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Foods People Desperately Tried To Like But Couldn't Get Into

Reddit user cloudtdaz asked: 'What food have you tried liking but just can’t?'

plates of food
Coralline Clin on Unsplash

There's a misconception that some foods are so superb in flavor or quality that everyone will love them, but taste is extremely subjective. A person's sense of taste can vary greatly even within the same family.

There's also some debate about the capabilities of the human tongue.

Biology suggests human taste buds only detect four flavors:

  1. sweet
  2. bitter
  3. sour
  4. salty
But most culinary experts speak in terms of seven flavor profiles:
  1. sweet
  2. bitter
  3. sour
  4. salty
  5. meaty/umami
  6. cool/minty
  7. hot/spicy

What one person tastes is likely not an exact match to what someone else does.

Some people love spicy foods while others feel physical pain when eating foods featuring chilis. Some people are sensitive to salt while others add extra salt to everything they eat.

Because our sense of taste is so individual, it's inevitable some popular foods won’t be palatable to everyone. And that's not even considering texture, smell or appearance which can also turn a diner right off.


Curious about which foods left people disappointed, Reddit user cloudtdaz asked:

"What food have you tried liking but just can’t?"

Peeps

"Peeps,the Easter sugared candy."

"I like to think I can digest anything covered in sugar BUT NOT THAT...."

~ Asapdustybraids

"They’re best when they’re stale. I can’t eat them fresh."

~ Vicktrolia

"My grandmother would send them to my dad every single year. He would leave them in the cabinet for probably 2-3 years. When the new pack arrived on Easter he popped open the 3-year-old pack."

~ DrKennethNoisewater-

"He dry aged peeps. That's incredible and terrifying."

~ BeesNeverSting

"Peeps are some of the foulest creations that have ever hit the food realm. Whoever invented them needs to have their existence removed from history."

~ shatteredhelix42

Peeps GIFGiphy

Grape-Nuts

"Grape-Nuts."

"I hated them as a kid but as an adult I decided to try them again, thinking maybe my tastebuds had matured by then."

"Nope. They were still just as awful as I remembered."

~ kanna172014

"My grandpa used to eat them every morning with coffee instead of milk."

"I'm not sure if he was lactose intolerant or what but good grief, I can't imagine what that combination tasted like."

~ hornet_teaser

"As a kid, I never felt more lied to."

"I liked grape juice and grape flavored candy, so why wouldn’t I like 'Grape-Nuts'?"

~ triton2toro

"Hate the cereal, but love the ice cream."

"Not sure if it's just regional, but here in Maine Grape-Nuts ice cream was around for decades. I think only Gifford's still makes it commercially."

~ LakotaGrl

Just Offal

"Intestines/innards of any kind and solid portions of fat on meat."

"One of my husband's favorite dishes is barbequed intestines (Japanese barbecue) and I can smell its appeal, but I physically can't deal with the texture."

"And it really saddens me because I've always wanted to eat menudo and I know the soup is bomb AF 😭."

"I think I have some sort of fat/chewy PTSD from when I was forced to eat gristle off of meat as a kid."

~ LeocadiaPualani

"Yeah I can't do innards either."

My mom loves that stuff because 'it was the cheap stuff back then" and they had a big family. I guess I'm glad I'm an only child."

~ ilovepeachpie

Black Licorice

"Black licorice."

"I've accepted my DNA just can't stand the stuff."

~ slimpawws

"My mom loves it. She makes it look so good."

"I'm 29 and I still think 'hmm maybe this time...'."

"Nah. It's like tar vomit."

~ lpcoolj1

"Same with my mom."

"Black licorice, black jellybeans. She loved ‘em."

"I inherited exactly ZERO of her taste buds for that."

"It is the foulest flavor ever."

~ Retro_Dad

"Black licorice tastes like depression."

~ pr0f0undleader

black licorice GIFGiphy

Eggnog

"I can’t drink eggnog."

"Every year I give it a shot and try to like it, but I just can’t."

~ cyberzed11

"I mean , it’s essentially drinking (sometimes alcoholic ) custard. So that’s fair."

