# Is food texture important to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850 "2014-07-11T13:51:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850/41 "2014-07-12T01:03:23Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Must. Practice. Restraint… But I have been practicing! \< insert halo smilie here \> > [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Thanks! I don’t want to derail the thread, but I didn’t know this existed as A Thing. I \*\*really \*\*appreciate you bringing it to my attention. You are most welcome. And good luck. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850/42 "2014-07-12T01:13:51Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > I don’t doubt your own opinions, but some folks like their french fries crispy or their hamburger not to have the texture of jello. This is how I feel about food texture. I haven’t identified any specific texture that I won’t eat the way some posters have. But if a food has a texture other than what is reasonably expected I find that off-putting. Jello hamburger is a great example. When I was pregnant the cravings I had were not for specific foods but for textures. I want something crunchy. Dry and crunchy like chips or crackers. Today I want smooth. Pudding or whipped mashed potatoes will do. (Except the one evening when I really really wanted a York Peppermint Patty. The 10 cents in a tub by the register size, not the full size that has the wrong chocolate to mint ratio. I want the small kind. Guess what confection is not nearly as common in the San Fernando Valley as it is in the NY Metro area. ) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850/43 "2014-07-12T01:28:48Z")
I matters to me only in that it can enhance or detract from the enjoyment of a dish. For example sometimes I like my mashed potatoes as smooth as silk other times I like them lumpy but neither is ever terrible. I suppose overcooked meat/fish/poultry are an exception, if they’re too dry it’s sometimes inedible. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850/44 "2014-07-12T01:35:47Z")
I like foods of various textures, but the textures are what they’re supposed to be for those foods. Stale potato chips or crackers aren’t the texture they’re supposed to be, so they aren’t much good. Canned mushrooms are fine, but dill pickles with the texture of canned 'shrooms would not be edible. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850/45 "2014-07-12T13:46:17Z")
Texture isn’t a huge deal to me, unless it’s just _wrong_ for that particular food. It does, however amplify my dislike for certain foods. Rare steak, any sort of meatball sort of concoction, raw tomatoes…ew. Just ew. > [@BigT](#): > > My sister is much more sensitive. I also think she might be a supertaster, since bitter bothers her way more. Though she doesn’t have a problem with cilantro, so I don’t know. Being a super-taster and hating cilantro are totally unrelated issues. The former is generally thought to be a matter of having more taste receptors on all or most of your tongue, while the latter seems to be a single nucleotide genetic variation that affects the olfactory receptors for certain aldehydes. So you can hate cilantro and not be a super-taster, or you can love cilantro and not be a super-taster, or you can hate cilantro and not be a super-taster (though you’re more likely to merely dislike it than hate it), or you can be super-taster and hate cilantro (and your hate is probably going to be somewhere in the KILL IT WITH FIRE AND THEN NUKE IT FROM ORBIT realm.) ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850/46 "2014-07-12T16:07:26Z")
Most of the foods I actively disike are because of their textures, and not their taste. I like peanuts, but hate the oily squish of peanut butter. I can’t stand shrimp or scallops (or other non-fish seafood) because they’re weirdly spongy. Like really stale, soft Cheetos. Shredded coconut is like eating soap flakes or shredded paper. I also can’t stand having any fat or gristle on my meat. If I’m eating chicken and hit something crunchy, I just can’t swallow it. Half the time, I’m put off my food entirely. That’s the main reason I only eat vegetarian frozen dinners - the chicken in those frozen meals almost always has gross crunchy bits. I also hate hitting bone/cartilage while eating, so I can’t really handle drumsticks or chicken wings. I can do ribs, but barely. I mostly have to pick the meat off the bone with a fork or fingers, then eat it. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850/47 "2014-07-12T16:38:27Z")
A good texture can enhance a food- like a particularly crisp apple or a very smooth cheesecake. But I don’t really have a concept of a “bad” texture, and it wouldn’t keep me from enjoying a food. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850/48 "2014-07-12T17:01:43Z")
Texture is important to me but no more important than any other characteristic, such as smell or taste. The context and combination is what is important. There’s no specific texture that by itself will make me dislike food. Generally speaking, what is important to humans is variety and that includes a variety of texture. Monotonous texture will naturally put people off food. The best combinations of good are the ones that combine contrasting textures, like the gloppiness of oatmeal (porridge) combined with the crunchy texture of almonds and the chewy texture of raisins and the smooth texture of cream [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-food-texture-important-to-you/692850.md?page=2)