Famous people are just like us – right down to the foods they hate. Whether beans or greens, some choices make sense. Others don’t. And sometimes these choices have unintended consequences – like the salt and pepper on the table. While favorite foods tend to feature proteins, veggies feature high among the hated.
Nobody banned these foods outright, but they didn’t win any popularity contests either!
Madonna – Escargot
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Madonna – Escargot
Love her or hate her, Madonna is not afraid to share her opinion. Being banned by the likes of the Pope, Pepsi, and MTV is all in a day’s work for the pop star. In a move sure to garner support from a few, she described escargot as “expensive snot.”
No snail pizza, then?
1,199 votes
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Kim Jong-il – Anchovies
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Kim Jong-il – Anchovies
The late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il was particular about the food he ate. For example, the coloring and size of his rice had to be uniform, and he hated anchovies. According to his chef Kenji Fujimoto, Kim used to say: “You should enjoy a meal first with your eyes, second with your nose and third with your tongue.”
Perhaps analyzing the tastes of other world leaders could give us insight into understanding their decisions.
980 votes
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Pythagoras – Fava Beans
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Pythagoras – Fava Beans
When students study Pythagoras in geometry class, they never hear about his aversion to fava beans. It might make the ancient mathematician more relatable to high schoolers. Of course, teachers could always just talk about his death cult.
Pythagoras and his followers believed that beans contained the souls of the dead. In addition, he believed the flatulence from bean-eating caused people to expel their own “breath of life.” Pythagoras’s feelings about legumes may have led to his demise, as he refused to run through a bean field while being chased by an angry mob.
722 votes
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Ronald Reagan – Brussels Sprouts
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Ronald Reagan is also ranked #7 of 44 on The Greatest US Presidents Of All Time, Ranked
Photo: Michael EvansWikimedia CommonsPublic domain
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Ronald Reagan – Brussels Sprouts
Former US President Ronald Reagan’s love of jelly beans is well documented. However, his wife Nancy let people know that her husband didn’t like Brussels sprouts. He would hate to know the angry little cabbages are mostly grown in his home state of California today.
Reagan wasn’t a fan of tomatoes either, so no veggie-beef soup on his table!
1,025 votes
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Ulysses S. Grant – Rare Meat
Photo: Brady-Handy Photograph Collection, Library of CongressWikimedia CommonsNo known copyright restrictions
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Ulysses S. Grant – Rare Meat
Ulysses S. Grant – soldier, president, and lover of well-done steak. Despite presiding stoically over some of the bloodiest battles in American history, he was intensely squeamish about the sight of blood on meat, and insisted his steaks be thoroughly cooked.
After living on lean army fare for most of his life, Grant became known for the lavish dinners he and wife Julia held at the White House. In fact, many of their state dinners consisted of at least 29 courses.
The former soldier still enjoyed simple fare though, like rice pudding.
978 votes
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Jimmy Carter – Green Peas
Photo: Department of Defense / Department of the Navy / Naval Photographic CenterWikimedia CommonsPublic domain
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Jimmy Carter – Green Peas
What is it with former US presidents and their vegetables? Jimmy Carter did not particularly care for green peas. Greens beans were fine – as long as they were fresh.
Maybe the peapods reminded Carter of the long days spent on his family’s peanut farm in Georgia during his youth.
927 votes
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Elvis Presley – Onions
Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.Wikimedia CommonsPublic domain
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Elvis Presley – Onions
Don’t step on his blue suede shoes – and don’t serve him onions. Elvis Presley even hated the smell of the vegetable when other people ate it. According to Presley’s cousin Billy Smith, he once showed up to the rock star’s home after having eaten a hamburger with onions on it. When Smith asked if he should leave, Presley replied, “No, I want you to quit eating onion.”
Presley also hated the smell of fish cooking and had the dish banned from Graceland. Sometimes, it’s good to be the King.
1,057 votes
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Jailhouse Rock
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Jailhouse Rock
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794 Votes
Viva Las Vegas
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Viva Las Vegas
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836 Votes
King Creole
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King Creole
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1,231 Votes
Louis XIV Of France – Strong Spices
Photo: Jean RancWikimedia CommonsPublic domain
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Louis XIV Of France – Strong Spices
Absolute monarch Louis XIV ruled… well… absolutely. That means whatever the Sun King wanted, he got. And, as someone who strongly disliked excessively spicy food, he wanted his food simply seasoned with salt and pepper.
Cooks in the 17th century started using more and more spices in a competition to be the most ostentatious. That changed by the time of Louis XIV’s reign, along with growing vegetables in a garden. Salt and pepper on the table wasn’t the king’s only impact on mealtime, but it’s certainly the longest lasting.
724 votes
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George H.W. Bush – Broccoli
Photo: UnknownWikimedia CommonsPublic domain
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George H.W. Bush – Broccoli
Broccoli enjoyed a surge in popularity in the 1990s, except with former US President George H.W. Bush. His hatred of the cruciferous veggie started in childhood and continued throughout his 94 years. Bush once declared, “I’m president of the United States, and I’m not going to eat any more broccoli!”
His wife Barbara disagreed. How about you?
858 votes
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James A. Garfield – Oatmeal
