With his trademark funky style and energetic take on various dishes and cuisines, Guy Fieri has whipped up a culinary following — partly due to his bold personality and witty banter on Food Network’s hit show, “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” (aka Triple D). Fieri has traveled around the U.S. searching for some of the best food from A to Z, bringing good times and good eats to viewers everywhere. But as adventurous an eater as Fieri is — and even though he has created some of today’s culinary one-liners as the “Mayor of Flavortown” — he doesn’t like everything he’s tried at various eateries along the way.
Fieri may be game to try just about any dish or ingredient — especially when hosting a show that highlights a wide variety of cuisine — but there are a handful of foods that he just doesn’t go near. Perhaps it’s not a surprise to hear that Fieri is a bit squeamish about eating eggs. He’s spoken about a disturbing eggy surprise he had as a kid and maybe that unsettling experience launched his preference for skipping breakfast altogether in favor of eating his first meal later in the day. But it’s not just eggs that have Fieri hot-footing it out of the kitchen. He would rather drive the other way than eat organ meat, too. He finds it truly … offal. Without further ado, here’s our roundup of foods that Guy Fieri can’t stand.
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Liver
Grilled beef liver pieces on plate – Andrey Starostin/Shutterstock
The world could probably be divided between those who love liver and those who would rather it never grace their lips. People seem to have a love-hate relationship with the nutrient-dense organ meat. And as far as Guy Fieri is concerned, liver is one food he doesn’t touch. He’s mentioned in the past he finds liver “nasty” and would prefer to never have it on his plate. There are those, however, who claim that if you dislike liver, there’s a good chance it was treated or cooked incorrectly.
What’s the secret to making liver palatable? The chef-approved way to cook liver, which could win over even the biggest skeptic, includes special preparation like soaking. The best way to soak liver is in a milky brine for about an hour in order to offset the pungent iron taste. Liver also requires quick cooking because overcooked liver becomes tough and rubbery, and the strong, often unwanted, liver flavor is only enhanced. But sometimes liver is an acquired taste and is complemented with toppings such as a sweet, citrusy sauce or rich onion gravy.
Eggs
Plate of hard boiled eggs halved – Ionache Tismaneanu / 500px/Getty Images
Guy Fieri has been vocal about his dislike of eggs. At least, the kind of eggs that are the star of the dish — scrambled, over easy, omelet, etc. He still uses eggs in his recipes if it means binding a batter or fluffing a dessert. But to sit down and eat a boiled egg or dig into the runny yolk of sunny side up — Fieri would much rather skip these tasting experiences. Though he knows how important eggs can be in cooking, he equates scrambled eggs to “liquid chicken” (on YouTube via Food Network) and would rather take a hard pass.
All it took was one bad experience with an overcooked boiled egg with its gray color and chalky yolk for Fieri to denounce eggs altogether. But his aversion to the oval-shaped, shelled food probably started at a young age when he cracked open an egg to find a fully born chick inside. That could be enough for anyone to not want to eat eggs ever again.
Chitlins
Pile of grilled chitterlings on plate – Chomipoo/Shutterstock
Chitlins, often referred to as chitterlings, are the large intestines of pig, cow, lamb, or goat. Popular in Southern cuisine, it’s one soul food that Guy Fieri wants nothing to do with. Can we blame him? Chitlins don’t just sound unappetizing, there’s a process to cleaning chitlins that must be adhered to make sure they’re safe to eat. After all, intestines carry things you don’t want to eat. Once the chitlins are cleaned, they must be boiled to kill off lingering bacteria. Lastly, fat is removed from the chitlins, which can then be cooked according to recipe instructions.
When Fieri visited Cora Faye’s Cafe in Denver, Colorado for a Triple D episode, he showcased one of the diner’s more popular dishes, which happened to be chitlins. Because properly prepared chitlins are a Southern delicacy, patrons lined up to dig into seasoned chitlins served with cornbread and cabbage. Though Fieri had a tough time with the overwhelming stench as the intestines were being cleaned, prepped, and slow-cooked, he dug in to try it. But first, he doused the chitlins in hot sauce — one of the only two sauces you need for pork chitterlings.
