14 foods that people either love or absolutely cannot stand

Some foods just don’t get to live in the middle. You either reach for the cilantro or you pick it out like it personally wronged you. There’s no ‘eh, it’s fine’ with these.

The wild part is that a lot of it isn’t even about willpower or being a picky eater — some of it is legitimately genetic, some of it is texture, and some of it is just the culinary baggage we carry from childhood. Mushy Brussels sprouts in 1994 can ruin a vegetable for decades.

Here are 14 foods that have been dividing people at dinner tables forever. I have opinions. You probably do too.

Does cilantro actually taste like soap to some people?

Yes — and it’s not in their heads. A variation in the OR6A2 gene makes cilantro taste like dish soap to somewhere between 4 and 14 percent of people, depending on ancestry. That’s not being dramatic. That’s biology.

For everyone else, it’s bright and citrusy and makes a taco feel complete. The divide is genuinely that clean — you’re either on the herb train or you’re not.

Parsley works as a swap in most recipes if you’re in the soap camp. But if you love cilantro, there’s really no substitute that hits the same way.

Pineapple on pizza — why are we still fighting about this?

Hawaiian pizza has been causing arguments since Canadian restaurateur Sam Panopoulos invented it in 1962. Sixty-plus years later and people still act like it’s a new controversy.

The sweet-and-savory thing works. It’s the same logic as honey on fried chicken or jam on a grilled cheese. Sweet doesn’t automatically ruin savory — that’s just not how flavor works.

That said, the people who hate it really hate it. And I don’t think anyone is changing their mind at this point. We’ve all picked our hill.

Black licorice — a candy or a warning sign?

Black licorice is the food equivalent of a personality test. People who love it really love it — there’s something almost nostalgic about it, like a candy that belonged to a grandparent’s glass dish on the coffee table.

People who hate it describe it as medicinal, bitter, and confusing. Which, fair. Anise is a strong flavor and it doesn’t ease you in gently.

There’s also a real health note here — the FDA has actually warned that eating a lot of black licorice at once can cause heart issues in adults over 40. So even the candy has drama.

Is the mushroom problem about flavor or texture?

Mostly texture. The flavor — earthy, umami-forward, rich — is actually something most people can get behind in theory. It’s the sponginess that loses people.

If you’ve only ever had mushrooms that were boiled or steamed into a sad, wet situation, I get it. Roasted or sautéed in butter until they’re actually golden — that’s a completely different food.

I’d argue the mushroom haters haven’t had mushrooms cooked right. That said, I recognize I could be wrong and some people just genuinely don’t like them and that’s fine.

Anchovies — tiny fish, enormous opinions

Anchovies get a bad rap mostly because people encounter them whole on pizza and they look a little intense. But anchovies dissolved into a sauce, or whisked into a Caesar dressing — that’s what’s giving everything depth and you don’t even know it.

The umami they add is legitimate. Chefs use them all the time in things people never realize contain fish.

That said, if you bite into one whole and weren’t expecting it, I understand the betrayal.

Why do people hate Brussels sprouts so much?

The Brussels sprouts of the 1980s and 90s were genuinely bad. Overcooked, sulfurous, and soft in the wrong way — the vegetable had a PR problem for thirty years because of bad preparation.

Roasted Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, and a little crispy on the outside are practically a different food. The renaissance was real and it was earned.

If you wrote them off years ago, I’d actually encourage giving them another shot. Cook them hot and fast. Don’t steam them into mush. You might surprise yourself.

Blue cheese — bold or just a little too funky?

Blue cheese is one of those foods where the room splits instantly. The mold is doing something genuinely interesting to the flavor — creamy, sharp, tangy, complex — and either that sounds amazing to you or it sounds like a reason to leave.

The pungent smell is the first barrier. If you can get past it, most people find the taste more manageable than they expected.

Start with something milder like gorgonzola dolce before going straight for a Roquefort. The spectrum is wide.

Are oysters actually a delicacy or just expensive weirdness?

Oysters are the food that requires the most commitment. Raw, straight from the shell, tasting like cold seawater — you either think that’s transcendent or you think it sounds like a dare.

The texture is where people bail. Slippery and soft in a way that doesn’t feel like food to a lot of people. It’s an acquired taste in the most literal sense.

Grilled or fried oysters convert a lot of non-believers because the texture changes completely. If raw is a hard no, that’s a reasonable place to start.

Pickles — condiment or snack or the whole personality?

Pickle people are a whole thing right now and they deserve to be taken seriously. The tangy crunch, the brine, the fact that pickle juice is apparently a legitimate sports recovery drink — it makes sense.

The vinegar intensity is what loses people. If every bite of your burger comes with a hit of sour that you didn’t ask for, it’s understandable to start pulling them off.

There’s also an entire spectrum here — bread and butter pickles, spicy pickles, dill, sweet — so if you’ve only tried one kind and written off the whole category, that seems hasty.

Does coconut texture ruin it for people who’d otherwise like the flavor?

Yes, almost always. The shredded coconut in a cake or macaroon — that chewy, slightly stringy texture — is what does people in. The flavor itself is sweet and tropical and genuinely pleasant.

Coconut milk and coconut oil give you all the flavor without the texture issue. A lot of coconut-averse people don’t realize they’re totally fine with those forms.

The commitment to hating coconut in all forms is usually about the texture. It makes sense because the flavor alone isn’t offensive to most people.

Wasabi — is the real thing actually different?

Actual wasabi — from the wasabia japonica plant — is milder and more nuanced than the green paste most people have been served at sushi restaurants their whole lives. That stuff is usually just horseradish and mustard dyed green.

Real wasabi has heat but it doesn’t linger the same way. It’s more of a bright, clean kick than a sustained assault on your sinuses.

So if wasabi has always been too much for you, there’s a decent chance you’ve never had the actual thing.

Liver — is there a way to make it work?

Liver is the textbook example of a food with devoted fans and people who would honestly rather not be in the same room as it cooking.

The metallic, intense flavor and the soft, dense texture are a very specific combination. People who grew up eating it — seasoned, caramelized onions, maybe a little mustard — often have a genuine affection for it.

People who didn’t? It’s a hard sell. The smell alone during cooking is enough to close the case for most.

Beets — earthy or straight-up dirt-flavored?

Beets taste like dirt. That’s not an insult — it’s chemistry. A compound called geosmin is responsible for that deep, earthy flavor, and some people perceive it way more intensely than others.

People who love beets tend to love exactly that quality. It’s grounding and sweet and kind of interesting on a plate. Roasted with a little goat cheese? Actually good.

People who hate beets usually describe it as eating something that came directly out of the ground without much enthusiasm. Which, geosmin-wise, is not entirely wrong.

Durian — is the smell really that bad?

Durian is banned in hotel lobbies and public transit across parts of Southeast Asia, so yes — the smell is genuinely that extreme. It’s been described as onions, turpentine, and gym socks, and that’s from people who like it.

The flavor, once you get past the smell, is reportedly creamy and sweet and complex — almost custard-like. Fans are passionate. It’s a serious food with a serious following.

But the smell barrier is real and most people in the West never get past it. It’s the one food on this list where I’d understand skipping it without trial.

Here’s the thing about all of these — very few food opinions are actually random. There’s a gene, or a texture, or a specific bad childhood memory involved. Nobody hates cilantro to be difficult.

That said, I do think some of these deserve a second chance with better preparation. Roasted Brussels sprouts alone have redeemed an entire vegetable. It happens.

And for the record — jalapeño cream cheese is not on this list because it’s universally correct and I won’t be debating it.

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