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Disappointing Discoveries

liuzhou

By liuzhou
in Food Traditions & Culture

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liuzhou

liuzhou

Posted
Posted (edited)

I grew up with, but was deprived of Turkish Delight. My parents ate it, but it was deemed too rich (expensive) and sophisticated for me and my siblings. When I was finally able to sample some, I was so disappointed. Some over-sweet jelly stinking of flowers . I'm still as unimpressed. I did try it many years later in actual Turkey just in case - no better.

 

It was nearly as traumatic as my introduction to Coca Cola. I had heard of this heavenly concoction that came from America and epitomised a mysterious but fascinating dream world of rock 'n'roll and the big screen. It wasn't widely available in the 1950s UK. We were on holiday in Scotland and, as usual, it was pouring so my parents took us to a show of some kind. There they had Coca Cola and to make up for us missing the beach, my father bought my brother and I a bottle each. The extravagance!

 

My brother loved it  and I hated it. Sugary water! Heavenly it wasn't. Still can't stand the stuff.

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

"No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot"
Mark Twain
 

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

Love Turkish Delight. Even the very worst examples.

Biggest disappointment would be avocado. Can’t see the point.

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

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Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

....Turkish Delight.... Some over-sweet jelly stinking of flowers .

 

....Coca Cola....It wasn't widely available in the 1950s UK. Sugary water!

Complete agreement on both.  I find rose a difficult flavor to get right without becoming cloying.   However, I do love TD's French cousin, påte de fruit, with its pure fruit flavors. 

And we noticed that "Coke" had a completely different taste profile in Great Britain and Europe

than that that we were familiar with in the US.    I compared it to Dr. Pepper.   But back to your analysis, I agree that it is no heavenly concoction.

Edited by Margaret Pilgrim (log)
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Shelby

Shelby

Posted
Posted

This is one of my earliest memories....I was probably 4?????  Maybe a bit younger.  I was watching Bugs Bunny on TV munching on delicious carrot after carrot.  I thought those things must be the best thing ever.  In my mind I likened them to cheese (maybe because they were orange????). Anyway, I asked my mom to give me one.  She told me I wasn't going to like it.  I told her I would love it.  OMG the horror and disappointment.  

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KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted
49 minutes ago, Shelby said:

This is one of my earliest memories....I was probably 4?????  Maybe a bit younger.  I was watching Bugs Bunny on TV munching on delicious carrot after carrot.  I thought those things must be the best thing ever.  In my mind I likened them to cheese (maybe because they were orange????). Anyway, I asked my mom to give me one.  She told me I wasn't going to like it.  I told her I would love it.  OMG the horror and disappointment.  

It's a good thing that you weren't a fan of Wile E Coyote - those Acme products never work as well as they say they do in the catalog...

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Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

Maraschino cherries.  Pretty to look at but ruins a drink instantly IMHO.  Even a Shirley Temple, which was my first intro to the cursed things.

I bought a jar for the grandkids' treats.    They have been brilliantly fed simple, organic produce.   Hosting one 4 year old granddaughter overnight, I put a cherry on top of her ice cream at dinner,    She was very excited, put it in her mouth, immediately removed it and said, "It tastes like chemicals!"  

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chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, KennethT said:

It's a good thing that you weren't a fan of Wile E Coyote - those Acme products never work as well as they say they do in the catalog...

I have the catalog, a gift from a few Christmases ago. It's a fun read. :)

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“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

MaryIsobel

MaryIsobel

Posted
Posted

I have only tsted umi once. I don't know if it was "off" but I literally could not force myself to swallow it and faked a kind of sneeze/cough and spat it into my napkin. First and ony time I have ever done that with any food. I should try it again but cannot bring myself to even think of it.

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Duvel

Duvel

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

I have only tsted umi once. I don't know if it was "off" but I literally could not force myself to swallow it and faked a kind of sneeze/cough and spat it into my napkin. First and ony time I have ever done that with any food. I should try it again but cannot bring myself to even think of it.


I had a lot of uni. In Japan. Was not thrilled at all.

