# What food preference differences are there between you and your significant other?would be **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 31, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703 "2022-01-31T21:16:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/21 "2022-02-01T13:20:00Z")
Fortunately, most of our tastes are the same. But there are differences. I can’t stand broccoli – neither the taste nor the smell. My wife has always loved broccoli. Worse, she has [passed this detestable taste on to our daughter. (There is the heartwarming – or terrifying – story about how, when daughter MilliCal was still pre-toddler, eating bits my wife had taken out of her salad for her, MilliCal reached over into wife’s salad and pulled out a sprout of broccoli and plunged it into her mouth, munching with great satisfaction.) Broccoli has become an irrevocable part of preparing stir fry. We experiment with stir-fry ingredients, but if I make it I can’t leave out the broccoli, however much I want to. I just end up eating around it, avoiding it as much as possible when I serve myself. And don’t get me started on cauliflower. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/22 "2022-02-01T14:02:36Z")
The degree of doneness of our steaks, and our fried and boiled eggs. That is all. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/23 "2022-02-01T15:00:44Z")
My husband will eat just about anything within reason (no bugs on a stick, etc.). I on the other hand am pretty picky. I’m a plain eater - no mayo, ketchup, mustard, pickles, etc, etc, etc. I hate seafood/fish unless it’s a breaded and fried piece of a local type of fish (walleye, crappie). But there are enough foods that we both like that we can usually eat the same thing, with mine being a little plainer than his. I will often make something for dinner that he loves that I either don’t like or am not a huge fan of. When that’s the case I can easily find something else to eat. I’ll eat a grilled cheese, bowl of cereal, frozen pizza, etc. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/24 "2022-02-01T16:56:02Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Strangely she loves omelets (especially filled with veggies, ugh) but hates scrambled eggs. I’m meh about omelets but love a nice scrambled egg sandwich on white toast with butter and ketchup or sriracha. Oh yeah… my wife is an egg fiend. Scrambled, over-easy, deviled, omelets, she likes them all. I’m kind of only partial to scrambled eggs and/or omelets, and then more as “part of a balanced breakfast” instead of the star of the meal. Meanwhile, I LOVE breakfast sausage, and she’s indifferent to it- she prefers bacon. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2022, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/25 "2022-02-01T18:23:42Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > My wife is vegetarian (but eats fish) and I’m omnivorous. Same (she’s ovo-lacto). I had to make her a list of acceptable vegetables. The “Impossible” meats have somewhat leveled the field a bit; she loved the Impossible meatloaf I made for her a few times, but while I like that stuff, the necessary amount of extremely heavy processing required to produce it is troubling. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/26 "2022-02-02T19:37:21Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > My wife is vegetarian (but eats fish) and I’m omnivorous. > [@DCnDC](#): > > Same (she’s ovo-lacto). Same, with genders reversed. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/27 "2022-02-02T19:54:04Z")
I once lived with a woman who had a violent reaction to paprika. (Emotional, not physical.) When I sprinkled some on a fried egg, she made a special point of brushing it off. (“I don’t want any of that yucky stuff!”) And it wasn’t even hot paprika. Bizarre! ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/28 "2022-02-02T20:03:37Z")
Beef doneness: Medium or medium-rare for me, well done for her. Easy to leave her piece in the oven an extra 10-15 minutes. Also I usually take the thick end and give her the thinner piece. Bitter melon - She loves it, I can’t stand it, too bitter. I mean, it’s in the name… ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/29 "2022-02-03T05:07:44Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > Beef doneness: Medium or medium-rare for me, well done for her. Easy to leave her piece in the oven an extra 10-15 minutes. Also I usually take the thick end and give her the thinner piece. This. We almost never cook beef at home anymore, except for brisket, which is never less than well-done. We visited our son when he was studying abroad in Florence, and we went out so he and I could get Florentine steak. We got it done _media_ (medium), which is about medium-rare, given the size of the slab (about 1kg). The other choice was _sangre_ (bloody). Wife had a little bit from the edge, but she mostly ate pasta. More for us. 