Put someone’s—anyone’s!—eating habits under the microscope and you might realize just how picky they are. Even if they say that they aren’t. For some folks, tomato juice is a sin that’s been unleashed onto the world. Others absolutely detest celery sneaked into dishes. Others, still, can’t stand it if the salad they order comes uncut.
Redditor u/ahfansaerdet started a discussion on the r/Cooking online community after asking everyone about all the things they dislike in dishes. Things that most people seem to love or that’s been accepted in the cooking world. And they spilled the beans! We’ve collected a list of everyone’s biggest culinary turnoffs, so scroll down to read what they had to say.
Bored Panda wanted to learn about picky eating, so we reached out to Dana Harron, Psy.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of Monarch Wellness & Psychotherapy. Dr. Harron is the author of Loving Someone with an Eating Disorder and runs a blog on Psychology Today called Living with Eating Disorders. Read on to see what she told us.
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Tails on shrimp that aren't meant to be eaten by hand.
I hate that! It's not that I object to using my hands - it's that it's messy. Just take the damned tails off?!
Cherry tomatoes just dumped into a salad whole so that they roll around your plate as you chase them with your fork. Halve them, people!
And when you bite them they squirt their tomato juice to the other end of the table
Those super huge sushi rolls that have like 4 layers of c*ap on top of them. Do I attempt to stuff this entire thing into my mouth at once and hope I don't choke? Do I try to take a bite out of it and have the rest of it completely fall apart and become impossible to eat? Fancy sushi has caused way too much anxiety in my life.
We were interested as to why some people are such picky eaters. Dr. Harron, the founder of Monarch Wellness & Psychotherapy, was kind enough to shed some light on the topic.
"Picky eaters usually result from a combination of genetics and environment," she explained to us.
"They may have more sensitivity in terms of food taste and texture, and then if they are not exposed to a variety of foods early on, they may begin to feel like they aren't able to eat a wide variety," Harron told Bored Panda.
When lettuce isn’t bite size - unless it’s *deliberately* served whole and meant to be cut up (say a grilled lettuce salad). But something like romaine or something in a classic Caesar, etc, I really shouldn’t have to cut it up more.
When there’s a crispy coating on a protein, but then when plating for aesthetics they cover it with a wet salad or sauce so that by the time it gets to the table it’s soaked through. I get that it looks nice, but I want maximum crunch from the breading and not soggy bread party seconds into my meal.
The clinical psychologist shared her thoughts on what someone could do if they wanted to try and expand their culinary horizons a bit.
"If someone is a picky eater, they can begin to expand their culinary tastes by trying small amounts of new and different foods," she suggested taking small steps at first.
"The only way to expand your comfort zone is to sit outside of it," Dr. Harron said.
"If this is extremely difficult, or your diet is extremely limited, you might want to be evaluated for Avoidant and Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) and receive professional support."
When you order a meat dish and half of it is fat. I had pork adobo yesterday and at least half the meat was pure fat. Immediately ruined the meal for me.
I'm really fussy like that. Only ever tolerate the leanest of meat. Why do some people looooove to chew down on fatty gristle?!
Uncut lettuce as salads. Just, for the love of all that's good, just cut the damn leaves so they fit on the fork then in my mouth without getting dressing everywhere.
The author of the thread, redditor u/ahfansaerdet, has some very understandable pet peeves about food. In their opinion, there shouldn’t be any bones in stews or sauces. They’re also not a fan of cartilage in meals. And that’s fair! Ideally, everything on your plate is edible and you don’t have to get messy with your fingers and/or napkin. Yours truly, for instance, deeply loathes fish that still has bones in the filet. I don’t want to think about the (tiny) possibility of choking while I’m trying to enjoy the exquisitely-prepared dish.
