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When it comes to taste, we all have different palates and enjoy different foods and drinks. Some of us just love to try some new cuisines that offer us some never-before-seen dishes, while others enjoy more casual things. This is why there's no accounting for taste. But have you ever found yourself in a place where you tried something and didn’t like it a lot but continued to pretend to enjoy it? If so, you’re not alone. Reddit user @u/ExtremeCumMaster asked others online to share what is in their opinion that one food that everyone says tastes so great when in reality they just pretend to like it. The question “What food do you swear people only pretend to like?” received more than 37k responses that revealed some interesting and yet relatable answers.
While some people were interested in why others like to eat some less known foods that have a perhaps nasty-looking texture or smell and pretend to enjoy it, other users were naming things that they didn’t like at first but with time their opinion changed. How many of you also didn’t eat blue cheese or licorice because of its weird taste? Some Redditors not only mentioned foods but some drinks too, most of them being alcoholic beverages such as beer or vodka. One user also mentioned spicy food, knowing how some people love to eat extremely spicy dishes that make their mouth feel as if it's “literally on fire”.
What is one food or drink that you think others pretend to like when in reality they despise it? Don’t forget to share your answer in the comments section!
More Info: Reddit
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#1
Extremely spicy foods
I get liking a little bit of spice. But I don't see how it's enjoyable when your mouth is literally on fire.
RELATED:
#2
Stevia...there's absolutely no way someone enjoys that aftertaste. It's a weird cult that I'm not willing to join and such a dominant flavor.
OmBoyGanesh 3 years ago
Even in the smallest amounts it makes me retch. And that aftertaste lingers for what seems like forever.
#4
Extremely hoppy IPAs (if drinks can be included in the discussion).
I enjoy bitterness in my beer, and I know there are some good IPAs out there, but it's gotten to the point that breweries seem to be competing with one another to see who can make the bitterest, most unappealing beers imaginable. They taste like earwax.
ArodTheHorrible 3 years ago
I've always said it was an "Emperor's New Clothes" situation. He's still naked, and IPAs still suck donkey balls
#5
all artficial sweeteners
Ugh_What_Now 3 years ago
Monkfruit. Non artificial, none of the side effects. zero glycemic index. And it DOESN'T play tricks on your pancreas like sugar alcohols (artifical sweeteners) do. DON'T get the stuff at the store mixed with erythritol. Order pure monkfruit online or go to a health store in your area. It SEEMS expensive, but it's 200 TIMES stronger than sugar. Instead of a 1/2 cup or more of sugar in my gallon of tea I use an 1/8 of a TEASPOON of monkfruit. So the thing I bought three years ago is still half full.
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Jessica Cifelli 3 years ago
Splenda is OK. Sweet n Low in a pinch. Unfortunately I'm a diabetic and artificial is one ofthe few options
Thomson StClair 3 years ago
I've been using Splenda for about 7 or 8 years now. sugar in coffee just tastes gross and sickly sweet now.
Fergus Corgi 3 years ago
I will drink unsweetened tea or black coffee before I drink anything with artificial sweeteners in it. All of them taste different but they all make me gag for some reason.
David 3 years ago
Unfortunately, most of the artificial sweeteners actually make my diabetes worse (yours too) that's why I use Stevia or monk fruit.
Elaine Roberts 3 years ago
It’s not about you so stop taking it so personally.
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Got Myself 4 Pandas 3 years ago
I don't mind any of them to be honest - but I only use them in a cup of tea
Mario Strada 3 years ago
There are a couple that are not bad. Monk fruit is OK and can even be used in many recipes that call for sugar (like whipped cream, zabaione, etc.). Does it taste exactly like sugar? No. However, when I let my addiction for mexican coke run wild, I gained 20lb (10kg.) in three months. I am back to drinking Coke Zero and lost the weight. For me sugars are out of the question.
Shane S 3 years ago
I don’t mind stevia and don’t have any side effects but it’s difficult to cook with because it can be bitter. Sugar alcohols are all the rage with keto but they give me terrible, and extremely unpleasant bloating.
