The One Ingredient Food Network Star Damaris Phillips Can't Stand

Food Network star Damaris Phillips is quite the phenomenon.  As per her website, she's particularly known for offering fresh perspectives on Southern food, and has won over audiences with her appearances on several show such as Food Network Star, Southern at Heart, Guy's Grocery Games, Bakers vs. Fakers, Celebrity Food Fight, and more. 

Phillips attributes her love for cooking to her childhood. She was a part of a large family and needed to come up with a delicious meal for her clan once every week. This set the foundation for her passion for cooking. How inspiring is that?

Here's something interesting to think about: despite the fact that Phillips plays around with a plethora of ingredients on the job, her preferred food items are rather simple. She loves tater tots much more than other foods, and has said that tater tots are "the best use of potatoes of all time" (via Food Network). Yum!

When it comes to Phillips' dislikes, there's one particular ingredient that the chef doesn't like at all. As per the Food Network, Phillips can't stand button mushrooms. However, to Phillips' credit, she tries her best to stay open-minded instead of dismissing an ingredient just because she isn't fond of it. As per Insider, she once spoke about how food television can help audiences be more open-minded when it comes to trying new ingredients. She gave a personal example and said, "As many times as I say, 'I don't love mushrooms, but this is exceptional.' I would hope that it would make people interested in trying things."

Phillips added that it's possible that you may eat something you don't like and end up despising it simply because of the way the dish has been prepared. For her, overcooked asparagus is unbearable but when it's prepared well, she thinks it's delicious. We agree.