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“Don’t Hate It Until You Try It”: 40 People Are Sharing Their Unpopular Takes On Food
Pickles wrapped in cheese, popcorn with beans and ice cream on meatloaf are just a few of the surprising food combinations Americans said they love, according to this survey. It’s not to say these pairings are must-try, but they definitely show just how unique our taste buds can be.
So when Twitter user Michael Realman called for “canceling each other over food takes today,” it hit a soft spot for many. Immediately, people started sharing their own “cancelable” food combos that hit all too close to home, or rather the kitchen, for the rest.
From ketchup on waffles to Nutella pasta, some of the pairings will definitely raise our brows but hey, who am I to judge when I put salt and pepper on my porridge! And if you too are no stranger to some quirky food combo, be sure to share it in our comment section!
Image credits: trichesfaucons
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Most of us have at least one eating habit, if not more, that chances are we developed way back in our childhood. The first year of life is a period of rapid physical, social and emotional growth, during which eating patterns also develop. During this first year, infants transition from consuming a single food (i.e., breast milk or formula) to consuming a variety of foods more characteristic of an adult diet.
Moreover, parents influence children's eating behavior in many ways. First off, adults actively make food choices for the whole family, serving as models for dietary choices and patterns. Children also learn about food by observing the eating behaviors modeled by others. For example, research reveals that children's intake of fruits, vegetables, and milk increased after observing adults consuming the foods.
Our food preferences, whether common or unusual, are also part of our eating habits that formed early in life. They often include unique food combinations, too. The registered nutritionist Charlotte-Stirling Reed, who’s the author of “The Baby & Child Nutritionist,” told Bored Panda that when it comes to weird food pairings, parents often have a preconceived idea of what “flavors” go together. “They find it unimaginable that their young children eat certain pairings. But little ones, especially during weaning, don’t have the idea that breakfast HAS to be sweet, for example, until we introduce that idea,” she said and added that “They might not see the problem of having a courgette porridge in the morning or avocado ice cream!”
This is a pretty common dish (specifically in the UK), so I don't see this one being cancelled.
Both of those ingredients bring my daughters IBS up big time!! Goes from a flat stomach to looking five months pregnant! Hard to cook without them but possible!!
“In fact, my children recently chomped through some fruit sorbet with a stick of cauliflower on the side (their request). Sometimes children just follow their own innate intuition of what foods and flavors they want at that moment,” Reed told us. She said that parents should be happy to see that and “let them go for it!” Moreover, the child nutritionist added that she has carrot, beetroot and courgette porridge options as regular breakfasts for her kids, “and to them that’s quite normal!” If you and your little one feel adventurous enough to try some of the Reed’s unique porridge recipes, check them out right here.
I don't see anything unusual? Not my favorite, but if there was a cookie shortage, I'd at least consider them.
Sensory scientists and flavor experts have been studying just what foods and flavors pair well with others, pleasantly surprising our taste buds. One such pretty widespread combo is pineapple and ham (but beware to never order this kind of pizza anywhere in Italy!), which seem to work perfectly together.
Paul Breslin, a sensory scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center and a professor of nutrition at Rutgers University, explained this combo: “Really fatty foods, like ham and other meats, tend to leave your mouth feeling fatty, which is an undesirable state. Enter the pineapple. The fruit, which is naturally acidic, cuts through that greasy mouthfeel, creating a balanced (and tasty) result,” he said.
Pears and blue cheese have a similar effect. Breslin says that dressings typically contain three components: fat, salt, and acid. In the case of this classic pairing, the blue cheese provides the fat and salt, and the pear does its part with the acid.
Meanwhile, Niki Segnit, UK-based author of The Flavour Thesaurus, argues that “there are many wonderful matches to be discovered, and you don't need a PhD in molecular gastronomy to start experimenting.” She told the press that “interesting and unusual flavor matches can be made with common store-cupboard ingredients, like cheese and marmalade, or chocolate and aubergine.”
