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All of us probably have a specific dish our parents would prepare when we were growing up that still can make our stomach churn. You would come home from school, open the door, and get hit with an aroma that would instantly kill any semblance of hunger.
So one netizen asked the internet what dishes were ruined for them by their parents' terrible cooking decisions. From a distaste for seasoning to cooking all meat beyond recognition, people detailed the food choices they had to relearn later in life. So get comfortable, grab a snack, and get to scrolling. Be sure to upvote your favorites and comment your own experiences below. We also got in touch with satelliteboi who made the initial post to learn more.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
All food. It wasn't until I was a young adult that I discovered that food could be good. My mother would buy a nice premium cut of beef -- tenderloin -- and fry it in a frying pan for a good 30 minutes and then add ample water and boil it until it was well and truly inedible. I grew up thinking eating was a chore.
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#2
Tuna sandwiches and boiled chicken. My younger sister was a very picky eater and for a long time relied on those as protein staples. The stench of boiled chicken was a constant in our home. As soon as the sulfur odor had faded from one chicken, it was time to boil another. This went on for about 5 years. One day when I was 14, after a solid 3 months of tuna sandwiches for lunch (and often dinner), I burst into tears and pleaded to eat something, *anything* else! My mom knew I was an adventurous eater that liked just about everything, but to make things easier, she fed me my sister's extremely limited diet.
Nearly 30 years later I can't bring myself to eat canned tuna or boiled chicken. Blech.
#3
Mushrooms. I grew up in a country where everyone picked mushrooms from the woods. Then people would soak them in salty water, then boil for 40+ mins and then use it in cooking, like frying or in stuffing. They literally had no taste and the texture was awful. So I came home one day (I was 30 years old at that time) and we picked some amazing fresh porcinis and I just lightly fried them with garlic, pork belly and thyme. Everyone’s mind was blown lol
VioletHunter 1 year ago (edited)
We pick wild mushrooms too and frying in butter and with onions is the normal way to go. I wonder whether the excessive boiling started due to a fear of having picked a poisonous one. Though I doubt that would actually help.
Bored Panda got in touch with satelliteboi who initiated the discussion online. Firstly, we were curious about why he posed this question to the internet. “Okay, I made the post because I had recently told the story to a few friends separately and they had found it pretty funny, especially my POC friends who give me trouble for having “white people” tolerance (and I take that in stride, no harm meant or done by those comments).”
“I was wondering if anyone else had had a similar situation with their family or what else might’ve been ruined by the way someone was fed growing up,” they shared with Bored Panda. Before the internet, it seemed like bad cooking ran in generations, but now we all have the luxury to improve and learn.
#4
Lasagna. My oldest sister had a brain tumor when she was 9-10. I was 4-5. We were very fortunate to have friends and family rally around us. But what is the practical choice when you bring a family a premade dinner? Lasagna or some type of hot dish.
As a teenager i couldn’t figure out why I didn’t like lasagna. Everyone else seemed to like lasagna. I recall numerous times at a friends house for dinner forcing myself to eat lasagna or trying to push it around on my plate to be respectful.
My middle sister one day told me she didn’t like it either. Because we ate it like 2 times a week for over a year. There’s probably some psychological factor of it representing the stress and confusion of that time as well.
#5
My mom was a horrible cook, so almost everything. Thank the powers that be for the Food Network and youtube for showing me that food is supposed to be seasoned.
Benita Valdez 1 year ago
I don't remember making this post 😂 Before I was old enough to actually cook I just made lots of canned soup as a kid. Mom said "if you don't like what I make then you can cook for yourself " and so I made soup
#6
It’s kinda funny, but I’d have to say pizza!!! My great grandmother was pure Sicilian and would make the absolute best pizza every time I visited her. She made everything but the cheese from scratch! Even the sauce came straight from tomato’s grown in her garden. I have yet to find anyone who can make a pizza as good as hers was.
That’s why we asked satelliteboi to share a little about their own cooking journey, particularly about how they learned to make dishes with actual seasoning and flavor. “I learned to cook by watching a lot of YouTube and by cooking dinner with friends. I’m usually more reserved when seasoning my own food because I’m scared to ruin it with too much.”
#7
I was raised in a cult that believed each family should keep a years’ supply of food on hand. As such, most of our meals were from cans.
The worst was the canned carrots. They were salty, had a strange smell, and had the consistency of baby food. We had them three times a week, and I was not allowed to leave the table until I finished everything on my plate. There were times I didn’t get to bed until midnight because I was trying to chose those carrots down.
To this day, I can not stand cooked carrots. I can do maybe roasted if I am in the right mood, but it has to still be mostly crunchy.
Donkey boi 1 year ago
First time I had dinner with the in-laws, I found that they serve all vegetables RAW (except potatoes). First time I cooked for them, they were disgusted by the idea of cooked veg but thoroughly enjoyed it. The misses was over the moon.
#8
Beans. My mother’s beans were always hard. Worst was rice and beans.
First time I had soft beans, I was shocked.
#9
My Asian mum is an amazing cook. However, when it comes to western food, she has interesting takes. Bolognese is more like a mincemeat curry served with pasta and she would actually eat her portion with rice instead. Her shepherds pie was littered with raw chillies. The worst was her scrambled eggs. She would add sugar and cook it till it resembled pellets.
Now, I know sweet scrambled eggs or omelettes exist but this was neither of those. I was so used to sugary scrambled eggs that I was incredibly insulted at the soft salted version offered to me by a friends mum. I ate it of course and made no complaints but I secretly thought she was a bad cook. I later came to realise that this version was far superior!
