Terrible Food
There are a lot of foods that a lot of people talk about. But their notoriety isn't necessarily from how good they are. It's more because people either love them or hate them.
Some people swear by these foods, but a lot of others feel like they have to be pretending with how bad they are. Here are some of the worst dishes that people still swear by.
Chitterlings
Chitterlings. My mom-in-law made some at my house, and it smelled horrible. They seem to have an aroma that almost seeps into every part of your soul. For anyone that doesn't know, they are the small or large intestine of a domestic farm animal.
Most commonly, they are from a pig, and they are terrible. I don't know why my mother loves them and thinks they taste good.
Stuffed Cabbage
My mom made stuffed cabbage once. I kinda like stuffed cabbage now, but I didn't like cabbage anything as a kid.
She left it cooking while we went out somewhere. When we came back, the cabbage smell whacked us in the nose, and I said I thought the dog pooped on the carpet. She believed me for a second before realizing it was a cabbage stank.
Hakarl
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.
Throughout history, that's when most fresh meats would be running low, so people had to resort to more "colorful" diets, like fermented shark, soured ram balls, soured whale, boiled sheep heads, head cheese, etc.
Lutefisk
Lutefisk, my dad used to actually look forward to coming home and having my mom prepare some for him. A lot of Scandinavian countries make this dish and like it, but not me.
It's white fish meat dried out and fermented. I hate anything fermented, so that's why I don't like it.
Swedish Sausage
Swedish sausage for Christmas dinners (Minnesotan as well), just forcing ourselves to eat that every year was a struggle. Luckily we gave up the act after like 20 years and went with Swedish meatballs instead.
Meatballs are much better and don't taste horrible like Swedish sausage. There's a reason why we switched.
Salted Licorice
Once upon a time, I swore that salted licorice was the vilest 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!
I had a Norwegian flatmate that loved that stuff. I got used to it, too, and kinda liked it. Then he got me to try this stuff called Turkish Pepper. That's a line I won't cross again.
Salmiakki
I adore salmiakki. You probably know this, but the cat smell is usually only present in very highly salted salmiakki (the salt is literally ammonia based). Most salmiakkis are rated by the amount of salt between 2%-7%.
Why in God's green earth would they opt for ammonia-based salt over good old not-cat-pee-scented salt? When the recipe was first created, did they only have pee salt?
Blue Cheese
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 Blue 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 Blue Cheese these days, it reminds me of warm, happy Christmases of decades long ago.
Fondant
Fondant on like wedding cakes. There's even a subreddit called r/fondanthate. I left that sub a while ago because people bragged about how they secretly didn't put fondant on cakes for customers who explicitly ordered fondant.
I don't care how disgusting something is. You don't get to decide for someone else that them eating it is wrong (this obviously does not apply to foods that actually are unethical to eat, such as live octopus)
Gold-Leaf
Gold-leaf has no real taste- it's there so that you can feel rich and entitled. It literally acts as a barrier between your tongue and flavor. If you have food covered in gold leaf, it makes the food doesn't taste like anything.
It's quite disappointing. Those sorts of lists can actually be pretty interesting, especially if they tell you why a certain food is expensive.
Sweets
As a kid, I never understood adults saying things were too sweet. As I've gotten older, there is definitely certain food that is too sweet or times when I really don't want sweet foods. I don't get it.
It has just started to happen to me. I can no longer handle how sweet one of my favorite snacks from childhood is. It's so sad.
Bitter Gourds
Bitter Gourds. I am such a fan of bitter gourd. I live in southeast Asia - we slice it thinly (or, you know, maybe a centimeter thick if short on time) and stir fry with egg, sometimes with dried shrimp.
A lot of people in western countries don't like bitter gourds, but it's actually pretty common in most Asian countries.
Karela Sabzi
My dad loves karela sabzi so much that he literally grows bitter gourds in our backyard. I guess it truly is an acquired taste. I never got used to it, but after a while, it's fine. It just takes a while(I can eat a few ).
There's also some dish where he picked it, but it's way too bitter for me. I really don't know how people like it. Maybe it's because they grew up with it?
Escargot
Escargot is actually pretty tasty, the snails themselves have a clam-like texture and a mild flavor, but mostly I taste the copious amounts of butter and garlic that goes into it. Certainly not unpleasant like you might expect. I tried them once at a nicer restaurant and actually kinda liked them way more than I thought I would. They mostly just get loaded up with butter, though.
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.