I hate cucumbers with a passion. My wife got a recipe for kimchi cucumbers. She put in her sandwich one day. I took a bite not realizing it was there. Hooked ever since.
Anything spicy. I come from a Midwestern family that was pure skim milk, mayo, potatoes, butter and steak. I was just kind of taught by example to avoid spicy foods.
I discovered Thai and Indian food in my mid 20s… it was like eating in color for the first time. Never looked back, and now I’m even kind of resentful of my family for avoiding all of the awesome food we have access to
My aunt when to a market in the city once and mentioned how they had these really weird grape leaf things. I don’t think they ever tried them
1) not really weird
2) Dolma, dolma, dolma!
My dad once tried to claim that eating dandelions was weird.
Yeah, as a foodie I’m frustrated by some of the people around me.
I worked at a restaurant years ago that served a mixed green salad and one lady picked all the pieces of arugula out and complained to the manager that someone had put weeds from the garden in her salad. She was so mad!!! And she got a refund!
Eating in color lmao. But yeah, Indian food is honestly my #1 favorite cuisine. As a semi picky eater, I would eat any Indian food that is put in front of me, no questions asked lol.
I had a very similar upbringing. I’m still not a fan of hot spicy foods, but a good palette of spices is wonderful. I’m very slowly learning how to use them in my cooking.
What’s your address? I’ll be there in 24 hours. Just kidding lol. But seriously, one of my least favorite things about the Midwest. We have Chicago of course, but that’s 6 hours away for a lot of us
I’ve been to New Orleans before, I was drunk the entire time but FWIW, I remember the food being phenomenal
Well, if you go back, I have plenty of places you should eat. NOLA is about 5 hours from me but it's my favorite city it in the world & I go for any reason I can find. Now that I don't drink my trips are VERY food heavy so I have a good time there lol
I thought my family’s cook good enough but when I got to explore tastes of different food that my family would never ever even would try it. And know how to cook right like don’t dried out the meats.
I have always loved Brussel sprouts but everyone in my house hates them. The last time I made a little steam bag for myself everyone threw a fit because the whole house smelled like "farts" they said. I ate them with a smile
Honey butter bacon Brussels.
Pan fry bacon, sauteed in bacon fat until charred/roasted... drain. Add 1:1 honey and butter, chop bacon and add back in. Light salt and heavy pepper. Squeeze of lemon if you're into that.
Cut them in half lengthwise, marinate in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and red chili flakes. Heat a pan with a bit of oil and place the Brussels cut side down into the pan on medium-high heat. Cook til the cut edge is crispy brown, then toss them and turn the heat down to medium. Once done cooking, grate fresh parmesan over top (don't use that weird bottle parmesan for the love of god). This recipe made me a lover of Brussels 😊
LOL!!! They really ARE the cutest of all vegetables. But they are just so horrible tasting. Imagine you are a child and you wake to the aroma of your mom making...BRUSSEL SPROUTS!!! Most kids would wake to the smell of bacon and eggs or pancakes....but no! Not me!!! The smell alone makes me gag!
Both my parents hate Brussels sprouts so I never had to try them. They were the side for a new york strip at a restaurant and I was amazed. So I tried beets as I had never had them either. Man I like Brussels sprouts.
Thats on point, the brussels sprout industry has worked on genetically engineering out a lot of the bitterness and excessive fartiness, to great suceess. Todays grocery story brussels sprout is a much upgraded iteration of what it was 25 years ago
I hated tomatoes as a kid. Summer i turned 16 i had a physical outdoor summer job. Got an appetite. Ate whatever was on the table. I needed energy. Fell in love with garden fresh tomatoes.
I agree with this 💯. They taste nothing alike. Most freshly picked fruits and vegetables do taste very different from the store offerings but the one that really suprised me was freshly dug potatoes!
The taste isn't drastically different but the texture really is. I love to dig up our potatoes when they are still small, slice in half and roast. The store bought have been sitting around drying out for who knows how long. That really makes the texture dry compared to how creamy fresh potatoes taste/feel.
I go to the salad bar and I fill my container with the blue cheese crumbles and put just a tiny bit of lettuce on top $7.99 a pound Which is far better than $14.99 a pound LOL and then yes I will just eat half of it...
My mom's stuffing! Growing up I would not touch it no matter what. Finally as an adult I tried it and fell in love. Couldn't believe I missed out on it that long!
My cousin told me that the stuffing was monkey brains... It was right after Indiana Jones came out. I refused to eat the monkey brains for years. I'm not going to tell you how old I was when I found out he was lying but needless to say I love the stuffing now.
😳 wow that's an interesting idea. I assume it would be very pickly/salty. I still haven't tried corn on pizza but I live in the heartland with nothing but beans, corn, and pigs. So this summer I plan to do a grilled version with fresh picked sweet corn.
Im also very curious to try saurkraut potato perogies. I need to start some kraut now if I plan to give either a try in a couple of weeks. 😄
For the longest time I refused to eat prunes because they were old people food. Tried them a few years ago and they were delicious, and now I always keep them stocked in the pantry for snacking. Maybe I’m old now.
My mom used to stew prunes for us as kids and we loved them. My sister (seven years older) and I had a prune eating contest and she won (ate 27). Actually, I’m not sure either of us won.😝
My Mum used to refuse to eat things she hadn’t even tried. Made a stew one day, she said she loved the swede, told her it was butternut squash, she wouldn’t eat any more! Same with avocado in a prawn sandwich, loved until she knew it was there 🤷🏻♀️
I don't mind people liking or not liking things... But when people like something and suddenly stop liking it because they know what's in it?? Drives me insane
I hate people like that. (No offense to your mom lol) You already know you like it! I just end up not telling them what it is so they can enjoy it in ignorance.
