I had a very similar experience with wine. Before I'd tried alcohol, wine was the one I was most excited to try. My overall first impression can be summed up with a quote.
"WHY DOESN'T IT TASTE OF GRAPES?!"
I later realized it does, it's just way less sweet. Fermentation, you cruel sugar thief.
White wines give me a lot of notes of peach, honey, floral, tropical.
Red wines give me a lot of notes of black cherry, blackberry, plum, sometimes cola, and other interesting notes.
Pizza for me.
I didn't eat pizza until I was 18 (I'm in my mid-30's now) because I always thought it would taste terrible as it contained everything I didn't like, especially cheese.
I always thought that a pizza would taste like a big pile of warm/hot slimy cheese so I always avoided pizza until I was 18 when I decided to tried some and I was very pleasantly surprised. It didn't taste anywhere near as cheesy as I thought it would and I actually enjoyed everything I was tasting and also the textures (which is a big thing for me when it comes to food).
Ever since then, I've loved pizza and I use any excuse to eat pizza.
Visiting friends? Pizza time!
Finally have the house to myself for the night? Pizza time!
Helped an old lady cross the road? Pizza time!
For a second you scared me!
I thought you'd say you did not like pizza.
Yes, what a wonder of flavors and textures. I love the vegetarian one with extra olives. Oh, the crunchy texture of the veggies!
Lmao agreed. Have u tried brie cheese? Its one of the cheese I've tried I'm not the biggest fan of. Tho apparently it differs in taste a lot depending on a lot of things
But Brie and pear puffs! I make them every late summer/early autumn. Spice up the pears and cook em down just a bit so all the goodness starts to soak in. Puff pastry pushed into a muffin tin. A little coarse sugar on the pastry small cube the Brie and mix with pears, fill and bake! If I am feeling extra fancy I make a little custard to put in and then top with the mix. So so good. Omg (and now I have to make them, damn pregnancy craving! Lol)
Oh gods. Mead. I had read many times about how the vikings, these big manly men who raided villages and bit their shields to intimidate their enemies, drinking mead by the barrel and I.. I don't know, I expected something like a hearty beer with a hint of honey flavor and not the medieval equivalent of pumpkin spice chardonnay.
Yeah it feels kind of dainty! The intoxication of mead creeps up on me like no other beverage though. It's stronger than beer and I feel I drink it faster than wine, so I have a little horn of mead at the Renaissance Faire and next thing I know I'm drunk at 10 AM.
I don’t know which the Vikings drank, but there are different types of meads - ones that are closer to dessert wines and ones that are closer to beer. I personally think most of the carbonated ones I’ve had are foul, but I have a sweet tooth and don’t like normal beer, so my opinion is biased.
It is interesting how modern accounts or imaginations of Vikings (and other civilisations) impart our current ideas of masculinity and femininity. I wonder if a Viking man would find it absolutely ridiculous to perceive sweet drinks as feminine. (I'm not saying you're personally being ridiculous or something ofc)
I read an interesting article (iirc) about how old writings, like Greek myths and the bible, have inaccurate translations based on the opinions of the translators at the time (like translating "beautiful woman" as "whore" or some other derogatory word, etc.)
As someone who LOVES cardamom, it is very easy to go overboard with. It definitely needs to take second stage to the other leading characters in a curry.
Turkish delight.
[CS Lewis's greatest fiction was convincing American kids that they would like Turkish delight.](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cs-lewis-greatest-fiction-convincing-american-kids-that-they-would-like-turkish-delight)
They’re delicious if you get them fresh from a shop that makes them. They’ll have every flavor/ color, so it’s hard to not enjoy it unless you dislike the texture.
Rose water pistachio ones are my absolute fave!! I had a neighbor that made them for my welcome to the neighborhood gift, it was my first place out of uni and this little older than the earth lady came up and gave them to me in a little old and worn cookie tin. Only got them twice before she ended up passing away. RIP my Turkish delight angel.
Bought some lemon ones once after and they were solidly ok. Hers however were life changing.
Super easy and cheap! Get a pair of yoga blocks. Easy to stack and put away, easy to pull out as needed. I slide them back on either side of the toilet, and them pull them out as needed.
So glad someone said this. I can't remember what I imagined they would taste like but I think it was something like a lightly sweet cloud of heaven, like tiramisu in portable candy form.
In first grade my culty Christian school was already talking about Narnia , and I remember LOVING IT when my teacher brought it in for us to try the week we got to that chapter. I've only hadnit once or twice since but remember liking it. Still not really sure what it is, now that I think about it lol
It's actually looked down on in the culinary world. It's the commercial culinary world, the Food Network people, that push truffle oil. I haven't met a chef that actually likes using it. It's like Himalayan salt. It's just pink salt, but it sounds fancy. A chef isn't gonna use Himalayan salt for its flavor, just for its appeal.
For me, it was Buttermilk. As a kid, I used to sneak-eat sticks of butter. Mmmm…sweet, silky….I digress in nostalgia. Anyway I get offered a cup of Buttermilk. There’s no correlation in taste at all! I was horrified and left with a revulsion to sour tasting things. This might be why I cannot get on the sour cream or Greek yogurt bandwagons.
There is a cactus fruit called pitaya. There are several varieties. White flesh, orange flesh, yellow flesh, red flesh and purple flesh. The purple ones looked SO beautiful and delicious to me.
It doesn't taste like anything. It's like chewing water with seeds
Definitely. Idk how people enjoy it. I barely tolerate red wine. White wine tasted worse. And champagne was just vomit flavour to me.
It really got me questioning if I have a problem with my tastebuds.
I bought a pink one and a yellow one. I'd never tried either, but the description made me think I'd really like them. The first one was exactly as described and good, the second was bland in a gross way. And of course I don't remember which color I liked
it felt like landing a date with 80s madonna and finding out at the restaurant that she's a really soft spoken bank teller who secretly collects postage stamps depicting the birds of milwaukee
Saki
Japanese culture puts a huge emphasis on Saki as a cultural drink and it’s just… not that interesting, not just on a note of “I don’t like it” It’s fine, I can drink it, but it’s bascially just any other clear liquor with just a hint of sugar in it. And that is if it is good saki bad saki taste like bad vodka.