Seanette Blaylock 3 years ago
Be thankful sugar alcohols aren't having a laxative effect on you, as they commonly do.
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Paloma Vita 3 years ago
Some of them are pretty tasty these days... erythritol and monk fruit sugar in particular.
Bill Ferreira 3 years ago
Splenda is not an artificial sweetner. It is a synthetic sugar missing one carbon atom from the carbon ring that makes it indigestible. Therefore it is a suger with zero calories and doesn't cause the side effects of the true synthetics. BTW dextrose is sometimes added to sweeteners which causes diarea in people who are gluten intolerant whether IBS or allergic.
Evelyn Haskins 3 years ago
The ONLY use I had for artificial sweeteners was it helped my cut our sugar Sugar is addictive because one lloses the taste of swwweetenss, when you ea=consume it regularly, so you add more. Most foods taste better without added sugar, Truly it does not take long to lose your 'cannot taste sugar so need more" and your food will taste so much nicer without it
Anne Roberts 3 years ago
I've used these for years and they are fine. Foods with real sugar taste too sweet for me.
Lyone Fein 3 years ago
Unfortunately, there is mounting evidence linking artificial sweeteners to *increased* cravings for sugar. Additionally, scientific studies have now found evidence that use of these sweeteners may also increase one's chances of developing dementia.
Kris Vandenberghe 3 years ago
Almost all sweeteners are artificial, made in factories, like industrial sugar.
Jessica J. 3 years ago
Also, because they confuse your body chemistry, they can end up causing a person to gain weight. And they are extremely dangerous to dogs (probably all animals) for the same reason, but is more likely to kill your dog, than you. Keep anything with artificial sweeteners, like xylitol, away from pets. That includes toothpaste, mouthwash, anything marketed for dry mouth, gum, fat free yogurt, and so on.
Leila Orozco Francis 3 years ago
I use Sweet and Low in my tea because using regular sugar only makes me more thirsty.
Marilyn Russell 3 years ago
So yucky! I remember Sweet ‘N Low from when I was a kid and my mom would use it.
Jane Cortez 3 years ago
Yes, my husband. BUT he chooses. Sweetener in coffee, artificially sweetened pop. Then, a donut or two every day. I LOOK at a donut and I gain weight 🤷♀️
Tigara Akimoto 3 years ago
I love the taste of diet coke, and I honestly can't tell a difference (except in the amount I have to use) between Splenda and regular sugar.
Michelle Smith 3 years ago
Monk fruit is natural and good sweetener for diabetics with no aftertaste
Louise Clarke 3 years ago
Non sugar sweeteners give me a migraine, make me nauseous and cause hot flashes. Even the ones in toothpaste (which I obviously don't eat)
Diana Pahule 3 years ago
I just don't put sweeteners in anything except my baking, and only bake infrequently.
Bad Alchemy 3 years ago
Splenda and Equal aren't bad. I actually can't tell they aren't sugar if they are in something.
Jo Sargent 3 years ago
I'm usually in all Gung ho for sugar but for iced tea in a diner or restaurant, only s-n-l. Sugar doesn't dissolve in cold tea.
West Hermans 3 years ago
Most of them give me the poopies something fierce and I'll never understand why non-diabetic people would intentionally poison themselves.
James Methvin 3 years ago
Some are great, I get artificially sweetened water enhancers. The iced tea is very sweet without being cloying and no after taste. I think it has sorbatol.
Amanda Rose 3 years ago
I use Swerve. It's the best tasting (to me) sugar substitute I've come across.
StrangeOne 3 years ago
When I worked at Tim Hortons people would always be wanting Splenda or Sweet n' Low put in their drinks for them. It comes out of the packet the fine aspartame dust waifs up and that's all you taste throughout the shift.
rosalia gurkenstein 1 year ago
For everyone who is not a type 1 Diabetic artificial sweeteners should in general be fully prohibited. That stuff fully wrecks any healthy or struggling metabolism. It just bad for you. Weight gain really isn't that bad compared to that s**t. It's like the express lane to diabetes.
