The Popular Sweet Treat Andrew Zimmern Absolutely Hates — 'It Sucks'

When it comes to popular foods and snacks, there are bound to be plenty of differing opinions on whether something is as good as people say or falls short of its reputation. For chef Andrew Zimmern, many respect his opinions and consider him incredibly well-informed on global cuisine, but some may look at him differently when they discover his undying hatred for raw or uncooked cookie dough.

That's right, despite Zimmern being known for rarely turning down even the most bizarre foods on earth, he will likely pass if you offer him raw cookie dough. The beloved celebrity chef has voiced this opinion a few times throughout the years, including in his 2022 TikTok video, in which he expressed, "Why do people eat raw cookie dough? It sucks. Raw cookie dough tastes like raw flour with sugar and other s*** in it. It's terrible." In fact, the chef even brought up his well-known contempt for walnuts, saying that even they are much more preferable than raw cookie dough in his opinion. "Once a year I eat a walnut," Zimmern added, "but ... raw cookie dough ... tie me down ... [like] in some sort of torture movie and [I'll] purse my lips and turn away."

Disliking cookie dough is far from the only unpopular opinion that Andrew Zimmern maintains (he also isn't a big fan of In-N-Out), but his primary reasoning behind disliking raw cookie dough comes from its primary ingredient — flour. "Why would you leave it in its untransformed, ... nascent state when 10 minutes in the oven turns it into something that is the food of gods?" Zimmern asked in a sit-down discussion with Eater. "Flour — raw flour — does not taste good. What people like is the raw sugar and butter." 

While many fear suffering from salmonella after eating raw cookie dough due to the use of raw, unpasteurized eggs, the dangers of consuming raw flour are similarly dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. Although edible cookie dough doesn't have any eggs, it contains heat-treated, uncooked flour to prevent foodborne illnesses, but it retains its floury taste. One would have to assume Zimmern doesn't like edible cookie dough either.

This take, unsurprisingly, left many fans in disbelief, with some comparing the beloved sweet treat to other foods that would also be considered "nascent" that they presume Zimmern has no problem with. "Why do people eat beef tartare when they can cook it on the grill and make a delicious burger?" one Instagram comment asked, referencing the fact that beef tartare is considered difficult to make safely at home due to its use of raw beef and egg yolk. Nevertheless, in many cases, fans found common ground with Zimmern that cooked cookie dough — also known as cookies — is as delicious a treat as one could ask for at the end of the day.