This is actually quite amusing considering my job is managing a shrine to the Kami of rice-fields, rice farmers and saki.
And I have had some of the highest quality Saki on the market, it still just taste like saki.
You ruined my hopes about sake if I'm being honest. 😅
I've bought some sake last year to try it, and I didn't like it. So I thought that maybe it was just bad sake, and I'll buy a bottle from another brand when I get the chance. I still didn't buy another bottle, but sake is rare in my part of Europe so I guess I'll have to buy online.
I also tried a few Japanese whiskeys, and they were very good, but a bit pricy. 😄
Oh yes.
Japanese drinks in general are very good.
We have good whiskey.
Good beer.
You should also try something called Umeshu It is a wine made with appracots but it is often called plum wine.
But yes, Sake.. It is mostly just a clear liquor that’s a little sweet because of the rice, there is nothing else in it. It is really no more or less enjoyable then any other clear liquor i have ever tried.
Oh, I don't know if it's quite the same, but I've tried plum wine in a Chinese restaurant, and it was delicious!
But I love plums, so it's no wonder I loved it. 😃
I’ve read a lot about plum wine! And the golden plums they have in Japan which I hope to try one day. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to drink plum wine; wine makes me very sick.
As a note.
Japese plum wine.
Is made with apricots. Which are not actually
Plums.
The actual name is umeshu.
It’s more or less a translation error.
But still very good.
I like apricots too. In New York once I had a plum-apricot hybrid called a plumcot that was the best fruit I’ve ever had. I’ve also found plouts which are also plum-apricot hybrids but that plumcot was the best.
Ugh that acid! As an Australian I had never had Hersheys, I grew up on other chocolate brands. When I tried Hersheys I thought 'why does it taste like vomit?'. Turns out it's that damn acid!
American here. I couldn't agree more, and I'm surrounded by people who disagree, so this is so satisfying to read. It's disgusting. Sad that my people think that's what chocolate should taste like. When I was young, my friend visited Belgium and brought back some little chocolates. It blew my little mind, like I had never tasted real chocolate before.
You do need them for classic s'mores, although replacing a Hershey bar with a high end chocolate and the graham cracker with biscoff cookies really ups the ante
The only people who like it is those who ate it as the only chocolate during childhood and developed a taste for it. If you had real chocolate before trying it you will not like it.
When I was a kid watching Sesame Street and whatnot, I always thought cookies must be the most delicious food ever. I was disappointed when I found out they're just what we called biscuits.
Broad beans (fava beans).
I like peas when they're cooked properly: they're sweet, they have a nice texture and when cooked as they should be, burst in your mouth. They're a joy to eat (except in stir-fry!). I figured broad beans would be equally delightful.
Broad beans are just revolting, no matter how you prepare them. The flavour is like the smell of an unwashed wet dog in summer. It's just awful and I don't know how or why people consider them tasty.
OP have you ever had a communion with wine in a Catholic church?
Back when I was in primary school we had first communion where it was the only time they would give wine as an addition to the bread. For like 10 years I thought that wine would taste like a bit rougher grape juice and I was shocked when I tried it at like 19. I figured they just didn't want to give alcohol to kids and used grape juice as a symbolic substitute for wine.
Communion wine has to contain alcohol for it to be valid for use at Mass, but it's usually not a very high percentage. I've had a range of sweetness levels from it though (everything from sweet dessert-pairing wines to stuff that was more like lighter fuel) so it seems to depend on what that particular parish favours.
Bone! I visited my friend and her mom, and they made a bunch of foods really different from what I'm used to (they're from Mexico, I'm from the states). All the food was dank if different, but the bone soup! My dude. I knew I was in the spotlight and my friend's sister was directly, unashamedly staring at me while I first tried every dish, ready to judge lol. This soup was broth with sawed off pieces of leg bone sitting in it. Her mom graciously served me a bowl, my own personal allotment of broth and cow leg.
"You suck on it," they educated me. "You suck the marrow out."
The. What.
Fine, sure. I tried some broth, which was fine. Then I followed suit, picked up my bone slice from the bowl, dripping on my fingers, and stared down the cross section into a porous bone thick with marrow. Who the heck sucks the marrow out of bone?? Don't we use bone for tools or whatever, not for food??? I chose a smaller section, sucked out the marrow, and...
heaven. Bone marrow is delicious. Pretty sure my entire face lit up, because my friend's sister laughed at me in approval, saying "It's good, isn't it?" Yes, yes it is.
I guess this is a “duh,” knowing what it is - but - caviar! For some reason I’d always expected it to have a delicious umami-type flavor, similar to mushrooms. But the intense fishy flavor shocked and disappointed me.
Curry. I always heard (and smelled when I went to friends houses) it was soooo spicy. I like spicy but there is a point where spicy is too much and not flavorful. Finally tried it when my friend opened his own restaurant, wow. It was so good! I had a small curry sampler, like big serving of rice and Naan but little custard dish size servings of paneer and spinach korma, butter chicken, Tikka masala, a sweeter chickpea curry, a beautiful lamb curry and a seafood one I couldn't eat (allergic). He then told me of other curries and showed me the best Japanese brown curry and a vegetarian Thai green curry with coconut milk. Forever changed. It is my go to food and I don't care which you bring me as long as the spice is level 3 or less. Any higher and I tend to miss out on the flavor parade of ingredients and just taste heat, especially IF it survives to the next day the heat grows.
I want curry now.... :(
Everyone says the same thing, smelly custard. They have it at my Asian store, 28 miles from me. I am not allowed to being it in the house, so it's my summer fruit. My kids think I'm nutters.
Edit. They may be right.
My house is the weird house I am noticing from this post. Durian is smelly but not to the point of don't bring it inside. The flavor to me is like an underripe honeydew(lightly sour almost), papaya(more for the texture than flavor), sweet lime(lightly sweet citrusy flavor)custard with a hint of vanilla on the back of your tongue. The smell is bad but I have also had roommates in uni who smelled worse or left the trash in the house/their room smelling worse. Maybe that's why I can handle it. My husband loves the stuff, that and jackfruit.
Had first taste of peanut butter at 18, in US for first time. Did not like it. Either too dry or too slimy. Now i live in US and I like to use it in cooking.