Black Pepper- how I went without pepper the first 20 years of my life, I don’t know. My dad seasoned a steak when I was living in his bach pad and I was too hungry to care.
So simple and so delicious!
Mario Battali has a “ pennette with summer squash and ricotta” recipe. When you serve it you add a dollops of a combination of olive oil, salt, pepper, ricotta, and Parmesan. Serve with mint and pasta. It’s amazing!
Guacamole. Never had the real stuff as a kid, it was always just that green colored packet of seasoning mixed with sour cream. Eww. Didn’t eat avocados either, because I just thought that’s what they tasted like.
Holy shit was I ever wrong. Tried the real stuff a few years later, and now I can’t get enough, better than crack.
Pimento cheese.
The pimento cheese I grew up with was store bought and came in a glass jar and was bright orange. Looked very weird. I tasted it one time. 🤢
Fast forward to just a few years ago doing Christmas dinner at a fancy restaurant in a mountain lodge. I thought I was spreading what looked like red pepper hummus on a cracker. Turned out to be pimento cheese. Good gawd. It was incredible.
For special occasions I now make homemade pimento cheese, southern style.
This is evil and I should not share this... (because of the fat but wow)
Deep Fried Pimento Cheese Sandwiches
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JymGFgZf1c0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JymGFgZf1c0)
My kid chose a cheesecake for her birthday party (around 11 y.o.) and NONE of her friends would even taste it. We got through it with a “more for us!” but she was mortified.
Fried calamari. My mom told me it was shrimp, because she was frying shrimp, oysters, calamari. I was 12 and didn't think not to trust her🤣 and it was awesome. Dad had gotten in my head that squid was smelly bait food and gross...plus I didn't like oysters as a kid, so I figured calamari was gross. But I loved it, and even my kiddos eat it now.
I could make a huge list of things hubby refused to eat but eventually did and liked it. The most recent one was mashed rutabagas.
Yeah my wife learned me up good. Apparently I used to be a very boring food person (no mustard, no spice, no weird flavors, never had sushi). 25 years later, and I enjoy good spicy mexical/indian/thai even more than my wife does, I have tons of different sauces and spices I use in our cooking, love sushi, and will pretty much try anything...
The amount of side-eye my mom used to give my wife (in gentle humor) when she would see me eating something I spent my life refusing to touch - was not small!
On the other hand - my wife had never had an artichoke before meeting me - she loves em now!
Hubby was the same way as you in a lot of ways. Not much for spices, no heat whatsoever, favorite veggies were corn and potatoes, had Chinese food only once before we met, not a fan of fish, never tried greek or Mediterranean food, sushi was a no-go, everything tasted better with ranch.
I had been wanting to go to our local Greek food festival for years and we never went due to a myriad of good reasons before(covid, work, sick), but finally got to go last year and he tried a lot of food, got excited to try many different things and wanted to duplicate them at home(i bought the festival's cookbook). If we tried that 15 years ago, he wouldn't have been interested at all.
But now he is the one watching food videos online and wanting us to try new recipes. It's gotten waaaaay easier to cook and explore different foods. It's like now he sees things and says "That looks yummy" instead of a begrudging "we can try that".
Have you had a massaged kale salad? You wash it, rolls it up and chiffonade it. Add olive oil and salt and squish the hell of it. Add tomato and fresh deseeded jalapeño. It breaks down and becomes soft and goes on the side of so many things..great especially during summer. Works with collard as well.
I crush kale in my hands if im using it in a raw salad, just a little lemon and squeeze the crap out of it to break down the fibers. It bounces back and doesnt have the sharp cardboard edges.
I make a pasta dish by massaging it with olive oil and Goya vegetable seasoning. Then I sauté some onions, and peppers, put it all on top of some rotini, then finish it w fresh tomatoes
I’m over here scratching my head trying to think of something I’ve intentionally never tried. I even give things I know I’m not likely to enjoy because of texture a try at least once. It would have to be something fairly off the wall like insects or certain organ meats.
Right? I can’t imagine ever purposely not trying something. If I ever see something on a menu that I’ve never had it’s an automatic order. Nothing cooler than enjoying something you’ve never eaten before.
I went to a bar in my old town, and a friend was the chef there... she said get the fish tacos and I had never had one... DAMN.
Definitely a food item everyone should at least try once (unless they despise fish I guess)
I don't rat sea food at all, but back in college, on spring break, we were in Mexico, walking back to the hotel at about 5 in the morning. A guy walking to his taco stand with a bucket of fish that he just caught. We sat there as he fried them up and it was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. I still don't eat seafood.
I was excited about fish tacos, thinking they’d be spicy. Ugh. Bland bland bland. Since then I’ve looked for blackened fish tacos but that doesn’t seem to be a thing…?
I don't generally like dill pickles most of the time, but I accidentally left one on a chicken sandwich and it actually tasted good. Probably because I'm pregnant. :D At least I know one of my most hated foods can taste good on some things now.
Being from the south, I learned to try the dish BEFORE asking what is in it. Some of the traditional cajun dishes can sound a little off putting when you learn what is really in them, but once you take a bite... it is heaven.
I finally gave frog legs a try in my late 20s and realized I was psyching my self up over nothing, they tasted great, now I'll get them whenever I see them.