Meanwhile, other redditors shared their own dislikes. Some, for instance, can’t stand dishes that have shrimp with tails on them if they’re not meant to be eaten by hand. Others don’t like eating salads where the ingredients are mega-sized: they don’t want to cut everything themselves. Still, others can’t stomach ordering meat dishes that are half fat (yuck!). In short, people expect chefs to maintain certain standards, not take the easy way out while picking the ingredients, cooking, and plating everything.
Getting a salad that's not chopped is infuriating to me. I don't have a chef's knife at the restaurant table. This is especially egregious when the salad is served on a small plate and I have a dull butter knife. It's no wonder so many Americans don't like salads. They've never had a well balanced, chopped salad and instead get a plate of full leaves, giant rings of raw onions, and huge tomato slices on a freaking tiny plate. I'll even order, "can I get this salad chopped please?" And they will stare at me like I'm crazy and tell me that's not possible. Ok, then can I go back there and chop it myself? I know you have a knife!
Sir, calm down we are definitely not getting you a near a sharp knife.
Caribbean jerk places in my area all seem to just chop their jerk chicken with a cleaver in the most brutal way possible. While I love the flavor, I'm not fond of chicken bone fragments embedding themselves in my gums.
Truffle oil. I'm so glad the big truffle oil fad has mostly died down. Everything smelled/tasted like a stale armpit for a while.
While it’s fine to be picky about what you eat, it’s best to focus on the quality of the ingredients and to focus on healthy dishes, rather than to boycott something because you find the texture weird or it ‘looks icky.’ If you go down the latter path, you’re effectively limiting yourself. And it can be quite fun to expand your culinary horizons.
For instance, ‘So Yummy!’ points out that some of the top ingredients that people loathe include beets, olives, and cilantro. As it happens, they’re ingredients that yours truly has had a particularly tough time enjoying, growing up. However, after getting the initial ‘ick factor’ and trying the items in different forms and dishes, I’ve genuinely come to enjoy them. Personal growth? In a small but satisfying way—yes! Culinary adventures are a simple, fun way to spice up your life (though I still prefer my beets caramelized rather than raw).
Chicken stews/sauces/casseroles with bone-in chicken pieces. Why the F**K would I want bones in something sticky that I'll have to either awkwardly pick away at with a knife and fork, or have to pick up to eat, which will make my fingers all nasty. Also cartilage seems to fall off and/or somehow always make its way into your mouth so you'll have to chew it and spit it out.
Calling something "triple chocolate" and one of them is white chocolate. I'm sure white chocolate has a purpose but I just cannot stand it personally. It tastes like sickly sweet fat to me.
I only like White chocolate, it has a bad rep but its delicious :(
Big slices of onion in my salad. I'm going to have to pluck it all out to chop it up to distribute the flavor.
Just put chopped onion in a cup on the side.
As we’ve mentioned on Bored Panda previously, what foods you’re going to enjoy comes down to a mix of nature and nurture: specifically, it depends on your tastebuds, as well as what your relatives cooked for you when you were little. If you’re used to stronger spices because they’re what’s used in your culture’s traditional meals, you’ll be more positively predisposed to spicy food than someone from a different background. Meanwhile, if your parents avoided mushrooms or never really told you to eat your greens, you might find the texture too exotic to enjoy. As 'Your Kids Table' notes, some kids might simply be scared or anxious to try new ingredients.
If you’re a parent, you can always try bribery to make your kid try something new or nutritious. There’s nothing like the promise of ice cream or video games to improve someone’s chances of taking a bite out of that weird tiny tree-like thing they call broccoli. However, you shouldn’t force your children to eat something that they absolutely despise. Otherwise, you might create more negative associations in their mind.
Ocra... vile slimy weed.
Raisins in anything savory. I just can’t do it!
Arabic cookery often uses fruit with savoury. European pork with apple, beef with prunes, then becomes a tagine with chicken and raisins.
The amount of mayo used at a lot of sandwich and burger shops, I typically just go without. Nothing worse than a big glob of mayonnaise. (And especially if it's hot, even worse).