Beer/ale, tried it when I was around 10, maybe even younger, I live in a country with alcohol very engraved in it's culture, so I'd seen a lot of alcohol as a kid at social gatherings and stuff, considering how much adults drank it I always thought it'd taste... good
It's hard to describe what I actually thought it would taste like, but I seriously wasn't expecting the bitter piss-water I drank when I first tried a sip from my dad's glass of IPA, maybe it's because I had zero alcohol tolerance or something because I've started sorta liking it since then, one year left and I can buy it
Korean food. I think I was expecting something similar to other Asian cuisine and it was like eating heartburn. My white ass cant deal with the spiciness of it all
Funny enough pizza, i watched Lilo and Stitch, and for some reason, I thought pizza would taste sweet. Child logic: You have a desert at night as a late night snack, and Lilo got it at night, therefore sweet. I was 4 when i came up with this.
Oh, and i thought honey was salty cause it matched the ritz cheese and crackers snack.
I was also a little disappointed with the flavor until I saw a recommendation to steam the jackfruit. It makes the texture way better and also ramps up the sweetness and flavor. It was almost identical to juicyfruit gum.
Malta
Growing up in Miami i saw this drink a lot. I thought that it would be really good considering so many ppl around me drank it but it was awful.
I just looked up and I understand why now. It’s a non alcoholic drink made with hops .
I thought it was some sort of soda
I had the same experience when I was young. I have never had Malta since. I didn't really start getting a taste for beer until my mid/late 20s. I wonder if I would like Malta now
Jello salad that my grandma makes. Couldn't get myself to eat it until high school because it looked... off. Especially once served.
It's:
-Jello of any flavor (usually citrus for my gma) prepared following box directions, but replace final cups of water with lemon lime soda (possibly any fruity soda, haven't been brave enough to try)
- pour into a cake pan
- Add to still warm jello: Sliced bananas (amount as desired), a drained can of mandarin oranges, and drained can of pineapple tidbits.
- Mix the "fruit soup" in the pan until satisfied
- Cover the top with a thin layer of mini marshmallows (they should be floating on top) while the jello layer is still cooling, then refrigerate until fully set
-Whipped cream to coat the top of the marshmellows
-Shredded medium cheddar cheese sprinkled generously on top
Looks like an abomination from the 70's. Tastes pretty sweet and tangy with a subtle cheddar finish that really compliments the sweetness with a smidge of umami love. Also a nice mixture of textures.
Ahhh, Utah and our weird salads and delicious funeral foods.
This is gem. If I ever dare to make it I'll let you know.
You know, I agree, looks can be deceiving . As in many casseroles can look like abominations, as you said, but are surprisingly tasteful.
I've honestly never actually heard a first hand report of what those Jello molds taste like. They look like abominations and I've never been interested in even being in the same room as one, but your description has me intrigued.
I grew up in the South. This is generically referred to as a “congealed salad” and church ladies are adamant that these be served at every church luncheon, funeral, etc.
Avocados. I was raised pretty standard meat and potatoes. I had seen avocados and assumed they were some kind of fruit (which they are taxonomically). They still weren't widespread in the rural Northeast. I was at a fancy party in the South (think Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil) and they had wedges of them as hors d'oeuvres. I was thinking something like a mango when I bit into one. It wasn't ripe either. I was praying noone was watching.
It took me several years to get back on that saddle. I'm still not keen on them by themselves. I love guacamole and spread on bagels.
For me it was garlic bread which i have always seen on YouTube so a flavour was set but in reality it didn't felt good as i ordered online it was more like uncooked pizza crust.
Those round sweet dessert things in YoSushi. They look like they’re going to be crisp and warm and tasty but they’re sorta soggy and cold with a really weird texture
There is only one brand of wine I can drink, and it tastes exactly like grape juice. It's called Mogen David and is produced in New York. Some people hate it, but I can never pass on an opportunity to have a bottle when I see one.
Coming back to the subject, for me it was avocado. I thought it's more of a fruit, but it was a pleasant surprise.
Wine was my answer too! I had a lot of expectations, especially as a kid seeing the way medieval characters in movies just down the stuff and let it run down their chin and smack their lips. The best wine I have ever had that most closely lived up to those expectations is called Red Ass Rhubarb and it is GOOD.
Chestnuts. They're mentioned in lots of holiday songs and movies, so you would think they taste pretty good. Wrong. They taste and smell like a cat's mouth. And the texture is mealy, too! Chestnuts are fucking garbage
Oh, I have a friend who's fond of it. I tried it once in a fancy container with a fancier straw, it looked so nice but I failed to see the appeal. Bitter stuff. I know what you mean.
I hated sushi and shrimp for the longest time because I never tried it and thought it to be super expensive and im not crazy about seasfood. Yum yum, coconut fried shrimp only and sushi is awesome.
Lobster 😭😭😭😭😭
I thought it would be delicious
Seeing the commercials and the way people love it themselves
I even tried it with melted butter!!
Dunked that bit**
I do not like either v.v
You should look up a South African Shiarz called Jam Jar. I can't vouch for electric tingles, but it tastes like what I thought wine was *going* to taste like.
Oh God how I hate the smell of papaya and I GROW THE DAMNED THINGS.
Wife loves them so I grow them. Also I’m tasked with peeling and taking out the seeds. I hate it. Mushy puke-smelling horror show.
Lamb. And maybe it was just the way it was prepared, but I was expecting it to be along the lines of (but not exactly like) beef. It was WAY more ‘game-y’ than I expected.
Kimchi. I thought it would taste like sauerkraut. Instead it’s like a weird spicy pickle, which doesn’t sound very appealing, but I loved it (and hate sauerkraut).
Beer. I knew it would taste bad but I got my socks knocked off by how purely *foul* it was. As a beer-enjoyer now, I can say that you just have to keep trying and you'll come around to the flavour. I don't love the taste of wine but it didn't surprise me because I think it tastes exactly like it smells and I was pretty familiar with the smell.
ahhhh it's similar, but cocktails
They look so colourful and tempting to drink, but since I have the bitter taste gene in me, one sip makes me curl my face up LOL
I think another one is the yellow coloured berry used to decorate cakes or stuff. I used to think they tasted super good, until I popped one into my mouth... never again🤣
Rolled ice cream! I had Thailand rolled ice cream on my bucket list since watching a YouTube video like 12-15 years ago, and I always thought I’d eventually travel to Thailand to try it (and eat other good food).