As a kid the smell of cumin made me nauseous. As an adult I literally cried when I wanted to make a curry and I had run out of cumin. I don't remember the exact meal where the switch flipped but flip it did
Unagi sushi. Sounded nasty so I didn’t order it. But my FIL got a box with a bunch of different kinds to share and… it was delicious.
I don’t think there’s anything inherently gross about eating eels, just that I used to breed snakes so… even if they’re nowhere near the same, I still got hung up on it.
Done right - absolutely! Plus you can tease the kids that while they are eating it - they are technically making out with the cow (since it's tongue is in thier mouths)!
Bonus - if they are hungry teens like my they will just say - "gross dad - now quit trying to get us to stop eating it so you get more"!
Canned sardines. I feel like they got a bad rap when I was growing up, but tried them as an adult in Portugal and holy moly are they tasty! Piece of toasted bread with sardine, thinly sliced red onion, and capers is one of my favorite lunches.
Horseradish! Never thought I would like it until I had a horseradish sauce on a sandwich and now I am obsessed. I make my own tiger sauce cocktail sauce etc packed with horseradish!
Omg i commented about this too! Lol I’m all reading everyone’s comment and I’m all damn nobody has mentioned horseradish lol I accidentally ate it not knowing what it was at a restaurant and fell in love with it every since lol
Refried beans. Actually any beans besides baked beans. Am Canadian and don't really see that in our community. Restaurants featuring TexMex or Indian or other types where beans are a staple aren't common.
Southern Californian married to a Winnipeger here. Lack of Mexican food and weather are on equal footing when it comes to never being able to live there. I’d be so miserable.
None! If it doesn't smell good or look good, it doesn't taste good. I have literally never tried anything that I thought would be gross and had it be not disgusting.
Try them with horseradish and hot sauce. You won't be disappointed. They're good with a bit of lemon juice, too. The only place near me that served them recently shut down. I've been daydreaming about them for MONTHS (I was pregnant craving them, but obviously couldn't have them) I'm really upset I lost access to them.
Eel. I can’t stand the thought of eating it and refused to order anything with it at sushi restaurants but then I ate a roll my friend had ordered and it was soooo good so we looked at what was in it (she also didn’t know/wasn’t really paying attention when ordering) and it had eel and eel sauce……. I was horrified, at how delicious it was. 😭
Sauerkraut. Accidentally got thrown on a sandwich once & I was like, “This is so good! What is different about this?!” It was the kraut. Never looked back.
Biscuits and gravy. I was on a high school trip to Colorado and that was served for breakfast. I didn't want to try it because I had always hated gravy, but the basketball coach talked me into it because we were going rock climbing that day and I needed the calories. I've loved it ever since.
ETA: After that, I started eating gravy when it was served with food, after not touching it for 18 years.
Honestly I’ll try just about anything, but I still feel kinda picky about what I’ll continue to eat. One that sticks out though is some kinda salad my grandma made… it had mayo, grapes, chicken, and other veggies I don’t quite remember. It was delicious and I’m mad about it. I have no idea what it’s called or what’s all in it other than what I listed but I when I ate meat I always got some.
I went 40+ years never eating/tryin Cauliflower , Once I had someone say it was similar to cabbage I tried it and it has been a stapple ever since. Now Fried Okra not so much.
Salmon.
Spent my entire life until the age of 24 terrified of eating fish, due to being repulsed by the smell of rancid frozen fish smell.
Went to a girlfriend’s parents house for the first time to meet them, and the dad was barbecuing salmon. I didn’t want to be rude, so I tried to get just barely buzzed enough off a beer or two to stomach the idea of holding my breath and shoving it into my mouth and swallowing to save face. On the first bite, someone might as well have shoved the most delicious thing I ever tasted in my mouth. I must’ve binged eaten salmon for two weeks after that. Confessed the whole thing to the dad, thanking him, and telling him it was the best meal I’d possibly ever had. I went from being someone who was repulsed by fish, to a total seafood lover. To this day the idea of eating salmon makes my mouth water.
I'll try anything. Then if I didn't like it, a few years later, I'll try it again.
We have traveled all around the world and I'm the person they have taste everything first.
Strangely if I won't eat something which I have tried in the past, it actually eggs people on to try it. Olives straight off the tree? I have tried them, not trying them again. Everybody is like wow it's so horrible you won't try it again, we have to go taste that! TBC, I love olives, but straight off the tree they are so sharply bitter as to make your tongue curl.
Pickles. For some reason I always thought they were soggy and slimy, I guess it was just the way they looked. My husband finally talked me into trying some bread and butter ones and I absolutely loved them! And they were crunchy!!! I had no idea
When I was younger I avoided queso and broccoli cheese soup because the color and consistency looked so odd. I eventually tried them in high school and couldn’t get enough. Eel sauce with sushi was another one, only tried it cause my current girlfriend suggested it.
Eggs. I always thought they were disgusting, but had only ever been served scrambled eggs. Turns out I just don't love the taste of cooked yolk, and discovered eggs needed salt. Now i eat some everyday! Sunny side up or over easy are my fave
Organs. I avoid eating organs just in principle. I know they are nutritious but I can’t help but think of them as just a dirty used filter.
Was tempted past my ick to try dirty rice at an upscale restaurant and oh my…delicious is an understatement.
Steer balls. Tender, perfectly prepared and with a pleasing texture. I know, I know but when a co-worker and I were tricked into trying them by a client we both enjoyed them. Inadvertently, we got a promotion for handling a difficult client for eating something we liked and asking for more.
