# What food flavor or flavors do you dislike the most and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [August 28, 2021, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655 "2021-08-28T03:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/21 "2021-08-28T16:07:23Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > They’re just awful. I guess I’d say they’re too bitter. This is a genetic thing once again. But if you haven’t had any in decades since you were a kid it’s worth pointing out that modern brussel sprouts [are considerably less bitter than they used to be](https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2019/10/30/773457637/from-culinary-dud-to-stud-how-dutch-plant-breeders-built-our-brussels-sprouts-bo). I used to hate them too, now I love them 🙂. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/22 "2021-08-28T16:08:09Z")
Commercial bakery goods are awful. The stuff piled up on tables at Walmart is inedible. On a scale of 1-10, maybe a 2. Similar for Publix. Their offerings look a lot better but they all taste the same. The custom cakes are tempting until you take a bite. The ciabatta rolls and bread, maybe a 5. Panera does better. Their rustic bread and cinnamon rolls might touch 6. The Panera product looks like a cinnamon roll but it doesn’t have the beautiful texture of soft yeast dough. It’s just an upscale biscuit with sugar frosting. An expensive disappointment. The commercial products have a sameness of texture and taste. I’d describe it as a ‘chemical’ taste. Perhaps they are all buying bulk dough from the same supplier. The dough at Panera is shipped in to the local store and baked there. It’s like the ‘bake at home’ loaves from Walmart. Boutique bakeries may exist in places like Palo Alto, but not out here in the hinterlands. So, it’s do it yourself or go without. I have found that a simple chocolate layer cake takes about 20 minutes prep time and about the same to frost it. The result is a step above commercial items. A similar amount of time will produce two loaves of excellent bread. My whole wheat bread is a definite 7. My food whine is commercial bakery products. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/23 "2021-08-28T16:08:25Z")
Pumpkin spice is the devil’s evil snuff. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/24 "2021-08-28T16:26:39Z")
Believe it or not a habanero actually has a quite distinctive and pleasant flavor. Once you get used to it, you _can_ taste it. And it’s not a matter of intentionally developing a tolerance, you just slowly do. I used to find jalapenos to be pretty spicy, but they stopped having any kick to them. Kept going up the scoville scale until I ran out of peppers that were easily accessible. For me, the food I dislike the most is mayonnaise. I’m no picky eater, and there is very little that I will turn my nose up at, but there’s just something about that cloying sweet flavored snot textured substance that just turns me off. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/25 "2021-08-28T16:40:00Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Believe it or not a habanero actually has a quite distinctive and pleasant flavor. Once you get used to it, you _can_ taste it. Yes, all those Capsicum chinense peppers (habanero, ghost, fatalii, Trinida Scorpion, etc.) have a very distinct flavor to them that is different than jalapenos, thai chiles, pequins, fresno, etc. You cannot miss it. Folks describe it as tropical and fruity and stuff like that, but I just think of it as “that _chinense_ flavor.” It’s its own thing to me. Years ago I have actually heard about a habanero that had all or almost all the heat bred out of it, so you can have that flavor if you’re not used to the spiciness. I’ve never seen or tried one, though. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/26 "2021-08-28T17:00:56Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Folks describe it as tropical and fruity and stuff like that, but I just think of it as “that _chinense_ flavor.” It always makes me think of carrots. It’s not _really_ carrot like, but that’s the closest “mundane” flavor I can compare it to. I have a hard time sourcing some of those other peppers. I remember when I was growing up and working in a tex-mex restaurant, the habanero was considered to be _the_ hottest pepper. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2021, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/27 "2021-08-28T17:08:19Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > It always makes me think of carrots. It’s not _really_ carrot like, but that’s the closest “mundane” flavor I can compare it to. A number of habanero sauces do combine it with carrot – so perhaps others share this similar perception of flavor. With the other peppers, my local grocery will occasionally carry a grab pack of super-hots that will include ghosts, trinidad scorpions, and perhaps reapers. Those just seem to show up when the phase of the moon is right. Habaneros are the only hot-to-super hot I can regularly buy, though for awhile they stocked loose ghost peppers as well. I should check to see if they have them currently. That said, the habaneros, ghost peppers, Trinidad scorpions, and Carolina reapers I can buy as seedlings at the local nursery during the spring. Those are now regularly available. I used to have to grow at least the last two from seed. Fataliis I’ve never seen around here, but I grew them from seed a few times. (I love those peppers.) My favorite, though, was a chocolate Trinidad scorpion which I bought from a nursery. Those and chocolate habs I love. They have what I would describe as a “rounder” and mellower flavor. ---