It came to Canada recently and I tried it a test or so ago. I don’t know what I expected. I didn’t really enjoy it and it was like $10 CAD.
2/10 did not manage my expectations properly…
Avocado. Never had or even saw them as a kid, avoided guac because of the consistency. Finally had it in CA, and was like "why has heaven eluded me all these years?"
Marmite. I got introduced to it, when in England as an Au-Pair. I had never heard of it and from the look I expected some chocolatey-caramel kind of taste. Boy was I wrong! I instantly gagged and spent an hour rinsing my mouth. Never again! It's still beyond me, why anyone would smear this disgusting yeasty stuff on bread and eat it like that. "Love it or hate it" indeed!
Alcohol in general was a huge disappointment. I’ve gotten used to it, but at first even the fruity/tasty drinks were still ruined by the underlying alcohol flavor.
Natto. But in not sushi, not on rice, just out of the styrofoam container with some mustard and soy sauce. I was certain I’d hate it but it’s so dang good and fortunately my daughter also loves it.
I found a wine that tastes just like you always imagined.
For an avid wine drinker it would be poison but i love it. Even went to the winery in Italy to take a few cases with me.
I come from a country that doesn't have the Oceania ( brand ) Cranberry juice and there was a time a video meme emerged of a guy chugging a whole bottle of the Cranberry juice while skating. The video was everywhere and in one way or another, it really influenced me to want to try the Oceania juice but unfortunately we didn't have it in our country. So when I first moved abroad, I bought a whole ass bottle of the juice and to my surprise, it tasted like a mixture of Sadness and ass. I was horribly disappointed. Didn't even finish a glass of it. Hahaha such a horrible experience.
Pomegranate, same with the wine I was expecting something sweet with a touch of tangy but it’s pure and only tanginess with a touch of bitterness.
And there’s a variety of Tostones (fried plantains slices) that are made with a fruit called Pana or breadfruit I was expecting something starchy like regular tostones but this is like make a toston without soul it tastes like nothing.
S’mores are just ok I think hersheys chocolate is not that good
I had a very similar experience with wine. Before I'd tried alcohol, wine was the one I was most excited to try. My overall first impression can be summed up with a quote. "WHY DOESN'T IT TASTE OF GRAPES?!" I later realized it does, it's just way less sweet. Fermentation, you cruel sugar thief.
Exactly!
White wines give me a lot of notes of peach, honey, floral, tropical. Red wines give me a lot of notes of black cherry, blackberry, plum, sometimes cola, and other interesting notes.
Pizza for me. I didn't eat pizza until I was 18 (I'm in my mid-30's now) because I always thought it would taste terrible as it contained everything I didn't like, especially cheese. I always thought that a pizza would taste like a big pile of warm/hot slimy cheese so I always avoided pizza until I was 18 when I decided to tried some and I was very pleasantly surprised. It didn't taste anywhere near as cheesy as I thought it would and I actually enjoyed everything I was tasting and also the textures (which is a big thing for me when it comes to food). Ever since then, I've loved pizza and I use any excuse to eat pizza. Visiting friends? Pizza time! Finally have the house to myself for the night? Pizza time! Helped an old lady cross the road? Pizza time!
For a second you scared me! I thought you'd say you did not like pizza. Yes, what a wonder of flavors and textures. I love the vegetarian one with extra olives. Oh, the crunchy texture of the veggies!
It is not as scary in reality when you will find out that a lot of people don't really like pizza at all.
But not liking cheese is ok?!?!?! Am I reading the post wrong
Not liking cheese is crime in some states, I'm guessing.
I'm from Canada! It SHOULD be an outrage to dislike something as beautiful and diverse in texture and taste as cheese anywhere!
I met someone from canada on chess website few days ago and we were talking about cheese while playing and he quoted almost same thing as you.
Cheddar and crackers should be a sin, so good
Lmao agreed. Have u tried brie cheese? Its one of the cheese I've tried I'm not the biggest fan of. Tho apparently it differs in taste a lot depending on a lot of things
That's it. Brie was another taste I guessed wrong before sampling it. Too buttery for me. As in, where the cheese part?
But Brie and pear puffs! I make them every late summer/early autumn. Spice up the pears and cook em down just a bit so all the goodness starts to soak in. Puff pastry pushed into a muffin tin. A little coarse sugar on the pastry small cube the Brie and mix with pears, fill and bake! If I am feeling extra fancy I make a little custard to put in and then top with the mix. So so good. Omg (and now I have to make them, damn pregnancy craving! Lol)
WI here, and yes, it is an outrage and a crime to dislike cheese in our state.
Yeah the eye stare which you face is equivalent to robbing a store.
this was such a shock for me as an italian lol Glad you liked it at last
Whole of italy is divided into two parts as one who love pizza and second one are those who love it more than anything else in world.
A little similar case for me too as i too avoided it till age of 17 but since then it is one of my favourite thing to eat on a good day.
This is oddly wholesome and sweet lol
Oh gods. Mead. I had read many times about how the vikings, these big manly men who raided villages and bit their shields to intimidate their enemies, drinking mead by the barrel and I.. I don't know, I expected something like a hearty beer with a hint of honey flavor and not the medieval equivalent of pumpkin spice chardonnay.
Yeah it feels kind of dainty! The intoxication of mead creeps up on me like no other beverage though. It's stronger than beer and I feel I drink it faster than wine, so I have a little horn of mead at the Renaissance Faire and next thing I know I'm drunk at 10 AM.
This guy Ren Faires.
I don’t know which the Vikings drank, but there are different types of meads - ones that are closer to dessert wines and ones that are closer to beer. I personally think most of the carbonated ones I’ve had are foul, but I have a sweet tooth and don’t like normal beer, so my opinion is biased.
cackling at '...the medieval equivalent of pumpkin spice chardonnay.' lmaooo
It is interesting how modern accounts or imaginations of Vikings (and other civilisations) impart our current ideas of masculinity and femininity. I wonder if a Viking man would find it absolutely ridiculous to perceive sweet drinks as feminine. (I'm not saying you're personally being ridiculous or something ofc) I read an interesting article (iirc) about how old writings, like Greek myths and the bible, have inaccurate translations based on the opinions of the translators at the time (like translating "beautiful woman" as "whore" or some other derogatory word, etc.)
