What food did you hate as a kid, only to find out your parents just didn't cook it well?

[gorcorps]

I hated the idea of Brussels sprouts, solely on reputation alone. Then I had them properly cooked (roasted) and dang, you can eat a whole plate of those for dinner! I kind of think that nearly every food on the planet has a way to make it taste amazing; some stuff, like chicken, can be made a million ways & still come out good, whereas others (like Brussels sprouts) require more specific techniques, otherwise they can be fairly unappealing. Roasting can make things like cubed butternut squash & even broccoli crazy amazing, whereas otherwise you might simply never care to eat them ever.

Spam was another one; I always thought it was a "joke" food that only sailors ate. Cut that into thin strips, fry it up, and it's actually pretty amazing. Spam musubi is awesome too, as are Spam, egg, and rice bowls.

I still can't do brussel sprouts. We drizzled them with olive oil with a little salt and pepper and roasted in the oven... they had a decent texture, I just didn't like the flavor still. The wife liked them, but our go-to these days is asparagus. I would never touch asparagus as a kid, but if you cook it right it's quite good. Steamed green beans too, just long enough to get warm but still have the crisp snap of being fresh.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Chili
My dad was a rat bastard for keeping me from the liking of Corn Chip Chili for many years. I could bave fallen in love with the dish while in vitro.

 

[Midwayman]

Pork chops. My mom was a pretty good cook generally but she liked her meat extra well done. My dad would usually grill steak, but mom made the chops. Her preference for well done meat combined with 'raw pork' fear meant you could drive nails with her pork chops.

 

[Chromagnus]

Whole cooked meats (i.e. chicken, steak, pork chops) and vegetables. Almost all vegetables were from a can, so bad by default, and meats were always way overcooked. Learning that meat should be juicy and fresh or frozen vegetables taste better was life altering.

They did fine with ground meats and potatoes though. There was always fresh fruit around as well so it wasn't too bad. They also did a good job with breakfast so that was generally my favorite meal of the day.

 

[vi edit]

So yeah, to expand a bit more...

Breakfast pretty much any day of the week: Cereal. The end. Rarely ever had a "hot" breakfast unless it was instant oatmeal.
Bread was always white.
Vegetables were always steamed into total oblivion.
Salt was seasoning.
Black pepper was spicy.
Every piece of meat was cooked to a leathery char.
The idea of "chinese food" was a can of la choy sludge and oversteamed vegetables dumped over white rice and covered in those stir fry crispy noodle things.
Indian food didn't exist.
The idea of sushi terrified them.
Tex mex/mexican/ was far too spicy.

It's a wonder that I've managed to dig out of that hole and expand my palate as well as I have.

 

[TeeJay1952]

Growing up thought Veggies came from a can. Never had broccoli, brussel sprouts or cauliflower until I met wife.

 

[ponyo]

My mom wasn't a great cook but she tried. She was always working so she didn't have time to cook much so I grew up on cheap frozen TV dinners and instant ramen noodles since I didn't know how to cook. I really can't think of any food I hated as a kid. Maybe chicken gizzard?

 

[Eno Safirey]

I still can't do brussel sprouts. We drizzled them with olive oil with a little salt and pepper and roasted in the oven... they had a decent texture, I just didn't like the flavor still.

I only recently discovered that brussel sprouts that are cut in half and prepared this way are quite tasty. Putting a ball of mini-sized cabbage into your mouth is awkward and ruins the taste. Slightly overcooked gives a grilled texture and crunchiness.

 

[Feneant2]

I asked my mother and she said they cooked like they were taught. My parents only learnt to cook properly when they were about 50. If they cooked when I was growing up how they cook now it would make all the difference but growing up only gray meat was acceptable and veggies boiled until you were eating a mushy bland paste.

I would say I eat ~99% of what I refused to eat as a child with the only exception being boiled dinner (boiled salted pork shoulder with cabbage, potatoes, carrots and turnip)- that still makes me want to barf because it's a crime against humanity.