"I myself cannot be trusted with eggnog and should not be left unsupervised or I will put a straw in a half gallon container and slowly sip years off my life."

~ logicjab

"I’ve always thought it tastes like bad bubblegum so I’ve never really been a fan either."

~ Huntsvegas97

"Liquid snot."

~ SalesTaxBlackCat

"Yep this. I give it a shot every year to see if it’s changed. It doesn’t."

"I give it to someone else in my house who likes it; or pour it down the drain."

~ Electric_Leopard

"It’s truly awful. Texture taste smell, all just bad."

~ ruffsnap

Liver

"Liver the smell alone makes me sick."

~ Redditor

"I just wonder how Humans get to that stage."

"They find something, it smells foul, cook it, still smells foul, AND THEN DARES TO EAT IT."

"We're glorious as a species."

~ xseodz

"I'm guessing when we first started eating liver, humans didn't smell very good either."

~ LakotaGrl

"I have tried it maybe 15 times, different preparations because people claim their recepie makes it not taste like sh*t."

"Lo and behold, it still tastes like funky iron meat."

"I don't even like foie gras for the same reason, that metallic taste comes through, ugh!"

~ doomLoord_W_redBelly

Kombucha

"Kombucha, smells like stinky feet and taste like vinegar to me."

~ -LordKromdar-

"Kombucha absolutely DOES taste like vinegar, coming from someone who loves it. Other kombucha enjoyers will try to deny the vinegar taste, I embrace it because I bloody love vinegar."

"I even have 'sipping vinegars' in my fridge in various flavors, to add to cocktails or to pour a shot glass of and sip on… just pure vinegar."

"Very strange of me, and I totally understand why other people would not like that flavor."

~ UnderwaterParadise

"Oooh people used to drink vinegary things a lot more because they were refreshing! Try raspberry shrub!"

~ lyan-cat

Kombucha GIFGiphy

Sparkling Water

"I know this is a drink, but sparkling water."

"I like some flavors, but I can’t stand that after taste. Bleh!"

~ TruBluBritt

"The way I describe it: 'it's what tv static would taste like' or 'it's the same flavor as hitting your funny-bone'."

~ LazyLich

"We were given some flavored water at work and my employee said it tasted like 'a strawberry farted in the water'."

~ g-e-o-f-f

"My son calls LaCroix a piece of fruit waving to to a can of water."

~ pittipat

"I say with Perrier that someone yelled a flavour into the water."

~ structuredchronicles

"My favorite is 'someone placed a lime skittle next to some soda water'."

~ DosiMoe

Overnight Oats

"Overnight oats. They're basically lumpy, cold snot in my throat first thing in the morning."

"I gag just thinking about adding chia seeds."

~ DarkDesireX

"This comment has me literally confused as to if I actually like my overnight oats or just tell myself I do."

~ Lord_Knorr

"Oh man. I feel this."

"It just looks like refrigerated vomit to me. Absolutely not."

~ slmr38

"I tried to like overnight oats for a couple of weeks."

"Tried a bunch of different recipes, but they all ended up being disgustingly sweet slop."

"The only one I sort-of liked was the 'chai latte' one, which emphasized spices over sweets."

"Still not worth the effort to make them—I'd rather just make microwave oatmeal."

~ Noise_Cancellation

Wine

"Wine. Every year I'll try it around the holidays with family and it's still gross."

~ Redditor

"You can only appreciate wine after you have tasted the bitterness of life."

~ Spirited-Site-Hunter

"Once in my life I have tasted wine that I actually liked, and that was Golconda wine, which I tried in Darjeeling."

"After I got back to the USA, I decided that I would, for the first time in my life, actually spend money to acquire wine."

"Went to a wine shop. They had never heard of it."

"Turns out it’s not exported, and if you want some, you have to go to India."

~ Wild-Lychee-3312

wine GIFGiphy

Olives

"Olives. I've tried many varieties."

"I always try them because they look like they'd be good but they're just not."

~ TRIGMILLION

"As a bartender for over a decade, I’m constantly surrounded by olives."

"They always look good & once in a while I’m like 'do I like these yet?'.”

