Foods You'll Never Find In Ina Garten's Kitchen

Ina Garten has made a name for herself as a successful business owner, celebrity chef, and best-selling author. Over the last few decades, Garten has solidified her status as a culinary icon, entertaining guests on her hit show "Barefoot Contessa" and drawing in readers with her memoir, "Be Ready When the Luck Happens." Garten is the queen of crafting recipes that are elegant yet simple enough for viewers to master at home, often incorporating her well-known mantra that "store-bought is fine."

While Garten has shared some of her favorite must-have ingredients and tools (from chocolate chips for cookies and good quality vanilla ice cream to a reliable kitchen scale), she's also made no secret of the few items that you won't find in any of her recipes. Among the top food offenders, as far as Garten is concerned, are cilantro, grated parmesan cheese, and canned vegetables. These items are among Garten's least favorite foods and won't be found in her kitchen.

When it comes to cilantro, Ina Garten made her feelings known in an interview with Today declaring: "It's such a strong flavor, it just overwhelms everything else and I actually think it's physiological. I like to say that Julia Child didn't like cilantro either." 

Garten and Child aren't alone. In research done by 23andMe, studies found that people who have an aversion to the herb may share a specific gene cluster called OR6A2. While the herb is a staple in many recipes around the world, and some people love the peppery citrusy flavors, others say the herb tastes like dish soap.

Genetic predispositions aside, the Barefoot Contessa also has some strong opinions about a couple of other pantry staples. In an interview with Time, Garten states that she never buys grated parmesan. Although Garten didn't give her reasons, in 2016 the FDA warned consumers that low-quality grated parmesan is sometimes bulked out with inedible substitutes, including wood pulp. Finally, don't expect to find any canned vegetables in Garten's pantry — especially Harvard beets. During her episode on the New Yorker Radio Hour Podcast, Garten recalled how her childhood meals were devoid of both carbohydrates and joy, primarily consisting of boiled chicken and canned vegetables including her least favorite, Harvard beets.