I did explain in one of the comments what originally prompted the thread, which was the complete exclusion of an entire food group that includes ingredients of very different shapes, sizes, colors, smells, textures, flavors, possible applications. That’s what started this, I s’pose, but as I also mentioned in my OP I’m always curious about people’s likes and dislikes.
So - thanks for chiming in 
I absolutely get not eating something because of an allergy or intolerance.
I get textural issues (dont have any but ive known a lot vegetarians who have texture issues with meat)…when I was pregnant, meat had the texture of wet cardboard so I was veg for a few months (til I dived face first into a platter of prime rib and left nothing but the juices on the plate…pregnancy is weird)
I overwhelmingly find that not liking an entire category also often harkens back to horrible food as a child. I know lots of people who wont eat fish because their mom (usually) cooked it to death and it wasnt fit to eat by the time it got to the table. Most find they enjoy baked or grilled mild fish when properly prepared.
Definitely true. I didn’t care much for “vegetables” other than crudites and salads as a kid, largely because my mother boiled most of them to death. Once I learned to cook for myself, I learned that I really love most vegetables as long as they are not cooked past al dente (depending on the veg, of course), but that I still don’t like soft boiled vegetables (of any kind).
That said, my mother tells me that I refused to take so much as a mouthful of breakfast cereal (of any kind) when I was a baby, and that aversion persists to this day. Since I eat low-carb it’s no great loss, but despite the fairly wide variety of textures, flavors, etc. among cereals, I still categorically reject all of them. Except as Chex Mix. So maybe that’s the exception that proves I’m not a head case? 
I am definitely NOT asking whether people don’t eat things because they find them unhealthy, because everyone’s definition of what they consider healthy or unhealthy varies.
I consider ice cream by the pint, potato chips by the bag, XXL fries – really, too much of a good anything to be unhealthy. I like my treats & wouldn’t want to do without them, but moderation is key.
Very much agree… at least with my aversion to steaks. Dad always did them on a Weber kettle, and they were overcooked, underseasoned, and tough. This didn’t dissuade him or my brother from their love of steak, it just wasn’t for me.
There is one vegetable, I won’t eat because of textural issues and that is Okra. I can’t stand the slime. And yes, I know you can soak it in vinegar to reduce the slime, but I’ll just pass on okra.
Luckily, my girlfriend has not requested any Okra dishes, so I won’t have to deal with it.
I used to be your friend. I “did not do” vegetables. Tomatoes in tomato sauce form only. Most potato preps were fine. Other than that, the only green in my diet as a kid was lime popsicles. There was no such thing as AFRID back in the 70’s. But I was a kid with special health issues already, and was a classic ‘picky eater’, to the point I was seriously underweight. My doctors advised my parents “If he’ll eat mac and cheese, let him eat mac and cheese. Give him a flintstone’s chewable and he’ll probably grow out of it.” So they did. When my family got chinese food, much like your friend only eating the meat of the dumpling, I only wanted the fried outsides of the big, midwestern style eggrolls. All that cooked cabbage and whatnot inside? HELL NO.
Eventually (like, in my early 20’s), I went to an elegant B&B in Lower Waterford, VT called The Rabbit Hill Inn. They had a very accomplished chef on premises, and my then spouse pleaded with me to please just TRY the Ceasar salad, it was mostly cheese and croutons. I did. I failed to die. I failed to need to sprint to the restroom to wretch. It was… good!
I have since (slightly) expanded. I am still not fond of MOST cookied veggies. I find their textures offputting. I LOVE all sorts of salad greens, from bitter, tender spring mixes to baby spinach to crunchy iceberg and shredded cabbage. Raw carrots in most forms. I’ll even do them in stir fries if they’re not in big chunks. Green onions. I’m still working on getting past the texture of cooked/grilled (as opposed to fried) onions. I now eat the entire eggroll, happily.
There are a few hard passes, more than most folks, I imagine. Asparagus (it tastes vile). Ditto broccoli and cauliflower. I don’t mind the flavor, but dislike the texture of bell peppers (of any color). And cucumber. Both the texture and the taste is something I CANNOT get past, and as a lover of cheap spicy-dragon-tuna-roll-with-garlic-sauce sushi, I’ve made my peace with asking for items without it.