Michelle C 3 years ago
A lot of them contain so much junk that they’re rendered pointless. Aspartame and sucralose have specifically been linked to various types of cancers.
#6
I like a lot of stuff people are s******g on here, but I am in my 30s so I think tastes change as you get older.
Love me some cheese that smells of feet, anchovies on pizza and coffee strong enough that I see through time.
I used to go crazy for gummies, especially the sour ones. Now I find sweet things a bit, meh, I can take or leave it. But you'll have to prize a stinky cheeseboard out of my cold dead hands.
#7
Paper straws.
Unintended food.
#8
Fondant on like wedding cakes
#9
Grapefruit. People will be like "I love grapefruit" and then proceed to dump enough sugar on it to lose a foot.
#10
Oysters. Revolting.
GirlFriday 3 years ago
I was recently in Biloxi, MS for vacation and the oysters there were divine. Fresh harvested and chargrilled and enjoyed on the beach. I would go back tomorrow for more of those oysters.
#11
Tripe, the smell of it makes me gag. My dad loves it because his dad loved it.
THE BUCK STOPS HERE TRIPE.
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago (edited)
I'm white af but I was adopted at birth into a Mexican family. I grew up eating tripe (sometimes called "tripas" in Spanish). Menudo wouldn't be menudo without tripe. :) I can understand not liking it if you haven't been exposed to it properly. But please don't allude to it as "trash" or "dog food only"; there are many people that like it, and those are cruel labels for a food that other cultures eat and enjoy.
#12
Turkish delight, never quite did understand why that little s**t betrayed his family for some perfume flavored rubber in the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe.
#13
Cilantro.
Yes, I have been informed that I must have a gene that makes cilantro taste like soap. But you cannot convince me that the rest of you cilantro-collaborators aren't just pretending.
Edit: everyone saying "It tastes like soap to me, but I learned to like it" just proves my point. It's the culinary equivalent of Stockholm Syndrome.
ArodTheHorrible 3 years ago
It is a wonderful herb for those of us to whom it does not taste like soap. Salsa/pico wouldn't be the same without it
#14
Any of those keto substitute foods. Use your imagination as much as you’d like but lettuce wraps will never be as good as a real sandwich with bread
#16
Cat food. I mean come on, my cat can't like eating that every day. I think she's just being polite.
#18
Circus Peanuts.
There's no way people are actually out there enjoying those things, but enough people pretend to keep them in business.
#19
Kombucha
Chucky Cheezburger 3 years ago
My wife and I were outside doing something or other and was drinking this, and takes a drink and says to me 'Wanna taste my kombucha?" Well I had never heard of this stuff before. So with a look of shock, I ask her " Out here in front of everyone baby? I didnt think you were into that kind of thing. But if you really want me to, ok."
#20
Chitterlings. My mom-in-law made some at my house, and it smelled like a grown man s***ted all over my home and walls.
Marc Booker 3 years ago
Chitterlings are one of the vestiges of the history of enslavement in this country. In Southern Death Camps where enslaved people were held captive, they had to make do with what the Human Traffickers holding them gave them to eat. Often, after feeding the owners, the enslaved people took what was left to feed their own families. Such was the case with chitterlings, which, for those who don't know, are the intestines of a pig. To survive, the enslaved people often took what their owners wouldn't eat, and prepared and seasoned it in such a way as to make it palatable so their own families wouldn't starve on the meager food they were provided. In time, some of those dishes became delicacies. I personally don't eat chitterlings, but my many family members who came from the South still do.
#21
Stunt foods on Instagram. Pizza cones, Barria meat Ramen, and of course when they freaking drown a burger, and I mean waterboard it with melted cheese.
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
Also, those overstuffed sandwiches that have half a dozen different types of meat. What's the point? I can't fit the damn thing in my mouth, and the individual tastes gets lost in the maelstrom of meat.
#22
Overnight oats. It's what I imagine prison food to be like; sloppy and cold.