This 2020 survey commissioned by SPAM found that 41 percent of American respondents were most likely to have discovered their favorite food combinations from family or friends. The most popular food combo Americans love is the dipping of French fries in their chocolate milkshake. Other top combinations were chocolate and popcorn or sour cream and onion chips with chocolate. Interestingly, over half said they’ll have a “freak out” if their different foods touch each other while on their plate, the same survey found.
Hear me out. Vanilla Greek yogurt, a spoonful of fig preserves, a good sprinkle of chopped toasted walnuts.
People put stuff in Starbucks coffee because Starbucks coffee is terrible.
You forgot the fact that they sit on the bottom of the ocean and eat all the fish poop that drifts down, and they are full of poop when people eat them.
OMG! Finally another human being that shared my aversion to Ranch! It's totally gross! My favorite food is bacon cheese fries. I ALWAYS get it without ranch, because ranch is just gross. I usually always get it WITH ranch because some brain surgeon in the kitchen thinks that EVERYBODY likes ranch. 😝
But i love wings and i hate bbq sauce. The meat is really tender, as its most meat near bone. They are delicious grilled in the bbq without sauce or a bit of herbs.
I like chicken wings with no sauce... Just salted and fried are great
Well, this is true for a lot of dishes though. It's the actual combination that makes it tasty.
i always eat the wings anytime i get a rotisserie chicken or if i roast one on my own.
This actually goes for most meat. If just cooked without tasty oils or condiments it tastes bland at best.
I eat unsauced wings because reasons. They're perfectly fine meat.
It's a balance of flavors. Chicken skin/fat, fried in oil, seasoned and/or coated in sauce brings out many different flavors. And boneless wings without seasoning/sauce are just chicken nuggets. Who doesn't love chicken nuggets?
...what? not true. I rarely ever get bbq sauce (don't really like it). basic salt and pepper is fine.
A good set of wings is baked with just the right amount of proper seasoning. With the proper seasoning and cooked right who needs sauce?
My whole life I have not been able to eat hot spicy food. So I prefer my wings to be edible and enjoyable, rather than a challenge or a bet, so I’ll continue to have them made with honey barbecue sauce instead, thank you very much.
Chicken wings are awesome with just salt and pepper IF THEY’RE CRISPY.
I just add salt and pepper and bake till crispy I do like blue cheese and hot sauce but my family eats them plain most of the time and they are amazing. One of the only things I make that doesn’t have a bunch of seasoning and sauces. It’s my 9 year olds absolute favorite.
As someone who went through the Keto diet for a year, I wholeheartedly disagree
LOL I noticed this as a kid. Give me the skin with the sauce and I'm done. Chicken meat is usually tasteless and dry.
I mean, you wouldn't love a plate of any kind of unsauced, unseasoned chicken, but go off I guess.
Sorry, but you're wrong. I love chicken wings. They're my second most favorite part of the chicken. Legs/drumsticks are my fave. Hate thighs and breast meat. If I do use seasoning for chicken wings, my first choice is roasted garlic with fresh thyme.
That could be said of most foods. Its the seasoning that makes it. If you dont have seasoning you dont even have salt. A great way to suck the flavor out of all foods really.
I don't like buffalo sauce or any hot sauce. The only problem with wings is lack of meat.
To be fair, I don't like larger pieces of unseasonably chicken either.
That's not true! My chicken wings are amazing with no sauce, everyone says so. They're called "Tanya wings" around here lol. I do use salt and pepper though.
I can eat a dozen wings and still want more- if they’re cooked the way I like them. No sauce, just herbs and crispy from the fire or a hot oven.
I really do not like eating anything with a skin still on. Or anything made from a mystery meat. Chicken wings are a no no for me.
Whenever we get fried chicken my mother actually prefers the little wings. Yeah the ones with no meat. So there are some psychopaths out there for sure.
... Which it's why seasoning is used to improve the taste of meats, right? Or do I like only the marinara sauce, salt and pepper, and oregano because plain ass chicken breast is not very appetizing? Think, man.
Chicken wings just have such a small amount of meat on them that it makes me sad. Although I will happily eat completely unseasoned meat, mostly because I don't care if it's seasoned or not
I like well seasoned chicken wings...but buffalo sauce, or BBQ sauce in general, isn't really my cup of tea. I don't like smoked spice sauces.
