# What's the worst properly prepared thing you have ever eaten?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 27, 2017, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940 "2017-10-27T02:05:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/21 "2017-10-27T09:52:45Z")

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Jambalaya.

We were planning a work potluck. A co-worker, originally from Louisiana, promised to bring authentic jambalaya. Everyone wet their pants at the news.

I was happy to try it. I had never had jambalaya. It tasted like Satan’s colon. Everyone else was raving.

I have not tried it since, though I know many folks love it.  
mmm

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/22 "2017-10-27T11:44:04Z")

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Decorative kale.

We usually grow our own kale, harvesting and enjoying it well into winter, but this year we did not. Last weekend the local farm market had their own kale for sale, so my gf bought, prepared, and served some as an accompaniment to the grilled lamb chops I made.

The lamb was so delicious that it covered up how horrible the kale was. We both ate all the kale on our plates. I just assumed it needed cooked way longer, but it turns out it was not meant for ingestion.

My gf got a text the following day telling us not to eat the kale. There’d been a mixup when the seed order was placed, and the kale that was sown and harvested was a decorative, not culinary variety. I’ll leave it to the reader’s imagination to visualize what the next day was like for us.

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**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/23 "2017-10-27T11:44:33Z")

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A “Greek margarita” which was the drink special at a local Greek restaurant. Made with ouzo instead of tequila. It tasted like Ny-Quil.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/24 "2017-10-27T13:16:20Z")

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There are only two foods I’ve ever eaten that I’d never eat again:

Haggis. Also vegetarian haggis. They managed to make oatmeal taste like shit.

And Limburger cheese. Tastes like concentrated cat urine.

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**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/25 "2017-10-27T13:22:07Z")

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> [@Infovore](#):
>
> Vegemite. I tried it in college in the early 80s, and I _still_ remember how vile it was.

Yes! Vegemite is foul. I really wanted to like it too.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/26 "2017-10-27T13:52:29Z")

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I will gladly eat every rejected food item mentioned so far except haggis. There is no such thing as “properly prepared” haggis.

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**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/27 "2017-10-27T14:23:14Z")

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Who gets to define “properly prepared”?

Because, to me, the proper preparation of an oyster involves removing any pearls from the inside, and then throwing the rest away.

There are other people, however, who labor under the delusion that oysters are made of food. They have their own ideas about what do do with them.

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/28 "2017-10-27T14:25:16Z")

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Most offal and cooked carrots.

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**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/29 "2017-10-27T14:25:18Z")

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Veal; something about the texture makes me ralph.

Oysters; like eating a giant booger.

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**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/30 "2017-10-27T14:45:46Z")

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The list of food I don’t like is long but if I have to single out the one thing that has come the closest to making me vomit right there at the table it would be the time my mother made Chicken a la King. I don’t know why anyone would put it in their face hole and I really really cannot imagine what would make the parent of a picky child think that was going to be a successful experiment.

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/31 "2017-10-27T14:49:48Z")

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Vegetarian haggis.

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**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/32 "2017-10-27T15:01:15Z")

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> [@Projammer](#):
>
> I haven’t actually tried vegemite, but the by the description I’m sure I wouldn’t approve.

I feel the same way about any clam flavored beverage, especially those weird “clam-a-rito” beer things that Budweiser sells. I’ve never tried them but the mere thought makes me retch.

I like clams, the eating type. But who in their right mind decided drinking them was a good idea? And who the hell buys these things? They sell them all over and put them on billboards and such, so I imagine they’re somewhat popular.

For things I actually have tried, I have to say kale chips. Just god awful barf-flavored pieces of green cellophane. And everyone else loved them, so I have to assume they were “properly prepared”.

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**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/33 "2017-10-27T15:06:23Z")

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Lute fish, edible only if starvation is the only other alternative (and the people I am with are too beloved to cannibalize).

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/34 "2017-10-27T15:11:44Z")

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> [@DrCube](#):
>
> I feel the same way about any clam flavored beverage, especially those weird “clam-a-rito” beer things that Budweiser sells. I’ve never tried them but the mere thought makes me retch.
> 
> I like clams, the eating type. But who in their right mind decided drinking them was a good idea? **And who the hell buys these things?** They sell them all over and put them on billboards and such, so I imagine they’re somewhat popular.

Canadians. It comes from all those Bloody Caesars they drink.

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**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:** [October 27, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/35 "2017-10-27T15:16:57Z")

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> [@WOOKINPANUB](#):
>
> The list of food I don’t like is long but if I have to single out the one thing that has come the closest to making me vomit right there at the table it would be the time my mother made Chicken a la King. I don’t know why anyone would put it in their face hole and I really really cannot imagine what would make the parent of a picky child think that was going to be a successful experiment.

😕 My kids and wife love it! It’s just creamy chicken and veggies. What’s not to like? (And if it’s one of the vegetables, just leave it out). It’s one of the least offensive foods I could think of, and one of the few dishes that everyone in this family of reasonably picky eaters will eat. It’s basically chicken pot pie without the pie part, served on noodles. You sure your mom made it properly? Even my oldest daughter (3 1/2) who doesn’t like anything but meat and noodles will eat it. Sometimes even with the vegetables, too!

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**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/36 "2017-10-27T15:27:29Z")

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Sushi

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**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/37 "2017-10-27T15:27:40Z")

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Salted caramel. Just plain disgusting.

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**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/38 "2017-10-27T15:30:31Z")

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> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#):
>
> Lute fish, edible only if starvation is the only other alternative (and the people I am with are too beloved to cannibalize).

Lutefisk.

I’d have to say New York style pizza.

😃 (I keed, I keed).

Really though, it’s probably oysters. Living in the ‘heartland’ it’s hard to get fresh seafood so when I went to Houston I decided to try fresh seafood prepared by someone who knew what they were doing. I got a combination platter which included a couple of deep fried oysters breaded with a corn meal breading. I at one and left the other. Just not my cup-o’-tea.

Also, liver, tongue and heart. I tried liver once when I was young and threw up all over my plate. Never had to eat it again.

Rocky Mountain Oysters, too.

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**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/39 "2017-10-27T15:42:59Z")

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I went to an international food festival once, pickled herring was the only thing I couldn’t finish even one bite.

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**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-properly-prepared-thing-you-have-ever-eaten/799940/40 "2017-10-27T15:44:53Z")

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> [@jtur88](#):
>
> Whatever it was, it had a handful of cilantro flakes thrown on top of it just before serving. Probably in Costa Rica, where a handful of cilantro is the national dish.

Are you one of the group that [thinks cilantro tastes like soap?](https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/the-scientific-reason-why-cilantro-tastes-like-soap/)  
Me too.

> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Decorative kale.  
> …
> 
> My gf got a text the following day telling us not to eat the kale. There’d been a mixup when the seed order was placed, and the kale that was sown and harvested was a decorative, not culinary variety. I’ll leave it to the reader’s imagination to visualize what the next day was like for us.

Kinda falls outside the description of properly prepared, but point taken. They didn’t tell everyone not to eat it until after the meal? Sounds like some of my relatives.

> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> Who gets to define “properly prepared”?

For the sake of an argument, the people who enjoy eating it. There’s plenty of dishes list here that are great by me, and to quote a friend, “I’d inflict grave bodily damage upon a person for a good bowl of jambalaya”

> [@RealityChuck](#):
>
> Salted caramel. Just plain disgusting.

Now we just can’t be friends any more…😉

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