"No. I still hate olives, & I hate myself more for trying again each time & expecting different results."

~ kandixchaotic2

Matcha

"Matcha ! Just tasteslike grass to me."

~ mulberrycedar

"I worked in a business park that had a matcha headquarters in it. They moved out and dumped big boxes full of matcha samples that they took to trade shows."

"Never tried it before but I was thinking what a treat I had found, I would be enjoying free matcha for at least a year if not longer."

"Boy was I wrong."

~ TiogaJoe

"Seriously, I do not get the hype about it at ALL."

"Like when people tell me matcha frappes at Starbucks are the best I'm just like 🥴🥴 bffr dude?"

"That sh*t tastes like creamier wheatgrass. Nasty."

~ SilverWorry8047

Mushrooms

"Any kind of mushroom."

"It's not the texture there is always a taste that i cant do for some reason."

~ Correct_Ad4937

"Taste and texture for me! It’s the only food I absolutely hated since I was a child."

~ BelenadaSilva

"Same. I can eat them on a supreme pizza because they just get lost in everything else, but if I can taste them, I'm out."

~ notonrexmanningday

"Eating cooked mushrooms feels like chewing on rubber."

~ Icy_Ad_9134

mushrooms GIF by XboxGiphy

Beets

"Beets. I just can't."

~ Many_Dirlam

"What got me to like cooked beets was a beet and goatcheese salad at an upperscale restaurant."

~ dilfybro

"Nope! Tried one of those and they still taste like dirt."

"I don't care how you prepare them, pickled, roasted, whatever the f'k, they taste like dirt."

~ vandelayATC

"Vile root.

"Wash them, peel them, boil them, add sugar, mix with sour cream, put in a salad, all you accomplish is different tastes to accompany the overwhelming flavor of DIRT."

~ logicjab

Okra

"Okra."

~ crablegsforlife

"Soggy fried okra is the dinner of my nightmares."

~ Bigsam1514

"Okra is an abomination."

"I like damn near all vegetables but that slimy bullsh*t can f'k right off back to the ectoplasmic bog it slithered out of."

~ An_Appropriate_Song

"Okra? She’s not that bad."

"You have to at least admit she was generous with the audiences and she's a decent interviewer."

~ Redditor

Oprah GIFGiphy

I have two to add that weren't mentioned:

  • lima beans
  • salmon

Which is embarrassing as both are culinary staples in my culture.

Lima beans are probably disliked by plenty of people, but salmon is on lots of restaurant menus. I've tried it over a dozen ways—poached, broiled, grilled, pan-seared, smoked, marinated, as sashimi, dried, loafed, baked—and I just don't like the taste of it.

Salmon is the only fish or seafood I've tried that I dislike and I've had both octopus and sea urchin. I'm sure my ancestors are mocking me.

Have you ever really wanted to like a popular food but ended up giving it a hard pass?

Share your experience in the comments!

People Break Down The Missing Person Cases That Just Don't Add Up

Reddit user yourlastnames asked: 'what missing persons case is the most confusing / doesn’t add up?'

Content warning: suicide.

There are truly some strange unsolved cases out there, but there's nothing quite like hearing of a person who has vanished as if out of thin air.

While some of these cases have been explained away or even solved, there are some that remain a mystery that truly does not add up, no matter how the puzzle pieces fall.

Curious about these cases, in particular, Redditor yourlastnames asked:

"What missing persons case is the most confusing [to you] or just doesn't add up?"

The Last Ride of Terrance Williams

"Terrance Williams disappeared in 2004. He's the subject of a fascinating podcast called 'The Last Ride.'"

"The short version is that he was taken into custody in Naples, Florida, after being pulled over in the early hours for traffic violations. He was never seen again."

"The deputy that pulled him over tried to conceal the traffic stop even from his own organization, but staff opening a local business saw the whole thing."

"When the sheriff's department finally looked into it, they discovered the deputy was involved in a similar disappearance of a man named Felipe Santos in 2003. To this day the deputy claims no knowledge of Williams's whereabouts, despite being caught out in a series of lies."

