It seems to be no longer an issue, probably due to other dietary changes, but the only time I would get heartburn is from drinking water. It wasn’t all the time, but I never really got it from garlic or other usual foods and it happened enough that I asked my doc about it.
I drink a ton of water - I start my day with two pints before I have anything else. But sometimes, it just burns.
As for the original question - I think I’m a picky eater in general but one relatively bland thing I cannot abide is green peppers. I don’t mind spicy food (within reason, it shouldn’t be an endurance contest) but the taste of a green pepper in anything - salad, pizza, tomato sauce, hash browns - is revolting to me. I always ask at restaurants.
Also, I hate caraway seeds. Even when they bake seedless rye, the bakery seems so infested with those f’ing seeds that there is inevitably one somewhere on the loaf.
I love carrots - but do not ruin them with cooking.
I was a picky kid and can’t even remember all the things I used to refuse to eat. I’m better now, but one hard-fought battle that’s not completely over is tomatoes. In certain contexts, I tolerate or even enjoy them, but in others, I still end up eating around them. I’ve enjoyed many more adventurous foods–unconventional animals/parts, spicy stuff, fermented stuff, raw stuff–but those damn tomatoes still get me sometimes.
I must say this thread is making me feel much better about my dislikes. Usually I’m the pickiest person in any given room and so far I like almost everything that’s been mentioned here (except mayonnaise and fish).
Anybody else hate butter? I like a nice buttery biscuit and movie popcorn must have it (not really butter, I know) but I won’t spread it on anything. If I order pancakes in a restaurant and there’s butter on the top one, some “lucky” person at the table will be the recipient of a butter cover flapjack. Same with toast.
It’s making me feel better because all my dislikes are here. Which is mostly bell pepper and hot food.
I’m the opposite. I’m not wild about mayo, but I’ll accept a thin glaze of it on a sandwich. I don’t like any of the “mayonnaise salads”, though. Chicken salad, ham salad, potato salad… why would you want to DO that?
I guess I do eat tuna salad, although I prefer it light on mayonnaise, or better, with miracle whip instead. And I’ll eat a little cole slaw, if there’s not too much mayo in it.
I like them raw, and I like them fully cooked (soft and sweet) but I really don’t care for partially cooked carrots, as you get in stir fry. I don’t avoid them, though, so I guess that doesn’t count as picky. I just don’t care for them.
IIRC the quick and dirty recipe for turning mayo into miracle whip is to mix in a little white vinegar, which might make them more palatable. Here’s the more fancy pants conversion (I haven’t attempted it):
I can’t stand anything too salty. Or fatty. I made the mistake of trying prosciutto wrapped melon in Italy. I literally spat it right back out into the napkin without even thinking of what I was doing.
I can’t drink tea - even smelling it makes me nauseous to the point of barfing.
You can make tuna salad without mayo. My favorite one uses olive oil and lemon instead of mayo (which makes sense.) ETA: oh, and red wine vinegar too for the acid.
That does sound good. But it’s mostly about whether I’m willing to eat it when someone else has made it. If I am opening the can of tuna, I probably didn’t add mayo.
I have a life-long aversion to fresh tomatoes. I love tomato sauces. I enjoy them sun-dried, I, strangely, enjoy salsa as long as it is made with lots of onions and chilies. However, I don’t even like thinking about sinking my teeth into a fresh, ripe tomato. I don’t even like chunks of them in pasta sauce. None of this makes any sense, but it is what it is. I am often envious of tomato lovers since they get joy bordering on ecstasy from them.
If it makes you feel any better, that’s a pretty common aversion, in my experience. (I love tomatoes in all forms but I’ve come across at least a dozen or two people who don’t like them fresh but otherwise are fine with them.)
Just the opposite. I love butter … and it shows. My mom always economised with margarine, which I do hate. Once when I was about four, I was at my grandma’s house, and she made me toast and jam. I told her that her jam was the best I’d ever tasted! Turned out it was the real butter I liked so much.
I went through a period during childhood and into my teen years where I had a strong aversion to butter, Not as an ingredient, but as an addition, like on bread, waffles, baked potatoes, etc.). As an adult, I’ve gone back to liking butter.
Years later, my mother remarked that as a toddler I loved butter and in fact once ate an entire stick, I think I found my reason why. I just needed some time away.
I’m not a picky eater at all. I will eat pretty much anything. Even as a child, I was pretty adventurous in what I was willing to eat.
Except mayonnaise. Something about the combination of taste and texture makes me gag and become nauseous. There are a few things I can tolerate with mayonnaise, like a freshly made aioli. But I can’t even really tolerate mayonnaise based dressings, like most ranches.
