Is there a food you’ve disliked, as long as you can remember?

It’s hard for me to know when it started, but I’ve always disliked peas. When they appear on a plate, I gently push them aside. I never have them in my home or eat them other places.

I know it began in childhood, not exactly when or why.  Tonight, for the first time in more than 70 years, I put a forkful of peas in my mouth.

To my surprise, it was not bad. I can’t say I liked the taste but it was not repellent.  So I began chewing the peas, and nothing much happened.  No wave of discomfort, though I can’t say I enjoyed them.

They were soft, easy to chew, with a texture similar to cooked corn.

Oh My God.  I’ve been certain, no question, all my life, that I did not care for and would not eat peas.

Of course that’s not the only thing I disliked.  I still will not eat beets. (except in borsht)

I began polling friends. Elizabeth won’t eat raw tomatoes, though she loves their flavor in spaghetti and other dishes.  Andy Weil, who’s known for eating almost everything, won’t eat licorice or fennel. Tina hates lima beans.  Larry says, “Truffles smell like vomit to me. Oysters are too slimy. I don’t much like tomatoes but love everything you can make from a tomato.  There’s a slime inside the slice.” He adds, “I think there’s a theme of sliminess here.”

Rachel dislikes olives.  Rio has the longest list:  eggplant, bell pepper, all squashes, and despite being from Mississippi, he won’t eat watermelon! He also won’t eat tilapia, rhubarb, marshmallows, canned vegetables, cucumber sandwiches or gnocchi. (Maybe we should list what he will eat?) But he cooks great meals, absent those elements.

The most disliked food, according to the Internet, is liver, followed by salmon, brussels sprouts, eggplant and anchovies.  But the Internet doesn’t tell us why.

Some people remember the moment they ate something they couldn’t stand. Kelly dislikes Twizzler candy, and says it started in childhood. She’d been sledding and at the end of one run, she hit a rock and was overcome with dizziness. When she got into a parent’s car to go home, the parent passed around raspberry Twizzlers to all the kids. Kelly was suffering a concussion and the smell of Twizzlers became linked to feeling dizzy and nauseous.

Animals also seem to have their likes and dislikes, which often make no sense to us. So I wonder, is it our nature—humans and animals—to crave certain foods and dislike others? Are we hardwired to do so? Interestingly, people in the same family, who grow up together, often have different tastes and displeasures.

It would seem ideal to have no distastes in food, but I’ve yet to meet someone for whom that’s true.  If you are one of those rare creatures, please let us know.  And if you’re not, tell us specifically what you don’t like and when that came about.  We’ll see if there’s a trend.