“Little by little I started adding more once I’d seen people around me using their spices liberally, but I still usually stick to my basics, salt, pepper (a little), onion powder, and garlic powder,” they shared. Many of the stories in this post follow a similar pattern, of slow, hesitant experimentation until the fear of a spice rack is finally broken.
#10
Darling mother loves dill. Will put it on or in anything she can. My siblings and I won’t touch the stuff…ever…
#12
Beef here. My dad over cooked steaks to the point that knives couldn't cut it and eating it was a chore. I moved to Korea almost two decades ago and Korean beef (similar to Wagyu) opened my eyes to this new world of meat.
We were also curious about how satelliteboi handles spice now that they have some experience. “My spice tolerance is not great. I still get uncomfortable with too much black pepper in my food, but I’m trying to push myself and try spicy things. I’ll munch on spicy chips, but only a few at a time, with a cup of water close by.”
#13
Beef stroganoff- I blame Hamburger Helper, specifically.
Grew up with a mom who made this often (cheap, easy to make.) Now, the smell of it makes my stomach turn.
#14
I was a picky eater growing up, but in retrospect, I've always wondered if the food was just bad.
I moved to London when I was 20 and it was the first time I could try foods from parts of the world I didn't grow up in. Turns out I love Indian. Turns out I love a lot of food that isn't bland.
My family might have done me a favor though, because now I try new things well into adulthood and I'm still discovering tastes I love.
#15
Apple Pie. When I was a kid, and we visit McDonald's sometimes for breakfast. I saw Apple pie on the menu and asked if I can try that. My Mom said cooked apples will not taste nice. In fact, fruits are supposed to be eaten raw and not cooked.
When I started working, I had the freedom to eat whatever I like. I ordered apple pie and I loved it instantly.
But in general, they were happy about the discussion the initial post prompted. “I’m overall glad how well the post was received. It helped me know I’m not alone in having food reservations based on how I was raised and fed growing up. I also got a lot of tips for increasing my spice tolerance and I'm grateful to the community for that.” If you want to improve your own cooking game, Bored Panda has got you covered, check out our article on kitchen hacks, or explore some culinary fails.
#16
Ketchup.
I couldn't eat ketchup unless it was already on my fast food cheeseburger, and I definitely couldn't use it to dip anything in, until I was like 30. When I was growing up my brother put it on everything, and the smell of it started making me sick, because not only would he drown everything in it, but if he was dipping something in it, he would scoop it so that all of his fingers would drag through the ketchup, and then he'd put his whole hand in his mouth to get extra ketchup. It made me sick. I can enjoy ketchup on some things now though.
#17
There was a brief period of time, not even a year. after my grandmother died that my grandfather was cooking for my brothers and I. Before I took over at 14 out of necessity. He never cooked before. He was very classic old world, went to work and came home to (bad) food she cooked. The most he could cook was warming up a tortilla on the burner and a slice of bologna the same way.
I don't know how or who told him about it but he discovered Mrs. Dash seasoning after someone also told him that salt in anything was going to kill you. And it became the main ingredient of everything. Potatoes, eggs, heated up pasta sauce, on Spam, on white rice. Everything. No salt. Maybe a little pepper. To this day almost 30 years later. I cannot even look at Mrs. Dash in the spice aisle without feeling honestly nauseated. God I still remember the smell of it. There was 5-6 jars of it at all times in my cupboard. He went through a jar or more a week. This was like PTSD for me. I still see it in my mind. Dreading anything he made because it would only taste like that stuff.
#18
Looking back the reason I hated vegetables is because they were always straight from a can and into the microwave with no seasoning.
#19
Like a lot of people: vegetables.
My dad liked his vegetables cooked to mush, even more so as he has gotten older and his teeth have gotten worse, so my mum placated him and overcooked vegetables. She also never used any seasoning, not even salt and pepper. Turns out that vegetables are great when cooked properly and seasoned just right.
Rebelliousslug 1 year ago
I always liked vegetables growing up and could not for the longest time figure out why I could never get them to taste as good as my moms. Turns out I wasn’t willing to use the approximately 6 pounds of butter per serving that she used. Obviously a little exaggerated, but I really did have to force myself to like them as an adult because I was not willing to use that much butter.
#20
Bologna. We had it constantly. That's all they would ever buy. Sandwiches. Fried on egg sandwiches. Cut up and mixed with eggs. I can't even stand to smell it.
#21
My mom ruined a couple of meals for me, but in a different way. Her meat loaf and goulash were some of my favorites. Even with her recipes, I can't recreate the flavors. So they're ruined in that hers were so good that none others can live up to it.
#22
My dad is a decent cook, but one of his quirks is that he doesn't like to waste food. Which is fine, except for how he does it.
We had a wedding reception catered by a local Italian restaurant. The next day he made French toast...
...with the garlic bread.
#23
My mom has 5 recipes in her whole cooking repertoire and my entire childhood was either eating these on repeat or fast food. And my parents would get hooked on a fast food joint and we would eat there once a week till they got tired and moved on to another.
I HATE lemon pepper chicken like nothing else in this world.
And the thought of going to a primo burger groses me out.
#24
Twizzlers. My dad loved Twizzlers, and so did I. Then he died unexpectedly.
He wouldn’t listen to me about getting vaccinated or masking, he got COVID (though was “just” sick at home for a week), and then 2 months later he suddenly died.
Anyway, now I can’t eat Twizzlers without being sad.
#25
Cliche for the time period but Pork. Dry, dry, dry Pork. They overcooked all the meats so I could have overcome this. Except for the constant Parasite stories and the stories that if you get sick once every time after if you’re even near it will make you sick again. I eat the crispiest bacon and sausages.
#26
Oh no!