- AlanMercer

Paddy Moriarty and Kellie

"Paddy Moriarty and his dog, Kellie. They went missing in an outback town in Australia with a population of 12 people."

"They were last seen leaving the pub riding his quad bike the one-kilometer distance to his house. He or his dog have never been found and no one has been charged in relation to his disappearance."

- Bigred0762

Susan Powell and Family

"Susan Powell went missing from her home in West Valley, Utah, on December 6, 2009."

"She is presumably dead. Her husband, Josh, was the main suspect and just a real piece of work. No one knows what really happened to her."

"Sadly in 2012, Josh murdered their kids and committed suicide after Susan’s parents gained custody of the kids."

- AlexisVonTrappe

"This case is so frustrating since his brother and father are both dead too. We’ll never know what happened to Susan, but I’m positive she’s in an old mine shaft somewhere. F**k Josh Powell."

- burittosquirrel

​The Last Call from Brandon Swanson

"Brandon Swanson. He drove into a ditch and called his parents for help. They stayed on the phone with him for 47 minutes while they drove around looking for him."

"They heard him say, 'Oh s**t,' and then the phone went silent. They eventually found his car far away from where he said he was but he was never found."

- kittengoesrawr

"Reading this was absolutely chilling. It seems at first glance that it's most likely he drowned, but that really doesn't make sense because the water was only 10 feet deep and they would have found the body."

"He just suddenly said, 'OH S**T!' and the phone went silent, but he did not hang up. The phone call continued with total silence from his end. What the f**k happened to him?"

- angelposts

Babysitter Mar Lou Bostwick

"Mary Lou Bostwick. She disappeared July 18, 1972, from Waverly, New York. She was dropped off by her dad to babysit at a friend's house. This was also her 16th birthday. Her mom stopped by later with a cake and presents."

"The people in the apartment told her that Mary never showed up. However, her bag was in the residence. Nothing else was ever found."

"There was another girl around the same age, Sharon Coston, who was abducted and murdered in a nearby town about a year later. October 1983 in Sayre, Pennsylvania."

"There was a man convicted of that, but he always denied doing anything to Mary. One of the people who testified against him and was given immunity was a suspect in Mary's case. Mary's mom thinks there's a connection, but nothing was ever really found."

"I've sadly never seen anyone cover her disappearance on any of the podcasts or YouTube shows."

- Vamp459

Derek Seehausen of San Diego

​"Derek Seehausen. My friend was dating him at the time of his disappearance, and he was actively planning his future in medicine, and was last seen in San Diego."

"I saw him about two months before he disappeared. Please send any tips."

- Hereforit2022Y

The Beaumont Children

"The Beaumont Children. Three kids go to the beach, are seen with a mystery man, and never make it back home."

"Never found out who the man was or where they went. Their parents just recently died without ever getting any closure."

- snguyenx96

Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes

"Xavier Dupont de Ligonnes. The whole family (parents and four kids) went missing overnight in 2011."

"Employers, schools, and the extended family received weird letters informing of their absence or departure (one of them saying they are going into a witness protection program). Two weeks later they found the corpses of the mother, the kids, and the dog hidden behind the house."

"They investigated and retraced the father’s whereabouts in the south of France. He was last seen leaving a hotel a few days before. The region was thoroughly searched, but he was never to be found."

- z4zazym

Branson Perry of Skidmore

"Branson Perry, aged 20, disappeared from Skidmore, Missouri in April 2001."

"He was working on his house with a friend, went to the shed to grab some power cords, and was never seen again."

- AdamR91

The Incomplete Story of Marshall Iwassa

"Marshall Iwassa. Good guy."

"He came back to his hometown to visit his family and friends, and everything by all accounts was good. He left to take the two-hour drive to where he was living and never made it. Instead, it was recorded he spent the entire night trying to get into his storage unit and then nothing."

"A week or maybe more, his truck was found 12 hours away on a back road in the middle of the woods burnt to a crisp with belongings thrown about everywhere, no sign of Marshal."

"From what I remember, the family was adamant that some of the things inside the truck, burnt or not, were missing, things they knew he had. The truck was even missing parts."

