"Tastes Good" does not equal "Is Good"

[ElfWorks]

i have to say that i am sure that i missed mr. rocks' point, however, i will agree with al-dente.

if you still didnt know that the strata had miracle whip in it, this thread would be about the most amazing breakfast you'd ever had.

personally, you couldnt pay me to buy miracle whip.

however, there is this little diner in kerrville that makes the best BLT ever in this world. after three yrs of eating it, i asked someone what it was they did that made it so much damn better than any other BLT, and i was informed that it was made with miracle whip.

i hate miracle whip, but that is still the best BLT ever!!!

get the recipe mr rocks!

and get over it. if you like it, it'd good. didnt say good for you, just good. and in this day and age of crap on a stick available on every corner, finding something that you genuinely like is a good thing.

xo

[project]

This is quite a thread: Some of the ambiguity in the original point has led to some surprising clarifications.

The point by babyluck about what might be the effects of flavors from laboratories in New Jersey is an interesting caution -- we could be left liking only New Jersey artificial chemicals instead of real food, and giving up real food in this way would have risks.

One reason to avoid Miracle Whip: As we strive to learn to cook, what we learn is more solid (long lasting, more under our control) if it is based on more standard ingredients and less solid if it is based in part on proprietary ingredients, e.g., bottled secret sauces. So, we could be a little happier if the eggs with Miracle Whip could be just as good if made with homemade mayonnaise. If this point is true and we have established it and if, then, a restaurant for reasons of cost observes that with Miracle Whip they can save some cost and effort and get good results, then bring on the Miracle Whip use the time and money saved for something else.

One reason to avoid margarine: Mostly we suspect that using butter would make the dish taste better.

But, I have nothing against Miracle Whip. It is close to mayonnaise, and I doubt that it is in any way dangerous. Moreover, the people that make Miracle Whip may actually have made some progress in some respects over homemade mayonnaise; if so, then good for them.

Also, it may be that somehow Miracle Whip can do some really good things for texture as in the eggs, maybe even do some things that homemade mayonnaise could not. If so, then very good for Miracle Whip. E.g., in my souffle trials, the mixtures always rose very nicely, but I never got an internal texture I really liked. Maybe some Miracle Whip would be the cure? Maybe similarly for Vichyssoise.

I do vaguely remember that my (late) wife once had a recipe, that sadly I don't remember, for something that tasted marvelous and based heavily on Miracle Whip. Fine. Good for Miracle Whip and whoever invented the recipe.

[dumplin]

There are plenty of things we all eat that aren't healthy but taste really good. I don't want to live a life completely void of any "forbidden" foods. How awful would that be? I liked Bergerka's cravings of quarter pounders and Nachos Bell Grande. It tastes great at the time, you feel kinda yucky afterwards, but you get it out of your system and move on. I can't imagine egg strata made with miracle whip. It sounds like it tasted good... I would be upset if I was paying for a B&B that was upscale and organic yet they were using miracle whip. Otherwise, diners beware.

I have a sister-in-law that makes fudge with velveta cheese. She thinks people can't tell. They may not know that its cheese...they just can't figure out why it tastes weird.

[Mabelline]

Every once in awhile I need pork rinds and tabasco or I will wither away.

[hjshorter]

  project said:

So, we could be a little happier if the eggs with Miracle Whip could be just as good if made with homemade mayonnaise. If this point is true and we have established it and if, then, a restaurant for reasons of cost observes that with Miracle Whip they can save some cost and effort and get good results, then bring on the Miracle Whip use the time and money saved for something else.

Miracle Whip is not cheaper than mayonnaise.

I use it to make several things, recipes from my Okie grandmother. I could make them with homemade mayo, lovingly hand whipped with olive oil and farm fresh eggs, but then they wouldn't taste the way my grandmother's did. She is gone, and her recipes are what I have from her, and I will continue to make them the way she did. Whether the dishes "are good" or just "taste good" will not be part of the equation.

[DonRocks]

  ElfWorks said:

if you still didnt know that the strata had miracle whip in it, this thread would be about the most amazing breakfast you'd ever had.

If you didn't know your roommate was stealing from you, he'd still be your best friend.

[natasha1270]

Does the end justify the means? Is ignorance bliss?

If the strada tasted great, who cares if the secret is miracle whip. Right? It depends. Obviously, it mattered to you.

Did you feel you were duped? Do you think you would have felt differently if she had just said mayonnaise? Personally, I am a child of the 70’s and not in some post hippy way. More of a Hawaiian Punch/Tang/Quik/TV Dinner/Swansons Chicken Pot Pie/Processed Foods kind of way and Miracle Whip and other of its ilk, while not exactly what I reach for now, does not necessarily put me off my food. I would not have had the same reaction to Miracle Whip (even though it goes against my gmo/hydrogenated oil thing).

Worms or Ant eggs? That’s another story. If someone told me a food I was enjoying consisted of something I consider gross or "not food", I would spit it out and probably feel my stomach heave.

This is not the same thing as your breakfast example but similar, I think. Last Summer, I went with some coworkers to a lunch buffet at a chinese restaurant. I had been there many, many times in the past. Great food. As we were eating our second plate, a coworker noticed a small roach crawling on the floor by our table. Bleah. Gag. Gross. Suddenly, all this great tasting food looked disgusting. I tried to take another bite of my dumpling but everything looked roach-like and I could not. Nobody could. We all left feeling just not quite right. My coworkers have continued to frequent the place and still enjoy it but I just cannot make myself go there again and probably never will. The magic is gone.

How far are you willing to take this belief? Do you order veal? Do you only eat free-range food? Is your definition of free-range the same as the USDA’s? How about organic? Cruelty-free?

My own (infrequently enforced) thing is GMO and Hydrogenated Oils. I try to avoid them if possible but the oils are so prevalent you just can’t avoid them all or you would just drive yourself bonkers. Last week, I had some incredible Pan de Sal fresh from the bakery. I am in love with this bread. Normally when you get them fresh, they are just in a plain paper sack. I am sure the nutritional and ingredient info is printed somewhere in the store but I never checked. I went back later that week. This time I couldn’t get fresh and I had to get them on the shelf. I hadn’t thought to before but this time I read the ingredient label. What do I find? Hydrogenated Oil. Oh. I paused, thought about it for like half a second and then ripped that plastic baggie open and devoured them. Same great rolls. I think at some point you do just have to find your level of acceptance and go with it.

Natasha

[Bicycle Lee]

  Katherine said:

You seem to be framing the argument as follows:

I liked X until I heard somthing that made me realize that X contains something that is too downscale/not expensive enough for me,

therefore...

I now realize that I never liked X.

Sounds exactly like what he is saying...and it also sounds kinda lame.

If ANYone is a foodie, DonRocks is....

[ElfWorks]

  DonRocks said:

  ElfWorks said:

if you still didnt know that the strata had miracle whip in it,  this thread would be about the most amazing breakfast you'd ever had.

If you didn't know your roommate was stealing from you, he'd still be your best friend.

quite true! but, with few exceptions, i wouldnt be eating my roommate.........

xo

[SobaAddict70]

Well, I think some of us figured out a long time ago that McD's isn't necessarily intrinsically good, just good because they're in the business of making things taste good.

That doesn't stop me from having a Big Mac on occasion. (A once in a blue moon type of occasion.)

Otoh, I could agree with most of Rocks' position....as long as I get to keep my secret stash of Mrs. Dash.

Soba