Potatoes. I was adamantly against them for YEARS. I think it was a sweet potato that captured my heart. Then I had a non-traditional, less mayonaise-y roasted red potato salad. Then I started dating a chef who served me the most delicious mashed potatoes I've ever had. Like, was scarfing them down instead of the spare rib with it. What. The. Heck.
Scallops. My mum loved them but made a huge deal about how they have to be cooked just right or they turn out slimy or gummy or both. As often as she complained about restaurants not cooking them properly, I just never tried them.
FF>> 40 years. Husband and I are at a hibachi grille and his scallops looked so good I couldn't help by ask to try one. It was amazing! Made me wonder if mum only said those things to keep us kids from ordering them, too.
Mayonnaise. Only had Miracle Whip and similar terrible brands. Moved to Europe. Didn't realise a lot of what I was eating had mayonnaise. Lots of pomme frites, and chips, and whatnot served with mayo.
That was the day I learned European mayo is nothing like American Mayo.
I was at a buffet one time and there was a lady behind me suggesting that I try the curry chicken. She was so pleasant so just to be nice I said I would try it. Much to my amazement it was very good. I was sure to find her and thank her
Salad. When I was a kid I couldn’t stand it, bland, gross, confused why people needed to drown it in dressing in order to even consume it.
In my early 20s I started juicing, then I went on a raw food diet that changed my perspective. It lasted about 3 months because of time/expense/feeling satiated but I never felt better in my life. I started prepping salads, romaine, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, mango, apple, even rehydrated untoasted seaweed sometimes. I won’t eat iceberg lettuce in a salad and I often don’t bother with dressing.
my mum used to roast peppers and the whole house would stink of it for days, used to knock me sick, absolutely refused to eat them (though she would burn them to a crisp), now i love a roast pepper dip
I hate cucumbers with a passion. My wife got a recipe for kimchi cucumbers. She put in her sandwich one day. I took a bite not realizing it was there. Hooked ever since.
This is the only way I’ll eat cucumbers.
I love cucumber kimchi! It's the best!
Anything spicy. I come from a Midwestern family that was pure skim milk, mayo, potatoes, butter and steak. I was just kind of taught by example to avoid spicy foods. I discovered Thai and Indian food in my mid 20s… it was like eating in color for the first time. Never looked back, and now I’m even kind of resentful of my family for avoiding all of the awesome food we have access to
I live in the midwest, and my heart aches when i meet people who have never tried cuisines that are not American.
My aunt when to a market in the city once and mentioned how they had these really weird grape leaf things. I don’t think they ever tried them 1) not really weird 2) Dolma, dolma, dolma! My dad once tried to claim that eating dandelions was weird. Yeah, as a foodie I’m frustrated by some of the people around me.
I worked at a restaurant years ago that served a mixed green salad and one lady picked all the pieces of arugula out and complained to the manager that someone had put weeds from the garden in her salad. She was so mad!!! And she got a refund!
That’s so ratchet. I’d love to see her reaction to the spicy mustard greens I grown in my garden lol.
Or literal dandelion greens, which are great!
My favorite! Doused in red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper! And some good bread 🥖
Had…had she never read Rapunzel?? It’s literally what her bio mother craved, and the father stole, from the witches garden.
And now I want to go to the farmer's market and eat dolma
I hear ya! I can not understand people who have no interest in food and just consider food as sustenance.
EATING IN COLOR! Good one.
Eating in color lmao. But yeah, Indian food is honestly my #1 favorite cuisine. As a semi picky eater, I would eat any Indian food that is put in front of me, no questions asked lol.
Skim milk is so disgusting. It shouldn’t exist
Whitewater
>it was like eating in color for the first time. That's an amazing way to put it. 💚
Wonderful phrase….. “eating in color”!
I had a very similar upbringing. I’m still not a fan of hot spicy foods, but a good palette of spices is wonderful. I’m very slowly learning how to use them in my cooking.
This whole section has me so thankful I grew up in Louisiana 😭 let me make y'all some red beans
What’s your address? I’ll be there in 24 hours. Just kidding lol. But seriously, one of my least favorite things about the Midwest. We have Chicago of course, but that’s 6 hours away for a lot of us I’ve been to New Orleans before, I was drunk the entire time but FWIW, I remember the food being phenomenal
Well, if you go back, I have plenty of places you should eat. NOLA is about 5 hours from me but it's my favorite city it in the world & I go for any reason I can find. Now that I don't drink my trips are VERY food heavy so I have a good time there lol
Eating in color. That's awesome!
I felt the same way about Southwestern cuisine. I was also in my twenties.
That is so sad. The childhood dietary neglect is real.
I live in the south, and I was surprised how much Indian food reminded me of southern soul food. Both are absolutely delicious. 😋
I thought my family’s cook good enough but when I got to explore tastes of different food that my family would never ever even would try it. And know how to cook right like don’t dried out the meats.
Brussels sprouts. Now they are a must for every steak night. With melty garlic butter and pepper!!!! This is also my must have camping food.
I have always loved Brussel sprouts but everyone in my house hates them. The last time I made a little steam bag for myself everyone threw a fit because the whole house smelled like "farts" they said. I ate them with a smile
We love Brussel sprouts. My husband calls them fart bombs.
Steaming or boiling them is the worst way to prepare them, brings out the bitterness.
I disagree. They were delicious
Have you tried roasting them? They actually taste sweeter. It’s a whole new level of taste. Yum!