😃 She’s generally more selective about meats than I am–I like duck and lamb a lot, but she’ll only eat them if she’s in a very specific mood for them. On the other hand, I am what counts for a religious fanatic in my family, and I won’t eat pork or shellfish. She likes certain pork dishes, and often orders them when we are out. She eats shrimp and crab occasionally, but doesn’t really like mollusks, so there’s no real conflict there, but not for reasons of taste. She likes beets, I mostly don’t. Interesting to see that this is not uncommon. I eat broccoli now, but couldn’t stomach it for at least the first 20 years we were together. She has always loved it. There are other veggies that I think I have only been able to eat as my senses of taste and smell have become less sensitive with age (asparagus, sprouts). On the other hand, I have always liked cabbage in the forms of cole slaw, sauerkraut, stuffed cabbage, kimchi, etc. She is at best indifferent to these, and hostile to some. She does not like coconut (except for coconut milk based things like curries). I love it. Same with black licorice and most anise flavored things, though she likes fennel. Our kids inherited my love of licorice, which makes me happy. She also doesn’t particularly care for mango. I love, love, love small fishes like sardines, herring, mackerel and anchovies. She manifestly does not. On the rare occasions she is traveling without me, I will order an anchovy pizza. We both like Japanese food, but I love the raw fish, which she will not eat. I like beer and bourbon. She does not. Neither of us drinks much alcohol, so we don’t really have any conflicts on that account. Despite these differences, we both like a large variety of flavor profiles–interesting spice mixes or combinations of ingredients–so we can always find new and interesting stuff to eat at home or out. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2022, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/30 "2022-02-03T11:56:12Z")
> [@RickG](#): > > She does not like coconut (except for coconut milk based things like curries). I love it. Same with black licorice… Our kids inherited my love of licorice, which makes me happy. Same with my wife and I. She hates shredded coconut, mainly due to the texture, but she has no problem with coconut milk-- in fact she LOVES Thai curries, of which a main ingredient is coconut milk. She also doesn’t like licorice _ **at all.** _ Unlike your family, our kids inherited her dislikes of coconut and licorice, but I don’t mind, because it meant when the kids were younger and went trick-or-treating, I’d get all the fun-size Almond Joys (they are full of shredded coconut). And on Easter I got all the black licorice-flavored jelly beans, which, to me, are by far the best ones. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/31 "2022-02-03T14:03:53Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Same with my wife and I. She hates shredded coconut, mainly due to the texture, but she has no problem with coconut milk-- in fact she LOVES Thai curries, of which a main ingredient is coconut milk. She also doesn’t like licorice _ **at all.** _ Your wife and I must have been separated at birth, or something. I, too loathe shredded coconut (and not just because of the texture), but I’ll eat Thai food made with coconut milk (the flavor isn’t the same at all). And I hate licorice (and anise, and absinthe, and anything else remotely similar in taste). ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/32 "2022-02-03T14:14:09Z")
My appetite for unhealthy food far exceeds hers. She’s fond of bland foods, whereas I tend towards the more flavorful and spicy. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/33 "2022-02-03T14:19:31Z")
Don’t currently have an SO but in all my relationships I’m always the picky one. My most recent ex will eat anything and I’m sure it was sometimes boring for him to always eat the same kind of food but we did share some of the same favorites like Thai or Indian. We both like a good steak or burger. But the 2 things I eat almost every day happen to be the ones he detests: bananas, and peanut butter, which he charmingly refers to as “Biafra’s cack”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/34 "2022-02-03T14:30:23Z")