 

[snoopy7548]

My mum cooks like a wizard. So, no.

Same here. Nothing fancy but it was always good, especially the meatloaf.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

I asked my mother and she said they cooked like they were taught. My parents only learnt to cook properly when they were about 50. If they cooked when I was growing up how they cook now it would make all the difference but growing up only gray meat was acceptable and veggies boiled until you were eating a mushy bland paste.

I would say I eat ~99% of what I refused to eat as a child with the only exception being boiled dinner (boiled salted pork shoulder with cabbage, potatoes, carrots and turnip)- that still makes me want to barf because it's a crime against humanity.

100% correct. My mother was the same, especially with the meat. People of that era were terrified of undercooked meat. Pork and chicken were in fact pretty dangerous back then, far more so than they are now. Beef was safe, at least the primal cuts were, but the fear of pork and chicken carried over to the beef too and that was cooked overdone just to be safe. It's so deeply ingrained that a lot of people who grew up with the fear of undercooked meat still have it and can't get over it even when they know it's not true. It's amazing to watch a person that knows pork is completely safe when a tiny bit pink in the middle still almost vomit when they see it served that way.

The mushy vegetables I can't explain. That was just either stupidity or laziness.

 

[ponyo]

So much cooking information is now available with the internet and Youtube that it's easier than ever to learn and experiment. My daughter is my harshest critic. She has amazing palate and can taste the most subtle things. I tell her she should be professional food taster because she can tell me all the ingredients that went into the meal and whether it was cooked properly or not.

 

[Carson Dyle]

I can't think of a single thing that I hated.

That's not to say Mom (and Dad) were great cooks. I ate more than my share of gray canned vegetables, overcooked chicken, pork and beef, bland chili and spaghetti sauce, iceberg lettuce salads with a piece of tomato, onion and celery. But I ate it and I enjoyed it. I later learned how to better make many of those things, and probably haven't opened a can of vegetables in thirty years. But I sure didn't hate any of it growing up.

 

[LurchFrinky]

Ugh, the pork chops!
Sometimes they would be cooked in the electric skillet and taste good, but be really tough and chewy.
Other times, they would be cooked with rice-a-roni and canned tomatoes - Blech!
The london broil was horrible as well.
There were some good dishes - I still can't make fried okra as good as mom's, and her fried chicken was good - but those two meats stand out.

 

[Carson Dyle]

Wow, Rice-A-Roni. I'd completely forgotten about that stuff. I used to inhale it. Chicken with the skin removed, baked or broiled to a crisp, chicken flavored Rice-A-Roni, a tiny salad of iceberg lettuce with Good Seasons salad dressing. Milk or Kool-Aid to drink. And I loved every bit of it.

 

[Thebobo]

Nothing here loved all the food the folks cooked. In thailand we had a cook but mom did a lot as well. And when I lived with my other dad his wife was vietnamese and that was awesome as well.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

Nothing in particular. Most of what my folks made was at least edible, if a little bland. They never strayed far from salt, pepper, and Lawry's seasoning salt (if grilling). I had to learn the wonders of herbs and spices on the street.

 

[PingSpike]

My mother was a pretty good cook, my wife now kind of complains about it because her cooking style is very simple but honestly her simple versions are often superior. I had a lot of the opposite experiences, where stereotypical awful foods were some of my favorites. Her meat loaf was always very good. I've still never had a better pot roast than the one my mother makes, don't even care for it if some one else makes it. She makes a coleslaw that is pretty much just cabbage that really tastes better than any other I've had still. The story goes she didn't know how to cook until she married my dad. My dad taught her to cook and then stopped doing it!

That said I really love garlic and roast veggies as an adult which weren't really part of my diet then.

I still hate liver though, hated that so much as a kid I won't even try it again.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

Pretty much anything my mom baked for desert. Cookies, pies, cakes...If she was missing an ingredient, she would substitute with something similar and it would completely &^%$ it up. And she burned half the s&^t she tried to bake anyways. Ah, my mom, love her to death.