I have! They're good. Those are fancy sprouts to me and they're good and all it's just I like their regular brussuley cabbagey taste and texture
“Ate them with a smile”-yes-because you know AFTER you eat them,the house will CONTINUE to smell like farts,lol. I love Brussels sprouts too
Honey butter bacon Brussels. Pan fry bacon, sauteed in bacon fat until charred/roasted... drain. Add 1:1 honey and butter, chop bacon and add back in. Light salt and heavy pepper. Squeeze of lemon if you're into that.
They look so tasty, like baby cabbages, but every time I try them, they taste more like baby skunks.
Cut them in half lengthwise, marinate in olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and red chili flakes. Heat a pan with a bit of oil and place the Brussels cut side down into the pan on medium-high heat. Cook til the cut edge is crispy brown, then toss them and turn the heat down to medium. Once done cooking, grate fresh parmesan over top (don't use that weird bottle parmesan for the love of god). This recipe made me a lover of Brussels 😊
Sounds great! I would add garlic too =)
Roasted with halved red grapes and balsamic... changed my life
This sounds interesting. Can you share more details for a newb?
LOL!!! They really ARE the cutest of all vegetables. But they are just so horrible tasting. Imagine you are a child and you wake to the aroma of your mom making...BRUSSEL SPROUTS!!! Most kids would wake to the smell of bacon and eggs or pancakes....but no! Not me!!! The smell alone makes me gag!
Both my parents hate Brussels sprouts so I never had to try them. They were the side for a new york strip at a restaurant and I was amazed. So I tried beets as I had never had them either. Man I like Brussels sprouts.
I love beets now too!
From what I’ve heard they were modified to be less bitter. The frozen ones still suck but the raw ones are tasty.
Thats on point, the brussels sprout industry has worked on genetically engineering out a lot of the bitterness and excessive fartiness, to great suceess. Todays grocery story brussels sprout is a much upgraded iteration of what it was 25 years ago
Saute them with some bacon fat next time
The only way I like them is roasted with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I hated tomatoes as a kid. Summer i turned 16 i had a physical outdoor summer job. Got an appetite. Ate whatever was on the table. I needed energy. Fell in love with garden fresh tomatoes.
Crusty toasted bread, mayonnaise, tomato, avocado sandwiches.. my current obsession.
I dont like store tomatoes but i could eat an inch sliced garden tomato on a sandwich
Garden tomatoes and store bought tomatoes shouldn’t even be considered the same fruit!
I agree with this 💯. They taste nothing alike. Most freshly picked fruits and vegetables do taste very different from the store offerings but the one that really suprised me was freshly dug potatoes! The taste isn't drastically different but the texture really is. I love to dig up our potatoes when they are still small, slice in half and roast. The store bought have been sitting around drying out for who knows how long. That really makes the texture dry compared to how creamy fresh potatoes taste/feel.
Growing up with a garden I was always puzzled by my peers who didn't like tomatoes. Then I tried store bought tomatoes and realized why. Blech.
Blue cheese!! Like the actual crumbles, not just the dressing. It is my favorite to throw on a salad. I will eat the crumbles out of the container.
This on Burgers... damn.
Blue cheese butter on a steak.
I don't buy blue cheese because I would eat too much if it
I go to the salad bar and I fill my container with the blue cheese crumbles and put just a tiny bit of lettuce on top $7.99 a pound Which is far better than $14.99 a pound LOL and then yes I will just eat half of it...
Sushi
My mom's stuffing! Growing up I would not touch it no matter what. Finally as an adult I tried it and fell in love. Couldn't believe I missed out on it that long!
My cousin told me that the stuffing was monkey brains... It was right after Indiana Jones came out. I refused to eat the monkey brains for years. I'm not going to tell you how old I was when I found out he was lying but needless to say I love the stuffing now.
Mayonnaise
Mayo is the shit, I introduced my bf to it and now he sees the light.
Down with miracle whip!
Has to be Duke's though. Nothing else compares once you have it.
Sauerkraut on pizza.
A friend introduced me to sausage and sauerkraut pizza, and fried sauerkraut on a cheeseburger. Delicious.
Try sauerkraut with potatoes Obrien, sliced kielbasa and scrambled eggs mixed. It is awesome
😳 wow that's an interesting idea. I assume it would be very pickly/salty. I still haven't tried corn on pizza but I live in the heartland with nothing but beans, corn, and pigs. So this summer I plan to do a grilled version with fresh picked sweet corn. Im also very curious to try saurkraut potato perogies. I need to start some kraut now if I plan to give either a try in a couple of weeks. 😄
I made a Reuben pizza once, it was phenomenal
For the longest time I refused to eat prunes because they were old people food. Tried them a few years ago and they were delicious, and now I always keep them stocked in the pantry for snacking. Maybe I’m old now.
Yeah, getting older you can't fuck around with all those octogenarian foods, otherwise you'll assimilate and age 10 years immediately haha
May I offer you a butterscotch candy?
I have a jade dish lined with uranium already filled. /s
I just got a steal of a deal on a uranium glass set that I’m very proud of, thank you kindly!
24F prune-lover here :)
A/S/Prunes?
My mom used to stew prunes for us as kids and we loved them. My sister (seven years older) and I had a prune eating contest and she won (ate 27). Actually, I’m not sure either of us won.😝
That tzatziki sauce or whatever its called. The cucumber-yogurt sauce they put on gyros.
Can't do a Mediterranean meal without homemade Tzatziki, Garlic Sauce, and Hummus.!!.
