so don't eat them. This doesn't result in malnutrition since I do enjoy, and so eat, many other foods. So, no, there are no foods that I want to like to eat, but can't.

bell peppers. no matter how much I try to give them a chance I can't get them near my mouth. that and eggplants. not sure if it's just the texture or just everything about them.

Ditto Eggplant.

add me to the list of people who dislike quinoa. I'm not fond of couscous either. The texture and the smell together don't work for me.
Also aspics and jello.
When I ate meat, I didn't like poultry. Something about the poultry smell. It grosses me out more now that I'm a vegetarian.

Luckily I'm not a supertaster, and I can eat almost anything (vegetarian) if I have to. The only food I absolutely can't stomach is durian. A couple years ago, I paid $20 for a whole fruit in a Thai market, took one bite, and threw it all away.

Indian curries - Thai curries I can just about tolerate, most sauces, chutney, sweet pickles and most fish, though I like sashimi at times.

I have tried and tried to like curry - I have eaten at working men's cafes around the Middle East, at raved-about restaurants in Brick Lane, at people's homes but there is something about the smell and texture that I find repellent.

Sauces on their own aren't a problem, but I can't bear eating something that is in a sauce - it is more of a texture than a taste issue.

Don't understand the ketchup haters. It is the one food that activates all 5 of the different kinds of taste buds we have. It is the perfect food!

As a notoriously picky eater, it is refreshing to not be alone in my disdain for raw tomatoes, raw onions, turnips, and capers. I'm not keen on bell peppers. Cilantro, never!

Nattō - oh my goodness. tried it. can't do it.

- but it's veeery healthy!!

No.

Barbeque sauce, steak sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Mr Pib, and Dr Pepper. Needless to say, every summer picnic, I end up eating my beef dry. lol

This so funny, I was actually thinking of writing a post recently about exactly this as it relates to Quinoa - the Supergrain. But recent efforts finally have paid off, I've found a way to prepare it that works. heh.

Buckwheat ... the roasted kasha form is indeed very strong tasting. Another way is to try is to use buckwheat flour to make 'galettes aux sarrasin' - which are crepes and usually savory, and are really delicious. Very popular here in Paris is the 'complet' with jambon, cheese & an egg. Of course mushrooms, onions and cheese might be a delicious vegetarian version. There are also soba noodles available that are either 100% buckwheat (a bit trickier to cook) or mixed with wheat.

Biscuits with sausage gravy. And I'm a born & bred Southerner....

There's a whole bunch.

Milk - just a horrifying taste.
Tomatoes - a weird one. Love them chopped up with garlic, basil & olive oil as bruschetta - favourite food ever. But raw without these things? NO. And cooked; I flavour everything with them but can't eat the actual tomatoes, the squishy texture (and the skin - ergh!) just.. agh. They stay on the side of the plate when everything else is gone.
Onions - it's the texture. Great flavour but I have to chop them small enough not to feel them.
Curry - I think again it's the mish-mash of textures, I can't just eat what I like and leave the bits I don't because it's all smooshed together.
Soup - mostly I don't like it. Like a nice pasta in brodo or a clear chicken soup, but I hate a thicker or creamier texture and either way I can't be bothered fishing about in it for the good stuff. Soup is hard work for me.

I have tried, and failed, to like the following: pickles, beets, cantaloupe, and oysters. I also detest ketchup. Fennel actually makes me ill - perhaps I have an allergy. I'm with another poster - I really dislike ham but can eat a small amount once per year at a family function.

I'm not very picky, but I don't like bananas. I threw them up as a kid and just smelling them makes me nauseous. I can eat them on cereal or a peanut butter sandwich in necessary situations (the charlie horses of late pregnancy), but it's still gross.

I used to hate beets, but we got fresh ones from our CSA and I love them roasted...the solid read ones, though. The ones that are white and red, while pretty, aren't as good.

Oh, and I bought buckwheat pancake mix that I've tried to love several times...but it's sooooo gross. I can never get past bite #2.

Salmon - tried it every possible way it can be served and hated them all.

Parsley - this is a recent thing. I not only really dislike the taste but can't even stand the smell of it!

Guava... Anytime we go somewhere tropical, it's at the buffet! I've tried it many times, even juiced, and I just think it smells and tastes like vomit! EW!

Wow, so many to me yummy things that people don't like!

One of the only things I have tried and never liked are brussel sprouts. And I don't eat any innards but to be honest never tried them so can't really say I don't like them.

Olives that a lot of people don't like is something I only started to like in my early 20s and hated for a long time. I got into them with eating little, quite fresh green olives that had a not so strong taste. I now like olives but not too many and not all kinds the same.

Also not a big fan of mussels or oysters, but can eat them, I mostly don't like the texture.

Other then that I like just about anything.

Capers.

