What one ingredient makes you immediately avoid a recipe?

Question

I don't consider myself a picky eater but there are a handful of foods I avoid at all cost. When I'm reading through recipes I notice that if I see one of these foods I will immediately skip to the next recipe without even bothering to see if that ingredient can easily be left out. Two of these ingredients for me are raisins and winter squash. What ingredients immediately turn you off?

Answer

Separated eggs that don't call for the same number of yolks and whites. I hate waste, but I also hate having to store that extra yolk/white or two. I can only think of one recipe I make that calls for an extra yolk, and only because it's a damn fine chocolate chip cookie recipe.

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Gourds, artichokes, and white "chocolate."

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Minute rice

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I'll swap you those raisin or winter squash recipes for all my recipes that call for fresh cilantro by the cup-full. Small quantities I know I can (and do) omit or substitute oregano. Others will never get made here since we both have the soap-tasting gene for cilantro.

Answer

Self rising flour. I once made my own and all I could taste was baking powder. That has turned me off and I don't need more flour hanging around.

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liver. sweetbreads. tripe, foie gras, kidneys, hearts (organ meats in general). 

Caviar.

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Mushrooms 
Broccoli 
Peanuts/tree nuts unless it says optional (that one is for kiddo's allergies)

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Raisins and organ meats. Though I will make Polpo's chicken liver recipe for my mom, when I visit.

Answer

Green peppers

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Bananas.

I hate the smell and the texture. I wish that I liked them.

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Artichokes. Eggplant. Olives if they are copious and chopped up (I will just pick them out if they are whole and not a dominant component.).

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Caraway seeds (although I learned nigella seeds can substitute in rye bread)
Last year at this time I would have said miso, because I had never cooked with it and had no idea how to choose which kind, etc. But I broke through that barrier and now have a small tub of miso in the fridge. I understand it'll last a while...? We made a miso salmon (Everyday Dorie?) and miso butter for steak from Cravings. And now I'm eyeing some new uses for it, like mixed with tahini.

Nowadays I have to avoid grapefruit due to medication interactions, so the cocktail book of the summer is a little disappointing in that regard as I turn past those recipes.

Answer

Most heavily processed foods, like canned soups or cake mixes will usually scare me away. It's not my cooking style and more importantly, I don't live in the U.S. anymore, and a lot of those products are not available to me. 

Also, lard, duck fat, goose fat and the like. 

In cocktail recipes, bourbon, whiskey, and scotch, sadly. I had a bad experience in my early drinking days. This bums me out because I love cocktails, and this is very limiting for me!

Answer

Quinoa--can't fathom why people eat it, even seek it out. Cilantro--I use a lot of herbs and grow most of the ones we use, but no cilantro. Don't even like the scent.
I love my cookbooks and have marked up recipes with ingredient substitutions and changed amounts. Any recipe that includes quinoa or cilantro is left alone!

Answer

Lima beans, Brussels sprouts, peas (except for the babies), and yellow summer squash. Most cruciferus vegetables are just too strong for me.

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Processed products such as:
Jello
Whipped topping / cool-whip
grape jelly
cocktail hotdogs
pudding mix
velveeta
canned vegetables or fruit
canned soups
canned black olives
Ranch dressing
Ritz crackers

Answer

Mint. Can't even stand the smell. I was told I'm probably allergic to it.

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Anyone else find truffles repulsive? I expected to love them like everyone else does, but no. I felt like a freak when I discovered how awful they were, and then I read they contain a chemical only a few people detect, like the problem some have with cilantro. Similarly, even a stalk of celery can ruin a dish for me. I can live with that, but I feel really cheated that beets don’t agree with me. As they say, I like them but they don’t like me. What gives?

Answer

olives

Answer

No ingredient I can just leave out or sub for. But I've never learned to eat tripe or brains, and those are so off my list I can't recall even seeing a recipe to pass up. 

On a more mundane level, I don't like most strong cheeses, including sadly Parmesan, so if one is a major element, it's a pass-on-by. Minor may still be a go, though.

Answer

Not an ingredient, but if measurements are given in metric, I skip right over. Totally lazy...I know!! :-)

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SOY & SOY BIPRODUCTS,,. Carcinogens and tumeric a natural blood thinner to be careful with!

