Do people base their likes/dislikes in food on taste, as they claim, or on color?

All M&M’s taste the same to me. Yes, I judge food by the taste. Sometimes I like/dislike foods perhaps for the health value, or lack thereof, but very rarely. Sometimes by smell, but I’ll almost always taste something, even if it smells bad.
What else are you gonna base food on other than smell I wonder? Maybe if someone thinks a certain food looks stupid or something. Hey man, I ain’t eating that, it looks retarded! Get outta here, you stupid food! ...er.

But yeah, taste is what decrees whether I like some food or not. Texture can play an important role. Some things are just uncomfy to have in your mouth. Doesn’t matter what it looks like though. I eat nautilus and snails, and stuff I find on the ground, so…the color of it may be important, if it’s a color that says this here food’s been spoiled for quite a bit, but otherwise, eh.

It’s all about taste and smell for me. If it smells bad, I won’t even taste it.

@WillWorkForChocolate You smell nice. ^^

Well, my goodness… want to bite me?

It’s about texture and taste for me.
But, I dislike blue food.

Taste is the bottom line for me. Smell is up there too though, I don’t mind if I don’t like the smell, I’ll still try it. But if it smells bad (as in spoiled) it can turn me off the dish, particularly if it’s a first try.

Though there are some things that go down easier the first time if I can’t tell what it is (mainly look). Balut definitely fell into that category.

Just for completeness, I always heard the saying presentation counts for a third and at times found it to be true. Nothing really makes up for something that’s poorly prepared, except perhaps for an ignorant taster. But if it doesn’t look/smell or feel (if they can get past the first two) appetizing it can certainly negatively influence peoples perception of it.

Oh, and every now and then it’s fun to try and catch people who say how much they hate something and find a way to prepare it that they actually like. Not surprisingly it works much better if they don’t know what it is going in.

Taste is the biggest. I can’t handle spicy-hot food well at all and I’m not usually keen on bitter tastes. (Not even the mildest of teas. They completely repulse my taste buds.)

But texture is also a huge issue for me. If something is really spongey or slimey there is no way I will be able to get through eating it without gagging. There are some slimey, slippy foods that I can stomach (like spinach cooked in buttery garlic, mm..) but I usually pass on that kind of stuff.

Scent is also huge. Smells bad? Not eating it. You won’t get a crumb of bleu cheese in my mouth.

While the way something looks does make food more appealing to me, it’s not nearly as essential as the other three. I do eat my M&Ms in a specific order, but that’s just a compulsion. I don’t think one colour tastes differently than the others My Significant Other’s dad is a stickler for presentation, but I don’t see it as necessity.

It’s mainly about taste and texture for me. I can’t tell the difference beteen the taste of different m&ms but with smarties (in the UK) orange ones taste of orange but all the other colours are plain. So I like the orange ones best.

I agree, taste, smell, texture all important. I remember the first time I tasted lobster. I did not like it at all. Now, just the smell of lobster will put me off my food. And I like onions when they are soft and cooked but not when they are crunchy, cooked or not.

It is very difficult for me to convey why I like certain foods over others since there are a variety of foods that I either like or dislike. Taste and smell are two big ones since if something smells bad to me, regardless of how it tastes, I can’t eat it. There are other reasons besides smell such as taste and to a smaller degree, texture. It is kind of like trying to describe why I don’t like mayo; I just don’t.