I so am glad to find that I am not the only person who can't STAND watermelon (though I love all other melons). I always feel like an outcast at every summer picnic or barbeque. I don't mind the taste, but the texture is incredibly off-putting; so wet and stringy. Same with mushrooms. I like the taste, but the rubbery/slimy consistency ruins it for me.

I'm picky when it comes to cheese, too. I'm a real big fan of havarti or a good sharp cheddar but I can't handle:
-Swiss (too bitter/sour),
-Provolone (too bland and tough),
-Blue (all I can taste is mold),
-Parmesan, in any form (when I was little my dad gave me some to try and I spat it out and I called it 'puke cheese'; Charming, I know),
-Ricotta or cottage (UGH! I can't handle the texture of the either...If it weren't for ricotta I would be all about lasagna, but alas, I just can't do it. They're just so, so...clotted. Bleh).

I only recently discovered that I now enjoy feta and un-cooked mozzarella (before I would only eat it on pizza), and I have started to be able to stomach brie, but only if taken in the same bite as green apple, otherwise the weird sneaky sour taste is too pungent. Having a cracker helps, too.

To date, I have never eaten a pure vegetable that disagreed with me. I am particularly fond of the kinds that it seems many dislike, like beets (sweet as candy!), brussel sprouts (wonderful roasted!), and kale (I could eat it three meals a day if sauteed with lemon, sea salt, and olive oil). I've also never had any pickiness issues with seafood or meat.

To those who hate on the avacado because of consistency; you have to know when to buy/eat it to get it right. If your avacado is stringy, is far too over-ripe; I LOVE avacado, but I've thrown plenty away because I could tell with the first mealy bite that it was no longer at proper devouring stage. If it gives easily when you press on the outside, it's probably past it's prime. When ripe, a good avacado should still be firm, giving slightly when you press on stem (not on the body itself), and will be smooth and creamy inside. Also, like tomatoes, whole avacados (peel unbroken) should NOT be stored in the fridge.

For those who are looking for a good way to eat avacado in which it hasn't been mashed into guacamole or otherwise mutilated, I recommend cutting a whole avacado in half lengthwise, removing the pit, and then putting a little tamari (or other high grade soy sauce) and a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds in the well. Eat right out of the peel with a spoon. The cool, mellow taste pairs wonderfully with the savouriness of the tamari. NOM!

"Nattō - oh my goodness. tried it. can't do it."

Oh, you're so right!
I took just one look and said "Nope"

Same with Shiokara
(But who really wants to like purple slimey pickled squid innards anyway???)

Beets. They're so vibrant and beautiful, but they taste like straight dirt to me.

Still hate:

Herbs: tarragon, dill, and cilanto (I give myself a pass on this one, it's genetic. http://ihatecilantro.com/)

Root Vegetables: beets, turnips and carrots-sometimes I can handle slivers of carrots, or sweet pickled carrots, but overall, hideous. When raw, how do you stop chewing? You chew and chew and still the gritty bitter taste is in the mouth. When cooked, that gushy sweet taste...gag.

Fruits: cantaloupe, honeydew, nearly all fresh pears and other gritty fruits, papaya, the white pith on oranges- I have to peel all the other skin off each segment to eat a fresh orange. It's time consuming. Most red apples in the store. I like fruit to be a little on the sour and crisp side and those overly sweet red things...blech. Give me a granny smith or cortland any day.

Cooked summer squash, zucchini and chayote. WHY?! Why so much mushy?! People are always slapping these things down on pizzas, pastas and in stirfries. Why don't you just vomit directly into my mouth if you want to hurt me so much!?

Things I learned to love from a point of total hatred:

raw tomatoes, olives, grapes, cherry tomatoes, oatmeal, parsnips, sweet potato, cauliflower. Lots of stuff I thought I hated turned out to just be poor quality and badly cooked. If you only eat mealy tomatoes and smushy brussels sprouts, it's not a wonder they make you vomit.

In tackling my food predjudices I've been inspired by "The Man Who Ate Everything" (essay here: http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/steingarten-everything.html) He basically says we get turned off foods very easily (2-3 tries), and it takes more perserverance than most people can muster to come back to a food and work on liking it (8-10 tries). So then he works to become a perfect omnivore.

Cilantro? Really??? Who knew. I thought everyone loved cilantro.

As for me, I've learned to like almost everything except cooked carrots, shredded coconut, and pulpy orange juice (I threw up from it in preschool, and I'd still throw up today--I'm gagging just thinking about it).

I agree with Quinoa! I work in a health food store and customers come in ranting and raving about quinoa. So, I decided to try it and I couldn't even finish it. Maybe I made it wrong? I cooked it just like rice. I know it's very good for you and has alot of protein so I wish I liked it.

As others said, raw tomatoes. Yuck. I love pasta sauce, bruschetta, salsa, ketchup, etc but not raw/plain!