Edit: no topping makes this not true.
#23
Slugs
Edit: I am soo sorry! I meant snails! Not slugs
Edit the second: I see we have a highly defended culinary niche and I am willing to surrender! Please have mercy!
Do not eat slugs! Seemingly some of them are deadly! Oddly enough I am having so much fun reading through your responses and stories xD
Debby Keir 3 years ago
Snails need to be 'cleaned' before eating. I quote "Rinse them in cool water and prick out the meat with the tip of a knife. To remove the last of the slime, rinse the snails in a bowl of vinegar water (1/2 cup of vinegar per gallon of water). Repeat this process several times with fresh water and vinegar until the mucus is gone." serve with garlic butter and yum.
#24
Hákarl.
I can’t imagine someone coming in from a long day of work and tucking into a plate of fishy smelling, ammonia flavored chewy shark chunks that make you smell like a bait camp for the rest of the evening.
It seems like survival food - you will stay alive if you eat it, but it’s not appealing … to me.
If you’re Icelandic - please help me understand why this is a thing.
#26
Once upon a time I swore that salted licorice was the most vile thing ever to have graced our fair planet. However about a year ago my wife made me try some and much to my surprise, I liked it!.
Per-Ole Sjuve 3 years ago
It's a culture thing it seems. We in scandinavia love our salty licorice.
#27
Chicken feet
GirlFriday 3 years ago
I love chicken foot soup. It not only tastes good, but reminds me of family dinners in the winters when the power was out and it was cooked in summer kitchen. Ah!!!!!
#28
Any cookie with raisins in it. Those are an insult to chocolate chip cookies.
Stardust she/her 3 years ago
I think the reason raisin cookies are hated it because they look like chocolate so you feel betrayed when you realise. Personally I like raisin cookies made of oats
#30
Vegemite
Elita One 3 years ago (edited)
LISTEN UP NON AUSTRALIANS, ITS NOT NUTTELA. So many people who try it say its horrible cause they've spread it on like Nutella. Just toast a shitty piece of white bread, slather it with butter/margarine and spread like 5 grams on top, thats it. PERFECTION. Eat it like that and you can be a happy little vegemite too.
#31
Sparkling water. People are like "oh yeah, yeah I like it." But on the inside it's just AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
#32
Vodka...it taste like the walls of a hospital
Luke Branwen 3 years ago
I think any alcohol can fit into this list. I wonder how many people actually hate alcohol but drink it anyway because it's a social norm / because of peer pressure.
#33
There's an emotional reaction to foods (and other sensations) that develops over time. Eventually, it gets to the point that the food--regardless of what's disgusting about it--makes you feel something enjoyable and pleasant.
If I'd never eaten Bleu Cheese before, I'd be disgusted by it now. But, I unknowingly had some when I was 4 or 5 at a family Christmas party in a cheeseball. When I eat Bleu Cheese these days, it reminds me of warm happy Christmases of decades long ago.
#34
My roomie be eating squid out a can
#35
Chicken liver, my family makes it for every big holiday dinner, I’m convinced that no one actually likes it but they make it out of tradition and the older people force it down.
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
My mom used to make chicken liver pâté to Julia Child's recipe. I really, really dislike the smell and taste of liver, but loved the pâté. I also love Mother Goose liverwurst, but no other brand.
#36
Fruitcake
Benita Valdez 3 years ago
Not all fruitcake are created equal. My dad loved the stuff so I tried several and there are many different types; some delicious and some meh
#38
How the f**k can you like milk and water mixed?
OmBoyGanesh 3 years ago
What?! Is this a thing done outside of affordability and instead out of desire/preference/taste?
#39
Gefilte fish
Arcady Royzen 3 years ago (edited)
Canned one? Hell no. But traditional homemade? I will eat as much as I can, especially the one done by my grandma... that is all in the past though...old generation passed away and no one knows how to make it anymore...
#42
Balut
Kenny Kulbiski 3 years ago
Tried one once on a dare. If anything it tasted worse than it looked. Youth and alcohol were involved.