What are your biggest culinary pet peeves, dear Pandas? Do you consider yourselves to be picky eaters? What would genuinely need to happen to make you send back a dish at a restaurant? Feel free to drop by the comment section to share your thoughts with us and all the other readers. (And if you've got any fave dishes you'd love to tell us all about, we're always looking for fun recipe ideas!)
Raw onion. I realize that I am probably on an island on this one but for me, raw onions are one of those things that I just really, really dislike. I find the texture off putting and find once I bite into it, it just takes over completely and that is the only thing I can taste. I have the same reaction to green peppers (cooked or raw) as far as taste goes. Not sure if it's a genetic thing (like people who think cilantro tastes like soap or people who have asparagus pee) but something about raw onions and/or green peppers is just repugnant to me.
Oddly, cooked onions I am fine with as I am with yellow/red/orange peppers.
I am the exact same way regarding onions, even down to liking them cooked
Chicken and waffles. Chicken, I get. Waffles I get. But the two of them together make as much sense as to me as serving baked beans on lemon icebox pie.
While working in New Orleans, my chef made a fried chicken and waffle that would blow your mind. The secret was pure maple syrup, a sweet potato compound butter, and crushed corn-flakes in the breading. Tourists would be skeptical but always left happy.
My big one will always be using celery in a dish or cuisine that doesn't normally use celery.
Yes mom, it adds crunch. It also makes the whole damn dish taste like celery.
It's great for casseroles (particularly vegetarian ones) as it gives such a good flavour to the stock.
Nuts in bread. I like bread, I like nuts, but don't put them together, please. Bread is soft, it's weird to have crunchy bits floating around in it.
Raisins in oatmeal cookies, carrot cake, stuffing. All my favourite things I end up spend half the time digging raisins out
Lavender, roses, and orange blossom in food- save that stuff for the potpourri bowl, please. Also weird additions like chilis and basil in chocolate- chocolate is delicious, it doesn't need some savory spice horning in, that's just weird.
I mean didn't the Aztecs put chilli into their hot chocolate? Or someone did anyway, mind you that was old school chocolate, not the sweet milky stuff.
Fennel. I think it tastes awful and ruins otherwise well flavored dishes
Fennel should be slowly roasted or grilled and used with delicate flavours like salmon. But if you don't like aniseed, give up.
Artichokes. What a pain in the a**. And also a pain to cook for little payoff. But they’re so delicious!
Tarragon. Marzipan or other almond flavoured stuff. I can handle almost anything else but those two items, ugh, even the smell makes me feel bad.
my wife would always buy marzipan as a treat for herself. She knew I disliked it and so it was safe, unlike chocolate that she had to hide.
Green peppers. To me, they taste like dirty feet smell. So gross.
dang, didn't think they smelled strong at all! to me they just smell ✨fresh✨
Bitter spicy rocket (arugula)on an otherwise lovely sandwich or paired with a mild cheese or something delicate like crab or crayfish.
Raw onions in my salad sandwich or burger. No.
Sugar in marinara sauce. Absolutely gross and unnecessary, imo. Not everything needs to be dessert!
Sugar has its place in tomato sauces if the tomatoes are not quite in season and are a bit tasteless or even bitter. Then a small amount of sugar balances the acidity.
Ketchup. Almost always too sweet for my liking.
I personally loathe the stuff, but I know many people who love it. Ain't it great, pandas, that we can disagree in civility?
Excessive cheese on stuff (like all the cheesy foodporn stuff), cheese with strong flavor profiles + seafood, cheese with asian food, excessive sugar (like most 99% of cheap desserts), excessive use of cream.
Capers, i hate capers.
Another thing I love, add them to pasta and salads all the time. A vegan friend actually commented that they're the "anchovies of the vegan world" ...
Unlisted ingredients. Some 'fast casual' type restaurants are terrible for this unless you go poke around their website. I don't want to order a sandwich and end up with it covered in mayo, or find a bunch of raw tomato or steamed broccoli wasting space on my plate.