Most things, I will, grudgingly, eat past. ex: green peas. I do not enjoy them. If they’re there and too cumbersome to eat around, I’ll deal. But I’d NEVER put them in food I make for myself. Ditto big chunks of tomato. I prefer my sauces smooth. If my partner and I are out and the salad comes with big tomato pieces, she’ll just stab them from mine into hers, unasked.
I have encountered adults my age and older who genuinely never grew out of their ‘kids menu’ food habits. I had a coworker who would only order chicken karaage at sushi places for lunch, and kept BBQ sauce packets in his bag, just in case.
People are weird, and furthermore, people are WEIRD about HOW they are weird. One person won’t eat vegetables. Another absolutely cannot use any bathroom except their own. Another has constructed ALL of his wardrobe choices to be predominantly yellow. Also his car, his cell phone, etc.
Thank goodness we’re all terribly strange. It’d be so boring otherwise.
Small world! Back in the day, Rabbit Hill Inn was a favorite getaway of ours because of their delicious dinners.
The one and only time I ever truly enjoyed rhubarb in my life was in a dessert soufflé there.
Rhubarb just isn’t my thing. Nor beets. I go through life happily without them.
Salmon skin, particularly broiled salmon skin, the smell turns my stomach. But I love lox, smoked salmon and can even eat broiled salmon as long as the skin is removed (though not my favorite).
That is all. I have preferences obviously, but I can’t think of anything else I really dislike or wouldn’t eat.
Sometimes I’ll eat a green bell pepper like an apple, but I dislike it in dishes. It seems to me like once you add green pepper, that’s the only thing I can taste. I especially don’t care for it cooked.
Strong dislikes I always had and still have, and won’t eat:
Medium dislikes:
Mild dislikes:
Dislikes I used to have but turned around to loves:
I am grateful that I don’t have food allergies or serious aversions.
I am also grateful to belong to a food culture that knows how to cook vegetables, legumes, etc. in a million delicious ways.
I am grateful that my mother and grandmother were great cooks - not because they loved domestic duties but because anything worth doing is worth doing well and it’s an essential life skill - so overall I didn’t get bad food at home or have food trauma. Same for their friends - all our ‘aunties’. My privilege is showing but I didn’t realize that people could be bad home cooks until well into adulthood.
As a result, I am happy to try any new veggie food.
And I am happy to have so many zero-slime ways of cooking okra! One of my favourite vegetables!
I love everything about this reply. Thank goodness we’re not all the same!
I will gladly take your salmon skin
It’s probably my least favorite bell pepper, but for some reason I love it on pizza in combination with mushrooms & onions. I also add it to Greek salad, even though it’s my least favorite ingredient. I could just leave it out, but it does add to the overall flavor.
Me too, plus the same on a Philly cheese steak, or my blackened omelet.
So why is it your least fav?
Raw onion and raw garlic both give me awful indigestion (though not as immediate as yours). Cooked versions pose no problem whatsoever.
It’s pretty obvious to me why the difference, but many who don’t cook don’t understand.
I’ve been a fan of raw bell pepper (all the colors!) since I was little. I would steal a few pieces while my grandma made sausage and peppers. I still cut up a little extra for myself when cooking with them.
Raw onion - taste or smell. One thing I agreed with Scott Conant on the old Chopped. At least he was up front about it.
Runny egg yolks - just taste raw to me.
And yet so many people love both including my husband.
I have at least three okra preparation methods that are not slimy in the least—grilled (whole, the easiest thing imaginable), cornmeal-dusted and sauteed, or cooked in a South Asian style with a little tomato and onion, but dry-fried first. It is a delicious vegetable. I don’t like stewed okra either—too mushy.
Not a whole food category. There are vegs, fruits, meats, etc that I like and others I can tolerate if served. The one exception is mayonnaise! Do not let it near my sandwich, do not serve me things like egg salad or tuna salad. The irony is I am the designated devil egg maker for the family after my oldest sister fired mom from the position 
many years ago. So I don’t mind cooking with it or using it for sandwiches for others I just can’t stand it myself.
Oh and no shellfish . . . a very bad case of hives as a kid warned me off it forever.