People will hate me for this, but... sushi. Whenever my friends and I go out for sushi I just get the kind with vegetables. I am just not a big fan of seafood beyond shrimp, lobster, and haddock. (oh, and canned tuna, ha!)

Cottage cheese! I've tried but just can't get into it. The texture just reminds me of spoiled milk- ewwww!

Olives: Thought I love, love, love olive oil, I can't seem to like olives, unless finely chopped in/on some other food.

Oysters/Mussels: It's a texture thing.

Hard liquor (tequila, scotch, brandy, etc.): Unless mixed with something else, I can't stomach it.

Organ meats: This is prob a common one, but I'm squeamish about it.

Foie gras/any form of pate: Again, texture, but I also think the taste is foul/too gamey.

I'm still trying with raw tomatoes-- I love them cooked, but something about the combo of the acidity and the gooey seed-filled parts just really disgusts me. Including in cherry and grape tomatoes.

Onions is another one. I usually end up either leaving them out of recipes altogether, or substituting scallions or shallots. I think the taste of a full-blown onion is just too strong for me. (Plus I don't like thinking that my breath smells like onions for the rest of the day. Ironically, I like garlic.)

The big one for me, though, is coffee. I tried so hard my freshman year of college, and it just didn't work no matter how much cream/sugar/hot chocolate I tried to tone it down with. I even worked at a coffeeshop for a bit a few years back, when I needed an additional job. And no matter what sort of flavored latte or frozen coffee drink my co-baristas would come up with, literally all I can taste is the coffee. So my tolerance for it is strictly limited to tiramisu, because the coffee liqueur is toned down enough with ladyfingers and mascarpone and cocoa and such that I can deal. I think I'll just stick with my beloved tea from here on out.

Cardoni, tripe, pate and deviled eggs (like them hard boiled and chopped up but not sitting looking too gelatinous).

Happy to see that I'm not alone in my beet hatred. Many people have said to me "you just haven't had them the right way." People don't understand - I've never even HAD canned/bottled/other container beets. My parents LOVED fresh beets and treated them like royalty, in many different ways, so I know I've had them the best they can be. They still taste like dirt.

There's only been one way I liked them: they were matchstick cut in a salad. I could have just a tiny bit in a bite, and that was palatable.

Mushrooms. I just can't get over the fungus texture, even though I like that they soak up flavor on the grill. I guess I'll just keep working on it. I also don't like olives, even though everyone else I know seems to love them.

Until recently I also hated beets, but then I tried yellow beets and they were like a gateway drug...the flavor is just so subtly sweet. Now I could eat roasted beets (of any color) every day.

Some of the things that people list simply do amaze me (bananas, cooked carrots), although I understand there may be a different biological/genetic component at work in perceptions of certain foods like cilantro or bitter foods like broccoli.

I find my dislikes gradually disappeared as I became an adult, although there are foods I tend to avoid. I can't think of anything that inspires a strong gag reaction:

Some things I really don't like (usually due to texture or smell):
* Natto (fermented soybeans)
* balut (just say no)
* pickled herring roe (the smell)
* brussel sprouts
* mussels
Slimy, strong smelling and heavily fermented foods are tough to take for most people. I think this is a natural defense mechanism against spoiled food.

bean sprouts
innards (ex: liver, tripe, etc) - would never eat haggis from scotland or tripe sandwiches in florence.
raisins
beer

Water chestnuts in anything - I have to pick it out. The texture.... it's too weird
Okra
Barley soup
Beer
Zuccini/squash - its always seems mushy
Hot oatmeal
Relish (can only tolerate it in potato salad)
Mashed turnips (my mother loved them, but YUCK)
Olives
Eggplant
Tomato soup - it gags me going down

Bananas- although I love to peel them.. strange I know.

Dressing/stuffing- ewww, it's a texture thing. I've tried it every year at thanksgiving and every year it's nasty.

Mangos- smells like vomit

Dark chocolate

& mayo

How can anyone hate cilantro?! I put it in salads, eggs, tacos, soups....

Ripe Papaya.
Obnoxious.
Although the green papaya shredded into Thai style salads is okay.

Milk. Simple, and definitive. Just can't handle it unless it's disguised (preferably as custard, ice cream or cheese!).

Love most of the stuff everyone else can't stand: lamb, liverwurst, fruitcake, beets, radishes, and even durian. Can't stand peanut butter & jelly, chocolate milk, chocolate ice cream, caramel anything, ice cream cake and baked potatoes.

I love just about every food but I cannot eat cooked apples. I've never understood why people love apple pie and tarts. Bleh.

Alcoholic beverages. They smell like poison, piss, or fruit salad, and the fruits I like are on a very short list. Makes my party life quite boring, but I'm kind of okay with that.