#43
Caviar. It's so salty.
Fun fact (cmiir): you're supposed to eat it with a spoon made of bone because using metal causes a chemical reaction thereby altering the flavor.
* ~ l a s a n y a ~ * 3 years ago
What about fingers then? Also does ANYTHING work? Like a bamboo spoon?
What do you think ?
Deborah Harris2 3 years ago
I've not heard of half of these and way too lazy to look them up :)
K- THULU 3 years ago
Durian? Don't mind the taste.... But the smell!! Like Satan's armpits....
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Marilyn Russell 3 years ago
Yum! I’ve made really good ones from scratch too. But why bother when you can open a can?
Load More Replies... Erik Ivan 3 years ago
If you like it, and it's fairly healthy - who cares if everyone else on the planet hates it?
norabest321 3 years ago
Truth! Some of these people with these extreme dislikes are in the minority. Except for the dog meat. That's pure evil.
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Yugan Talovich 3 years ago
Try drip coffee with better beans. I have a friend who grows and sells coffee. Ever since I drank black coffee at his orchard, I've never added cream or sugar.
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William Teach 3 years ago
Guacamole. Ick. Nasty green color, slimy, weird texture, almost no taste
norabest321 3 years ago
Whoever is feeding you this "guacamole" is doing it wrong. It can be heavenly if done right.
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Monica Hosky 3 years ago
Until recently I would have said Waldorf salad, but my mom has made it two weeks in a row and it’s one of my new favourite things.
Marilyn Russell 3 years ago
Okay fine - you’re right, they’re actually not very good.
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Holly Benedict 3 years ago
I would vote for Frisee. What a horrible little bitter, dirt flavored leaf. All the cooking shows I watched where they rave over a Frisee salad have me convinced to try it. Didn't even have to chew it to taste the bitter. And I like bitter most times.
SheamusFanFrom1987 3 years ago
Quick question: Anyone here ever tried porridge with boiled frogs? The texture... -_-
Yugan Talovich 3 years ago
If you've never tried nattō, be sure not to. Sticky, disgusting fermented Japanese beans, yuck!
StrangeOne 3 years ago
Caramilks. They even had to implement a search for some golden key to get more sales. Anyone think there's an actual metal key, and try breaking all the Caramilks at the store thinking you could just feel for it? I'm guessing it's not a real key. Idk.
Kookie Karnival 3 years ago
I hate Italian sausage. All I can taste is the fennel. So if I eat something with Italian sausage, my brain hyperfixates on the flavour of fennel.
C Hypercube 3 years ago
You all need a good famine and see what it feels like. Pampered species.
Alana Voeks 3 years ago
Life is too short to care about what someone thinks about what you eat. Opposingly, it's also too late to care about what others eat. Just enjoy what you do! (Except people's pets...even if their pet is something that's normally a food item where you are.)
Elysia Czubryt-DuVal 3 years ago
Bananas. Yech! Can't stand them. The taste, the texture, the smell. All gross. I can't even be in the same room as someone eating them. It's weird as, aside from bananas, I will pretty much eat anything. Plus, like everyone in the world seems to love them. I swear people often look at me like I said I like to eat babies or something when I tell them I hate bananas.
Tammy Wait 3 years ago
I have made comments and asked questions but never hear anything back, why?
Mam cymraeg 3 years ago
I don't like the taste of alcohol any it's weird but they all have a weird aftertaste thing that's the same it's hard to explain kinda like how you can feel cranberry juice on your tounge after But then again I am a fan of pineapple on pizza so I'm probably a psychopath lol
Natsu Dragneel 3 years ago
Nah. Took me 7 years to even try to drink a full glass of alcohol after I hit the legal age. I still can only drink theore fruity ones so I can't really taste the alcohol.
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Mam cymraeg 3 years ago
Omg yes it taste suck but it's the texture that gets me it yuk
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ZombieRedfox 3 years ago
I ate cooked chicken heart when I was in Tokyo. was really surprised at how good it tasted!