I was almost ruined for spice (still can't handle more than mild-leaning-medium salsa) similarly. My mom used to make, for instance, chicken soups/stews/etc with 6+ cups of water... and *one* bullion cube. Maybe a little salt & some pre-ground black pepper so old it could vote. Luckily that little bit was apparently enough to save me from total spice intolerance.
Also almost ruined was salmon- throughout my childhood baked 45 minutes at 350, with slices of oranges on it the entire time (so they get burned and turn bitter af, a flavor they impart to the salmon itself) Pork chops, steak, and plenty of other meats got a similar "40-45 minutes at 350" treatment but the salmon was especially bad.
Abner_Mality 1 year ago
My SIL always cooks salmon for family dinners, and always like that... 350F for 30-45 minutes, just ruined and horrible!
Glenn Schroeder 1 year ago
The only salmon I knew anything about growing up was salmon croquettes, but made with canned mackerel because it was less expensive. It was quite a revelation to me the first time I had a salmon steak.
Amy Smith 1 year ago (edited)
I was put off pork chops and roast pork as a kid because of how dry my mum would cook it. Turkey as well, (Xmas in the UK complaints about dry turkey are common)... no-one in our family could stand turkey as it was always so dry. It was when I started cooking that I learnt that if cooked to non Sahara levels of dryness I actually really enjoyed it. Pork chops were always like cardboard and I still am not a fan.
Leanne Hailes 1 year ago
Any fish cooked even just 30 extra seconds more then it needs may as well go straight to the garbage can 😖
Ashley Crossman 1 year ago
I think it's a parent thing better burnt then dead from salmonella. I'll make a stake very rare for myself but always well done for my kids this is the way.
Poppy 1 year ago
My mum used to be a good cook, but what she chose to cook was traditional English favourites which didn't really have much in the way of spiciness. What she cooked was flavourful but compared to cuisines overseas, uninteresting. I can't cope with a very spicy curry for example. The curry she used to make had barely a teaspoon of spices in, so milder than mild.
visacrum 1 year ago
UGH bouillon cubes. Not correcting the spelling, just communicating my hatred of them thanks to my childhood. I never even knew they sold stock/ broth til I was on my own. And it wasn't long after that when I learned I can just make my own. To heck and tarnation with those tiny mottled cubes of cup o noodles powder and salt.
#27
Chicken breasts.
Always bought the largest ones. They almost always had a “woody” texture because the proteins grew too fast and didn’t have time to develop properly. I always mentioned that three small ones cost the same as two large ones but was always shrugged off.
They were also unseasoned and usually dry.
#28
My grandmother ruined ribs for me. My mother says they were “country pork style” ribs though I honestly have no idea. All I know is they were almost all pure fat and then she would steam/boil-ish them in bbq sauce so none of the fat would render or get crispy or anything so when they were ‘done’ it just felt like slime in your mouth 🤮
To this day I can’t look at any kind of ribs without my stomach turning… and I LOVE bbq as a general rule. I’ve tried to eat them again but just seeing them brings back such strong memories of any time we were at my grandparents for more than a few days (like Thanksgiving or Christmas) ribs would be made as one of the meals and I’d either have to eat them or eat nothing so even with what are clearly properly cooked ribs I just still can’t get past ‘all that’
Of course, my sons favorite food is ribs 🤷🏻♀️🤣
Cyber Returns 1 year ago
My god! I see so many ruined appetites on here that I am tempted to invite everyone over to one of our barbecue feasts and show them how good the food they ended up hating should taste like! I have so many recipes and so does my Bev and people who have tried our cooking all say it's addictive and come back for more
#29
Not food but ingredient, rosemary. They put way too much every chance they got, I was in my 30s before I was able to try it again
Cyber Returns 1 year ago
Try making a dark, rich brown gravy from beef dripping. Skim the fat off and add finely chopped rosemary and thyme and about 2 tablespoons of the fat back. Add some beef stock to it and a tablespoon of plain flour to thicken it up
#30
Pork chops.
Every version of pork chops was dry as the desert, heat blasted til it was gray in the middle.
Cyber Returns 1 year ago
My aunt used to turn everything grey when she cooked. Mashed potatoes, Meat, Carrots. I once joked that she could make a salad turn grey because all her cook books had monochrome photos
#31
Carrots. When I was about 8 or 9, I got a really bad case of conjunctivitis. On top of the medical treatment and eye drops, my mom was dead set on drowning me in carrot juice because of the popular belief that eating carrots is good for your eyes. So she took that to the next level, buying kilos of carrots weekly and juicing them every morning. I would sit in the morning at the kitchen table, tears streaming down my face, gagging, with my mom begging me to finish up the glass of juice. No other fruit mixed in could help mask that horrible taste.
I couldn't stand carrots in any food for years. Not boiled, roasted, finely grated, nothing. Once I started cooking myself, I slowly was able to incorporate them back into my diet and actually enjoy them roasted or even grated in salads. But snacking on raw carrots is just a big NO for me, and the smell of carrot juice still makes me gag to this day.
Cyber Returns 1 year ago
The theory of carrots being good for your eyes comes from the UK propaganda during WWII saying carrots helped you see in the dark when, in reality, it was because the Luftwaffe often struck under the cover of darkness. In order to make it more difficult for the German planes to hit targets, the British government issued citywide blackouts. The Royal Air Force were able to repel the German fighters in part because of the development of a new, secret radar technology
#32
Bananas.
My father is anything except a decent cook, and one day when I was a kid he decided to try and make a "superfood smoothie" for shits and giggles. It consisted of bananas, unwashed kale, raw spinach, walnuts, chia seeds, raw oats, and ice. He just about killed the poor blender and it tasted distinctly of swamp. Still can't have bananas without becoming nauseated.
