# It tastes like sin, why do people eat it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517 "2011-06-23T02:23:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/121 "2011-06-24T02:14:09Z")
Hmmm… where to start… I’m a picky eater. Onions- the only way I can stand them is caramelized beyond recognition in French Onion soup. Other than that, if I can see them, they’re getting picked out. Raw or cooked, can’t stand the taste or texture. Eggs- again, if I can see them, forget it. Doesn’t matter how they’re cooked. This stems from a traumatic incident when I was a kid where I had to see my little sister puke scrambled eggs all over herself, the couch, and the floor. That was 30 years ago and I still can’t eat them. Bell peppers- can’t stand the smell Tofu- :shudder: Raw cauliflower or broccoli- love them cooked, especially covered in cheese sauce, but raw? Ick! Most seafood- I’ll eat fish if it’s deep-fried and popcorn shrimp, but won’t touch most anything else. Overly fatty meat- I’ve been known to pick fat out of a hamburger, the mouthfeel just grosses me out. Licorice or anything anise flavored Caraway and fennel seeds Cottage cheese- my dad used to eat it with sugar on top… :shudder again: Jello- but if there’s enough alcohol in the jello-shot I’ll reconsider… I used to hate peanut butter and mayo but they’ve grown on me. But it has to be real mayo, Miracle Whip is nasty! I actually like olives, strongly flavored cheeses and sardines. I’m surprised no one has mentioned rhubarb… if they have I missed it. I love it, rest of the family hates it! ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/122 "2011-06-24T02:18:46Z")
> [@chaoticbear](#): > > Are the supermarket varieties tamer? I picked one up at the Asian market here, and it seemed… bland. There was a vague sweetness, a vague smell, but nothing exciting or repulsive. I’ve never bought one- I don’t like them 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/123 "2011-06-24T04:19:29Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > [Durian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durian) is a fruit from south east Asia. > > It has a very distinctive smell- so much so that a number of hotels don’t allow guests to open one in the rooms. > > They are available in supermarkets here. > [@chaoticbear](#): > > Are the supermarket varieties tamer? I picked one up at the Asian market here, and it seemed… bland. There was a vague sweetness, a vague smell, but nothing exciting or repulsive. The durian I’ve tasted here taste worse than they smell. Imagine puking in the ripped-open chest cavity of a rotting cadaver, then coming back in a couple of weeks to munch down on it. Tasted worse than that. I’m convinced the farangs (Westerners) who claim to like it are poseurs. Besides durian and liver, I’ve thought of another: Buttermilk. I love buttermilk doughnuts but cannot stand to drink the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/124 "2011-06-24T04:38:16Z")
Eggs. I will NOT eat eggs. Stuff cooked with eggs as one of the ingredients (cake batter, etc)? Yes. Eggs as a dish? Scrambled, fried, omlet, boiled, poached, etc. NO. NO. NO. I have never been able to stomach it. ---
**Author:** ![KennerTheGreat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a8b319/32.png) [@KennerTheGreat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KennerTheGreat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/125 "2011-06-24T04:49:53Z")
Ketchup Anything from the melon family Mustard ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/126 "2011-06-24T05:35:36Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The durian… I’m convinced the farangs (Westerners) who claim to like it are **poseur** s. Bourdain? Jagermeister, and prosciutto… I’m still trying to like it, raw prosciutto, that is. Spanish ham similar to prosciutto? Anyone try mosquito eggs? ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/127 "2011-06-24T11:01:34Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’ve thought of another: Buttermilk. I love buttermilk doughnuts but cannot stand to drink the stuff. I’ve never considered it a drink, only an ingredient. I think I’d vomit if I sat down to a glass of the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/128 "2011-06-24T11:03:58Z")
There’s a pretty obvious one I would vomit before I could swallow. ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/129 "2011-06-24T12:16:36Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > My own “gag!” is for “herbal” teas. Don’t get me wrong, I love tea, and drink it nearly daily. A few friends of mine (older) have fallen in love with the “herbal” teas - think “[Celestial Seasonings](http://www.celestialseasonings.com/)” and beyond. > > One friend raves about them. Convinced me to try one. I took one sip, couldn’t help myself, spit it out. > > “Ugh! It tastes like the smell of a god-damned [Yankee Candle](http://www.yankeecandle.com/cgi-bin/ycbvp/retail.jsp)!” > > Said friend replied, “But it’s tea! You love tea!” > > “Give me the package. I want to see the ingredients.” > > …reads package… > > “There’s no tea in this hot mess! It’s potpourri! Damn you, and fuck yo ‘tea’!” Before I do my own post, I have to say this made me laugh to where I was almost teary-eyed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/130 "2011-06-24T12:32:50Z")
> [@papergirl](#): > > So true, **silenus**. I hope they have a good olive selection. And blue cheese and feta too. mmmMMMMM. > > I forgot I’m not fond of tofu. I guess it’s okay–hard to find anything so bland to be actively offensive–but it tastes like…I don’t know, maybe water-flavored jello, without the cool jello texture. My dogs adore it, though. silenu is correct, tofu can be good if prepared properly. One of my favorite places to get is a nearby Buddhist temple. One dish I had recently there looked and tasted like chicken. I guess if you’re going to eat it for the rest of your life, you learn to make it tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/131 "2011-06-24T12:34:48Z")
For me, it’s several things. Beets and radishes just taste awful to me. Seafood makes me physically ill. I mean that. I’ll get nauseous, sweat, etc. I don’t like offal. The smell of menudo cooking in my family’s kitchen is not a nice memory. Also, anything with alcohol in it, regardless if someone thinks it’s been “cooked out.” I’ll notice it in there. As for food with pure alcohol in it, when I had tiramisu for the first time, I had only heard of it at the time, I had one taste and immediately spitted it out. Oh, this was in a fancy restaurant and there were shocked looks around. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/132 "2011-06-24T13:17:35Z")
