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Overpriced and Overrated

ExtraMSG

By ExtraMSG
in Food Traditions & Culture

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MichaelB

MichaelB

Posted
Posted

I vote for the white "truffle" oil. Produced in a laboratory; never been near a truffle of any kind. I can smell it in a dish from across the room. Overpowering and no thanks!

Now, for the real McCoy, black truffle of Perigord -- mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

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Katherine

Katherine

Posted
Posted
As for tomatoes, Amen! In most parts of the US, tomatoes should not be purchased in January. And if they are, they should be imported from much, much warmer climates. (In which case, they'd probably be justifiably expensive. But also in which case, they'd probably be bred for travel, which makes them anathema in my book.)

Wow, I must be even more of a tomato snob than you! "...should not be purchased in January..." While I might be tempted to say, "should not be purchased out of season" (ie. other than late summer), I still insist on saying, do NOT purchase supermarket tomatoes at all, EVER; you're only encouraging them. NO!!!

Maybe you can get better tomatoes in your supermarket in season; I can't. Even the local farmer's market often has inferior tomato-shaped objects, in season, at a high price. Sorry, but if you don't grow them yourself, they're rarely REAL tomatoes, except in certain rare circumstances, at least for me. [snobbery to the maximum degree; sorry, but that's the way it is.]

Get home-grown, farmer's market, or, if all else fails, canned; otherwise, don't even bother. I don't care if the supermarket tomato is organic, hydroponic, on-the-vine, and hand-harvested by virgins; it's still crap; again, don't encourage them.

I hope someday you find your perfect tomato. I for one do not think I would be healthier or happier if I never ate another tomato, and I don't intend to sell my house so I can grow them myself in order to eat them three weeks out of the year.

Grape tomatoes taste ripe even out of season, are available at a reasonable price, and can be diced for recipes.

Perhaps the problem with truffle oil and vanillin is that often, food is made with an extreme excess of these artificial flavors, which seems to impress enough of the customers that it makes financial sense to target them. I can't even eat some of those gourmet cookies, because they leave the same nasty chemical aftertaste that flavored coffees do.

I've heard of vanilla sauces on seafood. I was served one that tasted like they dumped the bottle in. Everybody loved it but me. I found it inedible. Of course, they were people who love those cookies...

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Moopheus

Moopheus

Posted
Posted
Chicken Breasts !

As one eGulletier once said, "Tastes like bad tofu" :rolleyes:

When I still ate it, I used to get kosher chicken (I think it was Empire brand) that was far tastier than regular industrial chicken. If you can get it in your neighborhood, try that.

"I think it's a matter of principle that one should always try to avoid eating one's friends."--Doctor Dolittle

blog: The Institute for Impure Science

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laurenmilan

laurenmilan

Posted
Posted

Illy Espresso. At first I thought I was just preparing it improperly, but after having it made professionally in various venues, I'm more and more convinced that it's just not worth paying the extra $10/lb.

"Give me 8 hours, 3 people, wine, conversation and natural ingredients and I'll give you one of the best nights in your life. Outside of this forum - there would be no takers."- Wine_Dad, egullet.org

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Mudpuppie

Mudpuppie

Posted
Posted
Wow, I must be even more of a tomato snob than you! "...should not be purchased in January..." While I might be tempted to say, "should not be purchased out of season" (ie. other than late summer), I still insist on saying, do NOT purchase supermarket tomatoes at all, EVER; you're only encouraging them. NO!!!

Maybe you can get better tomatoes in your supermarket in season; I can't. Even the local farmer's market often has inferior tomato-shaped objects, in season, at a high price. Sorry, but if you don't grow them yourself, they're rarely REAL tomatoes, except in certain rare circumstances, at least for me. [snobbery to the maximum degree; sorry, but that's the way it is.]

Hey, we're in agreeance. I just didn't want to be too unilateral. :wink:

amanda

Googlista

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sequim

sequim

Posted
Posted
I am in the camp that thinks organic eggs are worth the extra price- When we got our eggs from an organic farm last year, the yolks were a beautiful yellow and just tasted "eggier".

