Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Things People Inexplicably Love

Stone

By Stone
in Food Traditions & Culture

 Share

Recommended Posts

reesek

reesek

Posted
Posted

these are so good - i have to add to my earlier post

ketchup splooched on anything.

gatorade - any flavor - any iteration. it all tastes like sweat.

german chocolate cake - i had the exact same disappointment as jgarner as a child. frosting that looks like spit is just a mean thing to do to a kid

raw walnuts. they do not "toast up" in carrot cake or cookies. maybe it's black walnuts in particular that i object to but i avoid all 'nuts in things' that i haven't prepared - just in case.

diet soda

fritos. love tortilla chips, but fritos taste pre-digested to me.

marzipan - too sweet and floral in a wrong way. i love almond flavor in cookies but petit fours with the layers of wet cake and marzipan? i think not.

red delicious apples. i have yet to have a delicious one.

from overheard in new york:

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!

Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can't defeat that!

--6 Train

Link to comment
Share on other sites
laurenmilan

laurenmilan

Posted
Posted
Strange post. 

Sounds as though you don't believe anyone ever possibly could like a thing that you don't like just because they...well...like it.  They have to be following a trend, or trying to prove some sort of something to some sort of someone.

I first discovered cilantro/coriander some 35 years ago while living in Hong Kong.  They called it Chinese parsley.  Loved it then.  Also lived in Panama where it grew wild and was called cilantro and it flavored deliciously-aromatic beans.  Loved it then.  Don't think that 'trendy' crowd had ever even heard of it.

Sometimes, folks like stuff just because they like it.

Strange post.

:huh:

I'm sorry it came off as such an extreme viewpoint... I would never go so far as to attribute a food's success ENTIRELY to good marketing and trendiness (although I suspect Starbucks Frappuccino comes darned close!)

FWIW, in reference to your Hong Kong experience, I definitely think that foods like cilantro are far better handled in other cultures' cuisines - simmered, mixed in with other flavors, allowed to mellow in the cooking process and blend in. Not the overwhelming shock of the raw herb in very large quantities, which is so strong as to warrant a "love it or hate it" reaction.

Then again, I'm STILL convinced that there's a decent chunk of coffee-haters out there that might convert if they'd had *one really good cup*. Not that coffee is is some must-love food... it's just that so much of it is prepared so poorly that enough weak cups could potentially turn someone off it for life.

But .... I don't think I'll ever be convinced that a turkey burger is eaten because it tastes as good as beef, any more than people eat Snackwell because they taste as good as Pepperidge Farms. :wink:

"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

Link to comment
Share on other sites
johnnyd

johnnyd

Posted
Posted
Everyone's laminated membership cards will be in the mail shortly.

That's nice that you lot will have somewhere to go after Jason pulls the plug...

:rolleyes:

Sorry guys, but the most Outstanding American Desert is the award-winning VIRGILS microbrewed Root Beer with a couple scoops of Ben&Jerrys extra-vanilla, vanilla ice cream, in a classic 50's diner-style 16oz shake glass. Spoon and straw too, please!

:wub:

"I took the habit of asking Pierre to bring me whatever looks good today and he would bring out the most wonderful things," - bleudauvergne

foodblogs: Dining Downeast I - Dining Downeast II

Portland Food Map.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lesfen

lesfen

Posted
Posted
...oh on that note I can't stand sweetened sugary butter.

Ohhh... you know, that actually pisses me off! I'd like to think that I could sit down for a meal and not have to actually do a taste test on the butter before I use it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ingridsf

ingridsf

Posted
Posted
Root beer and Dr. Pepper are completely deplorable.  A mere whiff of root beer is enough to set my gag reflex in motion.

Will you marry me?? :wub: If you're a man, that is. :laugh:

Well, given that I'm a woman, I'll at least sit in a soft comfy chair and have a cuddle with you! :wink: Really though, it's nice to have found a kindred spirit... I always get the weirdest looks from people when I tell them that I don't like root beer.

Care to make your union polygamous? Or just let me squish into the chair with y'all? Cause I don't like root beer, never have. Makes my tongue numb. Dr. Pepper is just a big vanilla-y yawn.

:::moves over to make space:::

I'm in. No root beer, ever. [snip]

*snuggles up to the root beer haters*

:::checks the membership log and updates accordingly:::

zilla, you're in. And you too mongo. Everyone's laminated membership cards will be in the mail shortly.

:biggrin:

Given root beer's sassafrass content, and the cloying vanilla flavor of DP, I suggest we call ourselves the Anti-VanSassafrassians. Wouldn't you like to be an Anti-VanSassafrassian, too? I will sneeringly refer to pro-root beerians as the Numb Tongues. Is it too late to get this on the membership cards?

