I'd rather manure! 

I'm sure this is far from the most exciting thing on the list, but my aunt made chocolate cake for Christmas eve dinner one year and I honestly have no idea what she mixed up (salt instead of sugar? accidentally dumped an entire container of baking powder in it?) but it was the worst thing I've ever eaten. We all sat there eating this cake and pretending to like it. Like, all 12 of us. Everyone aside from my aunt who didn't have any.

So anyway, later on that night she decides to have a piece and she gags on the first bite, spits it out, and yells "Oh my god, what is wrong with this cake???" We're all kinda looking around but no one wants to be the first to say something. Finally my 6 year old niece was like "the cake was gross but mom told me not to say anything." and we all start cracking up including my aunt. She was like "I can't believe you guys willingly ate this!"

We never did figure out how she messed it up, but we still talk about it like 20 years later how we all ate this cake that tasted like manure because we were too polite to let on how awful it was. pm-me-puppypics

Eat it All! 

My aunt once made a lemon chiffon cake or something, but she didn't separate the egg white from the yolk and the whole cake got really dense and part of it was pretty much just scrambled egg and the pan leaked so the bottom was burned into the removable bottom. She thought it was good, but it was terrible and she made me clean the pan. pigeonshark

Not so Sweet! 

My mom made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving one year. She was going to add the sugar in last cause she thought that the recipe called for an absurd amount of it. Instead of putting it in last, she forgot to add the sugar all together. pony-bologna

We're all Dead! 

Aunt is terrible cook, but she invited us over for buffalo burgers using the meat from their recent trip to Alaska. While I'm eating said burger I notice mold on the bun. I tell her and to my astonishment she replies "oh yeah, I know. I baked them to kill off the bacteria though." I just ate the buffalo patty. After we are all done eating, it comes out that the deep freezer had been unplugged... for an unknown amount of time. The meat was warm...but "don't worry. Cooking kills anything." We were all so sick for days after that. Worst stomach pains of my life. Yeah, I don't care that she's my aunt... no more pity eating for me. _Sweater_Puppies_

Are you Rachel from 'Friends?'

My husband once ate "beef fudge" that his college girlfriend made. She basically made fudge, then added raw ground beef to it. He ate as much as he could out of politeness, but it was raw beef chocolate.

When I cook something new and am worried about it being bad, I remind myself that it will never be as gross as beef fudge. arcant12

Stick to the Classics! 

My mom was a fairly competent cook when I was growing up. She would mostly make basic working class "American" staples every week, like spaghetti, casseroles, chili, hamburgers, chicken, but would occasionally branch out and try a new recipe, found in magazines and such.

One weekend she decided to make an Italian wedding soup type concoction. Spinach, meatballs... other things. I'm not sure what the intended flavor profile was supposed to be, but I still vividly recall the end result. It tasted like a bowl of gritty dirt and lawn clippings floating in hot beef tallow. My father and I, being the deferential sort, both choked it down without much fanfare. She asked us how it turned out, and we both put on our best DeNiro frown-and-shrug expressions, and said, "it's pretty good..."

We were halfway through our bowls when she finally sat down and made one for herself. After two or three spoonfuls she said, "This tastes like crap!"

We didn't comment. She then looked at us accusingly and yelled, "Why the hell did you say it tasted good?" We didn't know how to answer that question. We just gave her the thousand-yard stare. spookynutz

Heads Down! 

Shirako.

I was with a Japanese friend at a Nabemono in Tokyo, and he was so excited to see shirako on the menu that he ordered some straightaway. It came as three fried balls, and he spritzed some lemon juice over them before handing me one. I enjoyed the outer crust but the interior was slimy and rather gross.

Once I finished that ball, he told me that it was cod semen. Thanks for the heads-up, Hideki. jredmond

What's that Smell?

I was staying at my aunt's house for the summer and she made orange chicken one night for dinner. Sounds good in theory but this tasted like she marinated it in orange pledge. Acrid and weirdly chemically.

To avoid being rude, me and my cousins played a game to see who could eat the most without making a face. The winner had basically no sense of smell which gave her a natural advantage. staffsargent

So Crunchy! 

My boyfriend rarely cooks, so whenever he does I try to be supportive. One night, as I was on my way home he called me to tell me he had made "al denté rice." He sounded super excited.

He had stir-fried uncooked rice in a pan with some vegetables, no liquid. Crunch, crunch. anaugustleaf

God Save the Turkey! 