I agree with you! There is a big difference between a farm egg and a factory-farm egg. As an "egg dipper" who has to have a perfect yolk to dip the toast into, having a farm egg means a luscious yellow-orange yolk. But maybe not all organic eggs are as good as the ones as you get from the farmer down the street.

As for supermarket tomatoes, you definitely can get good ones if you buy the cherry tomatoes from Nature-Sweet. I always have some on hand for my salads and they're deliciously sweet. Of course they're about $4 for a teensy bag.

As far as vanilla, maybe you won't notice the difference in cookies, but I think you might in say, a creme brulee. I've been wondering if that expensive Madagascar vanilla I saw at $14 a bottle could substitute for the flavor of an actual bean...

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jsolomon

jsolomon

Posted
Posted (edited)

Fat Tire Beer. Once they got big, they got nasty.

Edited by jsolomon (log)

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

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AzRaeL

AzRaeL

Posted
Posted

how about Artichokes?

they're expensive, and a real PAIN in the ASS to prepare, and they only taste ho hum.

All the cutting and digging and getting pricked by the sharp tips of the leaves for that little bit of stuff.

Do not expect INTJs to actually care about how you view them. They already know that they are arrogant bastards with a morbid sense of humor. Telling them the obvious accomplishes nothing.

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chezlamere

chezlamere

Posted
Posted
There are lots of items that are worth the money: wild salmon, pameggiano-reggiano, quality chocolate, and so on.

However, there seem to be some items that either a) get more notoriety than their flavor would recommend, and/or b) cost more than they should.

Here are some items that I think are bad values:

* vanilla extract: I've done so many dual batches of cookies now that it's just apparent that in baking Cook's Illustrated is right, pure vanilla isn't worth the money.

* dried pasta: I see no relationship between price and the quality of dried pasta.

* organic ingredients: if you have an ideological/philsophical issue with non-organic ingredients that makes sense.  But I can not find any relationship between organic anything and quality.  Some organics are good, some aren't.  There does seem to be a relationship between local, if it's freshly picked, like at farmer's markets, and quality, but not organic.

* eggs: I can't tell a damned bit of difference between eggs except by freshness

* kobe burger: makes no sense.  Almost every application of burger uses lots of flavor anyway, covering up any of the subtley of kobe beef.

I'd agree with you on most of this stuff, but dried pasta is, I've found, one of those things where you get what you pay for, more or less. The real commodity stuff is not worth eating. Pay just a little more for good pasta, almost always imported from Italy, and the difference is amazing.

Friends whose judgment I trust on food have recently tried Kobe burgers and say that there is a world of difference between Kobe and not. But they are, as I recall, quite sparing in their use of condiments.

except for the spagettini the imported italian pasta that i've tried was a major dissapointment

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chezlamere

chezlamere

Posted
Posted
Wow, I must be even more of a tomato snob than you! "...should not be purchased in January..." While I might be tempted to say, "should not be purchased out of season" (ie. other than late summer), I still insist on saying, do NOT purchase supermarket tomatoes at all, EVER; you're only encouraging them. NO!!!

Maybe you can get better tomatoes in your supermarket in season; I can't. Even the local farmer's market often has inferior tomato-shaped objects, in season, at a high price. Sorry, but if you don't grow them yourself, they're rarely REAL tomatoes, except in certain rare circumstances, at least for me. [snobbery to the maximum degree; sorry, but that's the way it is.]

Hey, we're in agreeance. I just didn't want to be too unilateral. :wink:

well if I want to make "Stinky Salad" ( doctored greek salad) I need the tomato, in january, there's no way around it.

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Mudpuppie

Mudpuppie

Posted
Posted
how about Artichokes?

they're expensive, and a real PAIN in the ASS to prepare, and they only taste ho hum.

All the cutting and digging and getting pricked by the sharp tips of the leaves for that little bit of stuff.

One of the great virtues of living in CA is that around this time of year, the price of artichokes plummets. I've gotten them 4/$1.

I've also gotten to the point where they're not difficult at all to prepare. Lop off the top third, rub with lemon, break off the bottom-most leaves, slice in half lengthwise, rub with lemon, and steam.

The eating is, of course, laborious. But I prefer to think of it as luxurious.

amanda

Googlista

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