37 People Reveal The Cooking Hill They’re “Willing To Die On”

Food is something that many of us love, love, love to talk about! It makes a lot of sense because it’s literally the fuel that keeps us going. Not only that, but food is a core part of our traditions, whatever culture you’re looking at. However, it would be naive to say that everyone’s on the same page when it comes to cooking.

The members of the r/Cooking online community spilled the tea about their strongest and spiciest cooking opinions that they’re willing to defend with everything they have. Scroll down to see what folks are willing to get so fiery and passionate about!

Bored Panda reached out to the author of the viral thread, redditor u/CynicalHomicider3248, and they were kind enough to share their thoughts on picky eating and what cooking beginners should keep in mind. You'll find our interview with them as you read on.

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Odds are that you might agree with a lot of the opinions shared in this list. They sound like common sense. Either that or people are more likely to agree with anyone who shares the same beliefs as they do. (Probably a mix of both.) However, some of these opinions are spicy to say the least.

The fact of the matter is that many folks have very different senses of taste. People’s genetics, how they were raised, the range of cooking ingredients they were exposed to—all of these factors play significant roles in what someone loves and loathes.

Salted caramel might wow some of us (hi there!), but others’ immediate reaction might be, “Yuck! I can’t believe anyone would eat that.” Similarly, some of us have no problem eating Brussels sprouts or green peppers; others hate them with their entire essence.

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We were curious to hear what the author of the thread, redditor u/CynicalHomicider3248, had to say about helping picky eaters get out of their comfort zone.

"I would recommend picky eaters to pick ingredients familiar to them, but pick a recipe that isn’t," they suggested.

"For example, if you like beef, bell peppers, and olives maybe try ropa vieja! Try to find recipes based on ingredients you enjoy and are familiar with, because it helps with sensory issues as well, which many picky eaters face," the OP told Bored Panda.

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"It’s far less daunting to find a recipe with ingredients you already enjoy when you’re trying something new," they shared some great advice with us.

Bored Panda also wanted to get to grips with cooking as a beginner. After all, the kitchen can seem very intimidating to people who are unfamiliar with it and have very little experience working with food. The author of the thread suggested that it helps to embrace a growth-oriented mentality.

"I would say don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Cooking is so intuitive, often even the worst mistakes can be fixed," u/CynicalHomicider3248 told us. 

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According to the OP, the r/Cooking subreddit is a wonderful place to get advice. There are plenty of other great cooking-oriented online communities as well.

"If you’re too scared to make mistakes, you won’t ever learn from them, which is vital when it comes to cooking because it is when you can learn from prior mistakes, and start to mess around in the kitchen with recipes or ingredients that cooking becomes so much fun!" the OP noted that experimentation can be a ton of fun.

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The author also opened up about the inspiration behind their viral thread. "This may sound silly, but I had ordered biryani that day and it was FILLED with raisins so in a fit of rage I posted on the r/Cooking subreddit," they spilled the beans to us.

"I truly didn’t expect it to get so many responses! I think so many people joined [the conversation] because food is something so many of us have strong opinions on, and Reddit allows us a place to express those opinions."

Though we can’t change the genetic factors behind our dislike of certain foods (well, at least not yet), we can do something about the environmental ones. If you find that you’re only ever eating the same two or three meals over and over again, you might want to consider expanding your culinary horizons. But you shouldn’t jump into trying oysters, caviar, and lobster immediately.

Take things slowly. Get your feet wet by taking a small step out of your comfort zone. What’s important here is developing a sense of curiosity, not being so frightened by bizarre dishes that you never want to eat anything ‘fancy’ ever again. It’s a lot of fun to experiment with new flavors and textures. 

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For example, for starters, if you hate olives, you could buy a jar of ‘em and eat just one. Try different types and brands, and use them in different contexts as well. Yours truly was never a fan of how olives taste, but I got used to them over the years.

I used to prefer just black olives, but I’m a fan of green ones now, too. I enjoy them the most with cheese and cured meats, but I won’t say no to olives in salads or on pizza, either. The important thing, at least for me, is that the olives aren’t stuffed with anything weird like fish or cheese. In short, you need to find what works for you and slowly introduce the ingredients into your life. It’s not a sprint—it’s a gastronomic marathon.

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However, this doesn’t mean that you should be brutally forcing yourself to like something if you fundamentally hate it. There are people out there who are simply more sensitive to certain textures and tastes. There’s nothing wrong with that.

If you gave olives or whatever other food a few fair tries, it simply might not be the food for you. There are plenty of other ingredients out there waiting for you to taste them! But it’s vital to be honest with yourself if you honestly went outside of your culinary comfort zone… or if you had one foot inside it, secretly hoping you wouldn’t like something new.

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What are your spiciest opinions on cooking and food, dear Pandas? Would you consider yourselves to be picky eaters? What ingredients do you absolutely love? What do you hate to put in your dishes? We’d love to hear your thoughts on food, so feel free to share yours in the comment section at the bottom of this list. Meanwhile, you’ll have to excuse us—we’re so hungry, we’ve simply got to get ourselves a snack…

