I have noticed that some foods can taste really acrid or awful, due to the way they were produced. Some fresh vegetables; sweet peppers or carrots for instance, carry the energy of the water they absorbed growing up. And sometimes I find them horribly acrid. If I cook them just a little, push the water out, and enjoy the flesh, it's much more congenial.
Chicken is another food that can taste terrible, not due to the recipe. Organic or free-range chicken tastes amazing. I think we probably began to over-process foods when we started factory farming, creating those funky gross chickens. There is a funk to the taste of their flesh, that is disgusting; even the best sichuan cooking can't cover it! So food companies started over-salting, over-saucing and over-cheesing everything in an attempt to cover up the icky taste. Sprinkle liberally with msg (artificial or natural) and bam it tastes good enough.