# Is there any empirical reason behind why a food tastes good to one person and bad to another? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2026, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590 "2026-01-12T09:27:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/42 "2026-01-12T20:54:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Fish and chips without a crispy exterior is sad. ☹ The joy is in that textural contrast between crispy shell and flaky soft fish.   Absolutely true! The heavenly fish & chips in northern Ontario that I mentioned had a crackling crispy crust and the wonderfully soft flaky interior of a fish that had been caught only hours earlier. The only downside is that the school bus up on blocks had a reputation for their fish & chips, so there was often a long lineup. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/43 "2026-01-13T00:40:17Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > One example of genetics affecting how things taste is coriander (cilantro). The majority of people (80% to 90%) find the taste to be fairly pleasant, a bit like citrus. 10% to 20% of people find it to have a soapy taste, which they don’t like at all. I don’t distinguish spices well, but IIRC I don’t mind coriander. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > I _ **must** _ have something in coffee (sweetener, and some kind of creamer) for it to be palatable, broccoli must be cooked, and so forth. DH, who drinks black coffee, tasted only paper when his biology teacher handed it out. > > So yeah, some people literally taste things other people do not. To the extent that this applies, this would explain a lot. > [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > For something like eggs I suspect it might be hard to pick apart the reason. An early bad experience with a food may well wire you for life. Or even later bad experiences. I actually thought I disliked chicken from about the age of 5 all the way up until I was 18, or very nearly so. This was due to biting into a chicken leg two or three times as a kid and biting into the bone and sinew. Very unpleasant sensation. I also got the impression, probably from eating cooked chicken, that it was an unbelievably bland meat. Until I finally ate a proper piece of grilled chicken and realized that I had just had bad cuts / preparations of it (and that I had probably eaten chicken many times without knowing I was eating it). Today I like chicken, I just like it properly prepared (grilled well-done, rare chicken is _not_ good, or my favorite – Buffalo wings). My father, on the other hand, can’t stand fish or seafood in any form. It disgusts him. This may have had something to do with him growing up by the sea and his amateur fisherman father bringing home all manner of fish all the time…then again, that doesn’t explain why he’s equally disgusted by all manner of poultry… ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/44 "2026-01-13T00:48:10Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > I don’t distinguish spices well, but IIRC I don’t mind coriander. Cilantro is coriander leaf. Coriander seed has a very different flavor. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/45 "2026-01-13T01:01:08Z")
Yeah, and that’s the one I would describe as citrus-like. The leaf is hard to describe. To me, it’s like the essence of “green” and “bright” and “fresh .” (And a hint of bitter and light soapiness.) Probably my favorite herb, especially combined with parsley and basil. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/46 "2026-01-13T02:02:44Z")
at least you have Guy Fieri for company when it comes 😬 to eggs ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/47 "2026-01-13T02:34:24Z")
just curious, what about deviled eggs? ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/48 "2026-01-13T03:27:26Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Ouzo and Tequila are common culprits Ha. I still can’t drink Ouzo, but I trained myself back to tequila… by emptying out a third of a bottle and adding bird’s eye chillies. Marinaded for a few weeks… I love chillies, I have currently got 4 litres of habanero, garlic, and lime in honey marinading. Should be ready in a month or two. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/49 "2026-01-13T03:55:45Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > The heavenly fish & chips in northern Ontario Canadians crack me up. I’ll give you Hudson Bay as “northern Ontario”, but Georgian Bay? ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/50 "2026-01-13T04:54:20Z")
> [@fedman1](#): > > just curious, what about deviled eggs? Frankly, I’ve never had the nerve to try a deviled egg, which, as far as I know is still a hard boiled yolk, just mixed with other stuff. I can’t emphasize how immediate and violent my reaction to that first bite was. It was all systems go with gagging, throat closing, stomach ready to send its contents up the pipe, and the overwhelming need to get it out of my mouth. And remember, my thought just before biting down was something like “This is going to be great!” So, it may now have a psychological element, but I still love just about all other preparations of egg that doesn’t solidify the yolk (including scrambled, which are somewhat ambiguous, I guess). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/51 "2026-01-13T06:29:58Z")
I agree with everyone who suggests this phenomenon is as much psychological as physical or physiological. My younger tween daughter (a) is an adventurous eater, not picky at all, but also (b) craves novel experiences. She is very happy to try new foods, and is exceptionally enthusiastic when she discovers something she likes. Escargot, curries, asparagus, lychee, duck, octopus, etc etc etc, she’s tried and enjoyed all these. When she sees a current favorite on a restaurant menu, she’s happy to order it. … For a while. Then her palate gets bored, and after six months or a year, she “doesn’t like it” any more. She won’t order it, and she’ll pick grouchily at it if you put it in front of her. At the moment, she can’t get enough mushroom risotto. But I fully expect that at some point during this calendar year, we’ll be at a restaurant, and I’ll see it on the menu and suggest it to her, and she’ll say, I saw it, I don’t want it, no thank you. She doesn’t do it to be difficult. I’m also not suggesting that a psychological objection “isn’t real,” in the way that the sensitivity to cilantro has a physiological component. It’s genuinely part of her mental hard-wiring to seek out new excitement, wallow in it, and then move beyond it, and I suspect it’ll be a lifelong pattern for her. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/52 "2026-01-13T11:58:45Z")
> [@scudsucker](#): > > love chillies, I have currently got 4 litres of habanero, garlic, and lime in honey marinading. Should be ready in a month or two. From a pepper lover to another: careful… b/c botulism (pepper in oil or honey). I did a couple of Fataliies in Vodka once… people liked it well enough. ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/53 "2026-01-13T12:06:01Z")