Hey! 3 years ago
I used to eat that when I was a teenager; my dad would buy a whole pack of them and I would fry them up. Miam.
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Deborah Harris2 3 years ago
I've not heard of half of these and way too lazy to look them up :)
K- THULU 3 years ago
Durian? Don't mind the taste.... But the smell!! Like Satan's armpits....
Load More Replies... Marilyn Russell 3 years ago
Yum! I’ve made really good ones from scratch too. But why bother when you can open a can?
Load More Replies... Erik Ivan 3 years ago
If you like it, and it's fairly healthy - who cares if everyone else on the planet hates it?
norabest321 3 years ago
Truth! Some of these people with these extreme dislikes are in the minority. Except for the dog meat. That's pure evil.
Load More Replies... Yugan Talovich 3 years ago
Try drip coffee with better beans. I have a friend who grows and sells coffee. Ever since I drank black coffee at his orchard, I've never added cream or sugar.
Load More Replies... William Teach 3 years ago
Guacamole. Ick. Nasty green color, slimy, weird texture, almost no taste
norabest321 3 years ago
Whoever is feeding you this "guacamole" is doing it wrong. It can be heavenly if done right.
Load More Replies... Monica Hosky 3 years ago
Until recently I would have said Waldorf salad, but my mom has made it two weeks in a row and it’s one of my new favourite things.
Marilyn Russell 3 years ago
Okay fine - you’re right, they’re actually not very good.
Load More Replies... Holly Benedict 3 years ago
I would vote for Frisee. What a horrible little bitter, dirt flavored leaf. All the cooking shows I watched where they rave over a Frisee salad have me convinced to try it. Didn't even have to chew it to taste the bitter. And I like bitter most times.
SheamusFanFrom1987 3 years ago
Quick question: Anyone here ever tried porridge with boiled frogs? The texture... -_-
Yugan Talovich 3 years ago
If you've never tried nattō, be sure not to. Sticky, disgusting fermented Japanese beans, yuck!
StrangeOne 3 years ago
Caramilks. They even had to implement a search for some golden key to get more sales. Anyone think there's an actual metal key, and try breaking all the Caramilks at the store thinking you could just feel for it? I'm guessing it's not a real key. Idk.
Kookie Karnival 3 years ago
I hate Italian sausage. All I can taste is the fennel. So if I eat something with Italian sausage, my brain hyperfixates on the flavour of fennel.
C Hypercube 3 years ago
You all need a good famine and see what it feels like. Pampered species.
Alana Voeks 3 years ago
Life is too short to care about what someone thinks about what you eat. Opposingly, it's also too late to care about what others eat. Just enjoy what you do! (Except people's pets...even if their pet is something that's normally a food item where you are.)
Elysia Czubryt-DuVal 3 years ago
Bananas. Yech! Can't stand them. The taste, the texture, the smell. All gross. I can't even be in the same room as someone eating them. It's weird as, aside from bananas, I will pretty much eat anything. Plus, like everyone in the world seems to love them. I swear people often look at me like I said I like to eat babies or something when I tell them I hate bananas.
Tammy Wait 3 years ago
I have made comments and asked questions but never hear anything back, why?
Mam cymraeg 3 years ago
I don't like the taste of alcohol any it's weird but they all have a weird aftertaste thing that's the same it's hard to explain kinda like how you can feel cranberry juice on your tounge after But then again I am a fan of pineapple on pizza so I'm probably a psychopath lol
Natsu Dragneel 3 years ago
Nah. Took me 7 years to even try to drink a full glass of alcohol after I hit the legal age. I still can only drink theore fruity ones so I can't really taste the alcohol.
Load More Replies... Mam cymraeg 3 years ago
Omg yes it taste suck but it's the texture that gets me it yuk
Load More Replies... ZombieRedfox 3 years ago
I ate cooked chicken heart when I was in Tokyo. was really surprised at how good it tasted!
Hey! 3 years ago
I used to eat that when I was a teenager; my dad would buy a whole pack of them and I would fry them up. Miam.
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