Cyber Returns 1 year ago
I tried making chick pea flour to make healthier cakes. I blew up the blender because I didn't know I had to soak them for 24 hours and slow roast them until dry before grinding them into flour. I'm not allowed to try new ideas in the kitchen without supervision or running the idea by Bev first. I also killed a juicer trying to make apple cider... and a Kenwood multichef... in fact I have killed a lot of kitchen appliances with my food experiments
#33
I made my parents some zucchini and used some black pepper and my Dad wanted to know what the black things were. He didn’t like it.
Brocken Blue 1 year ago (edited)
😂 this is my mother. She constantly ask waiters in restaurants if food is going to be spicy, and I have to explain that she means do they cook with black pepper
#34
My parents had odd obsessions with food. Canned asparagus, cold. I’d offer to buy fresh asparagus and steam them. Unnecessary, I was told. The incident of the 100 corns they froze and we ate for 3 1/2 years. Took me *decades* to get over that. Broccoli when I was older. It’s one of my favorite vegetables - but, not just steamed and served, salt less and butter free. Cauliflower is exceedingly good - but not just boiled and served with some melted orange cheese goo. When I would make dinner for them I’d be careful to add such scandalous things as thyme, marjoram and maybe bay to sauces.
#35
My mom ruined spaghetti, lasagna, hamburger helper and oatmeal for me. Constantly made dishes and had to eat as leftovers for like a week. Or having only oatmeal for breakfast every day I’m burnt out on it and never crave it.
What do you think ?
Alexandra Davis 1 year ago
Wow, I feel even more blessed today to have wonderful parents. They could cook and cooked us nutritious and tasty meals growing up. Even when I went veggie at 11 they (and I too as they also taught me to cook) would make the equivalent of their meat meal, veggie for me eg veggie spaghetti bolognese along with their meat one etc. Even were great bakers and we always had amazing home baked cakes and sweet treats. The only thing that I couldn't eat for a very very long time was quavers (or similar cheesy crisps) as my sister would eat at least a packet a day and got very travel sick and cheesy crisp sick had an awfully pungent smell. By the time she had grown out of this, I was vegan and so cheesy vegan crisps were impossible to find. When they finally became a thing it took a few years to pluck up the courage, but I did/ do like them.
Great And Holy Pangolin 1 year ago (edited)
Mash potatoes, my family mashed them with the skin still on, raw, then put them in a saucepan for a while. It comes out lumpy and grainy with little strips of skin here and there. It feels like it’s been pre-eaten, or it’s some kind of wet chicken food, if you can even buy that.
Benita Valdez 1 year ago
My mom was just a horrible cook; she tried but it was just terrible. My mom was from New York and her parents were Irish and English; Dad was Uruguayan. Now after they got married My mom would try to fuse Spanish and Irish/English dishes. Her worst offense was what she called Meatpie (similar to cottage pie). However, she tried to put a Spanish spin on it which was just an awful combination of flavors. She would take ground beef and add an onion and maybe some garlic powder and then add raisins and jarred green Spanish olives; this abomination was topped with mashed potatoes made from instant flakes. Now olives and raisins can work in ground beef when seasoned and cooked right (empanadas) but what she did just tasted horrible. I'm pretty sure she poured the olive juice in the mixture too. I'm almost 40 and I still can't bring myself to try cottage pie or Shepard pie because of my mom's meatpie. I can still remember the taste; that sweet raisin olive taste 🤢
Mike Fitzpatrick 1 year ago
Olives? Oy! I love olives as much as the next person and better than many, but holy cow. And raisins, SMH. That poor woman stretched herself thin! Glad to see you survived it. 😂😂
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Lez Be Honest 1 year ago
Beans...I absolutely cannot stomach them. When I was about 6 my step dad made me eat them and I threw up... I am now in my 40s and still can't even stand the smell of them.
Brainmas 1 year ago
I make the most simple meatloaf based on my mom's. It wasn't something we had a lot, and I don't make it very often. It took me a while to make it at all based on the meatloaf I had regularly in my other house, which consisted of corn flakes instead of bread crumbs, a brick of frozen spinach, and not enough egg (if any) to hold it together. I finally figured out if I dumped mustard on it, I couldn't taste the rest.
Cathy 1 year ago
I ruined carrot cake for myself :') I have such a good recipe, I can never buy it anywhere and eat it: it is always a disappointment in comparison to my home made cake.
Morgen Stern 1 year ago
Would you share the recipe, please? I love carrot cake!
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Petra Schaap 1 year ago (edited)
My mom is a good cook but theres two things i'll never forgive her. For some reason she likes leek as vegetable. So we would have potatoes, a burger, and LEEK. Just LEEK. It took years before i ever touched a leek again, and i only use it in stir fry, vegetable curry or soup, along with many other. Second; she would always use canned mushrooms. The texture is vile and horrible. Little bits of squeezy brown things. It took a very long time before i found out mushrooms can be nice, but i still rarely eat them. also: for the Dutch people: brood van de Aldi belegd met kokosbrood, de vorige dag klaar gemaakt, dus een kleffe bende als ontbijt. Kokosbrood; NOOIT MEER.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
I have a sudden craving for my mum's amazing lasagna. I should ask her to cook it for my birthday!
