People think I eat anything and everything — and if you’ve followed my blog, it does appear that way.
But honestly, there are a lot of foods I don’t like to eat — and some I just flat-out refuse.
Namely peas.
I have never liked them, despite how friendly they may appear or how the flavor is supposed to evoke spring. I really don’t get their appeal. I hate the texture, the starchiness, the way they squish in your mouth.
I remember sitting for what seemed like hours (bordering child abuse) at the dinner table because I refused to eat the peas on my plate.
My disdain for the spherical green seeds went public Monday night at Side Street Inn, where I carefully plucked every single pea from the fried rice and placed it near the sprig of parsley, where they weren’t touching anything on the plate I might ingest.
My colleague, Bart Asato, quickly snapped a photo of my plate — fried rice on one side, lonely peas on another — and posted it to Facebook with the caption, “The shocking truth of what Cat does with her peas from the Side Street Inn fried rice.”
Shocking? Not to me. But he was surprised there were foods I don’t eat.
Peas top my list — but it’s a long list.
For starters, I don’t eat mealy tomatoes, cauliflower, beans, sea urchin, most mushrooms and bread crust. I don’t care for cantaloupe, eggplant and cucumber — though I can, if I had to, eat them. I don’t drink beer or coffee, though I won’t refuse coffee-flavored ice cream. To me, sashimi tastes like fish Jell-O. And pistachios aren’t high on my list of favorites, either.
I wouldn’t say I’m a finicky eater — though my mom and boyfriend would argue this — but I like what I like. And I tend to only eat what I like. I’ll try something new — but if I don’t like it immediately, I won’t bother trying it again.
Bart thought it was weird that I didn’t eat peas. (Though I’ll have you know, 873 people agree with me on the I Hate Peas Facebook page.) But don’t we all hate something that others love?
33 Comments
OMG. This is a shocking revelation. Glad to see zucchini didntmake the list. Whew! Dont you ever use the ol’ mind game trick of “if-i-were-on-a-deserted-island”, would i eat such and such to survive? Hey…speaking of which, i sure dont see any desserts on your list!! ahh-ha!
Hmm……. zuchhini…….
I hated peas growing up, and my Mom knew better than to serve them to me… but I don’t mind them now. Oddly enough I like them more if something is made from them… like pea soup, or the mushy kind you get served in England with fish and chips!
My big no-no is “cilantro/coriander/Chinese parsley” or whatever you wanna call it… nasty, vile weed.
I haven’t tried pea soup. It’s got peas in it…
And you know, I know A LOT of people who don’t like cilantro and/or green onions! THAT I don’t understand!
Our tastebuds dull as we get older, and the foods that you did not like the texture of early in life you probably still won’t like. However, if you know the food is supposed to be healthy, other people seem to enjoy it, and you haven’t tried it since age 6, it may be worth another try. The only food I cannot eat because the taste is still too horrible to contemplate is fried beef liver. I shudder to even type it.
As John Lennon almost sang: “All we are saying, is give peas a chance.”
I am the only member in my family who “loves” liver, and growing up I always felt lucky to get to eat ALL the liver my mom made, while my sibs watched in horror, LOL!
LOL, give peas a chance. Funny!
Different strokes, I love peas. I eat them by the bucket load. Hate tomatoes because of the texture but every other form of them I love. Everyone is different that way.
I don’t mind REALLY GOOD tomatoes — and I eat salsa and bruchetta. Go figure!
CAT: I guess everyone has some fuud they don’t like. For me it is fresh cucumbers and oysters. I love pea soup with ham hocks better than chicken noodle though. Almost everything else I will eat…or at least try.
Fresh cucumbers…? As opposed to cooked cucumbers?
Or perhaps, as opposed to pickles.
Hello Cat,
I’ll eat anything that’s edible, I’ll at least try it anyway.
I love peas.
Foods / drinks I don’t like / can’t stand the taste :
Bread pudding
Coffee
Wine
Papaya
Tripe
Liver
Poi
Energy drinks ( ie Red Bull )
Lychee martini’s
BREAD PUDDING?!?!? I couldn’t live without that!
are you just talking about cooked peas or are fresh peas (raw) out as well? raw sugar snaps fresh off the vine are awesome.
Cooked and fresh. Don’t like any of ’em. Though I will admit, I’ve never had sugar snap peas off the vine. Heard those are great — but somehow, they’re still peas.
re-looking at your list, it seems like texture could be a big reason why you don’t like some foods (just guessing). have you tried alternate preparations? I used to hate spinach, growing up, but i now realize that it’s because we only had canned or frozen spinach. fresh spinach, sauteed with garlic and salt until wilted then drizzled with olive oil is pretty delish. ditto with stuff you named like cauliflower. most people eat it steamed or boiled which kind of give it a mushy mouth feel. I’ve been roasting it in pancetta drippings (yeah, kinda defeats the whole healthy thing) and it turns out great.
