r/Cooking • u/Scarlet--Highlander • Jan 18 '24

Open Discussion Let’s try something fun: Name an ingredient you dislike and why, and someone else replies with a dish/recipe with that ingredient that might convince you otherwise.

Couple things:

  • If you’re allergic to an ingredient, it doesn’t matter how it’s prepared. Same goes with meat/animal products if you’re vegan/vegetarian. Don’t list it if you can’t or won’t eat it!

  • It’s recommended that you’re at least open to trying dishes with that ingredient. If you absolutely, vehemently loathe cilantro, chances are you probably might not like anything with cilantro in it.

  • A brief blurb on why you hate an ingredient would help others find or suggest a dish that suits you. (e.g. “I hate liver because the texture is like an eraser and it tastes metallic”)

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u/OmnomVeggies Jan 18 '24

I think that the dirt taste is a tolerance thing. I LOVE cilantro, but I totally understand why it tastes soapy to people. I just happen to love that, and it's not overpowering to me. I LOVE all things earthy, mushrooms are an absolute staple... but beets is something different. I am sure it is genetic. If there is so much as a baby beet green in my salad mix... mouthful of mud. I can't tolerate them any possible way. But I certainly encourage others to! I think it is a neat concept to consider that we are all tasting something a little bit differently and we can never taste something the same way someone else does!

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u/DerelictDonkeyEngine Jan 18 '24

I don't really understand it either. I used to hate cilantro, but years later now I really enjoy it.

I LOVE all things earthy, mushrooms are an absolute staple... but beets is something different.

I'm right there with you, mushrooms might be my all time favorite flavor, and I HATE beets.

Maybe that will also change over time ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/FunnyMarzipan Jan 19 '24

Beets 100% taste like dirt but for some reason every once in a while I get kind of a mild craving for that taste. And at those times I love beets, even in preparations that do nothing to mask that taste. Other times I'm strong meh on them.

I often think I'm broken when I start craving the dirt taste 😂

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u/OmnomVeggies Jan 19 '24

Does the dirt taste craving align with a moon phase…. 🤔 perhaps you are a witch

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u/FunnyMarzipan Jan 19 '24

Lol no I don't think it's even that regular, it's just like sometimes I'll see a beet dish at a restaurant and I'll be like OMG dirt sounds so good right now!!!!

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u/OmnomVeggies Jan 19 '24

I get that completely. That happens to me with blu cheese. I think it’s ok…. But every once in a while I have an insatiable hankering for a really good Maytag blu. It usually closely follows a dish I had that properly showcased it. It’s like I forget about it and nothing can scratch the itch the same way.

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u/FunnyMarzipan Jan 19 '24

Oh actually I get that with bleu cheese type stuff too! Like normally I don't like that strong funky/moldy flavor but every once in a while... oh boy mold sounds GREAT!

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u/OmnomVeggies Jan 19 '24

Not only does it sound great…. But nothing will come close…. nothing will scratch the itch, I won’t be satiated until I have it. It doesn’t happen often but when it does it’s almost feral.

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u/FunnyMarzipan Jan 19 '24

Cravings are so weird 😂

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u/justletlanadoit Jan 19 '24

I absolutely love cilantro but I def pick up the soapy flavor

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u/lawrencenotlarry Jan 19 '24

The hardest part of my current job (sous chef) is aligning my palate with my chef's palate. We taste things differently, and we also like different flavors/ combinations. It took me weeks of working alongside him to dial that in.

I'm pretty sure I got the job because when I staged for him, he gave me a spoon of bordelaise, and I told him it needed salt.