Deamhayness Doom 1 year ago (edited)
It was not my family, but my exchange student's parents that ruined some stuff for me. I was 12 or 13 at the time, spent a week over at her place in England during the student exchange. Some weeks before, my exchange student asked me what foods I fancy. Little did I know that they would serve me exactly that for a whole week - in the worst way possible. As I wasn't a picky eater, I just listed some things off the top of my head - chicken, mushrooms, chips (french fries). Her parents would then make "potato waffles" (basically fries in the form of a waffle), fried mushrooms with garlic and overcooked chicken breast EVERY evening. One evening they decided to spice things up by serving "vegetables" on the side: The pot was filled with a green-grayish liquid that contained soggy zucchini slices. As I didn't want to be rude, I of course ate everything and acted thrilled about it. This experience ruined mushrooms and chicken for me for months, and zucchini for years XD
Helen 1 year ago
My grandparents did the cooking after my mother left and their spice rack contained: salt, pepper (pre-ground and very old), a bottle of Maggi, and the saddest jar of flavourless dried parsley you've ever seen. They were from the old world and did that boiling the c**p out of food until it gives up the will to live (and all traces of flavour). I still can't stand plain boiled russet potatoes - even when mashed - and I'm a vegetarian partially thanks to that tough, grisly meat. I cook (steam) most vegetables al dente and only bake or fry my potatoes - mostly yukon golds and yams/sweet potatoes, never russets.
Catherine Spencer-Mills 1 year ago
If not gourmet cooks, at my family were decent enough cooks. I hated the way they fixed oatmeal however. Just plain with a little white sugar. I once stared at a small dish for hours until finally released. My husband taught me to like it. Turns out if you salt the water gently and cook rolled oats until done then add brown sugar, raisins or other fruit, and maybe some nuts it's pretty good.
Mikie4332 1 year ago
Mashed potatoes. My friend cooked a meal that iinlouded mashed potatoes. After the potatoes were cooked, she placed them onto a bowl with a bit of milk, a lot of salt, and a pad of butter. She then preceded to use an electric beater to whip the mixture for 10 minutes. End result: glue. Now when I'm invited to someone's house for dinner and they say part of the meal is mashed potatoes, I suddenly remember i have plans that day!
Looks like an Angel 1 year ago
I can't eat McDonald's bacon and egg on a bagel. I got it one morning, after a night of drinking. It did not sit in my stomach well and I ended up vomiting. That was over 20 years ago and even seeing someone else eating one, still nauseates me.
Meemomeems 1 year ago
Liver…aka lambs fry. Literally the only food I hated and refused to eat and my mother would make me sit there till my plate was clean. I’d scraped all the gravy off that thing, eaten the bacon, the mash, the over cooked green beans…just me and that grey cold lump of hard liver and my tears. Would make me seriously gag and choke and cry and beg….but nope…plate MUST be cleaned. Bad food and bad parenting!
Rachel Rockwood 1 year ago
Greek salad and lasagna. I can't remember which, but my dad would add ingredients that my kid palate didn't like. The encouragement to eat these things often involved being slapped or generally hit in the head. Sucks, cause I enjoy the parts of both dishes but as a whole I just can't. Thanks for the food trauma, dad lol
PhoniexFox444 1 year ago
One food I really dislike is meatloaf, but my dad loves meat loaf. I dont get the appeal, to me it's ketchup on good ground beef that could have been made into something easier and better
Carman Davis 1 year ago
Mine is beef liver. Eew just typing those words make me gag. My mother loved beef liver and onions so she would cook it at least once a week. Never tender always tough. Gag me!!! When my older siblings got old enough to speak up did mom stop cooking that stuff. This was over 50 yrs ago and I still remember the smell when it was cooking and I can't for the life of me look at them in the meat department at the grocery store. Still makes me nauseous!!
Hey! 1 year ago
My MIL is not really a great cook but the worse my husband ever had was greasy sausages with canned creamy corn drowned in the grease. I couldn't make sausages for a long time and then one day he said he would try again. I make mine with peppers and onions with mashed potatoes and he loves them. Minimum grease.
Carole G. 1 year ago
My hubs grew up eating a "baked tuna role!" It was canned tuna with peas, rolled up in bisquick dough, then baked. The sound alone would give me the heebee jebbies. Mention any sort in Tuna Cassarole around him & he literally pales. We've been married 47 yrs & I never served any sort of tuna Cassarole, for which he is very grateful 🤣🤣🤣
John Smith (he/him/xy/️) 1 year ago
Tl:Dr people hate certain foods because people can't cook.
EnbyEnvy 1 year ago
It wasn’t my parents but a friend’s mum. It was her 12th birthday and we had a sleepover at her house, in the morning her mum made us pancakes. My friend had a lot of food allergies and intolerances, so food was limited. She couldn’t have gluten or sugar, so her mum made pancakes from scratch. They were the worst pancakes I have ever had. They were almost just fried eggs with gluten free flour. Since then I cannot even smell pancakes without feeling sick.
DarkViolet 1 year ago
For me, it's my dad's version of rabbit and chicken. I heard so much about plump, juicy rabbit. Unfortunately, that, and chicken, is where my dad's cooking failed. Miserably. He made an excellent potato soup, mackerel croquettes, and a blackberry cobbler that would make you want to light up a cigarette after eating it. But when it came to rabbit and chicken, all that was on the serving plate was a pile of bones. No discernable meat, just bones. Sorry Dad, I know you tried.
Rick Seiden 1 year ago
Ramen. In the first years of our marriage I lost my job, and had a hard time getting a new one. My parents were helping out, but all we could afford was Ramen. It's now known as "The Summer of Ramen." It was over 20 years ago, and I still can't eat it. My wife has overcome it, and can eat it now.