Dry a** turkey. Every damn thanksgiving. Same place, same people, same dry a** f**king turkey. Same people saying "oooh this turkey is delicious." Tried to not get some once, that was a mistake. "Oh, you didn't get any of this dry a** f**ked up turkey? Here lemme get you some!" I'm gonna start telling my family i'm vegetarian, except they always have ham too and that crap is delicious. somecow

Don't you ruin eggplant for all of us! 

When I was in college, I had someone from church invite me over so I didn't have to eat alone. She made a baked version of eggplant parmesan. It was basically like eating a lot of warmed boogers. It was her favorite dish, but I haven't touched eggplant since. HellianofTroy

Wild Horses....

Horse meat in Zaragoza, Spain. Imagine eating your belt with a drizzle of olive oil 💀 CrackTotHekidZ

I accidentally bought a horse steak at a grocery store in Montreal. I stared at it for 45 minutes before deciding it would be fine. The steak was delicious and i would eat it again. Jessebgrind

No J-E-L-L-O!! 

Seafoam lime jello salad recipe that my aunt makes and takes to every get together. It is so gross. Had it once as a kid. Hated it but finished it so as not to be rude. Avoided it from every time after.

Also--once ate some very questionable canned veggies from my mom-in-law's own canning room. This was around 97. The jar was labeled from the previous decade. I actually only nibbled at them and was able to discard the rest on the sly. IwantAnIguana

I've just died! 

7-11 cashier asks if I like chips & salsa. "Thats my favorite!" Oh really? My wife makes homemade salsa. "Wow, that sounds great!" Want to try some? "Sure!" (Thinking she sells homemade tubs of it to buy).

Guy pulls out an paper plate of stale chips & greenish salsa from under the cash register area. He was so proud. I took a bite. Was...ok. "Wow! Thats amazing" (dying inside)

Pray for Me!

Moldy bread. First time visiting my ex-boyfriend's parents for dinner and there were different sorts of bread on the table. Picked the kind no one else did, wondered why it tasted so weird and slightly peeked on the other side of the slice to see the green mould. Didn't want to embarrass the parents so I ended up eating the whole slice trying not to throw up. yescop

Oh Mother Dear....

Garbage my mother has made:

• boxed hamburger helper brand stirfry to which you are supposed to add chicken and she added hot dogs because chicken breast was too fancy to waste on the neighbor kids who were visiting
• chicken soup, again ruined with hot dogs
• shepards pie aka ground beef mixed with a can of tomato soup (this combo tastes like straight up blood) mix in a can of frenched green beans (worms!) & a can of corn then smear the top with BOXED mashed potatoes and slices of velveeta (adding another layer of iron & plastic to the casserole
• canned tuna quiche. We sobbed and begged not to eat it. I don't hate fish but this was the most disgusting crap and it smelled SO BAD! FirstRuleofButtClub

No Swallow! 

In China we were given grilled pure wheat gluten on a stick, covered in spices. A very popular street snack that looks deceptively tasty. It doesn't sound so bad, but holy crap, it's like chewing a stick of flavorless rubber, with some dry spice that makes you cough and gag. Texturally, it was atrocious. In Chinese, it literally means 'dough tendon' and it does feel like trying to eat a raw tendon.

I tried to brace myself and stuff one right down my mouth to get it over with, but I couldn't swallow and I nearly vomited. My wonderful Chinese friends probably thought I was very odd.

On this same trip I ate duck blood, chicken heart, brain out of the skull and cow stomach, and loved them. I'm not a picky eater, but those gluten sticks were rank as CRAAAAP! Usidore_

Vampires! 

Mate cooked for us on Christmas for all his closest friends. He thought 3 cloves of garlic = 3 heads of garlic, for the roast turkey.

I was very open about how shit it was because I was 6 drinks in, everyone else just nibbled and avoided. Archdruid-Madheart

Mom has to like you....

Raw clams with sand in them, served by my boyfriend's mom. His dad saw my face as I was trying my hardest not to throw up and told her to stop giving me more. I love that man. CheesePuffGirl

Too Many Dinner Guests....

When I moved to Cali, after the airport before heading to our new home, we stayed for a short dinner at family friend's apartment. They had cockroaches everywhere. On the table especially. I had to sit at a dinner table crawling with roaches. I didn't eat. But the fact that I was expected to still baffles me. 0kot101

REDDIT