"It's been four years and there's never been answers. It makes me sad and fearful of long travels. From what I know of him, he was a fantastic friend; I hope they get closure one day."

- devbot8

Out Shopping Asha Degree

"Asha Degree."

"She went missing at the age of nine from Shelby, North Carolina, United States. In the early morning hours of February 14, 2000, for reasons unknown, she packed her bookbag, left her family home north of the city, and began walking along nearby North Carolina Highway 18 despite heavy rain and wind."

"Several passing motorists saw her; when one turned around at a point 1.3 miles (2.1 km) from her home and began to approach her, she left the roadside and ran into a wooded area."

"In the morning, her parents discovered her missing from her bedroom. No one has seen her since."

- EstateWeary5789

The Vanishing Marion Barter

"Marion Barter here in Australia."

"She boarded a plane overseas in 1997 and changed her name beforehand (didn't tell family). She apparently came back to Australia for a few days (according to passenger records) and completely disappeared."

"It's an ongoing investigation at the moment, there is a podcast about it called, 'The Lady Vanishes,' featuring her daughter."

"It's so tragically fascinating."

- CuddlySubject

The Grieving Bryce Laspisa

"Bryce Laspisa."

"He was driving to his parents' house (three hours) after an argument with his girlfriend, apparently due to his alcohol and video game addiction and abuse of prescription medication."

"Partway through the drive, he pulled off the highway and just sat there… from 9:00 AM to 3:'00 PM."

"A roadside assistance guy checked on him twice and said he seemed fine and coherent, and Bryce told him he would be carrying on back to his parents shortly."

"Sometime later, his car was found only a few miles away, driven off the embankment, and he was nowhere to be found. They never found him."

- Just_Raisin1124

News Anchor Jodi Huisentruit

"Jodi Huisentruit was a news anchor who disappeared in the early morning in Mason City, Iowa."

"There were signs that she was abducted and the investigation is still ongoing with new leads nearly 30 years later."

- Have_you_eaten_yet

Three-Year-Old William Tyrrell

"William Tyrrell. In 2014, the three-year-old boy went missing from his foster grandmother's yard whilst playing with his sister. His foster mother and foster grandmother were apparently watching them play outside, and the foster mother went inside to make a cup of tea."

"They then noticed they hadn’t seen or heard him in a while and searched the house and yard."

"In 2021, police began searching national parkland near the grandmother's home for human remains. They also revealed that the foster mother and grandmother were persons of interest in his presumed death."

"Earlier today, the foster mother pled not guilty to assaulting another foster child that was in her care (a 10-year-old girl). She has also been charged with intimidating and stalking a minor. Her husband has also been charged with the same crimes, but plead not guilty to all counts. The foster grandmother is now dead."

"Basically, police believe that William died whilst in the care of the foster family, and they disposed of his body to cover it up. Police are recommending that the foster parents be charged with perverting the course of justice and interfering with a corpse."

"His photos went viral at the time of the 'disappearance,' and he went missing whilst in a Spiderman costume, and the photo that was distributed was taken minutes before."

- Red_bug91

These stories are truly haunting, and it's no wonder that Redditors have worried themselves with what might have happened to these missing people.

We can only hope that answers come for at least some of these cases and that their closest loved ones achieve some sense of closure eventually.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

Senior citizen using a camera
Tiago Muraro/Unsplash

The realization you're getting older can smack you in the face at any given time, and boy-howdy is it fun!

It can be in the morning when you get up out of bed, and your body makes crackling noises, or when you can't seem to keep up at the gym and you cut short your running time on the treadmill.

That's just the physical.

When you suddenly have the epiphany that you're suddenly the oldest one in a group setting, it's humbling.

Curious to hear from strangers online who are no longer the young whipper-snappers they imagined themselves to eternally be, Redditor redmambo_no6 asked:

"Redditors with younger coworkers, what was your 'I’m officially old' moment?"

These moments of realization never get old. But people do.

Senior Kitty

"My childhood cat lived to 21.5 so teaching (freshman biology lab, so students were ~18) became very weird when I realized my cat was older than my students."

