9 Nasty Truths About Your Favorite Foods
Famous Death Row Last Meals
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| Photo: Sarah LeTrent |
But even though they possess adventurous palates and have the opportunity to try ingredients and dishes from far and wide, that doesn't mean they like everything they eat. They all have one or two foods that just don't do it for them, their own personal food Kryptonite.
Slashfood asked some of the country's top chefs which edibles top their "thanks, but no thanks" list.
Rachael Ray
The ubiquitous Rachael Ray is famous for transforming all kinds of foods into 30-minute meals, but she has a serious aversion to mayonnaise. "Mayo is a four-letter word to me and I avoid using it when I can. It's all about that texture. I even make a no-mayonnaise potato salad is perfect for picnics since you don't have to worry about spoiling."
Jacques Pepin
As one of the original television chefs he, along with Julia Child, captured the hearts and kitchens of Americans with his gentlemanly approach to French cooking -- and he's a self-admitted "glutton." The only single food he can think of that he really doesn't like is coconut, though he also dislikes any food that is "dry, overcooked, tortured and/or fussy".
Daniel Boulud
What turns off this French restaurateur extraordinaire? "Bananas!" he says. Which he admits sometimes causes a bit of friction when one of his pastry chefs come up with a new dessert featuring this Boulud-forbidden fruit.
Dana Cowin
As the longtime editor-in-chief of Food & Wine Magazine, Cowin has had the opportunity to sample pretty much every kind of food that there is, and she's an enthusiastic taster. This also means that she's well aware of what she doesn't like. "I don't like lots of organ meats that are dense and chewy and taste like blood -- chicken heart, for example. But maybe that's more understandable than my next biggest pet-peeve -- wet scrambled eggs. I just hate the texture and flavor of soggy, curdly, squishy eggs."
Cat Cora
The celebrity chef is widely recognized for her dominance on "Iron Chef America," where she has had to confront all kinds of surprising ingredients. However, there are two items that turn her stomach. "I can't stand beef liver, and I don't want to be on the same planet as chitlins."
Lidia Bastianich
The matriarch of Italian cooking in America, host of "Lidia's Italy" on PBS, author and restaurateur has has two foods that confound her taste buds. "I just can not stand cilantro, to me it is like having a mouth full of soap when I eat anything with cilantro. Another thing that I just can not warm up to is sweet pickles. To me it seems like a contradiction. When I bite into a crunchy pickle, I expect it to be sour."
Daisy Martinez
This lively television food personality star of the Food Network Show "Viva Daisy!" has a culinary contradiction. "I am a big fan of organ meats, and I was the only kid in my family that danced with delight when my mother made liver! But I have to say that kidneys are my personal Kryptonite. When I made them in culinary school, I had to taste them (after having cooked them) in front of my chef instructor, and I broke out into a cold sweat! They didn't even taste bad, but I was so dead set against them that I was ill for two days afterwards!"
Sandra Lee
Host of Food Network's "Sandra's Money Saving Meals," Sandra Lee, names two foods that are barred from her kitchen. "One food that I find flavorless and unappealing is lima beans. I dislike all lima beans -- canned, fresh or dried because of the starchy and grainy texture. Another food that I do not like is sweetbreads, which comes from the thymus gland or pancreas of a young calf, lamb or pig. Even when cooked properly, sweetbreads tend to be rubbery with a strong flavor and velvety texture. I find that when plated, the shape of the meat is unappealing and unappetizing."
Donatella Arpaia
Chef and restaurateur Donatella Arpaia, judge of Food Network's "The Next Iron Chef" has one meat that is a huge turn off. "I just cannot take the smell of lamb. I have had distaste for it since I was a child. My mother would make lamb every Easter, and she would tell me it was something else to make me taste it! I have such a deep, offensive reaction, it just turns me off. However, on last season's 'Next Iron Chef' I ate lamb for the first time since I was a child and was able to judge it in terms of how it was cooked."
Alex Guarnaschelli
The host of "Alex's Day Off" had to think about this question for a while, but in the end pointed to the produce aisle. "I am happy to report that finding an answer to this question was surprisingly difficult! I can't stand shredded carrots. There's nothing wrong with them; they never did anything to me and yet if I see them, even one single shred, mixed into a salad, I can feel my heart rate quicken and my taste buds shrivel in disgust. I don't like green bell peppers, and I don't like raw onions. They are too abrasive and obliterate other flavors. They also linger on your breath."