I appreciate the warning, I thought, because honey is one of (or probably the only) foods that have indefinite shelf life, it would be OK. In any case, I do the proper jarring steps, with sterilization etc, but the (rinsed) chilli does go in raw. Then I seal it and wait. (also I went to a boarding school in Zimbabwe, my stomach is incredibly strong as a result. The school head cook, Ma Bekker was appalling at her job - I’ve done trips to South East Asia and India without issue.) ETA, I guess salt also has an indefinite shelf life. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/54 "2026-01-13T12:15:28Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Some do, but no nearly all of them. Great! So why are there not more non-egg options available for those of us who cannot eat eggs? Go to any Denny’s for breakfast. Every item on the breakfast menu is “two eggs any style and …” People like me are out of luck, unless we can scrap together something out of the sides: “Yeah, I’ll get orange juice and coffee, some toast, bacon, and hash browns.” “Oh, you want the XYZ Grand Slam, sir. And that includes eggs! How would you like your eggs?” I resist the temptation to reply, “As far away as possible,” but I just say, “No, thank you, no eggs for me.” Again, like I said, “North Americans insist that every breakfast include eggs.” As an aside, and as one who cannot eat eggs, I have found that if a diner can make toast, has bacon, has lettuce, and has tomatoes, then it can do a BLT sandwich, even if that’s not on the menu. Put that with hash browns, juice, and coffee, and I’ll have a fine breakfast. Even if it’s not on the menu, any North American diner worth its salt, can do it. A BLT is great any time of day, but especially to me, at breakfast time, it is indeed a breakfast of champions. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/55 "2026-01-13T13:43:47Z")
I surely agree that North American restaurant breakfast is generally “two (or more) eggs plus sides”. But if you think about most common NA breakfast meals, it’s a plate of separate items. Not so much stews, soups, or things with lots of stuff jumbled together. The recent trend for “… skillets” and “… bowls” notwithstanding. > [@Spoons](#): > > People like me are out of luck, unless we can scrap together something out of the sides: Kinda sorta. Here’s the sides list from the ordinary Mom’n’Pop Kountry or Sumthin’ themed breakfast place that fed me yesterday: One egg 4 crisp bacon 2 Canadian bacon 4 sausage links or 2 patties 2 or 4 turkey links Tennessee Country ham sugar cured ham steak pork chops chopped sirloin steak country fried steak New York strip steak corned beef hash toasted bagel w cream cheese toast or English muffin 2 biscuits homemade pastry oatmeal grits home fries hashbrowns tomato slices banana cup mixed fruit cup strawberry cup fruit plate combo Except for that one klinker on top, I have a hard time imagining one couldn’t assemble something complete and to their liking out of that list. Whether they love or hate carbs or protein or fat, there’s something for everyone there. That’s a bit longer list than most places put on their menu. But it’s not longer than most breakfast places actually have in their kitchen. It’s all actually _a la carte_ anyhow at least conceptually. They just have various common combos pre-assembled on their menu for their convenience. And yes, at sometimes a bit of a discount from the _a la carte_ pricing. My own breakfast habits are nil carb. So I certainly get the irritation from having to say “No toast”, “No I don’t want a bagel instead”, “NO, I also don’t want potatoes instead either”, “Just the eggs and ham, period! Please … Sigh.” But I sure don’t want for variety, whether from these folks or any of the many other breakfast joints, be they humble or grand. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/56 "2026-01-13T14:07:18Z")
I can tolerate cilantro, but I can’t choke down beets. Nasty, dirt-tasting purple poison. My wife loves them and I can’t even stand the smell. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/57 "2026-01-13T14:33:44Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > Chilli is an interesting problem. We develop a tolerance for it. (And lose it again without maintenance.) Once a tolerance is developed it adds a desirable colour to dishes. Without and you will spend a miserable time waiting for the burning to subside. Wife and I went to a Thai restaurant one night, and ordered different dishes. Of course we had to sample each other’s. I thought mine was fine, but hers was too hot. She, on the other hand, thought _hers_ was just fine, but _mine_ was too hot. > [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > I know a number of people who claim to be unable to stand the taste of a particular spirit after a particularly bad night out For my daughter, it’s ginger. For my wife’s family ginger ale is often used to counter a upset stomach. Daughter had a particularly bad bout some years ago; she said the ginger ale tasted much worse coming back up than when it went down, and since then has wanted nothing to do with ginger. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/58 "2026-01-13T20:41:27Z")
I suspect that it’s a lot less physical than it is mental. I mean there are plenty of people I know who got sick and puked after eating one dish or another and now can’t stand the smell or taste of it. I’m sure the taste buds and olfactory receptors are working just fine, but it’s how the brain interprets those signals that determines how it’s perceived to taste. Also, it’s really fascinating to me how our tastes change over time. For example cilantro used to be overwhelmingly soapy to me fifteen years ago or so, but now it’s mostly just inoffensive like parsley. ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/59 "2026-01-13T21:02:37Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I have found that if a diner can make toast, has bacon, has lettuce, and has tomatoes, then it can do a BLT sandwich, even if that’s not on the menu. Don’t forget the magic words: “[I want you to hold it between your knees](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdIXrF34Bz0)” ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/60 "2026-01-13T21:04:02Z")
what about individuals with certain genetic intolerances (lactose, gluten, etc.). Are they more likely to find the taste of foods containing those components disagreeable than those who do not have those intolerances? If so, that suggests a link between the taste of a food and our genetic ability to digest it. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590/61 "2026-01-13T21:09:27Z")
My wife loves bread and butter but can digest neither. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-empirical-reason-behind-why-a-food-tastes-good-to-one-person-and-bad-to-another/1026590.md?page=4)