These are a few of our (least) favourite things…

The world would be a boring place if we all liked the same things…. But, it has to be said, that when it comes to foods, many people seem to dislike the same things!

When we looked at some research done by BBC Good Food, the list of the top 10 most hated foods has several items which won’t be a surprise to anyone – including brussels sprouts, liver, marmite, tripe, celery and mushrooms. (Although, I personally love several of those, and those I don’t, other people in the Hunters team do – so they’re of course, by no means universally loathed!)

But there are some quite surprising entries on to the ‘food hell’ list. We’re looking at you curry, pasta and fish. And we’re not the only ones with eyebrows raised given they all also made it on to the top 10 food heaven list as well! But, of course, that just goes to show – what is one man’s cup of tea is another man’s venti, no foam, mocha, caramel macchiato (so to speak. Unless you love both of those, in which case that analogy doesn’t work very well).

If you look further back in time, other surveys point to the now hugely popular avocado as being high on the dislike list (you’d struggle to find many cafes and restaurants which don’t include it on their menu somewhere nowadays), along with olives and black pudding – all of which are foods of the gods, surely?

Sometimes I wonder if it’s a case of not having tried the food (let’s be honest, it’s easy to see why you might not want to tuck into a snail or a cockle at first glance) – or having bad childhood memories which have put you off for life. Maybe it’s worth a second try? We have some fantastic olives in store which are truly delicious – why not try our green olives stuffed with sun dried tomato, always a favourite on the deli.

It seems odd that pasta and curry would be on the food hell list – after all, there’s so many varieties of each. If you don’t like the spice of a Vindaloo, there’s so many milder versions available. And with curries from India, Malaysia, Thailand, Africa and Indonesia – to name but a few – to choose from, surely one would tickle your taste buds?

And it’s the same with pasta – on its own it can be a bit bland admittedly – although we do stock some wonderfully authentic Italian brands which are great just with a splash of oil and a generous grating of parmesan. But we also have dozens of delicious sauces to choose from – how about rich roast vegetable or red pepper, garlic and green birds eye chilli – a quick, easy and tasty supper. Fantastic flavours and none of the hassle!

So, if you have an item you’ve always just assumed you disliked (I was in my 30s before I could appreciate a good olive – now I can’t get enough of them!), maybe it’s worth another try? Come and have a chat and we’ll find you a version of your nemesis you might just be able to get on with!