I'm with spidermum on cooked apples. I also cannot get myself to like mashed potatoes, ranch dressing, lettuce (although I love spinach, endive & arugula), milk chocolate, creamed corn -- akin to baby food in my eyes, teriyaki sauce, fried chicken, offal, watermelon, hot dogs, beer (ironic for a former bartender) and American cheese.

LETTUCE!
I love raw veggies and eat tons of them but for some reason I can not eat lettuce or most leafy greens. I love cooked spinach and kale but lettuce gives me a gag reflex that I just can't shake.

All kinds, too! Boston bib, romaine, red leaf, you name it I can't eat it.

1 for raw tomatoes and celery. Especially celery - in any form, in any way, even if it's dried and added in a spice combo I always pick up the smell.

I also do not like pears. It's both the texture and the taste.

And also I absolutely love sweets, I hate alcohol in sweets. The only desert in which I can tolerate alcohol is tiramisu and that's when it's on very low quantity.

Snails. Escargot. No matter how much garlic butter you pour over it, it's just not happening for me. Love mussels and shellfish, but not their land-dwelling cousins.

Pickled fish, I'm just not a fan.

I think I could live on beets, brussels sprouts and beer, though!

kasha = wet dog
hahahaha - so true! what a great description. he should be a food writer.

camembert is also one of those it tastes like hockey-bag-stink or it just smells so bad i can't taste what it tastes like. i can't get past smells to taste i guess. also raclette. and mango tastes like dirt sometimes.

I feel so much better that I'm not such a picky eater. There's not many things I won't eat, but here are the two banes of my life:

1) Coffee. I live in the coffee capital of Australia, but for the life of me I don't get it. Can't stand the smell, can't stand the taste, can't abide someone drinking it in my presence. Coffee was banned from my house and my partner had to go down the road to drink it. I substitute hot chocolate as my vice for this.

2) Watermelon. Makes me totally gag with its gritty texture. It was always presented as a treat in the summertime, could never figure out why. I love other melons (cantelope, honeydew) well enough, so I eat them instead.

I can't warm to brussels sprouts and turnips, but I really don't think I'm alone in this. :-D

Beets taste like wet dust to me.

i don't eat meat at all (dairy, yes), but other than that i'd pretty much eat anything. except:
1. raw celery - when i was a child, my dad would give us celery when we asked for gum. totally ruined it.
2. bananas (or anything banana flavored) - unless i eat them with peanut butter. no banana popsicles or banana cream pie. banana bread is ok.
3. watermelon - cannot eat them with ANY seeds, which is practically impossible. also, it kind of feels like chewing sawdust.
4. potato chips - waaay too salty. i do like corn and veggie chips. and banana chips :)

I have a recipe for wonkyone15.

It's a simple celery avocado salad that uses diced avocado and only the delicate yellow center of a celery stalk chopped and tossed with a lemon mustard dressing.

Aside from exotic animals and animal parts, there is not much that I will not eat. I think that some fussy food types have double the average number of taste buds, which creates a hyper sensitivity to certain spices and flavors.

The only food I wish I liked is salad! All those yummy toppings and sauces...but the lettuce kills it for me. Wet paper is more like it.

Hate:

-Pickles/mustard/raw onion (although I like the flavor these 3 bring when mixed in with a dish)
-Mushrooms (texture)
-Beets
-Squash

I've never understood why people hate raw tomatoes so much! I love them! I can't eat a sandwich without tomato on it. But I absolutely HATE them cooked! It just zaps the flavor and makes them all mushy.

Picky Picky! Lutefisk is the only thing I can't stand.

I wish, wish, WISH I liked onions. But I just can't do it. It's the taste, too - I love cooked fennel, which is an awful lot like onions in texture, but when I bite into an onion the gag reflex acts up and I can't even swallow it.

And papaya. I can eat it, but it smells like vomit. :(

I did learn to like tomatos, though.

Hands down -- olives. No matter how many times I try them, I can't get past the saltiness! Maybe I should start rinsing the olives before eating them... Or, trying to eat them, that is!

Olives, avocados, eggplant, anything licorice flavored, onions, raw celery, deviled eggs, cottage cheese, bleu cheese, sardines, tuna fish, anchovies, water chestnuts, un-melted shredded cheese (not the same as when it's melted), pears, watermelon, grapefruit, lemon-flavored anything, beer, black-eyed peas, lima beans/butter beans, beef jerky, grits, cooked greens. I'm actually so much better about being picky, but most of these I will not eat even if there are no other choices. Maybe some day...

I've tried to like mayonnaise my entire life, but I only like it with artichokes. I also don't like hominy.

Bok-choy. Every time we're out for Chinese, I try and try again to no avail. It's very distressing.

Any fatty cut of meat. I have a hard time with chicken thighs. They are supposed to be flavorful but I cannot get over the fat. And short ribs. I have gotten over all of my other food issues (onions, mayo, celery, beef) though...