‘You’ve never eaten a banana?!’ 10 writers face their fiercest – and strangest – food fears

Whether it’s the smell, the texture or the emotional associations, something has kept our guinea pigs away from everyday dishes such as hard-boiled eggs and shepherd’s pie. How traumatic will those first mouthfuls be?

It’s not because they look phallic, OK? There is nothing Freudian or weird about the fact that I have spent my life recoiling at the sight of a banana. My banana aversion has nothing to do with me being gay. I like cucumbers! I like courgettes! I have no problem with phallic produce.

‘It took me a few days to work up the courage’ … Arwa with the dreaded fruit. Photograph: courtesy of Arwa Mahdawi

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