I'm not particularly adventurous when it comes to food because of my autism. I'm hypersensitive to spicy heat in foods, which limits my ability to even try some cuisines.
I can't really rely on others' assessment of the heat levels because their "it's not spicy at all" is excruciating to me.
Now, if there's no peppers in a dish or preparation, I'll try anything at least once. I've eaten most hunting or trapping eligible wildlife in the continental United States.
In my culture, if you kill it, you eat it.
Bison, moose and wild boar I prefer over beef and pork. I'm not a big fan of deer, elk or bear. Most rodents—aside from beaver which is too fatty like bear meat—are pretty tasty, but it's a lot of work for very little meat.
I love squid, octopus, sea anemone and all manner of fresh and saltwater shellfish, fish and other assorted seafood. The reptiles I've tried—alligator and rattlesnake—were pretty tasty too.
The opportunity to eat insects has never arisen, but I'm willing.
So, I guess I'm sort of adventurous, but limited by the Scoville scale. I'm able to tolerate roasted or fried poblano with few issues or a small amount of pickled, fried or fire-roasted jalapeños with the seeds, but that's my upper limit.
Some people are limited by a food's appearance, smell—I love durian, or reputation.
A Reddit user lLLERS asked:
"What’s a food you went your whole life thinking it was nasty until you tried it?"
Meat Loaf
"Meat loaf."
"We had it as a kid and it made me gag. My wife then made it and I thought, this is fantastic!"
"Years later my mother made it for us again. I gagged."
"Sorry Mom."
~ FunnyStuff575
Green Beans
"Green beans."
"Turns out fresh ones are a completely different taste from the canned ones."
~ _inabox
Roasted Potatoes
"I thought roasted potatoes must be horrible until I was in middle school."
"I ate over a friend's house and knew that, as a guest, it was impolite to decline any of the dishes, so I took a few red potatoes."
"And so the love affair with potatoes began!"
~ OptmstcExstntlst
Capers
"Capers."
"I don’t like green olives and for some reason I assumed they tasted like green olives since someone told me that once."
~ Patient-War-4964
Scalloped Potatoes
"Scalloped potatoes. I had been made to eat the instant box kind as a kid, and the texture and taste made me gag."
"Turns out that I love homemade scalloped potatoes."
~ Birdo3129
Cheesecake
"Cheesecake!!"
"Cheese in cake form didn't sound appealing."
"I was 34 when my eyes were opened!!"
~ Jlmorgan86
Rhubarb Pie
"Rhubarb Pie."
~ phukerstoned
"I love rhubarb, but so many people absolutely f*cking ruin it by adding too much sugar when stewing it."
"Rhubard should be tart!"
~ KDBA
Indian Food
"Indian food. A whole cuisine."
"The smell put me off for years. Not because it was bad just because it was pungent I think."
"I adore Indian food now, nothing compares. Greek is a strong second."
~ OsoRetro
Cooked Carrots
"Cooked carrots, add some butter and salt, god damn!"
~ Doctor-Hemorrhoid
Kimchi
"Kimchi, turns out it’s delicious!"
~ sassassinX
"And great for your gut health!"
"It's a staple in my diet. Kimchi soup, kimchi fried rice with an egg and sesame seeds, mmm..."
~ squishedpies
Pizza
"My grandfather would never eat pizza because he didn’t like how it looked."
"In his late 80s we took him to dinner with us for my brother’s birthday for..pizza. So he ended up trying it."
"After that he loved it and said he wished he’d tried it years ago!"
~ jackiebee66
Pho
"Pho. I didn’t know there was a version without tripe."
"The first time I had it a friend ordered for me and did ask beforehand if there was anything I don’t eat."
"I said no, not expecting tripe. I don’t like tripe."
"Hesitantly went again 10+ years later and got it with sirloin strips. Delicious."
~ absinthe00
Saurkraut and Cabbage
"Saurkraut and cabbage."
"Then I ate at a German restaurant and the saurkraut was good and they had something called rotkohl (pickled red cabbage) that is really good."
~ bloodbrain1911
Ceviche
"Ceviche. In Peru, the marinade for ceviche is called 'leche de tigre', or literally 'tiger's milk'."
"Once you've finished the ceviche, it's customary to drink the marinade at the end."
"When I first had it, I was very hesitant."
"After I tasted it, I'd drink a whole f*cking glass of the stuff."
~ DAVENP0RT
Green Eggs & Ham
"Green eggs and ham."
"Luckily, thanks to one almost-unbearably persistent little fellow, I eventually tried it and found that I do, I do like Green Eggs & Ham."
~ pm1966
How many of these foods have you tried?