Cow Brains
Fried brain sandwich on plate – Food Fantasy/Shutterstock
Whether it’s because most people are squeamish about eating brains or we don’t understand their nutritional value (brains are quite literally brain food), you don’t often see brains listed on restaurant menus. When you do, it’s usually considered a delicacy. But fried brains were frequently eaten in sandwiches during the 20th century as a way to dine on a budget. Though they’ve long been a popular and common food item in history, we’re sure Guy Fieri isn’t the only professional chef who takes a disliking to cow brains.
On an early episode of Triple D, Fieri gets a double whammy — one of the dishes being highlighted didn’t involve just cow brains, it involved cow brains with scrambled eggs. Fieri appeared to almost give in to his severe aversion with a reaction of nearly vomiting. “I definitely don’t like egg and brains,” he said in a Food Network clip shared on YouTube. But after trying the dish he almost couldn’t keep it down, quickly chasing it with something he probably thought was harmless enough but turned out to be lamb testicles. It was clearly not his day.
Haggis
Haggis loaf on plate with spoonful of meat – Diana Miller/Getty Images
If Guy Fieri doesn’t want to touch liver or cow brains, it’s probably no surprise that he doesn’t like haggis, either. During an episode for Triple D, Fieri grimaced as he watched the haggis being made at Mac’s Fish ‘N Chips. What is haggis exactly? Haggis is a recipe that includes a variety of organ meat mixed with other ingredients like oats or breadcrumbs. It’s a classic Scottish dish eaten by few but loved for its traditional roots. Though haggis has English and Scottish history, it’s most associated as Scotland’s national dish.
While there are variations to haggis recipes, one of its main ingredients — lungs — got haggis banned in the U.S. Technically, you can make haggis without it; it’s just not the traditional Scottish recipe. Haggis is considered a pudding and traditionally contains sheep liver, lungs, heart, and suet — all of which are ground up, mixed with binders like oats, breadcrumbs, and eggs and seasonings such as onion, garlic, and pepper. The mixture is then boiled in a sheep’s stomach. It’s protein-packed, nutrient-dense, and loaded with fat.
Scrapple
Scrapple on plate with fruit in background – Food Fantasy/Shutterstock
There’s a theme to the foods that Guy Fieri would rather not eat. It’s offal-ly simple to figure out (wink wink). Next up on the list is scrapple — a name that’s fun to say but maybe less fun to eat. During an episode of Triple D while at The Dining Car, Fieri hesitantly popped a piece of scrapple in his mouth and declared it “funkadelic.” What is scrapple? Traditionally speaking, scrapple is a mix of pork scraps blended with corn meal to create a flat loaf. The loaf is usually fried. Similar to haggis, this dish is based on using all parts of the animal and not letting anything go to waste.
Unless you’re making it at home with a specific recipe, the ingredients in scrapple can actually vary since it’s made from scraps of the pig after butchering. This means it could contain organ meat, muscle meat, skin, trotters, and more. These scraps are boiled, and large pieces are minced and mixed back in with the broth. Thickeners like flour are often added. Once the mixture is molded and cooled, it can be cut to the preferred size and deep-fried. It can also be eaten cold out of the fridge.
Tripe
Pile of braised strips of tripe on plate – Amoris Wang/Shutterstock
Among the handful of foods Guy Fieri just can’t eat is tripe. During a Triple D episode filmed at Roberto’s in Phoenix, Arizona, Fieri was presented with a Mexican soup, menudo, which consists of simmered beef tripe, hominy, potatoes, and spices. His reaction to the tripe was like most of his reactions when facing organ meat. Tripe is the stomach lining of a cow, and it can be an acquired taste. Much like chitlins, tripe requires a bit of cleaning and prep before it can be cooked and added to recipes.
Cows have three stomachs, and each type of tripe is different depending on which stomach it comes from. The most common type of beef tripe comes from the second stomach and has a honeycomb appearance thanks to how it functions. The signature honeycomb texture separates incoming plant material from other things like stones or debris so those don’t enter the digestive system. Tripe is fairly dense and can be chewy or rubbery if it’s not cooked long enough. Because the stomach is a filter, it’s important to clean tripe thoroughly to remove unwanted particles and bacteria.
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