**Author:** ![bmoak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/28 "2021-08-28T17:42:38Z")
I like bananas, but hate artificial banana flavoring. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/29 "2021-08-28T18:06:57Z")
Coconut flakes both the flavor and texture. Dragon fruit, pretty but no flavor. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/30 "2021-08-28T18:53:30Z")
Liver. I like pâté made with bird liver. Of course, the liver is chopped too fine to identify by look or texture, then spiced too much to identify by smell or taste. Whatever the reason, I like the stuff. But I have yet to find any method of preparing mammal liver that renders it anything less than utterly disgusting to me. ---
**Author:** ![Tarataratara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tarataratara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarataratara)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/31 "2021-08-28T19:09:53Z")
Chipotle peppers have an ashtray flavor to me. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/32 "2021-08-28T19:24:10Z")
Maple flavouring, especially in bacon - its stench while being fried is comparable in awfulness to the instantly nauseating pong of boiled vinegar. Beyond cloying - anti-peristalsis-inducing. There was a certain flavour of microwavable popcorn that was a favourite of an ex-roommate’s that had the peculiar bouquet of some wierd chemical most likely used for removing barnacles off ship hulls or something. Cherry flavouring in anything is gross. Once had Green Cat bubble gum when I was a kid and the taste…oh my goodness…words truly fail. And this absolutely demented licorice candy called Succa, which came in tiny pellets, and would proceed to burn the insides of your mouth. There’d be dares about how many you’d consume. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/33 "2021-08-28T22:32:29Z")
Aniseed/Licorice. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/34 "2021-08-28T22:55:31Z")
Anything Raw. Including fruit. Cooked only, for me. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/35 "2021-08-28T22:59:47Z")
I’m pretty much the opposite. The closer my fruits and veggies are to raw, the better. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/36 "2021-08-28T23:11:16Z")
Any sweet flavor that isn’t from a real sugar. It doesn’t matter whether it’s artificial or what I call “naturally occurring fake sugar” like stevia and monkfruit. They all taste nasty. Give me the real stuff, whether its fructose, sucrose, glucose, maltose, or galactose. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/37 "2021-08-28T23:11:42Z")
I’m not a big fan of eggs. Generally too pungent for me. And don’t get me started on mayonnaise. I am hard-pressed to think of a more putrid condiment. Not a big fan of cabbage either. I can do sauerkraut from a jar, but most other cabbage-based dishes are like eating some kind of pungent grass. There are exceptions, but I don’t like many kinds of fruit-flavored candy. They tend to taste like overly sweet versions of the real thing (especially strawberry or orange). I do like lemon- or lime-flavored candy, though. Alcohol-wise, I don’t care much for gin. It follows that I don’t have a high opinion of the Martini. To me it tastes like a mixture of shampoo and nail polish remover. A Vodka Martini is not much better. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2021, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/38 "2021-08-29T03:33:30Z")
I agree. I’ve always thought commercial baked goods were just …ok. I was a SAHM and made everything from scratch, and today my daughter makes her own bread, cakes, brownies - can assemble a tray of baklava in minutes, as long as the phyllo is thawed. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/39 "2021-08-29T15:37:06Z")
I eat and enjoy the taste of just about everything animal and vegetable, but I can’t stand pickled beets, like the kind you get on a Greek salad. My wife loves them, but to me they smell and taste like dirt, or a moldy basement (what I imagine dirt or a moldy basement to taste like, anyway). ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655/40 "2021-08-29T20:32:51Z")
I can’t stand bell peppers. They ruin everything they are in. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-flavor-or-flavors-do-you-dislike-the-most-and-why/949655.md?page=3)