Keith Snow,
Founder of Harvest Eating, and dedicated locavore has some aversions that many people can relate to. "I am absolutely opposed to anchovies and liver -- the smell of either of them can almost make me sick. One night while I was a line cook at a country club the executive chef had liver and onions as a special. I threatened to quit and refused to cook it. He complied and changed the dish!"
Melissa d'Arabian
The Season five winner of "The Next Food Network Star" and host of "Ten Dollar Dinners" in has finally embraced lamb, but one type of cheese cannot win her over, no matter how hard she tries to embrace it. "I used to have two things I didn't eat -- goat cheese and lamb. I just didn't like the taste, which is odd, because I love really strong flavors usually. Give me a stinky cheese and knife and I'm happy. Well, my husband is from a small village in Provence where goat cheese and lamb are flagship items. He has converted me on the lamb front. I'll eat it now but goat cheese -- not yet. He is so set on the notion that if I could only taste the right goat cheese, I would love it. We have an agreement: I try goat cheese for him once a year. Seven years, seven tries, and so far -- I still don't like it."
As for this writer? Red meat is just not for me; the taste, the texture -- it's all unappealing to me. I didn't like it even as a kid, and stopped eating it altogether when I was 12. Strangely, I don't mind cooking it for others, but other than bacon, which is closer to potato chips than meat in my mind, red meat is off the list."
Katie Workman is Editor-in-Chief of Cookstr.com. Read what chefs had to tell her about their guilty pleasure foods.
Got a food on your no-no list? Share it in the comments below.
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10-18-2009 @9:53PM Ralph said... Like most all food except organ meat. FYI, veal is not lamb, it is beef and bacon is a red meat. As far as Rachael Ray goes who cares? I personally don't care for her much as I do not believe she is very well informed concerning food, for example her comment about Mayo spoiling very easy which is of course incorrect. I watch cooking programs to become better educated and skilled and I don't learn from her. She does "cook" and has a personality that seems to attract a viewers so bully for her. I like Pepin and Puck much more than her.
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10-18-2009 @9:56PM Teri said... Mostly, all food is good to me when properly cooked.
But, what I find virtually nasty is: Anchovies, lamb, organ meats(can't stand the look or feel of liver and it doesn't come thru my kitchen door. I'll eat beef and eggs only when I cook them myself. I don't remember a vegetable I don't like and I love most International and gourmet foods.
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10-18-2009 @10:09PM Amy said... Um NAC...SOME college professors DO have doctorates...therefore they have the RIGHT to be called DR. DUHHHHHHHH....Not ALL college professors are called Dr....only those with doctorates you moron. And to those of you who CAN'T read...on page 3 I believe it was, someone left a comment to the effect that the USDA DOES classify bacon as a RED MEAT....because PORK is classified as RED MEAT...the "white meat" thing was done by the Pork Association...but the USDA classifies it as a red meat....go back and READ
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10-18-2009 @10:13PM karen said... I hate mayo especially hellmans...gross..if I need a "mayo" type condiment it's miracle whipe...but basicialy prefer mustard for most condiments with ketchup for burgers and fries only......need vinegar and olive oil the most
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10-18-2009 @10:17PM Russ said... Facts are facts. It is indeed true that modern processed mayo is the last ingredient in salads that is likely to spoil. It will, in fact act somewhat like a preservative. If you got sick numerous times, it probably wasn't the mayo but improper food handling.
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10-18-2009 @10:17PM Orlenda said... I think it would be easier for me to list the foods I DO like! I am 23 but still eat like a kid (mostly....i've gotten into "some" more adult dishes....)
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10-18-2009 @10:32PM jimmy said... Cilantro taste in my mouth reminds me of nasty cat smell.
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10-18-2009 @10:54PM KKZ said... I was the pickiest eater until I hit my twenties, but like almost everything now. The only foods I haven't been able to overcome my aversion to are tripe (I'm Italian and grew up with it, but to this day I can't stand the look, taste, or texture of it) - and brie cheese. I love every other kind of cheese and have tried so many times to like it, but it just tastes like dirty socks to me. Tongue, brains, and most offal are off-limits as well, although I love chicken livers. Never could understand the love for raw clams, either.