Answer

Ditto on canned soups and minute rice.
My husband doesn't like walnuts, cilantro and olives but two grandchildren love black olives. I love walnuts so I might buy bakery cookies that contain walnuts knowing I won't have to share with him. For cilantro, I might chop some for the table so people can add there own. But I love raisins and winter squash. I like feta but family doesn't so I'll sub ricotta salat if I can find it or queso fresco.

Answer

Raisins, mushrooms, green onions, seaweed. Can’t say I necessarily avoid the recipes but substitute or omit these ingredients.

Answer

Costly ingredients such as truffles, morels, saffron, foie gras. 
Hot chili peppers, especially with seeds.
Exotic non local ingredients that can only be had by mail order.
I won't consider a recipe that calls for lots of fresh basil in the winter.

Answer

I seldom follow a recipe exactly, if I see an ingredient I don't like, I'm good at substitutions. But some items I refuse to make are Brussel sprouts and watermelon. And I NEVER add cumin to anything!

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Agave syrup

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Olives and capers! Oh and "cream of" soups

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These are so interesting! For the people who avoid artichokes, is it the taste or the effort? Artichokes are one of my top 5 foods, I've loved 'em since I was a kid and my mom would steam them and serve with lots of lemon butter. I'm vegetarian so I avoid recipes where meat is the central ingredient but I do use meat substitutes so a recipe for soup or stir fry with meat is not a dealbreaker. Cantaloupe, however, is a dealbreaker in every regard.

Answer

I can't believe no one has said this: fennel! (Or anise). I hate those licorice flavors, but it's easy enough to leave them out. Same with olives.

I also avoid all squashes and since they take up a lot of space it generally means skipping the recipe.

Answer

Blue cheese
Brie
Eggplant

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I'll second all the organ meat comments, and add any ingredient that I have to order online. I'm just not that patient!

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maldon salt. I scratch off things that seem pretensious - like fry in extra virgin olive oil

Answer

Not an ingredient, but the word 'creamy'.

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I can’t digest spicy hot food, so anything with chilies, cayenne, hot sauce etc. is an immediate turn-off.

Answer

This has been very interesting, I realized I'm very open-minded about what I eat, I'll eat almost anything! 
I think the only ingredient that I'll avoid is organ meat, only because I don't know where to find it or how to cook it and I'm sure there's a fine line between cooking it well and completely botching it up. I see pig's blood, pig's uterus, chicken feet, turkey neck (not really an organ), etc... at the supermarket all the time but I don't know what to do with it. I'm sure they're all delicious.

Answer

What I can't stand are olives. I do not know why but when I see recipe with them I skip it. Another thing is bean. I do not know why my grandma so often does soup with it!

Answer

Coconut!

Answer

Tarragon

Answer

chipotle

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I don't think there's really any specific ingredient that would turn me off a recipe. I make an exception for andouillete de Cambrai which smells like shit and tastes what I imagine shit tastes like.

I am, however, turned off by overly long lists of ingredients. For example, in my Saturday newspaper's food supplement, Yotam Ottolenghi always has several recipes. I used to take one look and then turn the page. Now, I don't even bother looking. There will always be several ingredients, I (and most people) won't have in their cupboards. They will always be unsual ingredients that you'd have to get via the internet - and then would not use them again. Just not my way of enjoying food, thank very much.

Answer

Wool.

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Beef and Pork, I also skipped the video or any recipe where they are using beef or pork

Answer

Quinoa
Grapefruit
Orange peel
Orange juice

Answer

Not a fan of liver, tripe, kidneys, brains.
Ethical issues with octopus.
Not comfortable with many types of game or fish due to concerns over provenance and safety, but hey, I’m in Texas. Would you eat anything pulled out of a brown river or Galveston Bay? 
Not a fan of canned spinach. 
Have eaten all manner of sashimi, including small still gasping fish and live shrimp, but didn’t enjoy any of it, although I love oysters on the half shell with a squeeze of lemon and a twist of pepper.

Answer

I'd add marshmallow(s). Okay, I'll eat one, maybe two, smores per year. Rice krispie treats, once a decade. I have both of those important marshmallow recipes committed to memory. I could just never appreciate adding marshmallows to sweet potatoes. They're already sweet; both of 'em. 1 sweet + 1 sweet does not equal a savory. 2(sweet)= too much sweet.

Answer

Marshmallows have their place, and IMHO it is a very small and circumscribed place, in a dollop of marshmallow sauce on a hot fudge sundae made of a scoop of vanilla and a scoop of coffee with toasted almond slivers. It was my standard order at the Haagen Daz parlor on Knox in Dallas circa 1976, when my then youthful metabolism allowed me to enjoy such things. They do not in my belief belong near, on, or in anything remotely savory. Several days ago, at age seventy, I was required to eat my first s’more. I prefer plain graham crackers.

