Si King

11 top cooks share the worst thing they've ever eaten

Published: June 5, 2026 at 1:50 PM

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Si King, Tamar Adler and a host of culinary experts reveal the most unforgettable nightmare dishes they've tasted, from goat's penis to jellyfish tacos and bull testicle soup

Even the most celebrated chefs are haunted by culinary nightmares. These renowned cooks from every corner of the world recount the worst, most spirit-crushing dishes they've faced, from the infamous meat glue craze to a bewildering shawarma-eggs benedict fusion.

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Dog in Siberia – Niklas Ekstedt

Niklas Peter Ekstedt is a Swedish Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur

It was purely out of necessity, not choice. When you are traveling in remote, harsh conditions, you eat what is available to survive. It was an experience that definitely made me appreciate the food I have access to at home.

Niklas Ekstedt headshot

Image credit: Haarala Hamilton

Mushrooms – Anna Ansari

Anna Ansari is an award-winning food writer

One of these days, someone will commission me to write the piece that I keep (unsuccessfully) pitching, about the time I ate a 40-plus course mushroom meal in rural China with some very unsavoury criminals – then I can really get into the reason for my aversion to fungi. Until then, I'll just say: I do not like mushrooms. I do not like them, Anna I am. Try them, try them, you say and maybe I may? Nope! I have tried to like mushrooms and I just don't. It's the texture, flavour and memories. It's just all a big fat “no" from me. Mushroom foraging/hunting on the other hand, I deeply love. I've even trained my now seven-year-old to identify a few edible varieties for picking when we make our annual late-summer visit to Scotland to see my in-laws. The joy and excitement Theodore gets from spotting a chanterelle, cep or hedgehog mushroom in the wild makes me almost – just almost – want to try to eat some.

Anna Ansari

Goat's penis – Si King

Si King is a cook and broadcaster

The worst thing I’ve ever eaten by far is a goat's penis. Dave Myers and I were in Vietnam and there was a restaurant that had a part of the menu that was given to subsistence food during the Vietnam war and it’s what the Vietnamese were forced to eat during the war. We’ve never been eating things just for the sake of it, it was more to highlight that part of Vietnamese culture and cuisine and I must say it was the first and definitely the last time I’ll eat it.

Si King headshot

My dad's soup – Rhiannon Lambert

Rhiannon Lambert is a registered nutritionist, bestselling author, podcast host and founder of the Harley Street clinic, Rhitrition

My dad's soup. Sorry Dad! It reminds me of being poorly as a child, so I think the association has stayed with me ever since.

Rhiannon Lambert with food on a table

Meat glue – Tamar Adler

Tamar Adler is a chef, writer and author

It's very lucky for everyone younger than me that they missed some of the food trends of the aughts. The one they're luckiest to have missed is meat glue, where chefs would take transglutaminase (aka meat glue) and use it to stick pieces of meat together to make a shape they wanted. I think (I hope) it's mostly out of fashion now. Chefs who used it pretended you couldn't taste it. They were wrong.

Tamar Adler

Image credit: Georgia Hilmer

Beef and wild rice – Matt Adlard

Matt Adlard is a pastry chef and bestselling author

My dad was a Michelin star chef so when I started cooking, I would try out classic recipes of his that we grew up eating. I was still quite new to cooking and didn't really pay attention to the type of beef I needed. I ended up getting the wrong cut, completely overcooking it, so it was chewy beyond belief. It was also the first time I had cooked wild rice, which I also over cooked into a soggy mess. I'm not one to ever throw away a meal, but after one bite, I actually had to bin the lot and make pesto pasta instead!

Matt Adlard

Boquerones – Maunika Gowardhan

Maunika Gowardhan is a UK-based chef, food writer and bestselling author

My first time travelling to Spain trying boquerones fritos at a local eatery. I hoped it would be crispy, light and flavourful but it was oily, fried in lots of batter and over salted! I have since had much more delicious plates of fried anchovies and now add them to everything.

Maunika Gowardhan at a food market

Shawarma benedict – Jad Youssef

Jad Youssef is a Lebanese chef, restaurateur and author of Lebnani

I recently tasted a shawarma benedict and honestly, I had mixed emotions. I love shawarma and I love eggs benedict, but this felt like two dishes trying a little too hard to become friends. Somewhere between the poached egg, the hollandaise and the shawarma spices, I felt like the original character of both dishes got lost. I’m all for creativity, but sometimes a good shawarma already knows exactly what it wants to be.

Jad Youssef

Overcooked asparagus – Alice Shields

Over-cooked, stringy asparagus, especially when it’s in-season and at its best - it feels like such a waste! I cook mine in a pan of salted simmering water for exactly four minutes, for perfectly tender spears.

Front facing headshot of Alice Shields, Good Food's acting food editor

Jellyfish taco – Gurdeep Loyal

Gurdeep Loyal is an award-winning food and travel writer

A jellyfish taco – it had a polarising crunchy-jelly texture that just wasn’t for me. It did however come with a fire-roasted tomatillo salsa which was delicious!

Gurdeep Loyal in his kitchen

Bull testicle soup – Ranie Saidi

Ranie Saidi is a London-based recipe developer

The worst thing I’ve ever eaten? Bull testicle soup. It was chewy, smelled like urine, and honestly, never again.

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Ranie Saidi

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