My most favorite line about okra (and I think I got it from a Doper): **I will not eat any food that makes its own snot.** ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/133 "2011-06-27T07:55:04Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Celery – all those nasty little threads! If it’s cooked in a recipe (like stuffing), fine. But raw? It makes me choke. I’d rather eat mushrooms or tomatos. For me it’s the taste. Everyone else acts like, when it’s raw, you can’t taste it. But it tastes exactly the same as when it is cooked. The only reason I like it cooked is because it’s mixed with other stuff. Other than spicy stuff (which I’m slowly developing a taste for, but still can’t understand why you want it to burn your esophagus and throat), no one else has mentioned anything I don’t like: I can’t stand slimy fishy foods. I don’t understand why lobster isn’t as disliked as much as mussels and oysters often are. And sushi taste horribles. Similarly, I dislike what I call undercooked steak. And, yes, I’ve had the better cuts now. They may taste better, but the texture still sucks. Finally, I hate cottage cheese. It’s kinda wahy I hate sushi, as they are similar. Incidentally, I love fish I’ll even bite into fish oil capsules. And I love shrimp, and usually like crab. Edit: Oh, wait. I don’t like mustard or dill pickles. In fact, they taste nearly the same to me. Occasionally refrigerator pickles can taste good with other ingredients, and honey mustard, when made properly, is divine. But, by themselves, those suck. Why do you guys do that to yourselves, and then pretend to like it? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/134 "2011-06-27T09:48:57Z")
Shellfish [they give me digestive issues running the gamut from the runs[scallops] all the way to projectile vomiting [clams, oysters and mussels]] beer, zucchini, eggplant, okra, bell peppers, anise, stuff with an anisey flavor, sage, cilantro, uber oily fish [mackeral, sardines, anchovies] catfish [tastes like a mouthful of mud, farmed or wild], food that is too chemical burny to eat, liver, kidneys, brains, any fruit that is wicked sweet and syrupy tasting - I prefer sweet-tart stuff that has balance. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/135 "2011-06-27T21:52:09Z")
I can make a lot more great meals entirely composed of foods in this thread than I could without any of them. Man, life without tomatoes, onions, mushrooms or hot peppers? ☹ ☹ ☹ The whole point of tofu, AFAIC, is that you can make the flavor and texture into basically _anything you want_. > [@Bytegeist](#): > > When faced with fans of ultra-spicy food, I always wonder, _Why don’t you just eat the spice by itself_? Just have some jalapeño peppers in a bowl, if that’s what you’re into. Because, flavor and texture are obviously too boring for you. I do eat certain of the milder hot peppers straight sometimes, and their flavor and texture are part of the reason I like them. But _combining_ those flavors and textures with others is better still. I’m sure there are plenty of things you like a lot that you like most in dishes, not always by themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/136 "2011-06-27T22:22:45Z")
Onions, I hate them with a passion. Who decided they should be put on so much stuff? My goal in life is to make a virus that will wipe onions off the face of the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/137 "2011-06-27T22:23:32Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > I do eat certain of the milder hot peppers straight sometimes, and their flavor and texture are part of the reason I like them. > > But _combining_ those flavors and textures with others is better still. I’m sure there are plenty of things you like a lot that you like most in dishes, not always by themselves. My post was meant as a mild tweak, all in good fun, and I hope that’s apparent. I’m not actually all that puzzled. I’m not criticizing. Different people just have different tastes. Still, it seems to me that spiciness is off in a strange dimension of its own. It’s as if you told me you actually _enjoy_ getting ice cream headaches, and that you went about inducing them deliberately, instead of leaving it to mere chance. I certainly won’t deny you your harmless bit of masochism, but I just can’t go there with you. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/138 "2011-06-27T22:33:18Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Coffee…I’d be hard pressed to choose between its smell, taste, and physiologic effect for what I hate most about it. A kindred spirit! ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/139 "2011-06-27T23:18:51Z")
I feel sorry for you guys! Whenever I find liver & onions on a restaurant menu, I am compelled to order it. (Which is not very often, meaning I eat liver & onions a few times a year.) Cilantro, spicy food, bacon, brussels sprouts, lima beans… all delicious. I am not especially fond of raw onion, but I am trying hard to appreciate it. The key is moderation, I think. I also despise sloppy joes due to an unfortunate experience in grade school. Fortunately nobody ever makes sloppy joes so it has not come up. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517/140 "2011-06-27T23:42:06Z")
Another anti-cilantro person here. Also dislike Brussels sprouts just about as much. Mushrooms taste like dirt smells. I’ve had them made in many wonderful ways, but the mushroom itself always tastes like dirt smells. I also hate raw onion, and only Vidalias sauteed in butter. I’m not a fan of olives much. Black chopped olives are okay but the green ones are just disgusting. I loved them as a kid. Loved sucking that little pimento out then squishing the olive onto a back tooth and acting like it was my rotten tooth. Fun times. But olives are still disgusting. I’m not a big fan of cream cheese. Like, spread on stuff. It seems really popular with the Atkins/low carb folks I know but to me it’s just pointless goo on an otherwise tasty piece of celery/cracker. But what I hate most, even the smell has me gagging, is beer. ANY beer. I have a daughter who loves the stuff. Worked in a liquor store and brought home all sorts of fancy beers. They all smell the same; like a sour stinky old drunk man. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-tastes-like-sin-why-do-people-eat-it/586517.md?page=8)