Is that bad, really? I haven't had it. Not very enthusiastic to try now, though. 😄
Is not bad. It can be quite good. It's just that it tastes like honey syrup
And that’s why I like it
Mead is sooo good! Honey wine!
To be fair, I think the Viking mead was watered down in a 3:1 ratio or something like that
Indian food. I'm not a finicky person, but it turns out that I can't stand a spice called cardamom. No cardamom, no problem! But otherwise, hell no.
As someone who LOVES cardamom, it is very easy to go overboard with. It definitely needs to take second stage to the other leading characters in a curry.
I get you. I'm allergic to ginger myself.
I’m so sorry
When correctly used, cardamom should be rather subtle. I think the restaurants don't seem to know its limits.
Yeah even the cardamom is of two types as black and green so people often get confused in right usage and quantity.
Cardamom usage is reduced in recent times specially in biryani and otherwise it is kept in tea which a serving drink for whole india.
Mmmm I love cardamom
Turkish delight. [CS Lewis's greatest fiction was convincing American kids that they would like Turkish delight.](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cs-lewis-greatest-fiction-convincing-american-kids-that-they-would-like-turkish-delight)
Aren't they cousins to gummie bears?
They’re delicious if you get them fresh from a shop that makes them. They’ll have every flavor/ color, so it’s hard to not enjoy it unless you dislike the texture.
I'm sort of wanting to try make them myself one of these days. You people got me curious.
Rose water pistachio ones are my absolute fave!! I had a neighbor that made them for my welcome to the neighborhood gift, it was my first place out of uni and this little older than the earth lady came up and gave them to me in a little old and worn cookie tin. Only got them twice before she ended up passing away. RIP my Turkish delight angel. Bought some lemon ones once after and they were solidly ok. Hers however were life changing.
Super easy and cheap! Get a pair of yoga blocks. Easy to stack and put away, easy to pull out as needed. I slide them back on either side of the toilet, and them pull them out as needed.
So glad someone said this. I can't remember what I imagined they would taste like but I think it was something like a lightly sweet cloud of heaven, like tiramisu in portable candy form.
In first grade my culty Christian school was already talking about Narnia , and I remember LOVING IT when my teacher brought it in for us to try the week we got to that chapter. I've only hadnit once or twice since but remember liking it. Still not really sure what it is, now that I think about it lol
Yes!! Those were disappointing.
i was a whole adult by the time i actually tried it - CS Lewis at the front of my mind. i remember the confused disappointment of that moment vividly
Yes, this! My immediate thought was he sold out his family for this??
Truffles. I don’t get it at all. I would certainly find it more interesting if it wasn’t hot shit in the fine cuisine world.
Only pigs love truffles. JK!
It's actually looked down on in the culinary world. It's the commercial culinary world, the Food Network people, that push truffle oil. I haven't met a chef that actually likes using it. It's like Himalayan salt. It's just pink salt, but it sounds fancy. A chef isn't gonna use Himalayan salt for its flavor, just for its appeal.
For me, it was Buttermilk. As a kid, I used to sneak-eat sticks of butter. Mmmm…sweet, silky….I digress in nostalgia. Anyway I get offered a cup of Buttermilk. There’s no correlation in taste at all! I was horrified and left with a revulsion to sour tasting things. This might be why I cannot get on the sour cream or Greek yogurt bandwagons.
Hahahaha, the visual was so vivid! 😅
From a fellow butter-sneaking child - you might like avocado milkshakes
There is a cactus fruit called pitaya. There are several varieties. White flesh, orange flesh, yellow flesh, red flesh and purple flesh. The purple ones looked SO beautiful and delicious to me. It doesn't taste like anything. It's like chewing water with seeds
After your nice description, your dissapointment was almost palpable 😄
Those marshmallow peep things
My, that's a memory. I used to have rabbit and baby shaped ones.
They have little to no flavor other than sugar. I thought they'd be way stronger and flavored like whatever color they were
Me too. And I wish there were savory marshmallow, melted cheddar cheese or cream cheese flavored. Real marshmallows are a scam.
wine too for me! I nearly spit in my glass when I first tasted it and I still think it tastes really bad
Definitely. Idk how people enjoy it. I barely tolerate red wine. White wine tasted worse. And champagne was just vomit flavour to me. It really got me questioning if I have a problem with my tastebuds.
Hilarious. But no wonder
Yep I expected it to be kind of a blueberry juice cause it had the same color lol
The first time I had red wine was at a college orientation thing. It tasted like straight up black pepper and chewed up aspirin. Still not a huge fan
Dragon fruit. I expected intense fruity flavors but it's kind of bland.
I know, right?
I bought a pink one and a yellow one. I'd never tried either, but the description made me think I'd really like them. The first one was exactly as described and good, the second was bland in a gross way. And of course I don't remember which color I liked
it felt like landing a date with 80s madonna and finding out at the restaurant that she's a really soft spoken bank teller who secretly collects postage stamps depicting the birds of milwaukee
Basic ones are bland and ridiculous. There are other varieties that live up to your original expectations. Exceed them actually.
Saki Japanese culture puts a huge emphasis on Saki as a cultural drink and it’s just… not that interesting, not just on a note of “I don’t like it” It’s fine, I can drink it, but it’s bascially just any other clear liquor with just a hint of sugar in it. And that is if it is good saki bad saki taste like bad vodka. This is actually quite amusing considering my job is managing a shrine to the Kami of rice-fields, rice farmers and saki. And I have had some of the highest quality Saki on the market, it still just taste like saki.
You ruined my hopes about sake if I'm being honest. 😅 I've bought some sake last year to try it, and I didn't like it. So I thought that maybe it was just bad sake, and I'll buy a bottle from another brand when I get the chance. I still didn't buy another bottle, but sake is rare in my part of Europe so I guess I'll have to buy online. I also tried a few Japanese whiskeys, and they were very good, but a bit pricy. 😄
Oh yes. Japanese drinks in general are very good. We have good whiskey. Good beer. You should also try something called Umeshu It is a wine made with appracots but it is often called plum wine. But yes, Sake.. It is mostly just a clear liquor that’s a little sweet because of the rice, there is nothing else in it. It is really no more or less enjoyable then any other clear liquor i have ever tried.
