People Online Really Tried These 30 Foods And Drinks Before Knocking Them, But Can’t Stand Them

Let's start, perhaps, with the main question - why do people generally differ in their taste preferences in food? Here the answer, as usual, is quite simple - it’s in our genome. In 2004, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, showed, for example, that our smell receptors are associated with a part of the genome that has a higher number of variations than the rest of the DNA.

And the more variations, the more differences in taste. So, literally the same steak will be perceived by two different people in completely different ways. Simply because they have different perceptions of taste at the biological level.

Initially, this feature helped people survive. A classic example is why the vast majority of people don't like bitter tastes. The thing is that for ancient people, this taste was strongly associated with the presence of toxins in food, and therefore such food had to be spat out quickly, or even better, not eaten at all. Thousands and thousands of years have passed since then, humanity has come a long way in development, but the ancient protective mechanism remains.

And, of course, the psychological factor plays a huge role in our taste perception of food. For example, if we were taught from childhood that some dish is tasteless or even disgusting, then dislike for it can spread into adulthood. Or, let’s say, we once had a bad experience with some vegetable or fruit (like, for example, I had with durian). But overcoming such food prejudice can sometimes be very difficult.

On the other hand, our culinary preferences are quite flexible - and once we try something delicious, we stick to it for the long run. In any case, all the factors that influence our perception of food can be divided into three groups: innate taste preferences, which are determined by human evolution, the physical characteristics of food (texture, temperature and whatnot) and our previous experience of interacting with this taste (or smell - sorry, I’m reminiscing about that very durian over and over...)

Perhaps some of the stories told by people in this selection will seem absolutely strange and weird to you. On the contrary, you will completely agree with some. In any case, please feel free to scroll this list to the very end, give your ‘likes’ to the most interesting submissions and for sure share your own experience of interacting with some foods or drinks. Maybe your special story will be no less tasty and delicious than the most popular meals ever!