 

Then, on our last visit to Tokyo I invited my then girlfriend (now wife) to a very special dinner. One if the dishes was uni, freshly flewn in and opened in front of us, still filled withnsea water and half digested kelp. The flavor was so unbelievably good - I have never ever had uni again like that. So - yes, uni can be divine, but … in real life in mist probably won’t 🤗

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Darienne

Darienne

Posted
Posted (edited)

Nutella.  We had read so much about it and then one time while in our home away from home (Moab, UT) we bought a jar and tried it.  Thought it was sickeningly sweet and not much else.  Gave it to the motel cleaning ladies.  

 

OTOH, I bought a slab of couverture Gianduja (the precursor to Nutella) to use in making chocolates and really enjoyed it.  

Edited by Darienne (log)
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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

Margaret Pilgrim

Margaret Pilgrim

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Nutella.  We had read so much about it and then one time while in our home away from home (Moab, UT) we bought a jar and tried it.  Thought it was sickening sweet and not much else.  Gave it to the motel cleaning ladies. 

"Sugar, Palm Oil, Hazelnuts (13%), Skimmed Milk Powder (8.7%), Fat-Reduced Cocoa (7.4%), Emulsifier: Lecithins (Soya), Vanillin."   What's not to like!    Horrible stuff!

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lindag

lindag

Posted
Posted
43 minutes ago, Darienne said:

Nutella.  We had read so much about it and then one time while in our home away from home (Moab, UT) we bought a jar and tried it.  Thought it was sickening sweet and not much else.  Gave it to the motel cleaning ladies.  

 

 

I didn't like it either.

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Shelby

Shelby

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, MaryIsobel said:

I have only tsted umi once. I don't know if it was "off" but I literally could not force myself to swallow it and faked a kind of sneeze/cough and spat it into my napkin. First and ony time I have ever done that with any food. I should try it again but cannot bring myself to even think of it.

I tried uni a year or so ago.  I didn't care for it at all.  Maybe I would like it if I had the kind @Duvel did.......

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weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Duvel said:

One if the dishes was uni, freshly flewn in and opened in front of us, still filled withnsea water and half digested kelp. The flavor was so unbelievably good - I have never ever had uni again like that. So - yes, uni can be divine, but … in real life in mist probably won’t 🤗

I'll bet. We once had app in Paris that was basically 3 freshly opened uni...amazing.

 

I can order live uni here - it's expensive! As is the Hokkaido stuff.

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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

Nutella is gross even before you look at the ingredients.

 

Truffle oil.

 

Wagyu beef...all I taste is fat.

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Shelby

Shelby

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Wagyu beef...all I taste is fat.

I've never had this but always wondered what it was like.....Ronnie says he won't ever try it (I suspect largely due to it's price 🤣).  Do you eat it rare or does the fat render it down to totally nothing?  To me it looks like fat with a little meat.

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TdeV

TdeV

Posted
Posted
15 minutes ago, Shelby said:

To me it looks like fat with a little meat.

 

Sort of like spam, yes? 🤣

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Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, TdeV said:

 

Sort of like spam, yes? 🤣

Spam may  be a lot of fat with a little meat, but it doesn’t look that way. I only have to look at photographs of Wagyu and my arteries clog. I admit I have never tried it.

 

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Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted

We bought some waygu hamburger patties once. Couldn't believe the amount of fat that came out of them.  They were delicious.

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Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted

In high school my daughter developed a fixation with boba tea. She was at Berkeley High and downtown Berkeley was lousy with brand new shops to get the stuff. Not that I had high expectations, but one time she convinced me to try it and it was worse than I ever imagined. I had a similar experience with McDonald's fries. Believe it or not, until about four years ago I had never been inside a McDonalds. We were driving down from the Bay Area to my niece's graduation in southern CA. It was rainy and cold and I got this idea in my head that I wanted some nice hot fries. Despite my spotless record of avoiding McD's for seventy or so years their fries do have reputation. They were terrible.

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Katie Meadow said:

Despite my spotless record of avoiding McD's for seventy or so years their fries do have reputation. They were terrible.

 

You avoided them too long.  They were better when they were fried in beef tallow. 

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