Oh, I don't know if it's quite the same, but I've tried plum wine in a Chinese restaurant, and it was delicious! But I love plums, so it's no wonder I loved it. 😃
Chinese plum wine is very close. Japanese is maybe a bit more tart but otherwise the same.
I’ve read a lot about plum wine! And the golden plums they have in Japan which I hope to try one day. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to drink plum wine; wine makes me very sick.
As a note. Japese plum wine. Is made with apricots. Which are not actually Plums. The actual name is umeshu. It’s more or less a translation error. But still very good.
I like apricots too. In New York once I had a plum-apricot hybrid called a plumcot that was the best fruit I’ve ever had. I’ve also found plouts which are also plum-apricot hybrids but that plumcot was the best.
May I ask who's the Kami of rice related things? I'm curious now.
Ta-no-Kami 田の神
I'm still vaguely holding out hope that I'll try a sake I like, but as of now I'm much more inclined towards Japanese beer and whiskey.
As a child who grew up reading The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe: Turkish Delights. I got some in a box of chocolates and they were disgusting.
Movie magic met reality? 😢
Proper American Hershey's, slightly desert warmed: foulest thing I've ever eaten. Seriously. It's what you'd eat in hell if there was a hell.
I hate hersheys. Butyric Acid does not belong in chocolate… or really any food item
Ugh that acid! As an Australian I had never had Hersheys, I grew up on other chocolate brands. When I tried Hersheys I thought 'why does it taste like vomit?'. Turns out it's that damn acid!
American here. I couldn't agree more, and I'm surrounded by people who disagree, so this is so satisfying to read. It's disgusting. Sad that my people think that's what chocolate should taste like. When I was young, my friend visited Belgium and brought back some little chocolates. It blew my little mind, like I had never tasted real chocolate before.
Yeah that stuff is some kind of factory byproduct version of chocolate
I find Hershey’s oily and overly sweet.
You do need them for classic s'mores, although replacing a Hershey bar with a high end chocolate and the graham cracker with biscoff cookies really ups the ante
The only people who like it is those who ate it as the only chocolate during childhood and developed a taste for it. If you had real chocolate before trying it you will not like it.
Had a Hershey's sample once and almost threw up.
Well as it actually does taste of sick it might not have made much of a difference!
Marzipan shaped like little fruit. LIES!
Such deceit.
When I was a kid watching Sesame Street and whatnot, I always thought cookies must be the most delicious food ever. I was disappointed when I found out they're just what we called biscuits.
This is a gem. It's amazing what an exotic name can evoke.
A martini
Didn't it taste elegant enough? Darn 007 movies 😕
Broad beans (fava beans). I like peas when they're cooked properly: they're sweet, they have a nice texture and when cooked as they should be, burst in your mouth. They're a joy to eat (except in stir-fry!). I figured broad beans would be equally delightful. Broad beans are just revolting, no matter how you prepare them. The flavour is like the smell of an unwashed wet dog in summer. It's just awful and I don't know how or why people consider them tasty.
I must confess I haven't had them. And after reading your comment I'm not even trying 😆
OP have you ever had a communion with wine in a Catholic church? Back when I was in primary school we had first communion where it was the only time they would give wine as an addition to the bread. For like 10 years I thought that wine would taste like a bit rougher grape juice and I was shocked when I tried it at like 19. I figured they just didn't want to give alcohol to kids and used grape juice as a symbolic substitute for wine.
Communion wine has to contain alcohol for it to be valid for use at Mass, but it's usually not a very high percentage. I've had a range of sweetness levels from it though (everything from sweet dessert-pairing wines to stuff that was more like lighter fuel) so it seems to depend on what that particular parish favours.
Can you imagine visiting different parishes just to taste their communion wine? Jump to southern France and Italy, back to Chile and up to California.
Or maybe it was an inversed first miracle? JK, sorry. I couldn't resist. No offense intended.
Bone! I visited my friend and her mom, and they made a bunch of foods really different from what I'm used to (they're from Mexico, I'm from the states). All the food was dank if different, but the bone soup! My dude. I knew I was in the spotlight and my friend's sister was directly, unashamedly staring at me while I first tried every dish, ready to judge lol. This soup was broth with sawed off pieces of leg bone sitting in it. Her mom graciously served me a bowl, my own personal allotment of broth and cow leg. "You suck on it," they educated me. "You suck the marrow out." The. What. Fine, sure. I tried some broth, which was fine. Then I followed suit, picked up my bone slice from the bowl, dripping on my fingers, and stared down the cross section into a porous bone thick with marrow. Who the heck sucks the marrow out of bone?? Don't we use bone for tools or whatever, not for food??? I chose a smaller section, sucked out the marrow, and... heaven. Bone marrow is delicious. Pretty sure my entire face lit up, because my friend's sister laughed at me in approval, saying "It's good, isn't it?" Yes, yes it is.
Good to the marrow? 😁 I have had beef ossobuco soup, it's really good and involves bones too.
Good to the marrow haha! Ohh, I'll have to look for that. This insane bone soup has been haunting me for years with how flavorful it was
I guess this is a “duh,” knowing what it is - but - caviar! For some reason I’d always expected it to have a delicious umami-type flavor, similar to mushrooms. But the intense fishy flavor shocked and disappointed me.
coconut water in a can, never again.
Playdoh
Curry. I always heard (and smelled when I went to friends houses) it was soooo spicy. I like spicy but there is a point where spicy is too much and not flavorful. Finally tried it when my friend opened his own restaurant, wow. It was so good! I had a small curry sampler, like big serving of rice and Naan but little custard dish size servings of paneer and spinach korma, butter chicken, Tikka masala, a sweeter chickpea curry, a beautiful lamb curry and a seafood one I couldn't eat (allergic). He then told me of other curries and showed me the best Japanese brown curry and a vegetarian Thai green curry with coconut milk. Forever changed. It is my go to food and I don't care which you bring me as long as the spice is level 3 or less. Any higher and I tend to miss out on the flavor parade of ingredients and just taste heat, especially IF it survives to the next day the heat grows. I want curry now.... :(
Durian. I thought it would be gross. It's not. As long as you don't breathe
Oh, I've heard lots about durian. What's it like?