Then there are the things I liked as a kid that I can't eat now - suffrito (not sure of the spelling) is one - a stew of organ meats the Italian ladies used to make at the annual church feast - loved it then, can't eat it now. And mussels - I used to eat them by the bucket but no more.
And I just don't like milk - I stopped drinking it at 3 years old and still can't drink it. I don't even put it in my cereal (I mix it with yogurt instead). I drank my coffee black for years. Now I'll put half & half or cream in it, but not milk.
Now cilantro, I love... I even make a pesto-type sauce from it. No soap taste for me.
And when I was pregnant with my daughter, I couldn't stand the smell of mustard - I could smell it on a sandwich across the room. I love it now, though.
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10-18-2009 @11:31PM Cindy said... I kinda laugh when Rachel Ray claims she hates mayo, never uses it, etc. One of my favorite recipes from her, a Cranberry Bog Turkey Burger, has a sauce made from whole berry cranberry sauce and mayonaise. Google the recipe and see for yourself.
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10-18-2009 @11:35PM Gary said... There is but ONE chef, his name is EMERIL!! All the others shouldn't even be allowed in the same state!
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10-18-2009 @11:45PM Leanne said... Commercial mayo is made with vinegar. Makes it to acidic to spoil...I was told this by the health department when I was a restaurant manager. Ok, that being said, I have to say one of my biggest food hates is also Cilantro. Can't even stand the smell of it on my hands much less eat it. Another one is. OMG! The texture is NASTY. I wont even put it in my giblet stuffing!
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10-18-2009 @11:45PM Cindy said... My goodnees guys...talk about cruel..Rachael Raye has had a throat growth and had surgury..she admits she is just a cook..not a chef..
But, I am here to diss the LIMA bean...buttered LIMA beans...BLAHHH..yet, the great Northern Bean (white not green) in a soup with a ham hock...get the bread and butter ready...I sittin down to dinner
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10-18-2009 @11:53PM Leanne said... Gizzards. That was omitted from my last post. Not in my Giblet stuffing!
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10-19-2009 @12:21AM Laura said... I HATE ONIONS!!! Which is fine because I'm kind of allergic to them. I get a migraine or have to sleep all day if I eat them. I can't figure it out though - I think I'm only allergic to raw onions because cooked ones usually never make me sick, and I also don't mind them cooked into something if it's not too strong. But then I realized I've eaten those tiny chopped raw onions on McDonalds burgers. Maybe it's the heatlamp radiation that saved me.
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10-19-2009 @12:29AM Bob G said... Even though it's 10 letters, my worst 4-letter word is "Rachael Ray". It seems to be everywhere and plays havoc on my nervous system.
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10-19-2009 @12:49AM Kali said... Veal is not lamb. Veal is a "baby" cow. Good Lord, stay away from food comments if you don't even know that difference.
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10-19-2009 @12:53AM randy said... i love gyros, so i thought i would like lamb chops .WRONG !!! L-chops are the worst thing i have ever smelled cooking in my life! and i used to live down the street from a creamatory .seriously !!! i even threw out tthe pan i prepared them in NASTY.
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10-19-2009 @1:14AM Paxrail said... I LOVE goat cheese and lamb. I also like mutton. I must be weird.
I do NOT understand how anyone could eat calf brains. Hot dogs are disgusting, brats and Polish both with sauerkraut are fabulous. Miracle Whip is disgusting, Hellman's (Best Foods) mayo is great. Mexican food just ain't without cilantro.
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10-19-2009 @1:24AM Frankie said... At last I don't feel so alone in my dislike for cilantro. Seems it's in everything these days and so many TV chefs are using it constantly. Although I enjoy many of the cooking shows, they're very trendy. They all find a "ingredient of the month" and use it in everything. Right now, it's cilantro and lime. Cilantro and lime in everything. I cannot take the taste of either of these ingredients.
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10-19-2009 @1:32AM Mike said... I'm in the ..I hate Miracle whip camp..and I don't like Anchovies..no matter how many times I have tried to develop a taste....Rachel Ray is cool..if you understand technique..you can adapt any recipe to your personal taste..stop complaining...
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