People Are Talking About Ingredients That They Regularly Cook With, But Just Don't Like The Taste Of

    "Cumin smells like armpit but enhances the flavours of everything else"

    Sumedha Bharpilania
    by Sumedha Bharpilania

    BuzzFeed Staff

    While cooking is an incredibly relaxing activity for some people, it can be stressful AF for certain others — especially when you skip or simply forget to add specific ingredients, thereby ruining your entire dish. Ingredients can truly make or break a recipe. But, what if there is a particular element of a dish that you just cannot stand on its own?

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    Reddit user u/JorgeXMcKie recently asked "What ingredients do you use that you really don't like the flavour of?", and people came up with some extremely relatable responses.

    1. "CLOVES"

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    — mobileam

    2. "I hate sour cream and mayonnaise, but in a lot of dishes, it works. Specifically sour cream in so many baked goods."

    — damarafl

    3. "Fish sauce. By itself it's reminiscent of dead...feet. Used properly in soups, stews, and sauces, it makes all the difference."

    — itwillmakesenselater

    4. "Mustard. Can't stand it on its own, but in a dish with other flavours, it's tolerable."

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    — Stitchthestitch

    5. "Fennel. It's got such a strong liquorice flavour. The seed is used commonly in Italian sausage and other regional recipes though and goes well with it. But it's bad when you get a sausage loaded with unground seeds and you chomp into one."

    — Master_Winchester

    6. "Rosemary. In most dishes, it tastes to me like somebody accidentally threw in a branch of a dusty old Christmas tree."

    "But I make a sheet pan meal of roasted garlic cloves, chunks of onion, red potatoes, a mix of sweet and hot sausages, and roughly torn hunks of ciabatta tossed in olive oil. If I leave out the few springs of Rosemary, the dish is just not right."

    — NoxWild

    7. "Mushrooms! I love cooking with them but I will never eat the actual mushroom. Luckily I am marrying a man who would eat a bowl of mushrooms on their own. I scoot them all to one side then pour them into his bowl."

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    "I cook with them a ton but can’t tolerate them unless they’re blended or finely chopped in sauces or dumpling filling or something."

    — earth_yogini

    8. "Olives, especially green ones. Hate them. But some dishes just taste better with the olives picked out rather than left out entirely."

    — nature_godless

    9. "Dill. I don't love it, but I still add it in certain things (Tzatziki for one). It's just such a strong flavour and so specific that if I even see dill on a menu I won't order the dish because it's almost always overdone."

    — catymogo

    10. "Cumin. Can’t stand the smell or the flavour. I would never make carnitas without it."

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    — Dje3520072009

    "Smells like armpit but enhances the flavours of everything else."

    — Tralan

    11. "I loathe celery unless cooked to disintegration and buried deep within other flavours."

    "Not a fan of cilantro either. Not a fan of the flavour of truffles."

    — KelMHill

    12. "Tarragon"

    — SouthListening

    13. "Call me a monster, but...ginger — hate the taste of ginger. But I use it a lot for making dumplings, broths etc."

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    — carrrbon

    14. "Apple cider vinegar. Tastes terrible. Wife and kids LOVE the sausage and potatoes skillet dinner."

    — lovatone

    15. "Molasses. I made the mistake of trying it by itself while making gingerbread cookies and expected a sweeter, syrupy flavour. It tastes how I would expect motor oil runoff to taste like and I'm not sure I like gingerbread anymore."

    — raezin

    16. "Turmeric is awful by itself but essential to most Indian curries."

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    — dirthawker0

    17. "White peppercorns smell like manure."

    — chupacabra_chaser

    18. "Nutmeg, oregano."

    — Le_Beck

    19. "Bananas have the most disgusting texture to me. Mealy, soft, and mushy that just congeals in your mouth into a sloppy, nasty mess."

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    — Kitchen_Anything_549

    20. "Tomatoes. I cannot stand the taste of fresh tomatoes and the texture makes me gag 99% of the time, but tomato sauce goes in nearly everything I make and salsa just isn't complete without them..."

    — oamnoj

    21. "Anchovies"

    — Element_Girl

    22. "Onions. Hate them as a primary flavour. Can’t cook without them."

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    — candrie

    23. "Cinnamon. When used in tiny amounts in cookies, pies, French toast, etc. I'm fine with it. Put a ton of in anything and I hate it..."

    — jungle4john

    24. "Before I learned that it was cilantro, I thought perhaps they had left some detergent in the cooking pan. Still not a fan."

    — BarnhouseWar

    25. "Cardamom"

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    "When I was about five, I was super ill, and my then-hippie dad gave me them because he thought they would cure me. Nope, just made me absolutely intolerant of them — but you can bet I put them in the Indian food I cook."

    — ADHDtypebeat

    It's your turn! What ingredients do you ABSOLUTELY hate but can't avoid while cooking? Share below!

    Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.