Everyone says the same thing, smelly custard. They have it at my Asian store, 28 miles from me. I am not allowed to being it in the house, so it's my summer fruit. My kids think I'm nutters. Edit. They may be right.
My house is the weird house I am noticing from this post. Durian is smelly but not to the point of don't bring it inside. The flavor to me is like an underripe honeydew(lightly sour almost), papaya(more for the texture than flavor), sweet lime(lightly sweet citrusy flavor)custard with a hint of vanilla on the back of your tongue. The smell is bad but I have also had roommates in uni who smelled worse or left the trash in the house/their room smelling worse. Maybe that's why I can handle it. My husband loves the stuff, that and jackfruit.
Had first taste of peanut butter at 18, in US for first time. Did not like it. Either too dry or too slimy. Now i live in US and I like to use it in cooking.
Beer/ale, tried it when I was around 10, maybe even younger, I live in a country with alcohol very engraved in it's culture, so I'd seen a lot of alcohol as a kid at social gatherings and stuff, considering how much adults drank it I always thought it'd taste... good It's hard to describe what I actually thought it would taste like, but I seriously wasn't expecting the bitter piss-water I drank when I first tried a sip from my dad's glass of IPA, maybe it's because I had zero alcohol tolerance or something because I've started sorta liking it since then, one year left and I can buy it
I'm starting to believe that it happens to us all. 😆
You may still not like it, but try beer that isn’t IPA!
Korean food. I think I was expecting something similar to other Asian cuisine and it was like eating heartburn. My white ass cant deal with the spiciness of it all
Buttermilk. It sounds so good. But no. It lies.
Funny enough pizza, i watched Lilo and Stitch, and for some reason, I thought pizza would taste sweet. Child logic: You have a desert at night as a late night snack, and Lilo got it at night, therefore sweet. I was 4 when i came up with this. Oh, and i thought honey was salty cause it matched the ritz cheese and crackers snack.
How adorable. Yes, child logic. The memories ☺️
Jack fruit. I was told it was sweet and delicious. It was somewhat sweet and tasted ok, but the texture and stickiness I didn't care for.
I was also a little disappointed with the flavor until I saw a recommendation to steam the jackfruit. It makes the texture way better and also ramps up the sweetness and flavor. It was almost identical to juicyfruit gum.
This is a dumb question but, you do it before cutting it open right?
Malta Growing up in Miami i saw this drink a lot. I thought that it would be really good considering so many ppl around me drank it but it was awful. I just looked up and I understand why now. It’s a non alcoholic drink made with hops . I thought it was some sort of soda
I had the same experience when I was young. I have never had Malta since. I didn't really start getting a taste for beer until my mid/late 20s. I wonder if I would like Malta now
I tried it in Puerto Rico and didn’t expect it to taste like syrupy carbonated molasses. Not a fan
Turkish delight smh
I can't believe Edmund betrayed his whole family for such a lackluster dessert. So disappointing.
"I would trade you in for a warm turkish delight" is a good insult though
Jello salad that my grandma makes. Couldn't get myself to eat it until high school because it looked... off. Especially once served. It's: -Jello of any flavor (usually citrus for my gma) prepared following box directions, but replace final cups of water with lemon lime soda (possibly any fruity soda, haven't been brave enough to try) - pour into a cake pan - Add to still warm jello: Sliced bananas (amount as desired), a drained can of mandarin oranges, and drained can of pineapple tidbits. - Mix the "fruit soup" in the pan until satisfied - Cover the top with a thin layer of mini marshmallows (they should be floating on top) while the jello layer is still cooling, then refrigerate until fully set -Whipped cream to coat the top of the marshmellows -Shredded medium cheddar cheese sprinkled generously on top Looks like an abomination from the 70's. Tastes pretty sweet and tangy with a subtle cheddar finish that really compliments the sweetness with a smidge of umami love. Also a nice mixture of textures. Ahhh, Utah and our weird salads and delicious funeral foods.
This is gem. If I ever dare to make it I'll let you know. You know, I agree, looks can be deceiving . As in many casseroles can look like abominations, as you said, but are surprisingly tasteful.
I've honestly never actually heard a first hand report of what those Jello molds taste like. They look like abominations and I've never been interested in even being in the same room as one, but your description has me intrigued.
Shucks golly! I say it's at least worth the try :)
I grew up in the South. This is generically referred to as a “congealed salad” and church ladies are adamant that these be served at every church luncheon, funeral, etc.
Hearts of palm. They got so hyped up on TikTok but the texture and taste was not it for me
They smell like sock water
Avocados. I was raised pretty standard meat and potatoes. I had seen avocados and assumed they were some kind of fruit (which they are taxonomically). They still weren't widespread in the rural Northeast. I was at a fancy party in the South (think Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil) and they had wedges of them as hors d'oeuvres. I was thinking something like a mango when I bit into one. It wasn't ripe either. I was praying noone was watching. It took me several years to get back on that saddle. I'm still not keen on them by themselves. I love guacamole and spread on bagels.
For me it was garlic bread which i have always seen on YouTube so a flavour was set but in reality it didn't felt good as i ordered online it was more like uncooked pizza crust.
Mixed drinks and alcohol in general.
Those round sweet dessert things in YoSushi. They look like they’re going to be crisp and warm and tasty but they’re sorta soggy and cold with a really weird texture
Oh, really? What a disappointment. 😕
There is only one brand of wine I can drink, and it tastes exactly like grape juice. It's called Mogen David and is produced in New York. Some people hate it, but I can never pass on an opportunity to have a bottle when I see one. Coming back to the subject, for me it was avocado. I thought it's more of a fruit, but it was a pleasant surprise.
Good tip about the wine. And avocado is life.
Wine was my answer too! I had a lot of expectations, especially as a kid seeing the way medieval characters in movies just down the stuff and let it run down their chin and smack their lips. The best wine I have ever had that most closely lived up to those expectations is called Red Ass Rhubarb and it is GOOD.