Wow, an “I hate peas” fb page?! There’s a fb page for everything apparently!
Mom says I used to love peas until I started school where the other kids teased me cause I liked them, then she says all of a sudden I refused to eat them, the distaste for them continues – I have however stomached them when fried up with crispy bacon! Bacon makes everything better… try it sometime!
Girl, there are pages for everything these days!
And yes, bacon makes everything better! Well said!
I, too, didn’t like peas for the longest time. Then my SIL made me try some straight off the vine in her backyard and they were FANTASTIC. I still don’t like the frozen or canned stuff, but I’ll eat the fresh ones. But, like Max x 3, I like split pea (and lots of ham) soup.
I consider myself a pretty adventurous eater, but these things I won’t eat:
liver (unless it’s pate)
uni (it’s the texture)
natto
beets
swiss chard (my dad says it tastes like dirt, and he’s right)
raw celery
Swiss chard… I wonder if I’ve had that…
Peas are ok but you can have that eggplant. Ech! It even looks gross! Hah!
I never used to like mushrooms or onions either but lately my tastes have changed and I can now tolerate them. Like WildeOscar said our taste buds change as we get older. And I agree with him on the “liver thing”. Ech!
I think I developed a taste for peas when my mom used to make us a dish with:
1 can Cream of Mushroom
1 can of tuna
Frozen peas
Cook them all together for 5 minutes and you have a great meal. I still eat this dish sometimes when I want something quick and tasty.
Hmm. MAYBE I’ll try this… MAYBE. I may try pea soup, too, just to confirm what I probably already know.
Count me among those surprised at your list of non-edibles but only because of everything you do eat. I know a lot of people who won’t eat peas or mushrooms. My sister won’t eat beans (squishy, tastes weird). My brother wouldn’t eat raisins. And for a guy more than 50% Hawaiian, I don’t like most fish, and won’t eat poke or lomi salmon or opihi. I’m the one who dissects the lau lau looking for that piece of butterfish that absolutely ruins an otherwise perfect dish. But extra poi, please!
Not me! I like the greens on the lau lau the best!
Cat – Have you ever tried the Wasabi Pea snack? I love ’em. Try ’em if you like a kick of fire shooting up your nose and through your sinus. Haha … doesn’t sound too good with that description.
But I’m pretty sure those are peas. Without the pea taste and no pea texture. Hmmm, that sounded weird. Anyway, wasabi peas are just a crunchy ball of fire. Well sometimes it’s not that hot.
Peas not among my favorites naked, but i’ll mix them with mashed taters, put them in my meatloaf, tuna caserole. Cucumbers are among my favorite hot weather food instant cool off. I love cucumber kim chee, cuke and radish sandwich, white gaspacho(sp) and sauteed with onion and sour creme.
I completely agree with you Cat on not liking certain foods and to heck with everyone else who disagrees! Broccoli and cauliflower literally make me gag and my eyes water once my tongue feels the offending texture. Not a fan of raw fish either because it tastes like, well, raw fish.
Extra! Extra! Read all about it, the Cat don’t like peas!!!
Wow, Cat, I never expected a post like this. I thought you would be the type that looooooooved everything.
For me, it’s not necessarily the particular food itself that I don’t like, it’s more about the presentation: cooked or raw, and if cooked, what, how, etc. Eating raw Cauliflower is not something I enjoy. Cook it up in a stir fry, and I’m cool. Same with a lot of other stuff. When I was a kid, I had a list that would’ve dominated anyone elses, in terms of things I wouldn’t eat or even bother to try. Nowadays, I’m less worried about that, and more worried about what the food will do, like if it will give me heartburn or not.
Some foods I dislike:
– liver, unless (as KAN said above) it’s pate, liverwurst, or other, then it’s all good.
– am not fond of alfalfa sprouts, makes me think I’m eating grass from the yard
– no “exotic” stuff, I think you can understand what I’m saying here…think Balut, and other stuff
– one particular fish: Tilapia….living here on the “mainland” there are lots of grocery stores that sell Tilapia, fresh as well as frozen. Having lived in Hawaii for so long, I still can’t get the image out of my head as to where Tilapia can (and do) survive and thrive.
DiO,
I’m with you on the tilapia. I once worked swing shift in an industrial kitchen where most of the cooks were from PI. we usually ate dinner together and it was some kick-okole filipino food, but on fridays (fish day) I always had to pass because they always fried up whole tilapia. looked ono, but the internal mental blocks were too much to overcome.
a couple of years ago, my friends came up and we hit an asian buffet they had tilapia sashimi and my one friend and I looked at each other and, in a “you go, I go” moment we both ate a piece. wasn’t too bad, actually, but never again because it was, after all, tilapia.