Every family has their own way of whipping up a batch of everyone’s favourite comfort food, but should there be a law about what secret ingredients people are allowed to add to mac and cheese? If your initial reaction to that question is confusion, or a hard no, we have a story that might change your mind! Writing into the popular subreddit AmItheasshole, one woman, currently six months pregnant with her first child explains the problem she has with her mother-in-law’s ‘famous mac and cheese.’

My husband 30m and I 28f have been married for 2 years, together for 5 years, and currently 6 months pregnant. We are very excited and blessed because I’ve had some complications in getting pregnant. I have a very good relationship with my in laws and if any of us ever had problem, we are able to talk it through. Except for one thing. My mother in law has her famous mac and cheese that everyone in her family absolutely loves.

I, however, found it disgusting on day 1 but I didn’t want to come off as rude and ungrateful so I pulled through it without saying anything. I told my husband about it and he said that his mother has been making it for decades perfecting the recipe and she would be deeply offended if anyone told her anything bad about her mac and cheese so I should just find the right moment to tell her. He for some reason loves it, so he didn’t want to be the one to tell her. Which I totally understand because it is MY issue and I had to deal with it. It’s been almost 2 years of me pretending.

So 2 days ago I’ve decided to just tell her. It was a family dinner where my husband’s parents had invited us over and of course, his mother was making her so-called “famous mac and cheese”. I almost threw up at the smell and I couldn’t bear the thought of eating it, probably because I was pregnant.

So at dinner, when I was offered the mac and cheese, I politely declined and said “no thank you”. My mother in law looked at me and asked “why? You should eat. Good for the baby”. And I just went right out with it “I’m sorry, but I don’t like your mac and cheese. Everything else tastes delicious, but this is the one thing I simply cannot eat anymore”. She looked so deeply offended and she literally snapped “well, thanks for being honest” and didn’t even look or speak to me for the rest of the evening. My husband was on my side and tried to speak to his mother, but all I know is that it didn’t work because she has been cold to me ever since.

And finally…we come to the good bit! We’re about to discover MIL’s secret mac and cheese ingredients.

Warning: You may want to sit down before continuing!

What was wrong with the mac and cheese? Her “perfecting the recipe” ended up with this result: mac and cheese combined with salmon, kimchi, pineapple, seaweed salad, collard greens, onions, and garlic. I don’t have a problem with the greens or onion, but the rest tastes so disgustingly wrong with mac and cheese. However, the reason why I think I might have been an asshole is because like my husband said, she has been perfecting this recipe for years, her entire family clearly loves it, and I tell her that her “perfected and loved” mac and cheese is terrible.

Am I the Asshole?

Edit. I did tell her that because I am pregnant it wasn’t possible for me to stomach the ingredients, but she still didn’t want to talk to me. Another edit. I’m French and my husband’s family is Korean, so that will explain the ingredients. I do enjoy salmon, kimchi, and seaweed salads, but it greatly depends on which dishes it’s served with. And since I’ve been pregnant, I’ve even developed an aversion to several foods that I used to love.

After reading the lost of ingredients people were pretty grossed out.

Reading the beginning of the post where she is saying how much she hates it and even the smell makes her want to throw up, I was thinking like, ok quit being so dramatic.. it’s fricken Mac and cheese, how bad can it be? But after reading the bottom where she lists the ingredients? Hell no! I take back my initial judgement of OP.. this is not Mac and cheese. You are exactly right, it is an abomination and I would have not pretended for even a second it was anything else lol (ImaginaryList174)

“What MIL is making is a casserole” offered one commentator. “A Korean-inspired pasta bake. That is not mac & cheese.”

“A casserole you give to someone you despise,” quipped another.

It’s safe to say that commenters were not thrilled by the prospect of eating a mac and cheese with all of those ingredients in and could entirely sympathise with the woman.

That dish is to mac and cheese what fruitcake is to cake… Yikes (bertedOttawa)

The idea of stomaching that while pregnant is bringing my morning sickness back and my youngest is in grade school.(sentimentalillness)

With regard to the question of whether she was an asshole for the way she handled the situation, one commentor replied “I’d have blamed my pregnancy for the “sudden pickiness” and avoided the conflict like a coward. One of those rare cases where lying to spare feelings is better, at least in my eyes. But I also haven’t been subjected to that horrible concoction.”

However, not everyone agreed that she’d dealt with the situation respectfully and sensitively.

It does sound nasty af but I think we can agree that OP is TA for how she brought it up, both the language she used and how she did it at the dinner table. If the combo wasn’t so nasty we’d all be saying YTA. (Tymptra)

So, tell us. How would you have reacted if served this mac and cheese abomination, pregnant or otherwise?