Worse, Much Worse, Than You Remember: Acquired Distastes

[kayb]

Chef Boyardee pizza kit in a box. I begged for them, ate them like they were candy. Last time I tried one, when my kids were younger, it was revolting. I'm not even sure they still make them.

[Dianabanana]

You know what I bet is horrible? Those Old El Paso taco kits. I'll let somebody else revisit those--I'm brave, but not that brave.

I dearly loved taco night as a child, watching the ground beef turn from red to gray, then sprinkling in the orange powder. One night was enlivened when my mom absentmindedly left a stack of Corelle plates on a hot burner while we went into the living room to eat. Just as we were tucking in, there was a terrific explosion and then the tinkling sound of billions of shards of Corelle raining all over the kitchen.

[Jenni]

With some of these things, do you think that the actual product may have changed? Certainly I think more sugar, salt and other things are added to foods now, so perhaps that's why things people remember liking now taste too sweet or otherwise unpleasent.

[maggiethecat]

Vachon cakes.

A friend of the family worked for Vachon - we used to get boxes of the stuff occasionally. Can't bring myself to try them again - rather live with the memory of how good they were - cause I'm sure they suck now!

When I was twelve, heaven was a Joe Louis washed down with Grape Crush. Yeah, I'd rather have the experience just live on in memory...

[Icanmakeit]

I too grew up with a mom who rarely bought things like canned spaghettios or prepackaged foods including cookies. On the rare occasion we would get something like an Oreo, I remember it tasting wonderful. I had one a few weeks ago, it tasted like sugary wax.

Recently I had a McDonald’s double cheese burger remembering them as a treat when I was in high school.

It was dry - lots of bone chips. I ended up throwing most of it away. I knew better, I knew it would taste gross. (I grind my own hamburger), but some far away memory made me buy one. I think the bun was the best part.

There used to be a canned chicken liver pate with a brand name "Dr. Bronners". My mom would serve this to guests and was probably one of the few things she didn't prepare herself.

It was pure heaven on water crackers and I am pretty sure it's not made anymore because I have tried to find it in vain.

[IndyRob]

With some of these things, do you think that the actual product may have changed? Certainly I think more sugar, salt and other things are added to foods now, so perhaps that's why things people remember liking now taste too sweet or otherwise unpleasent.

Chris mentioned popcorn in his original post and for me, the gold standard was movie theater popcorn - and this definitely has changed. It took me a long time to work back to the original. I will say that some microwave popcorns are much better than what was generally available at home back in the day, but the old way is still better.

I agree with canned ravioli. I used to love it. What was I thinking? Even if the sauce may have become sweeter, the ravioli are still mush and I don't think that was different back then.

Pizza is another one. When I started my pizza explorations, a traditional general American style pie was one of three styles I wanted to master. Now I don't know why I would ever want to (other than to say I could).

[Edward J]

Cheez whiz.

Don't think I need to elaborate here.........

[ScottyBoy]

But was it ever good?

[Chris Amirault]

Chris mentioned popcorn in his original post and for me, the gold standard was movie theater popcorn - and this definitely has changed.

There are still holdouts! When I was in grad school in Milwaukee, there were still a few cinemas that popped their own corn and served them with butter -- including one place with an honest-to-god curved Cinerama screen. Apparently, only the Times cinema still does that.

[acautrell]

I used to love Campbell's condensed soup, especially the Noodle O's and the chicken with stars. Ate it again recently and the overwhelming taste is salt, complemented by the mush that is a canned noodle.

The only spaghetti we had growing up was Kraft spaghetti dinner, with the little packet of seasoning that was dumped into a can of plain tomato sauce, then mixed together with hamburger and noodles as a sort of spaghetti pie. Parmesan from a tiny envelope as your topper. I made it a a couple of years ago knowing that one plate would cure me of any nostalgia I might have held for it.

[Dakki]

Put me down for Campbell's condensed as well, particularly Cream of Mushroom Soup.

[KaffeeKlatsch]

To join in on the Kraft Mac & Cheese, Pizza, Spaghetti train, I loved their Chicken Noodle Dinner when I was a kid. It's hard to find now, but I had it again a few years ago. I should have just enjoyed the memory of it instead of eating it again.

[Opty]

I'll echo the instant oatmeal comment, which for me was also a huge letdown since I subsided on instant oatmeal every morning for maybe 10 years straight.

Pound cake (Sara Lee) also is nothing like I remember, but my wife now makes an outstanding one from scratch.

I didn't have it often, but I somehow had fond memories of Hamburger Helper, which upon trying again was profoundly disappointed and threw out perfectly good ground beef that had been mixed in.

On another topic, I'm amazed at the foods that I crave now, but hated as a kid, surely due to untrained palette (capers for instance)

[Beebs]

Froot Loops. Sickeningly sweet, and the colours are weird.

[melamed]

goodness, What have some of you been eating through childhood? What tasted gross while I was a kid never got better.

The only thing I remember truly loving but now I like much less are Hershey chocolate bars. It was worse than I remember but not to the gag inducing level of oatmeal or velveta.

[Sneakeater]

Drake's Ring Dings (ditto)

At least as of a couple of years ago, they were still being made -- but in a different formulation and format that I am convinced bore little resemblence to the wonderful original version (which we might STILL hate if we ate them now).

[LizD518]

Girl Scout Cookies. I sold A LOT of Girl Scout Cookies, and we had a lot of them at home. Unfortunately, they just don't hold up anymore. I still like the Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties, to some of you) and Do-Si-Does (Peanut Butter Sandwiches), but Thin Mints taste waxy and I only really liked Samoas as a little kid. I love coconut and caramel, but they are too sweet.

[scottie]

Oh yes, Samoas are way too sweet for me now, but were my absolute favorites as a Brownie.

McRib Sandwich- every few years, McDonald's would dust this one off and offer it for a limited time, much to my delight. Had one again about ten years ago, and boy howdy, was that gross! But I still, even now, feel a twinge of excitement whenever I see an ad for them.

Vienna sausages- these remind me of fishing trips with my dad, but I have not considered eating them ever since because ew.

[Marya D.]

I have to sadly admit that I had a craving for Peanut Butter Capt'n Crunch, bought a box and ate the whole thing in two days. They were more addictive now than they were when I was twelve. Something must be wrong with me.

Edited October 8, 2010 by Marya D. (log)

[Stephanie Brim]

I feel a lot better now because I can do that, too. Both regular and peanut butter Crunch is a real weakness of mine. I don't normally like cold cereal, but that and raisin bran are the only two I can actually stand.

One thing that seems to have changed since I was a kid is Barnum's animal crackers. I used to love those and now...not so much. My daughter doesn't like them, either.

[Le Master]

I'm still a sucker for nearly everything you guys have mentioned.

[Lindacakes]

I think it's a combination of cultivating a better, adult palate and the food getting worse. The "quality" of packaged food is really appalling. It's probably all a cardboard base with a flavor packet cooked up in Elizabeth, New Jersey sprinkled on top.

One thing I used to like was Kraft Old English cheese, which was considered an adult food when we were kids and reserved for my mother once-in-a-while and I liked it. I don't think they make it any more, but it doesn't matter because by the end of it's production life it tasted rank.