Parsley. It tastes like soap to me. And no I don’t mean cilantro. I like cilantro. I HATE parsley.
Ricotta or cottage cheese in a lasagna, get that s**t away from me, texture nightmare. Give me a good classic beschmel and I'm happy, but keep your grainy cheese mush out of my food lol
Restaurants only offering brioche buns and no other options.
I do like brioche but I dislike the lack of variety and options. It also doesn't always go well with the toppings and sometimes I want something more savoury.
What's wrong with offering sesame?
Brioche buns and hamburgers always seem like a weird combination to me, for some reason. I never feel like having one.
when blue cheese is put on anything.
Blue Cheese is definitely an acquired taste I think. I hated it when I was younger, you couldn't have paid me to eat it. But now Im getting old and I love it. Would have it on everything if it wasn't so expensive these days. Its even good on Pizza.
Marbled meat textures. They seem to be highly desirable to other people, but they are a sensory don’t for me.
I used to hate it. Put a scotch fillet in front of me now and it's gone instantly
The feeling of meringue on my teeth is the sensory equivalent of nails on a chalkboard. Add in that it’s overly sweet and I just can’t understand why it’s a delicacy.
Chunks of avocado on sandwiches. Chunks of avocado in sushi. Chunks of avocado in anything.
I have to disagree with this as well. avocadoes are food of the gods (especially with lime salt and pepper if you haven't tried that please do)
If you don't want your avocado, I'm here to help you dispose of it properly into this waste can affectionately called "My Stomach". Dispose responsibly people 😜
avocado on rice, my aunt used to do this when we dont have any left over dishes
I like avocado but get stomach pains if I eat it so I agree with this one, especially now it's super popular.
Maybe you have a slight allergy? Avocado in the morning soothes my stomach. It coats it with healthy fats. I didn't realize that I was allergic to unripe bananas until a few years ago. I thought they were supposed to make your mouth a little itchy.
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Avocado sandwich - yum - Avocado, onions, mayo with mayonnaise and salt and pepper - and if you have them - alfalfa sprouts
I really dislike fruit in savory dishes. Mango/pineapple pico or berries in a salad, those types of things are a a hard no. The only fruit that’s an exception is apples.
Hard no to apples, but for me a careful yes to mango in a dish. Anything else can be kept away from my savory meal.
Rosemary.
I begrudgingly accept its existence during the holidays, but will become irrationally angry if it's in a dish the rest of the year. It overpowers everything it's in no matter how little is used.
Roasted rosemary potatoes! I admit that I would put a little rosemary on everything, and luckily it can be made into a hair spray that I also use in the summer to repel mosquitoes when I mix it with other herbs. I also mix rosemary water for the sauna. The smell and taste of rosemary is just completely irresistible to me.
Horseradish. I'm a super taster and no matter how you try to hide it, its all I can taste.
Powdered donuts. The powder specifically.
Nothing better then forgetting to not breathe and sucking that powder into one’s lungs.
Not me, but my partner can't stand sweet and savory together. It's disgusting to them. Even some bbq sauces and ketchup is too sweet. I disagree and think honey glazed ham is delicious but they won't touch it
SAME. BBQ is nasty and anything savory (except a few cheeses and Asian food) with something sweet is gross.
Raw fricking tomatoes! I can’t say how many times I’ve asked for none and gotten them anyway, or menus that don’t list them on sandwiches or pasta garnish. I detest them and they ruin dishes either by seeping their vile watery ick onto sandwiches, salads, or burgers, or they adhere to a sauce so you lose half the sauce by scraping them off. Now I just send the plate back if there’s tomatoes, can’t deal with them. Also cilantro, it’s ubiquitous these days and also terrible tasting to me. Not in the soapy way of genetics, just generally gross. I don’t know how it became so popular even in Tex-mex dishes because it was never present in anything I ever ordered until about 25 years ago. Both are things I wish I enjoyed.