– mollusck_magic

Aging In Reverse

"I'm a preschool teacher. It's been a TRIP to watch parents go from Soooo much older than me, to the same age as me, and now they're younger than me!?!?"

– Smart_Alex

The Shook Pediatrician

"My kids pediatrician was also my husband's pediatrician when he was a kid. He was the first kid she had to come back as a parent and she was SHOOK."

– trixtred

Older Together

"See, that's what really kinda drives it home for me."

"I'm not bothered that I'm 48. But that means my school friends are 48, and that's weird for some reason. Like, I went to school with a guy who was wild and crazy. That guy is 48 now, and has a new grandbaby. Somehow, he's old, and I'm just 'getting up there '."

– ThatWeirdTexan

Relics of the past don't just pertain to humans.

Dialing It In

"Had a co-worker ask me, 'Back before cell phones, did you just have to wait around at your house for a call?' Uh, yeah, pretty much."

– Status-Effort-9380

"Reminds me of having to explain the concept of collect calls to my kids. The whole speed speaking where you were for pick up during the recording so your Mama never accepted the collect call."

– DaraScot

Legendary Aircraft

"Various colleagues were debating whether the Concorde had been real. They couldn’t fathom that supersonic civilian aircraft used to exist and now they don’t anymore."

"The Concorde last flew in 2003, when these colleagues were toddlers."

– geckos_are_weirdos

Foreign References

"We were talking about where we were on 9/11, and my coworker went quiet. He wasn’t even born."

"We also had a band that was famous in the 90s stay at the hotel, and he had no idea who they were, meanwhile I was so star struck as they were my entire childhood!"

– Itsagabby

Gravity is not our friend, and not just because of its effect on our faces.

The Day It Went Downhill

"When i fell down the last couple of steps on a stairway. No one pointed and laughed like I expected, instead they helped me up and asked me if I was okay. That’s when I knew."

– day_of_duke

It's About The Recovery

"F'k. That has to be a bummer."

"You fall. You know you're fine. You feel like an idiot. You get ready to wave to the crowd as they laugh and clap. But then... a hand is placed on your arm and you hear 'that was a big fall, are you ok?' You stay in shock for a moment. Of course, you're fine. Everyone is looking at you. They all have concerned faces. Sh*t. Two weeks later, the soreness finally subsides."

– minimalfighting

Ice Slip, You Slip, We All Slip

"This happened to me as well....walking my dog the day after a huge snowstorm. There were some rowdy teenage boys having a snowball fight across the street (schools were closed that day, of course). I slipped on the ice, my feet flew over my head and I landed solidly on my backside. As I struggled to get up I braced myself for the laughter and catcalls, but all I heard was "Are you OK Ma'am??' 'Do you need help??' I was in my early 50s and had never felt 'old' until that moment."

– Ouisch

Conversations with younger coworkers can be fun.

You can quote lines from your favorite TV shows and talk about the latest CD you bought at Target and brag about your new digital camera that takes better pictures than a smartphone.

And then you can watch the blank expressions on your coworkers' faces because they haven't a clue about what you speak.

Yeah. This has never happened to me...

Old.

person getting a tattoo

Collins Lesulie on Unsplash

The art of tattooing has been practiced across the globe since at least Neolithic times, as evidenced by mummified skin, art and the archaeological artifacts.

The oldest tattooed human skin was found on the body of Ötzi the Iceman from between 3370 and 3100 BC.

Tattooed mummies were recovered in almost 50 archaeological digs across the Earth with locations in Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, western China, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines and the Andes.

But while advancements in tools and inks have opened up endless possibilities for body art, some designs have garnered a bad reputation.

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surgeons looking down at patient

National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

"I shall do by my patients as I would be done by; shall obtain consultation whenever I or they desire; shall include them to the extent they wish in all important decisions; and shall minimize suffering whenever a cure cannot be obtained, understanding that a dignified death is an important goal in everyone's life."

~ English translation of the modern abridged Hippocratic Oath

It is the hope of those seeking medical help that the medical professionals providing it will be just that—professional.

But no profession is immune to bad days, bad attitudes or bad apples.

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