A Reddit user named BackGorilla recently took to the r/BoyDinnerDiaries subreddit to vent about a dilemma he was facing. He noted that while he loves his wife, even after a decade together, he has a very hard time pretending to enjoy her cooking. “Want to also clarify that this is not a heteronormative expectation thing. I don’t care if she never cooks for me and I’ll gladly cook for her when it’s my turn,” he wrote. The core issue was that “We have very different taste (I love spicy food, she can’t handle it) and we grew up eating totally different things.” He described meals of “unseasoned broccoli roasted in nearly no oil, mushy sweet potato fries, and precooked meat packages from Trader Joe’s with no seasoning.” While he did mention he adds seasoning, it went beyond that. “Often vegetables will be overcooked/undercooked, food might be on the brink of spoiling or past expiration as she tries to use what’s in the cabinet, or we’ll just eat a plate of microwave things all thrown together without much consideration.” At the end, “I lie to her and tell her that the food she’s making is good.” He also admitted to “turning down meals” because he didn’t want to force himself to eat. The community questioned his communication “We are so honest about everything, but sometimes honesty just feels like being mean when I could just pretend to like it instead right?” BackGorilla asked, before clarifying that he wasn’t really looking for advice. “I’ll just keep eating plates of undercooked vegetables and telling the woman I love that she’s doing a great job because I genuinely do appreciate the work she puts into meals she makes for us.” The community on the subreddit, however, had plenty of thoughts, with one redditor noting, “I fear you may have just communicated your feelings to Reddit better than you’ve communicated about this issue with your wife.” Another user also suggested, “Stop lying to her and start communicating. She can’t fix a problem she is unaware of and if she finds out later, it will hurt more.” I love my wife, but not her cooking byu/BackGorilla inBoyDinnerDiaries Interestingly, in response to a question about whether she thought she was a good cook, BackGorilla shared that his wife is an excellent baker. “Following recipes and with how precise baking needs to be, she’s great. I actually think part of what is hard for her with cooking is how freedom you can have with preparing a meal.” He noted, “She likes the things she cooks a lot,” but he also mentioned that she had recognized when something isn’t good. He noted that they would then have a “good discussion about it,” and that she is open to feedback. The conversation in the comments of the post mirrored the advice given by Your Tango, which offered six ways to deal when you hate your partner’s cooking. The article suggests that while it is never easy to hurt someone’s feelings, you need to be open and honest. One of their primary suggestions is to offer to help cook. They noted that by watching the process, your partner might identify if they are using too much of an ingredient or not cooking something long enough. Another suggestion they made, which was also made by commenters, is to take a cooking class together. The site noted that the class could also serve as a fun date and provides a neutral space to pick up new skills together without it feeling like an ambush. The Your Tango article also points out that finding recipes to try together is a great way to ensure you both know exactly what should be in the meal and how it should turn out. Instead, it can be a constructive step toward making mealtime something you both actually enjoy. As one commenter put it, “Stop lying to her and start communicating. She can’t fix a problem she is unaware of and if she finds out later, it will hurt more.” The thing is, food is a big part of life. Some people use it as a foundation to try to reconnect family members, even if it pushes boundaries. It is also a massive consideration in events like weddings. Recently, a bride demanded that guests cook for themselves and others as a way to cut expenses.