While I’ve no idea if it’s true or not; I’ve been told that one’s taste in food changes roughly every seven years. While I’ve noticed that indeed I HAVE learned to enjoy many an item that I would pass up in the past there have been some persistent stinkers.
As a kid, I was the usual fussy eater. There was a list of things I didn’t like, including peanut butter. As I got older, I tore up most of that list. As I got older still, I became adventurous in my food. I love hot and spicy things, and I’ve eaten stuff like balut (unborn duckling), intestines, snake, etc.
But I cannot, will not, ever eat peanut butter. If my mother made my sister an after-school peanut butter sandwich (she loves the stuff) and made me a Vegemite one, I’d insist she either made mine first, or used a new knife. Even if she wiped the PB off with a towel first, my sandwich was rendered inedible. Strange because - aside from the inevitable stream of wisecracks from Americans: “it made Vegemite inedible???” - I have always loved peanuts, satay sauces, and all the rest of nutty goodness, but peanut butter comes straight from the nappies (diapers, if you will) of a very young Satan.
The only thing I’ve consistently hated over my 55 years is olives. Black olives, green olives–just can’t stand them. I’ve never tried the “designer” fancy olives that are available now. I probably “should,” but can’t get over the fear that they’ll taste like the black or green ones. Shudder.
I’ve always been a picky eater but I’ve ventured into the realms of mushroom eating in the last couple of months. If I live long enough, I may try asparagus. No promises, though. They look and smell revolting.
I am not a picky eater at all but there are a few things I just never warmed up too or just can’t stand.
Don’t care for:
Thanksgiving turkey - the most bland and useless of the holiday meats, I just refuse to indulge because it is just bad enough to piss me off especially given its exalted status.
Chestnuts - another thing that people pretend they like because they can ignore it again after the holidays. They are sickly sweet like something going bad and have a terrible texture.
Can’t tolerate:
Greens or bread that are the least bit soggy or wilted. I won’t eat most pre-made sandwiches or salads for that reason. It little makes me almost hurl.
That’s interesting. I can actually pinpoint exactly the moment that I started to like “grownup” food. And it was olives. I would have been about nine or ten, and an older relative asked me if I wanted a lolly (candy is known as “lollies” here), so of course I said yes. However, I’d misheard her - she’d actually asked if I wanted an olive. I put it in my mouth, and it was totally repellant. Nine year-olds ain’t gonna like olives. But I thought I’d better “look cool”, especially as I suspected she was taking the piss out of me, so I stifled my grimace, and declared that it tasted fantastic. So I had to accept when she asked if I’d like another. Anyway, an hour or so later, I was raiding the jar of my own volition.
The food item that I hate the most is mustard. Even a tiny whiff of mustard makes something inedible to me. My husband loves to slather mustard on hotdogs, and I have difficulty even rinsing the dishes afterward because the mustard smell is so distressing.
Boiled carrots. (I like them raw, though.) Turnip. Brussels sprouts. Squash. (The orange variety served creamed. Zucchini is good though.) Creamed corn. Dark chocolate. Hazelnuts (by themselves. Mixed with chocolate, they’re nice, though.) Hate 'em all with a passion.
Seafood = ‘icky slimy fishy stuff’ - not a food group I enjoy. I don’t mind the odd bit of fish but seafood - blech. Other than that, there’s a few foods that hate me but I like pretty much everything. And I’m not heartbroken about having to avoid cucumbers, iceberg lettuce, and brussels sprouts.
This counts as something I inconsistently hate. I hate mustard slathered on anything or as a base for a condiment and always have. However, I love dill pickles. Sometimes it’s hard to tell if my burger has a actual mustard on it and I haven’t gotten to the heavy part of it yet, or if it’s just the dill pickle I am tasting.
But I’ve always hated mayonnaise. I assumed chicken,tuna salad, sandwiches, etc., were good for me because everyone was always trying to get me to eat them but I never did, and it turns out mayo is horrible for you.
Same thing goes for Chef Boy-ar-dee anything (you can smell the salt from the other room if you just OPEN it let alone cook it,) I hated it when they served it at day care, although now I’d eat that if it was the only thing to eat for a day. I’d rather starve for a day than eat mayo.
It’s been 48 years, and I will still not eat anything, with the exception of Mrs. Gorton’s fish fillets (with chips), that grew up in the water.
Nor squash, nor any of its relatives, nor turnips, sweet potatoes, melons of any kind but water-, lima beans, chick peas, nor anything that’s been near a mushroom - especially other mushrooms; olives, most leafy greens (I’ll eat spinach, though).
Cilantro. Even the smell makes me yerp. Which is too bad, because it shows up in a lot of otherwise yummy dishes, especially Chinese and Thai.
As an adult, I became fond of many vegetable previously in the “yerp” category, especially members of the cabbage family. It’s amazing how good some veggies are if they’re not boiled to death.
faints
I am not a picky eater, and really never was. I will eat anything you put in front of me with one notable exception. Bean Soup, like Navy Bean Soup. I won’t even look at it. Blech!
Liver. It always looked and smelled like a broiled sole from the shoe of a hobo. I’d rather eat the vagrant’s footwear.
Beets. Although oddly enough, I like kohlrabi. Brussel sprouts are foul. Ditto for sweet potatoes. Other than those, I’m pretty good with the rest of the veggies.