KrazyChiMama 1 year ago
Ugh mine is mushrooms! My parents both loved then and me with my texture issues cannot stand them! It's not the taste as my mom cooks a few things with cream of mushroom soup but the actual mushrooms I just cannot stand that texture in my mouth. I can't eat pineapple for the same reason. I love pineapple juice though! My dad always said I was a weird kid lol : D
Exotic Butters 1 year ago
My mom was a great and adventurous cook. Us kids were eating fondue, wok (several different dishes) Ramen like they make in restaurants now, she one did an entire Medieval feast. Complete with mead haha. Miss her so:)
Captain Awesome 1 year ago
My parents ruined spinach and meatloaf for years. Turns out when you buy fresh and not the frozen brick that's boiled to mush, spinach isn't so bad. Also, coming meatloaf right and it's juicy, not the Sahara desert
Adam Zad 1 year ago
My grandmother's scratch-baked lemon meringue pie. I made it once, when I was 13, and it was PERFECT! Tart, tangy, and tasty, with a good three inches of thick, fluffy meringue on the top, with perfect, golden brown tips. NOTHING else compares! Takes a good six hours to make (including prepping the ingredients), and I have NEVER been able to replicate the feat from my childhood. It's an incredibly temperamental dish.
Dee LeGrow 1 year ago
My husband always raved about his grandmother's lemon meringue pei. 20 years ago, I made one from scratch for him, assuming Nanny always cooked from scratch. All day adventure. Best tasting ever, still have the pics. He comes home and declares "it's good, but not like Nanny's". So I say "actual lemons died for this, did Nanny's come from a little blue box?" "Yes" he says. NO MORE LEMON PIE FOR HIM
Load More Replies...
Your local pyromaniac 1 year ago
One thing that i dont like because of not my mom, or grandma, it is completely the fault of my great grandmother. most of the salads she made were bad, but waldorf salad especially. see, she had this weird thing where she said salad was only good when it got wilty from the dressing,and thats how most salads were when it was a family event,because of her. she also ruined singing for my sibling for a while,and she also ruined my former belief in god,because she was so forecefull of saying grace,and making everyone do it, that when i wasnt comfortable one time,especially because i was sitting on the chair at the end of one of the sides,and she was at the end,she literally grabbed onto my wrist and told me to stop being a little b***h(im paraphrasing here),and wouldnt let go until we are done. i genuinely believe that if there really is an afterlife, she is deep in the earth,be it hell, or the nordic one where a snake drips venom into your eyes as you are chained to a rock, she's there.
Your local pyromaniac 1 year ago
And from things my mom told me,she was always like that,just a crabby,unpleasant person,who was extremely forceful. She also just was rude. but one thing she hasnt ruined for me at least is card games. those were the only pleasant memories i have of her house,aside from sophie who now lives with my aunt tobie in arizona. sophie was one of those little ankle biter dogs,but actually nice. this is going to sound like a pretty mean thing, but in a way, im glad she is dead.
Load More Replies... TMoxraaaar 1 year ago
Broccoli. Oh my god really. I have an eating disorder called "ARFID" Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. We are often shamed as "picky eaters" and get "if you're hungry enough you'll eat." No - I ate napkins to stop the hunger pangs with a plate of broccoli in front of me. They made me sit starting at it until I ate it or had to go to bed. The one time I tried to eat it I threw up and my stepfather tried to make me eat the puke. Mom stepped in. Because of that they NEVER gave me broccoli when guests were over. My husband has tried to make it about 20 different ways over our marriage and we gave up years ago because it just wouldn't NOT stay down.
SpongeBob SquarePants 1 year ago
I was lucky to grow up with a mom that is an amazing cook. She can also bake like a professional.
Just_for_this 1 year ago (edited)
I love my mums food, its always a treat when we visit. but I don't know what she did to this Salmon steak; but i refused to eat salmon again until at an event someone was handing out canapes, I ate it without thinking and my mind was blown.
Alexandra Davis 1 year ago
Wow, I feel even more blessed today to have wonderful parents. They could cook and cooked us nutritious and tasty meals growing up. Even when I went veggie at 11 they (and I too as they also taught me to cook) would make the equivalent of their meat meal, veggie for me eg veggie spaghetti bolognese along with their meat one etc. Even were great bakers and we always had amazing home baked cakes and sweet treats. The only thing that I couldn't eat for a very very long time was quavers (or similar cheesy crisps) as my sister would eat at least a packet a day and got very travel sick and cheesy crisp sick had an awfully pungent smell. By the time she had grown out of this, I was vegan and so cheesy vegan crisps were impossible to find. When they finally became a thing it took a few years to pluck up the courage, but I did/ do like them.
Great And Holy Pangolin 1 year ago (edited)
Mash potatoes, my family mashed them with the skin still on, raw, then put them in a saucepan for a while. It comes out lumpy and grainy with little strips of skin here and there. It feels like it’s been pre-eaten, or it’s some kind of wet chicken food, if you can even buy that.
Benita Valdez 1 year ago
My mom was just a horrible cook; she tried but it was just terrible. My mom was from New York and her parents were Irish and English; Dad was Uruguayan. Now after they got married My mom would try to fuse Spanish and Irish/English dishes. Her worst offense was what she called Meatpie (similar to cottage pie). However, she tried to put a Spanish spin on it which was just an awful combination of flavors. She would take ground beef and add an onion and maybe some garlic powder and then add raisins and jarred green Spanish olives; this abomination was topped with mashed potatoes made from instant flakes. Now olives and raisins can work in ground beef when seasoned and cooked right (empanadas) but what she did just tasted horrible. I'm pretty sure she poured the olive juice in the mixture too. I'm almost 40 and I still can't bring myself to try cottage pie or Shepard pie because of my mom's meatpie. I can still remember the taste; that sweet raisin olive taste 🤢
Mike Fitzpatrick 1 year ago
Olives? Oy! I love olives as much as the next person and better than many, but holy cow. And raisins, SMH. That poor woman stretched herself thin! Glad to see you survived it. 😂😂
Load More Replies... Lez Be Honest 1 year ago
Beans...I absolutely cannot stomach them. When I was about 6 my step dad made me eat them and I threw up... I am now in my 40s and still can't even stand the smell of them.