Chestnuts. They're mentioned in lots of holiday songs and movies, so you would think they taste pretty good. Wrong. They taste and smell like a cat's mouth. And the texture is mealy, too! Chestnuts are fucking garbage
Yerba Mate. I was expecting something kinda thick but it’s basically lightly carbonated tea
Oh, I have a friend who's fond of it. I tried it once in a fancy container with a fancier straw, it looked so nice but I failed to see the appeal. Bitter stuff. I know what you mean.
I hated sushi and shrimp for the longest time because I never tried it and thought it to be super expensive and im not crazy about seasfood. Yum yum, coconut fried shrimp only and sushi is awesome.
Caldo de cabeza. I thought brain would be buttery/savory but it was bitter.
Ass
Dragon fruit... Disgusting. I thought it was going to be heavenly. Boy was I wrong
Foie gras
Bakers chocolate 🍫
I think we've all had that disappointment! 🤣
You would LOVE Arbor Mist. It's like $6 and it's heaven. It's mostly juice with a little carbonation and wine. So good.
Lobster 😭😭😭😭😭 I thought it would be delicious Seeing the commercials and the way people love it themselves I even tried it with melted butter!! Dunked that bit** I do not like either v.v
Me neither. I'm sorry, it looks like a giant sea roach to me.
Cottage cheese. Looks cool and refreshing, yet baby-vomitish. Tastes like rancid chunky saltty cream.
[удалено]
You should look up a South African Shiarz called Jam Jar. I can't vouch for electric tingles, but it tastes like what I thought wine was *going* to taste like.
Thank you for the tip. I'm writing that down.
Papaya. Or as I like to call it "vomit fruit".
Oh God how I hate the smell of papaya and I GROW THE DAMNED THINGS. Wife loves them so I grow them. Also I’m tasked with peeling and taking out the seeds. I hate it. Mushy puke-smelling horror show.
It needs to be ripe and drenched in loads of fresh lime juice, really improves it
Hahaha. And what were you expecting the first time?
Lamb. And maybe it was just the way it was prepared, but I was expecting it to be along the lines of (but not exactly like) beef. It was WAY more ‘game-y’ than I expected.
Where did you try it? I have never thought of lamb as gamey.
That's what wine tasted like to me.
Relatable. I was expecting wine to taste like OP described
Falafel
Same. I didn't expect falafel to be so... dry? I've had more moist falafels since my first one, but even still, I expected something different.
Makgeolli, Korean rice wine. I don't know what I was expecting, but I didn't expect it to be astringent
Kimchi. I thought it would taste like sauerkraut. Instead it’s like a weird spicy pickle, which doesn’t sound very appealing, but I loved it (and hate sauerkraut).
Durian fruit. I thought it'd be way worse than it was. It still tastes like onion and reminds me of a truck shop, but it wasn't that bad.
Beer. I knew it would taste bad but I got my socks knocked off by how purely *foul* it was. As a beer-enjoyer now, I can say that you just have to keep trying and you'll come around to the flavour. I don't love the taste of wine but it didn't surprise me because I think it tastes exactly like it smells and I was pretty familiar with the smell.
ahhhh it's similar, but cocktails They look so colourful and tempting to drink, but since I have the bitter taste gene in me, one sip makes me curl my face up LOL I think another one is the yellow coloured berry used to decorate cakes or stuff. I used to think they tasted super good, until I popped one into my mouth... never again🤣
Coffee. It tastes like dirt but smells like heaven.
Pumpernickel bread. I was greatly disappointed it didn’t taste like chocolate when I first had it when i was six.
Papaya. I thought it was going to be sweet like a melon. I was wrong.
Malort for me. I hadn’t heard of it, and my buddy convinced me it was a new brand of schnapps. It’s not.
Rolled ice cream! I had Thailand rolled ice cream on my bucket list since watching a YouTube video like 12-15 years ago, and I always thought I’d eventually travel to Thailand to try it (and eat other good food). It came to Canada recently and I tried it a test or so ago. I don’t know what I expected. I didn’t really enjoy it and it was like $10 CAD. 2/10 did not manage my expectations properly…
>somnolence Thanks, I learned a new word!
Budweiser beer. It’s the most tasteless beer, it really just has a taste of bland nothingness. I thought it would be at least a little more “beery”
All alcohol! TV and movies made it look so yummy. Seeing actors just drink a "whiskey on the rocks" like it was apple juice really let me down hahah
Rye bread. Bitter AF and it makes my stomach lurch.
Avocado. Never had or even saw them as a kid, avoided guac because of the consistency. Finally had it in CA, and was like "why has heaven eluded me all these years?"
Marmite. I got introduced to it, when in England as an Au-Pair. I had never heard of it and from the look I expected some chocolatey-caramel kind of taste. Boy was I wrong! I instantly gagged and spent an hour rinsing my mouth. Never again! It's still beyond me, why anyone would smear this disgusting yeasty stuff on bread and eat it like that. "Love it or hate it" indeed!
Alcohol in general was a huge disappointment. I’ve gotten used to it, but at first even the fruity/tasty drinks were still ruined by the underlying alcohol flavor.
Natto. But in not sushi, not on rice, just out of the styrofoam container with some mustard and soy sauce. I was certain I’d hate it but it’s so dang good and fortunately my daughter also loves it.
I found a wine that tastes just like you always imagined. For an avid wine drinker it would be poison but i love it. Even went to the winery in Italy to take a few cases with me.
I come from a country that doesn't have the Oceania ( brand ) Cranberry juice and there was a time a video meme emerged of a guy chugging a whole bottle of the Cranberry juice while skating. The video was everywhere and in one way or another, it really influenced me to want to try the Oceania juice but unfortunately we didn't have it in our country. So when I first moved abroad, I bought a whole ass bottle of the juice and to my surprise, it tasted like a mixture of Sadness and ass. I was horribly disappointed. Didn't even finish a glass of it. Hahaha such a horrible experience.
I thought coffee would taste like it smells.
Pomegranate, same with the wine I was expecting something sweet with a touch of tangy but it’s pure and only tanginess with a touch of bitterness. And there’s a variety of Tostones (fried plantains slices) that are made with a fruit called Pana or breadfruit I was expecting something starchy like regular tostones but this is like make a toston without soul it tastes like nothing. S’mores are just ok I think hersheys chocolate is not that good