BBQ Sauce is my favorite sauce. I put it on Pizza, (sometimes) fries. etc.
That's why I usually get boneless wings. And yes, I know that's just chickey nuggies in sauce.
Honey soy wings are the next level. Add 2 tbl honey, 2 tbl dark soy, 1 tbl Franks Red Hot, 3 cloves garlic grated, 1 tbl grated ginger, 1 tbl lemon juice, mix and pour onto freshly cooked wings, coat them all over. Your taste buds will love you. images-625...623ea6.jpg 
If wings are smoked they don't even need any sauce. They're fantastic on their own
....I don't like buffalo sauce, I like eating unseasoned, unsauced chicken wings...all 12 or more of them.
You give anyone anything unseasoned and they most likely won't eat it. This person probably boils hamburgers
If there fixed right the chicken wings would taste like regular freaking chicken wtf.
Buffalo sauce is DISGUSTING! I'd eat a plate of plain wings over Buffalo sauce any day!!!
I mean who wants to eat any type of unseasoned chicken? Unsauced part I get but unseasoned is ridiculous. If somebody put a big unseasoned chicken breast on my plate I wouldn't eat it either
I do not like buffalo sauce. Wings well cooked are good plain, or w something other than a hot sauce
Naked wings are just fine if the wings are cooked properly. Brine your wings and they come out so much better!
If someone gave me a plate of unseasoned, unsauced chicken thighs, I would still think it's trash. Chicken is pretty bland as is.
You don't love burgers, you love the meat and condiments inside, if somebody gave you a burger bun with nothing inside you would realize it's trash and feed it to the birds. Duhhh people, it's simple logic.
"There are 3 stages in life - I hate olives; I don't despise olives and OMG OLIVES"
this might kill you but, i sometimes eat raw onions as a snack when i’m done grilling burgers, like chips. *powers up defibrillator *
I can't stand BBQ pizza, and also don't much like chicken on pizza, so totally disagree.
I've tried hot sauce on vanilla ice cream. It's an odd combo, but I've done it more than once.
If taste of flavourless grass is someone's thing...not judging but actually judging.
As long as it's medium rare, then I don't care if it looks like it was hit by a 4x4 and the grill left an imprint
Note: this post originally had 117 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
let me just say, after looking at some of these, i refused to look at the rest of them, and just came here to say that
What is the purpose of this post? Just don't eat it and stop judging what others do
"Hunger is the best sauce" ---- a proverb for a reason. When you're hungry, you'll eat anything. Been there, tried that.
There are a lot of these where i really wonder if they've ever had a good example of the thing they hate. Like nowadays, especially in Canada and the US, i can easily imagine someone who has never had good bread or a good tomato. It's sad. otoh, if they have and they just don't like them, fair enough
We have amazing breads and tomatoes in the US, lol! I grow heirloom tomatoes every summer and bake breads all throughout the year. Darn, now I'm hungry for warm, fresh bread.
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I like Hershey's chocolate and Goldfish Crackers. Probably the sweet and salty combo.
I thought I was the only one. It's one of the many weird food habits I've passed to my daughter. One of the others is pepperoni, jalapenos, onions, and pineapple on pizza.
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Skin on fries are not fancy. You're just too lazy to peel the f****n spuds!
that sounds like the best way to have rice pudding when you have no rice pudding I have ever heard
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Add another one. I've never even bought it. I tasted it once at my sister's house and thought I was going to die from a sugar overload. I don't understand the appeal.
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I suggest we cancel the cancellers. Why should anyone care what other people like or don't like to eat?
If we cancel the cancellers then aren't we cancellers and should be cancelled?
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With some of these horrible posts.. Do you upvote them (after all, this is a list of food combinations that should be cancelled) or do you downvote them, because they are just terrible?
I think we're upvoting the ones we don't want to cancel
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Cheez-its and black licorice are a snack sensation you gotta try at least once. Tastes like gourmet sausage
I don't get the love for those sickeningly sweet brown sugar and molasses concoctions some people think are BBQ sauce either, but a nice tangy or spicy sauce can compliment just about any meat.