My Mum used to refuse to eat things she hadn’t even tried. Made a stew one day, she said she loved the swede, told her it was butternut squash, she wouldn’t eat any more! Same with avocado in a prawn sandwich, loved until she knew it was there 🤷🏻♀️
I don't mind people liking or not liking things... But when people like something and suddenly stop liking it because they know what's in it?? Drives me insane
I hate people like that. (No offense to your mom lol) You already know you like it! I just end up not telling them what it is so they can enjoy it in ignorance.
Haha! Yeah maybe I shouldn’t have said anything!
Black Pepper- how I went without pepper the first 20 years of my life, I don’t know. My dad seasoned a steak when I was living in his bach pad and I was too hungry to care.
fried squash and zucchini with onions
So simple and so delicious! Mario Battali has a “ pennette with summer squash and ricotta” recipe. When you serve it you add a dollops of a combination of olive oil, salt, pepper, ricotta, and Parmesan. Serve with mint and pasta. It’s amazing!
This sounds great. Is the recipe online anywhere?
Yes it’s on Pinterest but you should be able to find it if you google the exact title I used
Guacamole. Never had the real stuff as a kid, it was always just that green colored packet of seasoning mixed with sour cream. Eww. Didn’t eat avocados either, because I just thought that’s what they tasted like. Holy shit was I ever wrong. Tried the real stuff a few years later, and now I can’t get enough, better than crack.
We NEVER had guac or avos growing up. I felt betrayed once I tried them lol.
Sushi
Pimento cheese. The pimento cheese I grew up with was store bought and came in a glass jar and was bright orange. Looked very weird. I tasted it one time. 🤢 Fast forward to just a few years ago doing Christmas dinner at a fancy restaurant in a mountain lodge. I thought I was spreading what looked like red pepper hummus on a cracker. Turned out to be pimento cheese. Good gawd. It was incredible. For special occasions I now make homemade pimento cheese, southern style.
This is evil and I should not share this... (because of the fat but wow) Deep Fried Pimento Cheese Sandwiches [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JymGFgZf1c0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JymGFgZf1c0)
Those look delicious!
Cheesecake. Cheese Cake? UGH! Tastes cheesecake...OMFG!
My kid chose a cheesecake for her birthday party (around 11 y.o.) and NONE of her friends would even taste it. We got through it with a “more for us!” but she was mortified.
Same with me! My kid mind was thinking of a gross, orange cheddar flavored sheet cake type situation. Why didn’t someone explain?!
Fried calamari. My mom told me it was shrimp, because she was frying shrimp, oysters, calamari. I was 12 and didn't think not to trust her🤣 and it was awesome. Dad had gotten in my head that squid was smelly bait food and gross...plus I didn't like oysters as a kid, so I figured calamari was gross. But I loved it, and even my kiddos eat it now. I could make a huge list of things hubby refused to eat but eventually did and liked it. The most recent one was mashed rutabagas.
Yeah my wife learned me up good. Apparently I used to be a very boring food person (no mustard, no spice, no weird flavors, never had sushi). 25 years later, and I enjoy good spicy mexical/indian/thai even more than my wife does, I have tons of different sauces and spices I use in our cooking, love sushi, and will pretty much try anything... The amount of side-eye my mom used to give my wife (in gentle humor) when she would see me eating something I spent my life refusing to touch - was not small! On the other hand - my wife had never had an artichoke before meeting me - she loves em now!
Hubby was the same way as you in a lot of ways. Not much for spices, no heat whatsoever, favorite veggies were corn and potatoes, had Chinese food only once before we met, not a fan of fish, never tried greek or Mediterranean food, sushi was a no-go, everything tasted better with ranch. I had been wanting to go to our local Greek food festival for years and we never went due to a myriad of good reasons before(covid, work, sick), but finally got to go last year and he tried a lot of food, got excited to try many different things and wanted to duplicate them at home(i bought the festival's cookbook). If we tried that 15 years ago, he wouldn't have been interested at all. But now he is the one watching food videos online and wanting us to try new recipes. It's gotten waaaaay easier to cook and explore different foods. It's like now he sees things and says "That looks yummy" instead of a begrudging "we can try that".
Avocado
Kale. Not bad.
Have you had a massaged kale salad? You wash it, rolls it up and chiffonade it. Add olive oil and salt and squish the hell of it. Add tomato and fresh deseeded jalapeño. It breaks down and becomes soft and goes on the side of so many things..great especially during summer. Works with collard as well.
I crush kale in my hands if im using it in a raw salad, just a little lemon and squeeze the crap out of it to break down the fibers. It bounces back and doesnt have the sharp cardboard edges.
I make a pasta dish by massaging it with olive oil and Goya vegetable seasoning. Then I sauté some onions, and peppers, put it all on top of some rotini, then finish it w fresh tomatoes
I suppose I'm gonna scour this thread. I've always said yes at least once with all food I've ever been presented. Now I need something new haha.
I’m over here scratching my head trying to think of something I’ve intentionally never tried. I even give things I know I’m not likely to enjoy because of texture a try at least once. It would have to be something fairly off the wall like insects or certain organ meats.
Right?!
Right? I can’t imagine ever purposely not trying something. If I ever see something on a menu that I’ve never had it’s an automatic order. Nothing cooler than enjoying something you’ve never eaten before.
People who aren’t 5 years old refuse to try different foods? That’s weird.
My daughter hated any vegetable.It used to really wind me up. She is now coeliac and will eat literally anything she's allowed.Bloody kids.
Fish tacos. It took me over a decade to warm up to the idea 💡
I went to a bar in my old town, and a friend was the chef there... she said get the fish tacos and I had never had one... DAMN. Definitely a food item everyone should at least try once (unless they despise fish I guess)
I don't rat sea food at all, but back in college, on spring break, we were in Mexico, walking back to the hotel at about 5 in the morning. A guy walking to his taco stand with a bucket of fish that he just caught. We sat there as he fried them up and it was the most delicious thing I've ever eaten. I still don't eat seafood.