Mrs. J. and overall like the same kinds of foods\*, whether eating out or preparing them ourselves. I’m more “adventurous” in the sense of trying new things; the joke is that if her mom never served it when she was growing up then she’s wary of it. She had dire suspicions the time I picked a bunch of serviceberries from our tree in the front yard, but wound up making tasty serviceberry muffins and even eating one. Other “new” fruits and vegetables? She’ll pass, thanks. I’m also “adventurous” in the sense of eating stuff that’s been in the fridge longer than she thinks is safe or desirable. I get eye-rolling and admonitions like “don’t come running to me” if food poisoning ensues. \*there are rare exceptions like tomato soup which I find blech, and purple beets, which for me bring back bad memories of lukewarm cooked purple beets served at school, bleeding nasty purple fluids all over the plate. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/35 "2022-02-03T15:33:35Z")
My wife is Chinese-from-China, and you’d think we have more differences than we actually do. Mostly, ingredients are just the same between countries, taking away things that are exotic even by Chinese standards (most Chinese don’t eat birds’ nests or shark fins, unless as a novelty). - She won’t drink water that hasn’t been boiled. Not even our awesome, chlorinated, then reverse-osmosis-filtered tap water (which is delicious). - She’ll eat green salads, but for the most part, the idea of raw vegetables are almost repulsive to her. This means I get boiled lettuce in some dishes when she cooks. - She doesn’t like how Americans make whole fish or fish fillet dishes most of the time. Hers has to be part of a big soup with lots of other things thrown in. - Like so many Chinese, she’s okay with Cheese on pizza, but generally doesn’t like it anywhere else. Unless it’s warm, runny Camembert. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/36 "2022-02-03T15:38:48Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Like so many Chinese, she’s okay with Cheese on pizza, but generally doesn’t like it anywhere else. Unless it’s warm, runny Camembert. I thought the reason that Asians didn’t eat much cheese is because most Asians are lactose-intolerant. She’s not? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/37 "2022-02-03T15:44:00Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > I thought the reason that Asians didn’t eat much cheese is because most Asians are lactose-intolerant. She’s not? Yeah, I forgot about that. She drinks a lot of warm cow milk, so I guess not. Plus I thought that malady was on a scale, like how I can take a small bite of one shrimp, but if I eat a half dozen I need to get to the E.R. stat. ---
**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:** [February 3, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/38 "2022-02-03T15:45:35Z")
My wife never met a vegetable she didn’t like. She’s been trying to get me to eat salads for 30 years and we finally had a bit of a confrontation over it. Most salad greens upset my stomach. I can handle radicchio for some reason, and kale, but other greens, especially the darker jagged edged stuff really disagrees with me. My daughter is the same way. On the other hand, I’m fine with other vegetation (except beets). I think we finally got that straight between us. Otherwise, we both eat most foods. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/39 "2022-02-03T15:56:54Z")
I’ve bitched about this endlessly, but the late Mr. Salinqmind, with whom I was welded in Holy Wedlock for 35 years, had the palate of an 8 year old, and was dam proud of it. There were about 2 dozen things he would eat, mostly junk food, mac & cheese out of a box, canned hash, Spam - NAME BRANDS ONLY - and of course hot dogs, a whole bag of Doritos every day, and burgerfries coming out the azz. Never ate a green vegetable in his life. I am an excellent cook and adventurous eater, so I cooked separately for myself and daughter - real food - good food. He was content with rewarmed cooked hamburgers (I made a dozen for the week and he learned how to heat them) and toaster oven fries. We did manage to eat and enjoy many things as time went on but it was maddening over time. Started out a funny little quirk, turned into a passive-aggressive ‘feed the baby’ vibe. I know, I know, it was a matter of mouth feel and super-taster shit and things people on the spectrum have. Didn’t make it any easier when we were having Chinese food and he would sit there picking at a bowl of plain white rice. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703/40 "2022-02-03T16:14:32Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > purple beets, which for me bring back bad memories of lukewarm cooked purple beets served at school, bleeding nasty purple fluids all over the plate But didn’t that very thing inspire you to your current career? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-preference-differences-are-there-between-you-and-your-significant-other-would-be/958703.md?page=3)