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These folks are amateurs :) When I was 5 or early 6yo and alone at home while my parents were working and sister in school (my parents were quite trusting or that was a different time, I guess), I got hungry and started looking for something to eat. I ended up mixing bread crumbs with some sort of powder for instant vitamin drink and ate it dry. I liked it. Made it again quite a few times, especially while still a kid.
This list made me sad- half the food was things I can no longer eat, the other half food I have never heard of/tried :(
If you're referring to the peanut butter spread they try to pass off as peanut butter then you're right. It might as well be classified as icing. It's like saying miracle whip is the same as mayonnaise. I prefer natural peanut butter like Adam's. It actually tastes like peanuts. If you don't like peanuts then it really doesn't matter which one you try.
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Coffee creamer, straight outta the container. Pure chemicals, almost styrofoam, sure, nummy, yes!
Rice with anything is a crime against humanity. Absolutely revolting stuff.
For the most part, rice is just a filler carb. But, sushi wouldn't really be the same without it.
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let me just say, after looking at some of these, i refused to look at the rest of them, and just came here to say that
What is the purpose of this post? Just don't eat it and stop judging what others do
"Hunger is the best sauce" ---- a proverb for a reason. When you're hungry, you'll eat anything. Been there, tried that.
There are a lot of these where i really wonder if they've ever had a good example of the thing they hate. Like nowadays, especially in Canada and the US, i can easily imagine someone who has never had good bread or a good tomato. It's sad. otoh, if they have and they just don't like them, fair enough
We have amazing breads and tomatoes in the US, lol! I grow heirloom tomatoes every summer and bake breads all throughout the year. Darn, now I'm hungry for warm, fresh bread.
Load More Replies... I like Hershey's chocolate and Goldfish Crackers. Probably the sweet and salty combo.
I thought I was the only one. It's one of the many weird food habits I've passed to my daughter. One of the others is pepperoni, jalapenos, onions, and pineapple on pizza.
Load More Replies... Skin on fries are not fancy. You're just too lazy to peel the f****n spuds!
that sounds like the best way to have rice pudding when you have no rice pudding I have ever heard
Load More Replies... Add another one. I've never even bought it. I tasted it once at my sister's house and thought I was going to die from a sugar overload. I don't understand the appeal.
Load More Replies... I suggest we cancel the cancellers. Why should anyone care what other people like or don't like to eat?
If we cancel the cancellers then aren't we cancellers and should be cancelled?
Load More Replies... With some of these horrible posts.. Do you upvote them (after all, this is a list of food combinations that should be cancelled) or do you downvote them, because they are just terrible?
I think we're upvoting the ones we don't want to cancel
Load More Replies... Cheez-its and black licorice are a snack sensation you gotta try at least once. Tastes like gourmet sausage
I don't get the love for those sickeningly sweet brown sugar and molasses concoctions some people think are BBQ sauce either, but a nice tangy or spicy sauce can compliment just about any meat.
Load More Replies... These folks are amateurs :) When I was 5 or early 6yo and alone at home while my parents were working and sister in school (my parents were quite trusting or that was a different time, I guess), I got hungry and started looking for something to eat. I ended up mixing bread crumbs with some sort of powder for instant vitamin drink and ate it dry. I liked it. Made it again quite a few times, especially while still a kid.
This list made me sad- half the food was things I can no longer eat, the other half food I have never heard of/tried :(
If you're referring to the peanut butter spread they try to pass off as peanut butter then you're right. It might as well be classified as icing. It's like saying miracle whip is the same as mayonnaise. I prefer natural peanut butter like Adam's. It actually tastes like peanuts. If you don't like peanuts then it really doesn't matter which one you try.
Load More Replies... Coffee creamer, straight outta the container. Pure chemicals, almost styrofoam, sure, nummy, yes!
Rice with anything is a crime against humanity. Absolutely revolting stuff.
For the most part, rice is just a filler carb. But, sushi wouldn't really be the same without it.
Load More Replies...