Brainmas 1 year ago
I make the most simple meatloaf based on my mom's. It wasn't something we had a lot, and I don't make it very often. It took me a while to make it at all based on the meatloaf I had regularly in my other house, which consisted of corn flakes instead of bread crumbs, a brick of frozen spinach, and not enough egg (if any) to hold it together. I finally figured out if I dumped mustard on it, I couldn't taste the rest.
Cathy 1 year ago
I ruined carrot cake for myself :') I have such a good recipe, I can never buy it anywhere and eat it: it is always a disappointment in comparison to my home made cake.
Morgen Stern 1 year ago
Would you share the recipe, please? I love carrot cake!
Load More Replies... Petra Schaap 1 year ago (edited)
My mom is a good cook but theres two things i'll never forgive her. For some reason she likes leek as vegetable. So we would have potatoes, a burger, and LEEK. Just LEEK. It took years before i ever touched a leek again, and i only use it in stir fry, vegetable curry or soup, along with many other. Second; she would always use canned mushrooms. The texture is vile and horrible. Little bits of squeezy brown things. It took a very long time before i found out mushrooms can be nice, but i still rarely eat them. also: for the Dutch people: brood van de Aldi belegd met kokosbrood, de vorige dag klaar gemaakt, dus een kleffe bende als ontbijt. Kokosbrood; NOOIT MEER.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
I have a sudden craving for my mum's amazing lasagna. I should ask her to cook it for my birthday!
Deamhayness Doom 1 year ago (edited)
It was not my family, but my exchange student's parents that ruined some stuff for me. I was 12 or 13 at the time, spent a week over at her place in England during the student exchange. Some weeks before, my exchange student asked me what foods I fancy. Little did I know that they would serve me exactly that for a whole week - in the worst way possible. As I wasn't a picky eater, I just listed some things off the top of my head - chicken, mushrooms, chips (french fries). Her parents would then make "potato waffles" (basically fries in the form of a waffle), fried mushrooms with garlic and overcooked chicken breast EVERY evening. One evening they decided to spice things up by serving "vegetables" on the side: The pot was filled with a green-grayish liquid that contained soggy zucchini slices. As I didn't want to be rude, I of course ate everything and acted thrilled about it. This experience ruined mushrooms and chicken for me for months, and zucchini for years XD
Helen 1 year ago
My grandparents did the cooking after my mother left and their spice rack contained: salt, pepper (pre-ground and very old), a bottle of Maggi, and the saddest jar of flavourless dried parsley you've ever seen. They were from the old world and did that boiling the c**p out of food until it gives up the will to live (and all traces of flavour). I still can't stand plain boiled russet potatoes - even when mashed - and I'm a vegetarian partially thanks to that tough, grisly meat. I cook (steam) most vegetables al dente and only bake or fry my potatoes - mostly yukon golds and yams/sweet potatoes, never russets.
Catherine Spencer-Mills 1 year ago
If not gourmet cooks, at my family were decent enough cooks. I hated the way they fixed oatmeal however. Just plain with a little white sugar. I once stared at a small dish for hours until finally released. My husband taught me to like it. Turns out if you salt the water gently and cook rolled oats until done then add brown sugar, raisins or other fruit, and maybe some nuts it's pretty good.
Mikie4332 1 year ago
Mashed potatoes. My friend cooked a meal that iinlouded mashed potatoes. After the potatoes were cooked, she placed them onto a bowl with a bit of milk, a lot of salt, and a pad of butter. She then preceded to use an electric beater to whip the mixture for 10 minutes. End result: glue. Now when I'm invited to someone's house for dinner and they say part of the meal is mashed potatoes, I suddenly remember i have plans that day!
Looks like an Angel 1 year ago
I can't eat McDonald's bacon and egg on a bagel. I got it one morning, after a night of drinking. It did not sit in my stomach well and I ended up vomiting. That was over 20 years ago and even seeing someone else eating one, still nauseates me.
Meemomeems 1 year ago
Liver…aka lambs fry. Literally the only food I hated and refused to eat and my mother would make me sit there till my plate was clean. I’d scraped all the gravy off that thing, eaten the bacon, the mash, the over cooked green beans…just me and that grey cold lump of hard liver and my tears. Would make me seriously gag and choke and cry and beg….but nope…plate MUST be cleaned. Bad food and bad parenting!
Rachel Rockwood 1 year ago
Greek salad and lasagna. I can't remember which, but my dad would add ingredients that my kid palate didn't like. The encouragement to eat these things often involved being slapped or generally hit in the head. Sucks, cause I enjoy the parts of both dishes but as a whole I just can't. Thanks for the food trauma, dad lol
PhoniexFox444 1 year ago
One food I really dislike is meatloaf, but my dad loves meat loaf. I dont get the appeal, to me it's ketchup on good ground beef that could have been made into something easier and better
Carman Davis 1 year ago
Mine is beef liver. Eew just typing those words make me gag. My mother loved beef liver and onions so she would cook it at least once a week. Never tender always tough. Gag me!!! When my older siblings got old enough to speak up did mom stop cooking that stuff. This was over 50 yrs ago and I still remember the smell when it was cooking and I can't for the life of me look at them in the meat department at the grocery store. Still makes me nauseous!!
Hey! 1 year ago
My MIL is not really a great cook but the worse my husband ever had was greasy sausages with canned creamy corn drowned in the grease. I couldn't make sausages for a long time and then one day he said he would try again. I make mine with peppers and onions with mashed potatoes and he loves them. Minimum grease.