It’s sad because home grown tomatoes can be really good but most commercial ones are grown for looks, not flavor, and are therefore absolutely vile.
Mango and miso. I’ve tried them so many times, in so many ways and I just can’t stand them. I’m not the biggest fan of curry either.
Aw, guys. No need to downvote this just because OP dislike something you like. I found some people mentioned they dislike raw onion, raisins, olives, etc while I LOVE them so so so much. Yet I don't downvote them. It's just personal preference! I too love mango and miso, but here an upvote for you :)
I have no issues with bone-in meat - more flavour - BUT I hate it when the bones have bit chopped mid-bone, not just at joints. When I get a small piece of meat, I expect it to be bone-free. It's easy to eat around a full-sized bone.
I don't like melted cheese other than: mozarella (pizza, lasagna), eggplant parmesean, burgers, fondue, french onion soup, grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese (and iterations w protein/veg.) It does nothing for me at all when I see it on like a random chicken breast, steak or stuffed in most things that make no sense to me. They end up kind of salty, greasy.
Undercooked mushrooms where they are kind of slimy.
I agree about the mushrooms. I absolutely love them if they are cooked properly but they aren't pleasant if they are slimy. Can't agree about cheese, though. In my opinion, there isn't much that can't be improved by melting some cheese on it!
Chopped walnuts in desserts like carrot cake or brownies.
My mom’s candied yams. Canned yams mixed with booze and tons of brown sugar and cinnamon and then topped with marshmallows and baked. It’s so sweet…too sweet.
Raisins…I hate raisins. Great way to ruin a cinnamon roll.
Olives. If there are olives in it, I’m picking them out or skipping the meal. Black olives to me taste like a mixture of salt and the can they were in. Very metallic tasting to me.
Peas in anything but samosas. Fantastic way to ruin any dish.
Gherkins
You can pry my holiday gherkins from my cold, dead fingers.
This isn't about food trends as much as it is a rant against a food or how it's prepared or presented.
Yes, they hit around 3 trends, then it was just "I hate olives. I hate tomatoes."
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Highly unpopular opinion, but I hate nuts in my sweets. Chocolate with hazelnuts? No. I can tolerate almonds though. Cake with walnuts/hazelnuts/other? No. Snickers? Hell no. Now downvote me into oblivion if you please.
Why should we downvote you when you so clearly stated that it is your own unpopular opinion? :3 The only ones that could possibly be insulted are the mentioned rejected food items and I'll gladly take them instead :3 :3
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Honey mustard is awesome. Even better with a touch of curry powder.
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surprised no one mentioned pineapple on pizzas. personally, i love em! duuno why the hate by many.
there were multiple posts about unchopped lettuce, but does anyone else just hate lettuce in general? i’m fine with most other vegetables but i cannot stand the texture and flavor of lettuce, cooked or raw
depends on the kind of lettuce but i definitely agree with the texture thing
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The thing I dislike is random chili powder in everything, or mor accurately chili powder in general. I hate that stuff.
chili powder is bomb. but i think i love it. cuz my indian parents put it on everything.
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Under cooked aubergine (egg plant in America) Texture like blotting paper. Big fave for breakfast is toast with chopped tomato, Tahini and Tamari. Yum.
Reading this made me grateful to be an omnivore. The only food I really dislike is marshmallows, in any shape or form. Oh! And white chocolate.
I personally don't see why nuts and coconut get added to so many breakfast cereals. Even the "plain" granola has nuts in it! Or they put them in/on otherwise delicious baked goods (cakes, brownies, cookies etc) or ice creams but don't mention it on the front of the packet or on the menu, so I have to go hunting through the ingredients every time I want to buy some....
They are generally low GI which is why they are added to cereal
Load More Replies... For me its nuts in carrot cake. I love carrot cake, but not with nuts in it. Every single store that sells it though adds walnuts to it. I have to pick them all out before I can eat it.