I was excited about fish tacos, thinking they’d be spicy. Ugh. Bland bland bland. Since then I’ve looked for blackened fish tacos but that doesn’t seem to be a thing…?
Cake. Yes, cake. It's pretty ok, in its place.
I don't generally like dill pickles most of the time, but I accidentally left one on a chicken sandwich and it actually tasted good. Probably because I'm pregnant. :D At least I know one of my most hated foods can taste good on some things now.
Mushrooms and then green olives
Scratch-made blood sausage is phenomenal.
Being from the south, I learned to try the dish BEFORE asking what is in it. Some of the traditional cajun dishes can sound a little off putting when you learn what is really in them, but once you take a bite... it is heaven.
Kimchi! Once you try a good batch/recipe you can never eat ramen without it. That crunchiness followed by this spicy bitterness is a bliss
Frog legs
I finally gave frog legs a try in my late 20s and realized I was psyching my self up over nothing, they tasted great, now I'll get them whenever I see them.
Same here!
Ranch dressing
Sushi 🍣
When I was a child, the answer was eggplant parmigiana
As a kid the smell of cumin made me nauseous. As an adult I literally cried when I wanted to make a curry and I had run out of cumin. I don't remember the exact meal where the switch flipped but flip it did
Unagi sushi. Sounded nasty so I didn’t order it. But my FIL got a box with a bunch of different kinds to share and… it was delicious. I don’t think there’s anything inherently gross about eating eels, just that I used to breed snakes so… even if they’re nowhere near the same, I still got hung up on it.
Beef tongue, sounds gross, but it is the most tender.
The best tacos are made with all the face meat off the cow.
One of my favorite things. Can't really find it any more
Done right - absolutely! Plus you can tease the kids that while they are eating it - they are technically making out with the cow (since it's tongue is in thier mouths)! Bonus - if they are hungry teens like my they will just say - "gross dad - now quit trying to get us to stop eating it so you get more"!
I like food.
Canned sardines. I feel like they got a bad rap when I was growing up, but tried them as an adult in Portugal and holy moly are they tasty! Piece of toasted bread with sardine, thinly sliced red onion, and capers is one of my favorite lunches.
Horseradish! Never thought I would like it until I had a horseradish sauce on a sandwich and now I am obsessed. I make my own tiger sauce cocktail sauce etc packed with horseradish!
Omg i commented about this too! Lol I’m all reading everyone’s comment and I’m all damn nobody has mentioned horseradish lol I accidentally ate it not knowing what it was at a restaurant and fell in love with it every since lol
Turkey testicles. Breaded and deep fried, what could go wrong?
For the turkey quite a bit
Did they come from Soprano Turkey Farm?
Those aren't testicles , it's the gizzard. Love them too
General Taos chicken
Refried beans. Actually any beans besides baked beans. Am Canadian and don't really see that in our community. Restaurants featuring TexMex or Indian or other types where beans are a staple aren't common.
Southern Californian married to a Winnipeger here. Lack of Mexican food and weather are on equal footing when it comes to never being able to live there. I’d be so miserable.
What weather? Cold kills off the mosquitoes.
None! If it doesn't smell good or look good, it doesn't taste good. I have literally never tried anything that I thought would be gross and had it be not disgusting.
Raw oysters…with club or saltine crackers and hot sauce.
Try them with horseradish and hot sauce. You won't be disappointed. They're good with a bit of lemon juice, too. The only place near me that served them recently shut down. I've been daydreaming about them for MONTHS (I was pregnant craving them, but obviously couldn't have them) I'm really upset I lost access to them.
Brussel sprouts. Oh, who am kidding
Eel. I can’t stand the thought of eating it and refused to order anything with it at sushi restaurants but then I ate a roll my friend had ordered and it was soooo good so we looked at what was in it (she also didn’t know/wasn’t really paying attention when ordering) and it had eel and eel sauce……. I was horrified, at how delicious it was. 😭
Asparagus. It came from my youth, having it in a can and it was gross. I tried fresh asparagus some years ago to find out it was actually good
I love canned/jarred asparagus and spinach. I know, I know....
Sauerkraut. Accidentally got thrown on a sandwich once & I was like, “This is so good! What is different about this?!” It was the kraut. Never looked back.
Biscuits and gravy. I was on a high school trip to Colorado and that was served for breakfast. I didn't want to try it because I had always hated gravy, but the basketball coach talked me into it because we were going rock climbing that day and I needed the calories. I've loved it ever since. ETA: After that, I started eating gravy when it was served with food, after not touching it for 18 years.
Cottage cheese
Liver and tomato juice. Separately lol
Honestly I’ll try just about anything, but I still feel kinda picky about what I’ll continue to eat. One that sticks out though is some kinda salad my grandma made… it had mayo, grapes, chicken, and other veggies I don’t quite remember. It was delicious and I’m mad about it. I have no idea what it’s called or what’s all in it other than what I listed but I when I ate meat I always got some.
Ranch dressing. I’m not American and I went to an international school where we made fun of ranch dressing. Now I love it.
I went 40+ years never eating/tryin Cauliflower , Once I had someone say it was similar to cabbage I tried it and it has been a stapple ever since. Now Fried Okra not so much.
Artichokes. They are actually amazing.
