Food Terms We Loathe/Misuse

[broadway]

I don't mind normally mind veg and veggies, but not like this in a menu:

Paella Valencia: chicken, prawns, mussels & veggies with saffron rice

[tupac17616]

truffled

[SWISS_CHEF]

Cinnamon goodness

Grandma's kitchen

Cutting edge

Molecular cuisine

Authentic French (Italian)

Effortless

Cooking Light

Inspired

[mrsadm]

TUSCAN.

Everything is Tuscan this and Tuscan that.

[BeefCheeks]

Droolworthy.

Craveworthy.

Barfworthy.

Compulsively edible.

Melded.

Set atop.

Piled high.

Pan-braised.

House-cured.

House-filleted.

Honey-glazed.

Miso-glazed.

Mojito-glazed.

Pepper-glazed.

Long-cooked.

Quick-braised.

Oven-fried.

Tuscan-style.

Pan-Asian.

Tuna cubana.

Coppa cubana.

Copacabana. (?)

[tupac17616]

decadent

[KristiB50]

EVOO

localvore

flexitarian-which is defined as a meat eating vegetarian.

[Ohba]

People who claim to have spat coffee all over the keyboard or monitor as a result of reading something funny by another poster....do we need that any more?

No, I thought not.

[lamington]

If I read about another "wicked" piece of chocolate/chocolate cake/hot chocolate/chocolate idol/chocolate hallucinogen I shall grown horns and a pointy tail and wreak vengeance.

[Chris Hennes]

I don't mind the meaning of the word "foodie," I just don't like the word itself... someone come up with a new one! For me "foodie" falls right in with "veggie" etc. - it sounds childish.

[Peter B Wolf]

TUSCAN.

Everything is Tuscan this and Tuscan that.

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And hard to scan

[sparrowgrass]

I had to buy cookies for an event the other day, and when I was putting them out on plates, I noticed that one package proudly proclaimed it was "oven-baked".

Funny, I usually bake mine in the fridge.

[Meanderer]

TUSCAN.

Everything is Tuscan this and Tuscan that.

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Yeah, there must have been a trade publication a few years ago that convinced restauranteurs that they could sell more orders of chicken breast with Parma ham and mozzarella if they put "Tuscan" in the name of the dish. I recently saw a Tuscan salmon on a menu.

[heidih]

I read thru all the posts but I tend to speed read so hopefully not mentioned before: "Fresh". Well I would hope so!!!

[The Old Foodie]

I read thru all the posts but I tend to speed read so hopefully not mentioned before: "Fresh".  Well I would hope so!!!

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My pet hate is "natural".

[faine]

Anthing cutesy, adorable, or diet-oriented tends to make the blood rush to my head. I submit Hungrygirl.com as a primo example. Adorable rhymes accompany reports of the LATEST NO CALORIE WAFER SNACK, accompanied by the (gasp) LATEST FOOD HORROR THAT WILL KILL YOU SLEEP. Wrap it all in a wash of pink, dress in Mom Jeans...you have the ultimate repellant food website. Well, for me.

I would agree with lamington: the whole notion of "wicked" or "sinful" foods certain people promote (like, say, Hungry Girl) makes me ill. I've said it once but I'll say it again: the food is not the source of all human evil and weakness. You are. Put the cupcake down, for it is innocent and you are not.

I am growing increasingly annoyed with the adorable little names given to sushi rolls - this is real epidemic in Northern California, where I live. Deciphering what a BANZAI 49ERS XPLOSIONAL ORGASM roll actually contains usually involves reading tiny print, calling over a clueless waiter, then, finally, making an educated guess. And what you get still ends up coming out deep fried and covered in mayonaisse.

I also loathe "scrummy", "nummers", "delich," and "luscious", which while technically perfectly respectable, reminds me of an ex-boyfriend of mine who would say it in a creepy way. These don't have to be logical.

[dockhl]

What she said..........

[Spiro]

We had a restaurant locally who were trying to pass themselves off as an upscale Italian restaurant. For many reasons, they failed miserably. One strong indicator was that the waitstaff always referred to appetisers as "appies" ("appys"?). Very... off-putting.

[ajgnet]

I hate authoritative vague words and phrases if they're not further elaborated. Sometimes I use them myself; but, I try really hard to avoid them:

well-cooked

perfectly cooked

just right

good

the best in the world

authentic

[Biscuits & Brioche]

Demystify

Whimsical

Foodie

Palatable

Edited October 20, 2007 by Biscuits & Brioche (log)

[tupac17616]

prize-winning

(not to name names, but...)

[MaxH]

truffled

Why's that, Tupac? Serious question: It does (or at least it used to) mean something.

"Adam and Eve sold themselves for an apple. What would they have done for a truffled fowl?" -- Brillat-Savarin (it's in my notes on Amazon about MFKF's translation of the Physiologie du Goût.) Of course, in Brillat's day there were more truffles, and they were real truffles; flavorless minor species tarted up with real juice and passed as the Real Thing didn't have the respectability they do today; there weren't ubiquitous fake "truffle oils" made from 2,4-dithiapentane, characterized by makers as "something from the truffle that is not the truffle." ("While synthetic, they are not unnatural," one advocate told me in apparent sincerity.)

But I'm curious what Tupac had in mind.

[tupac17616]

truffled

Why's that, Tupac? Serious question: It does (or at least it used to) mean something.[...]

You hit the nail on the head, Max. Truffle oil is exactly the culprit I had in mind. I've yet to have truffle oil in any restaurant that has provided 1/1000th of the pleasure of smelling an actual truffle freshly shaven over, say, warm taglierini and butter. It frustrates me to no end to see a description of "truffled" ____ on a menu, only to find the dish finished with a drizzle of the oil and not a truffle in sight. Its seems to have become a stupid tool for restaurants to throw a luxury ingredient on the menu and charge $X more for something that is a sad approximation of the real thing.

[JanMcBaker]

My peeve is seeing 'frig' as an abbreviation for refrigerator, rather than 'fridge.' Don't these people know the friggin' abbreviations?! I know that doesn't refer specifically to food, but it is food related, right?

[Porthos]

I don't mind the meaning of the word "foodie," I just don't like the word itself... someone come up with a new one! For me "foodie" falls right in with "veggie" etc. - it sounds childish.

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Context is everything. In 12-step recovery circles foodies are compulsive overeaters.

My dear wife loves to make me cringe with: Yummo. (arrrggg!)