Carole G. 1 year ago
My hubs grew up eating a "baked tuna role!" It was canned tuna with peas, rolled up in bisquick dough, then baked. The sound alone would give me the heebee jebbies. Mention any sort in Tuna Cassarole around him & he literally pales. We've been married 47 yrs & I never served any sort of tuna Cassarole, for which he is very grateful 🤣🤣🤣
John Smith (he/him/xy/️) 1 year ago
Tl:Dr people hate certain foods because people can't cook.
EnbyEnvy 1 year ago
It wasn’t my parents but a friend’s mum. It was her 12th birthday and we had a sleepover at her house, in the morning her mum made us pancakes. My friend had a lot of food allergies and intolerances, so food was limited. She couldn’t have gluten or sugar, so her mum made pancakes from scratch. They were the worst pancakes I have ever had. They were almost just fried eggs with gluten free flour. Since then I cannot even smell pancakes without feeling sick.
DarkViolet 1 year ago
For me, it's my dad's version of rabbit and chicken. I heard so much about plump, juicy rabbit. Unfortunately, that, and chicken, is where my dad's cooking failed. Miserably. He made an excellent potato soup, mackerel croquettes, and a blackberry cobbler that would make you want to light up a cigarette after eating it. But when it came to rabbit and chicken, all that was on the serving plate was a pile of bones. No discernable meat, just bones. Sorry Dad, I know you tried.
Rick Seiden 1 year ago
Ramen. In the first years of our marriage I lost my job, and had a hard time getting a new one. My parents were helping out, but all we could afford was Ramen. It's now known as "The Summer of Ramen." It was over 20 years ago, and I still can't eat it. My wife has overcome it, and can eat it now.
KrazyChiMama 1 year ago
Ugh mine is mushrooms! My parents both loved then and me with my texture issues cannot stand them! It's not the taste as my mom cooks a few things with cream of mushroom soup but the actual mushrooms I just cannot stand that texture in my mouth. I can't eat pineapple for the same reason. I love pineapple juice though! My dad always said I was a weird kid lol : D
Exotic Butters 1 year ago
My mom was a great and adventurous cook. Us kids were eating fondue, wok (several different dishes) Ramen like they make in restaurants now, she one did an entire Medieval feast. Complete with mead haha. Miss her so:)
Captain Awesome 1 year ago
My parents ruined spinach and meatloaf for years. Turns out when you buy fresh and not the frozen brick that's boiled to mush, spinach isn't so bad. Also, coming meatloaf right and it's juicy, not the Sahara desert
Adam Zad 1 year ago
My grandmother's scratch-baked lemon meringue pie. I made it once, when I was 13, and it was PERFECT! Tart, tangy, and tasty, with a good three inches of thick, fluffy meringue on the top, with perfect, golden brown tips. NOTHING else compares! Takes a good six hours to make (including prepping the ingredients), and I have NEVER been able to replicate the feat from my childhood. It's an incredibly temperamental dish.
Dee LeGrow 1 year ago
My husband always raved about his grandmother's lemon meringue pei. 20 years ago, I made one from scratch for him, assuming Nanny always cooked from scratch. All day adventure. Best tasting ever, still have the pics. He comes home and declares "it's good, but not like Nanny's". So I say "actual lemons died for this, did Nanny's come from a little blue box?" "Yes" he says. NO MORE LEMON PIE FOR HIM
Load More Replies... Your local pyromaniac 1 year ago
One thing that i dont like because of not my mom, or grandma, it is completely the fault of my great grandmother. most of the salads she made were bad, but waldorf salad especially. see, she had this weird thing where she said salad was only good when it got wilty from the dressing,and thats how most salads were when it was a family event,because of her. she also ruined singing for my sibling for a while,and she also ruined my former belief in god,because she was so forecefull of saying grace,and making everyone do it, that when i wasnt comfortable one time,especially because i was sitting on the chair at the end of one of the sides,and she was at the end,she literally grabbed onto my wrist and told me to stop being a little b***h(im paraphrasing here),and wouldnt let go until we are done. i genuinely believe that if there really is an afterlife, she is deep in the earth,be it hell, or the nordic one where a snake drips venom into your eyes as you are chained to a rock, she's there.
Your local pyromaniac 1 year ago
And from things my mom told me,she was always like that,just a crabby,unpleasant person,who was extremely forceful. She also just was rude. but one thing she hasnt ruined for me at least is card games. those were the only pleasant memories i have of her house,aside from sophie who now lives with my aunt tobie in arizona. sophie was one of those little ankle biter dogs,but actually nice. this is going to sound like a pretty mean thing, but in a way, im glad she is dead.
Load More Replies... TMoxraaaar 1 year ago
Broccoli. Oh my god really. I have an eating disorder called "ARFID" Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. We are often shamed as "picky eaters" and get "if you're hungry enough you'll eat." No - I ate napkins to stop the hunger pangs with a plate of broccoli in front of me. They made me sit starting at it until I ate it or had to go to bed. The one time I tried to eat it I threw up and my stepfather tried to make me eat the puke. Mom stepped in. Because of that they NEVER gave me broccoli when guests were over. My husband has tried to make it about 20 different ways over our marriage and we gave up years ago because it just wouldn't NOT stay down.
SpongeBob SquarePants 1 year ago
I was lucky to grow up with a mom that is an amazing cook. She can also bake like a professional.
Just_for_this 1 year ago (edited)
I love my mums food, its always a treat when we visit. but I don't know what she did to this Salmon steak; but i refused to eat salmon again until at an event someone was handing out canapes, I ate it without thinking and my mind was blown.
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