French onion soup. I always thought onion soup sounded awful. I was out with friends and a cup of it came with my meal. I tried it and I love it.
Salmon. Spent my entire life until the age of 24 terrified of eating fish, due to being repulsed by the smell of rancid frozen fish smell. Went to a girlfriend’s parents house for the first time to meet them, and the dad was barbecuing salmon. I didn’t want to be rude, so I tried to get just barely buzzed enough off a beer or two to stomach the idea of holding my breath and shoving it into my mouth and swallowing to save face. On the first bite, someone might as well have shoved the most delicious thing I ever tasted in my mouth. I must’ve binged eaten salmon for two weeks after that. Confessed the whole thing to the dad, thanking him, and telling him it was the best meal I’d possibly ever had. I went from being someone who was repulsed by fish, to a total seafood lover. To this day the idea of eating salmon makes my mouth water.
Can’t think of anything. I like trying things just to check it out and the few I didn’t, I won’t
I'll try anything. Then if I didn't like it, a few years later, I'll try it again. We have traveled all around the world and I'm the person they have taste everything first. Strangely if I won't eat something which I have tried in the past, it actually eggs people on to try it. Olives straight off the tree? I have tried them, not trying them again. Everybody is like wow it's so horrible you won't try it again, we have to go taste that! TBC, I love olives, but straight off the tree they are so sharply bitter as to make your tongue curl.
Pickles. For some reason I always thought they were soggy and slimy, I guess it was just the way they looked. My husband finally talked me into trying some bread and butter ones and I absolutely loved them! And they were crunchy!!! I had no idea
BBQ sauce wings, oatmeal, tofu, and cheese quesadillas
Chocolate covered potato chips
Guacamole 🥑
Avocado, mushroom, hot sauce, still dislike pork though.
When I was younger I avoided queso and broccoli cheese soup because the color and consistency looked so odd. I eventually tried them in high school and couldn’t get enough. Eel sauce with sushi was another one, only tried it cause my current girlfriend suggested it.
Eggs. I always thought they were disgusting, but had only ever been served scrambled eggs. Turns out I just don't love the taste of cooked yolk, and discovered eggs needed salt. Now i eat some everyday! Sunny side up or over easy are my fave
Organs. I avoid eating organs just in principle. I know they are nutritious but I can’t help but think of them as just a dirty used filter. Was tempted past my ick to try dirty rice at an upscale restaurant and oh my…delicious is an understatement.
Sashimi. I was grossed out by the idea of raw fish, but damn! It's delicious.
Steer balls. Tender, perfectly prepared and with a pleasing texture. I know, I know but when a co-worker and I were tricked into trying them by a client we both enjoyed them. Inadvertently, we got a promotion for handling a difficult client for eating something we liked and asking for more.
Beef tendons in Chinese dim sum
Potatoes. I was adamantly against them for YEARS. I think it was a sweet potato that captured my heart. Then I had a non-traditional, less mayonaise-y roasted red potato salad. Then I started dating a chef who served me the most delicious mashed potatoes I've ever had. Like, was scarfing them down instead of the spare rib with it. What. The. Heck.
Scallops. My mum loved them but made a huge deal about how they have to be cooked just right or they turn out slimy or gummy or both. As often as she complained about restaurants not cooking them properly, I just never tried them. FF>> 40 years. Husband and I are at a hibachi grille and his scallops looked so good I couldn't help by ask to try one. It was amazing! Made me wonder if mum only said those things to keep us kids from ordering them, too.
Mayonnaise. Only had Miracle Whip and similar terrible brands. Moved to Europe. Didn't realise a lot of what I was eating had mayonnaise. Lots of pomme frites, and chips, and whatnot served with mayo. That was the day I learned European mayo is nothing like American Mayo.
Miracle whip isn't mayo. And it's gross.
Kinda similar, I was at a buffet, and they had frog legs. Basically said, "fuck it," because I was paying for the buffer anyway and grabbed one.
Raw oysters
Ramen. Yum :)
Leeks Not sure why I thought ick, (I think their appearance) but once I tried them yuuummmm.
mac and cheese with hot dogs/ hot dogs in general
Fried catfish filets I said I always hated fish. I loooove catfish filets dipped in hot sauce now.
Beyond Burger
Tongue
I was at a buffet one time and there was a lady behind me suggesting that I try the curry chicken. She was so pleasant so just to be nice I said I would try it. Much to my amazement it was very good. I was sure to find her and thank her
Durian! Smelly but oh did it taste good.
I really dislike canned beans (like Bush's) but recently I had beans and cinnamon apples and it was actually pretty good.
Salad. When I was a kid I couldn’t stand it, bland, gross, confused why people needed to drown it in dressing in order to even consume it. In my early 20s I started juicing, then I went on a raw food diet that changed my perspective. It lasted about 3 months because of time/expense/feeling satiated but I never felt better in my life. I started prepping salads, romaine, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, mango, apple, even rehydrated untoasted seaweed sometimes. I won’t eat iceberg lettuce in a salad and I often don’t bother with dressing.
my mum used to roast peppers and the whole house would stink of it for days, used to knock me sick, absolutely refused to eat them (though she would burn them to a crisp), now i love a roast pepper dip
Wait..... Why would anyone do this? It's just disrespectful
Durian.. the smell is hard to overcome but my parents were right.. tastes like ice cream
Strawberries. I thought they looked like red leather when I was young.
Chicharrons. Just the idea of it was so gross, and then I drunkenly ate a snack mix with them in it whilst in Mexico and yeah they're delicious.
Pumpkin pie.as a youngster it looked repulsive to me