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Pineapple is 100% okay on Pizza.Salt is the heavy weight champion of flavorRecipes should only be loosely followed and you should modify them as you go to suit your own tastes.Unless you are buying directly from a farm (or a retailer that optimizes for speed of sale from harvest), *high quality* frozen ingredients can be tastier and more nutritious than fresh.Nachos should be built wide instead of tall. Homemade chili tastes best the next day.Margarine is not butter. And before you come at me for those who don’t dairy, just use oil. Margarine is an abomination. My MIL ruins so much with her diet margarine which she insists “tastes just like butter!”Lumpy mashed potatoes are far superior than the super smooth version2-3 cloves of garlic is not enough and I'll always add more than the recipe calls for. Same with onion. Half an onion? Nope, adding the whole f*****g thing.There are very few occasions that justify peeling your f*****g potatoes. Be happy. Leave the skin on. Good nutrients. Less work.Modern food culture is one of the most gate keeping, entitled, and toxic cultures. The amount of hard and fast “rules” for dishes that make or don’t make something authentic is ridiculous. Everything evolved from something else. Authenticity doesn’t exist anymore. Italians I’m looking at you. NY Italians I’m REALLY looking at you.Just because memaw kept it a secret doesn’t mean it’s a great recipeIt's OK to like a steak well done.Carbonara doesn’t have cream in itNot everything is better with bacon.The best rice I have ever eaten was from an Afghan lady. It had raisins in it. I usually am not a fan of raisins. -Salt is just as important in sweet food as it is in savory food. -Chili benefits from the addition of beans, as well as a little bit of unsweetened cocoa. -Out of season tomatoes are usually not worth buying, and better quality canned tomatoes are often worth the extra few cents!When it comes to grilled cheese, butter > mayo.There’s no need to do horizontal cuts when dicing an onion.Traditional doesn't mean good and judging a dish on whether it's made "correctly" is only for instructors at culinary school.Fresh garlic is always better than garlic powder and jarlic and I use 3-4 times as what is called for. I also roast it before using it.For Thai cooking you can literally use every cooking oil in existence EXCEPT OLIVE OIL AND TRUFFLE OILCampbells back-of-the-can recipes are a good gateway to cooking and are pretty damn tasty and so no one should diss them. (Except for their high sodium content. That I get.)I've got a few: 1. Garlic is misused. In many cases, if you have to add that much you're probably overcooking it and destroying the flavor, or adding it at the wrong time. You get a lot more garlic flavor if you add it later on. Edit: People are reading this as if I'm saying people use too much. I'm not. I'm saying they aren't using it correctly, and they aren't really getting the garlicky flavor they think they are because they're cooking it too long in many cases. 2. "Holiday" meals, or meals you only eat once in a while deserve to be made with little regard for health. I make my Thanksgiving mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving and that is why I'm using lots of butter, heavy cream, sour cream, salt, pepper, etc. I don't need to eat a ton of it. 3. Similarly, I'd rather eat really good bacon rarely than trashy paper bacon every week. If there's a better version of something and the difference is great, I'd rather eat it less and have the good version. Sometimes, the "better" version isn't much better, so I'm less inclined to worry about it. 4. Contradicting myself somewhat, but people like what they like. i think it's better and more exciting to try new things and folks who only eat the same foods over and over are missing out, but if that's what they like, fine. People who like well-done steak, whatever. BUT, I have much less patience with that if a person hasn't at least tried an alternate dish. I understand having reservations about something if you're worried its unsafe, but I remember finally being talked into eating medium rare steak instead of well-done and it was amazing. TRY NEW THINGS!Butter over oil, almost alwaysciabatta is a s****y bread for sandwiches. maybe when its really fresh this isn't an issue but often its way too hard and causes all the ingredients to push out after a single bite.-The “that’s not a grilled cheese it’s a melt” crowd is annoying af…. You made it you can call it whatever you want idc -Sandwiches and burgers shouldn’t be piled so high that you can barely get them in your mouth. Maybe it looks fancy but it doesn’t eat well and that’s what matters. -Some cuts of steak have a better flavor and texture when cooked to medium (ex. picanha)A lot of recipes are very under seasoned. 1 tsp is not enough of any seasoning for a recipe that feeds more than one.Rinsing mushrooms is perfectly fine. It'll take longer to brown but you really can't overcook mushrooms so it makes no difference. Plus you save all of the time it would take to wipe and brush them off.“Authentic food” is not always better than dishes that have had some local influence on them. But I’m about to snap if I get another chicken tikka platter with broccoli and celery in it.I shall have you know, good sir, that having sweet with your savoury is a perfectly good way to enjoy a succulent Asian meal...Just because the restaurant is some “hole in the wall” mom and pop place doesn’t automatically make it amazing! Most of them buy the cheapest ingredients from vendors anyway. I know it’s not directly related to cooking but I’ve gotten into so many arguments with my family over this one.You don't need to add pasta water to every single sauce. It doesn't 'bind the sauce to the pasta', cooking the pasta in the sauce does that. (note: this does not relate to sauces BASED on pasta water, like cacio y pepe)I like my sausage simmered - I always thought I just didn't really care for sausage. No, I hate the springy, chewy texture of sausage from the grill/pan. I like sausage simmered for a while in sauce (like for pasta or kapusta) and they are just tender delicious meat logs. I get side eye at bbq's because "but I know you like sausage!" Yes but not *like that*People hate on raisins because it's trendy and no one can convince me otherwise. My take is, chocolate is overrated.- Cast Iron skillet is just another pan. Same with the Dutch oven crowd...you're fawning over pans and some even gatekeep it. - Not everything has to be "The best." Salt is salt you can get by with any brandI have several: 1. Cream cheese shouldn't be in a sushi roll. Just no. 2. MSG is magic dust and amazing. 3. Pineapple and ham on a pizza is delicious. 4. Ripe bananas smell gross.Raw mushrooms are gross and don’t belong on any plate. Honorable mention: This is more of a service-related hill I will die on, if you are serving olives at your restaurant, you’d better serve them with an empty vessel to store the pits. No one wants to break a tooth.