Answer

I find the combination of honey and chicken really awful. The biggest turnoff is honey mustard on chicken. But then I was once served in a restaurant a crepe filled with asparagus and ham, and topped with maple syrup. After the first bite I felt like throwing the plate at the chef!

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I avoid recipes with LOTS of ingredients. Takes the wind out of my sails when there is a big complicating list

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I thought of another one today while reading the latest SK post...Tofu. Now wondering if halloumi cheese could substitute.

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I just thought of another thing that puts me off a recipe, although it's not an ingredient but a task: sifting. I really don't like to sift. A recipe that involves sifting REALLY has to promise otherworldly goodness for me to try it.

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I thought of something else too. Anchovies! To all those people who say that they just melt in and disappear, leaving a savoury and umami flavour, I say NO! They may melt away but they leave a fishy oiliness that coats the mouth and won’t leave. I notice them every time and have been known to gag, hopefully discreetly, at the table. I do love Worcestershire and fish sauce but any oily fish is iffy. Love salmon, can’t do smoked salmon.

Answer

Coffee

Grapefruit 

Both flavors ruin any food in which they are present for me.

Answer

Cauliflower.

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Fun article on this topic in today's The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/sep/19/okra-is-the-most-foul-thing-ever-grown-chefs-on-their-most-hated-ingredients

"Okra is the most foul thing ever grown."

Don't forget to check out the comment section!

Answer

I was going through a few photos for another thread I'd taken in China. I've eaten sheep heads with their eyes all chopped into a dish in Arab countries before and enjoyed it. But these in a market looked well past their prime. The still shot doesn't do justice to the flies hanging around.

I didn't stay long enough after the photo to ask what they were used for and to be fair no one in China outside the hotels speaks English anyway. Maybe it was for dog food or something.

I gave it a miss.

Answer

Rosemary. For some reason, I can taste it over anything else. I can only tolerate it in very tiny amounts.

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I do not understand the new Cauliflower Obsession because I do not like it so I can't imagine trying to sub for delicious things like potatoes and rice. Yes, I've tried it roasted. Still a no.

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If there is a genetic polymorphism that makes celery taste bad, like there is for cilantro, I must have that polymorphism. I really dislike celery but have learned to substitute leeks in a soffrito type situation so I don't have to avoid recipes. 
Confession time: This week, I was the first person to pick up my CSA at our pick-up site and I stuffed the celery from my box into one of the other boxes. Hopefully that person doesn't mind celery!

Answer

Anchovies. Feed them to the cat, No desire to try Kale or collard greens. There are plenty of vegetables I already like. I can usually use a substitute or omit the ingredient that I don't care for.

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Lamb is my worst enemy. I can't stand the smell or taste, I don't understand the people who like it.

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I just omit an ingredient I don't like or want to use. If I think an ingredient would be tasty in a recipe, I add it. to me a recipe is just a blueprint, I always make it my own, seldom do I make a recipe exactly as it's written.

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I've been following this thread for months as new comments have been added but all along could not think of a single ingredient that would make me immediately skip a recipe (except as mentioned earlier, those "recipes" that are not much more than "dump a can of dis in widda canna dat and bake at 350").

Last night I was skimming some cake recipes and came across one calling for mostly self-rising flour, and immediately moved on. So, I guess that is my nemesis. Not sure if it's been mentioned yet or not (comments are slow to load despite scrolling... scrolling... scrolling...).

How much baking powder is really in that stuff? How much salt? Is it really good throughout its shelf-life sitting in that paper bag, or has the baking powder been losing potency over time, hit middle age and in need of Viagra or Cialis? 

More seriously, any time I used it (and I haven't for 20 years) it seemed like it had a lot more baking powder than I would normally have used for a given recipe - that metallic "bite" type taste in the back corners of my mouth.

Answer

kale

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Quinoa
Tofu

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Sun dried tomatoes

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Quinoa.
Potato skins....can’t stand the texture.
Marmalade. Too sour!
Grapefruit. Also too sour, and dangerous with medication.

Answer

Cumin, Brussel sprouts, Lima beans and sugar in vegetables(other than baked beans)

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What one ingredient makes you immediately avoid a recipe?

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