Most of these "trends" are traditional foods in other cuisines. For me, a trend is like having everything stacked up on a plate, or serving French fries in a mini fryer basket so they are cold in 3 minutes. Or foods made with charcoal
I hate it when someone takes a perfectly good salad and then drowns it in balsamic vinegar. It was a big thing at cafes around here for several years and led to me outright hating balsamic vinegar generally. Thank goodness they seem to have gotten over it by now.
Smoked Paprika sprinkled on something. Yes, it looks interesting, but it wasn't included in the menu description, and I am intolerant of it, so please bring me my houmous/aioli/calamari/pasta/whatever without the sprinkles. Same applies to finishing dishes with chili oil. Just don't.
Those horrible pickled green bell peppers that pizza joints use. They're bitter, mushy, slimy worms of sadness, and they destroy the other flavors on the pizza. Please use fresh peppers.
This isn't about food trends as much as it is a rant against a food or how it's prepared or presented.
Yes, they hit around 3 trends, then it was just "I hate olives. I hate tomatoes."
Load More Replies... Highly unpopular opinion, but I hate nuts in my sweets. Chocolate with hazelnuts? No. I can tolerate almonds though. Cake with walnuts/hazelnuts/other? No. Snickers? Hell no. Now downvote me into oblivion if you please.
Why should we downvote you when you so clearly stated that it is your own unpopular opinion? :3 The only ones that could possibly be insulted are the mentioned rejected food items and I'll gladly take them instead :3 :3
Load More Replies... Honey mustard is awesome. Even better with a touch of curry powder.
Load More Replies... surprised no one mentioned pineapple on pizzas. personally, i love em! duuno why the hate by many.
there were multiple posts about unchopped lettuce, but does anyone else just hate lettuce in general? i’m fine with most other vegetables but i cannot stand the texture and flavor of lettuce, cooked or raw
depends on the kind of lettuce but i definitely agree with the texture thing
Load More Replies... The thing I dislike is random chili powder in everything, or mor accurately chili powder in general. I hate that stuff.
chili powder is bomb. but i think i love it. cuz my indian parents put it on everything.
Load More Replies... Under cooked aubergine (egg plant in America) Texture like blotting paper. Big fave for breakfast is toast with chopped tomato, Tahini and Tamari. Yum.
Reading this made me grateful to be an omnivore. The only food I really dislike is marshmallows, in any shape or form. Oh! And white chocolate.
I personally don't see why nuts and coconut get added to so many breakfast cereals. Even the "plain" granola has nuts in it! Or they put them in/on otherwise delicious baked goods (cakes, brownies, cookies etc) or ice creams but don't mention it on the front of the packet or on the menu, so I have to go hunting through the ingredients every time I want to buy some....
They are generally low GI which is why they are added to cereal
Load More Replies... For me its nuts in carrot cake. I love carrot cake, but not with nuts in it. Every single store that sells it though adds walnuts to it. I have to pick them all out before I can eat it.
Most of these "trends" are traditional foods in other cuisines. For me, a trend is like having everything stacked up on a plate, or serving French fries in a mini fryer basket so they are cold in 3 minutes. Or foods made with charcoal
I hate it when someone takes a perfectly good salad and then drowns it in balsamic vinegar. It was a big thing at cafes around here for several years and led to me outright hating balsamic vinegar generally. Thank goodness they seem to have gotten over it by now.
Smoked Paprika sprinkled on something. Yes, it looks interesting, but it wasn't included in the menu description, and I am intolerant of it, so please bring me my houmous/aioli/calamari/pasta/whatever without the sprinkles. Same applies to finishing dishes with chili oil. Just don't.
Those horrible pickled green bell peppers that pizza joints use. They're bitter, mushy, slimy worms of sadness, and they destroy the other flavors on the pizza. Please use fresh peppers.