My fantasy? Easy -- the Simpsons versus the Flanders on Hell's Kitchen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ingridsf

ingridsf

Posted
Posted

I checked your comments on root beer and wholeheartedly agree with you, Mongo. One sip of this ghastly beverage sends me back to a simpler place and time populated by apple-cheeked tykes and clean-cut teens. And, strangely, hardy frontier settlers celebrating the 4th of July and an occasional cowboy who promised his mother wouldn't touch the Devil's brew. Funny place, Americana.

My fantasy? Easy -- the Simpsons versus the Flanders on Hell's Kitchen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jhlurie

jhlurie

Posted
Posted

Folks, please stop with the quote-in-quote games--especially for marginally off-topic talk.

Quoting the last relevant post only is usually enough to tip people off to what you are responding to.

Jon Lurie, aka "jhlurie"

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jaymes

Jaymes

Posted
Posted
Sometimes, folks like stuff just because they like it.

I would never go so far as to attribute a food's success ENTIRELY to good marketing and trendiness (although I suspect Starbucks Frappuccino comes darned close!)

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Okay, I'll grant you that. :rolleyes:

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
jgarner53

jgarner53

Posted
Posted

I realized last night that I have to amend my previous post to add black licorice. It's just not something I've ever grown accustomed to. Not sweet enough (to me) to be candy. Add to that anise flavored liqueurs: pastis, ouzo, etc.

Now, a little bit of anise IN something like a spice cake, or in a heady Vietnamese pho broth, fine. But licorice by itself? Never.

And tuna salad, pickles or no. Goes along with the whole canned tuna thing.

"I just hate health food"--Julia Child

Jennifer Garner

buttercream pastries

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mooshmouse

Mooshmouse

Posted
Posted
I realized last night that I have to amend my previous post to add black licorice. It's just not something I've ever grown accustomed to. Not sweet enough (to me) to be candy. Add to that anise flavored liqueurs: pastis, ouzo, etc.

Word to that jgarner. Black licorice. Just reading your post made me get a faintly nauseous sensation in the back of my throat.

My passionate dislike for black licorice was intensified by a former employer of mine who had a penchant for taking his executives out for egregiously expensive business dinners. Don't get me wrong. Never, ever would I turn down a gourmet evening on the house. The cuisine and copious quanties of fine wine were always outstanding. But he would end every multi-course meal with a round of flaming sambuca shots topped with the requisite coffee beans. The licorice lovers would always sip them. Those of us not so fond of this vile substance would throw the shots down our throats as quickly as absolutely possible. And pay for them in spades later on with massive indigestion together with an overwhelming desire to disgorge the evening's repast from my digestive system. Hence, every time I get a whiff of licorice or even think about it, it's reminiscent of that gross, too full on rich food, almost sick feeling.

Blecch.

:wacko:

Joie Alvaro Kent

"I like rice. Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2,000 of something." ~ Mitch Hedberg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cdh

cdh

Posted
Posted (edited)

OK. I think orange juice sucks... mostly.

Judging by shelf space in the refrigerated section of all the supermarkets, it looks to me like people just love orange juice. Mostly the horrible crappy industrial OJ that fills the entirety of those refrigerators.

Now I'll not go so far as to say I hate all OJ... fresh squeezed, and I mean the really fresh squeezed stuff, not the pasturized industrial stuff that never got concentrated and rehydrated, is good. Tropicana, Minute Maid, Florida's Natural, all the big branded crap on the shelves is just no good. It is all too sweet and not tangy enough. Probably has something to do with the blend of varietals of oranges they use...

Edited by cdh (log)

Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mongo_jones

mongo_jones

Posted
Posted
OK. I think orange juice sucks... mostly.

Judging by shelf space in the refrigerated section of all the supermarkets, it looks to me like people just love orange juice. Mostly the horrible crappy industrial OJ that fills the entirety of those refrigerators.

Now I'll not go so far as to say I hate all OJ... fresh squeezed, and I mean the really fresh squeezed stuff, not the pasturized industrial stuff that never got concentrated and rehydrated, is good. Tropicana, Minute Maid, Florida's Natural, all the big branded crap on the shelves is just no good. It is all too sweet and not tangy enough. Probably has something to do with the blend of varietals of oranges they use...

yes, and is there anything more repellent than commercial "extra pulp" variant o.j? it is as though they take the usual crap o.j and dump 2 lbs of pulp that's being lying around in a dumpster somewhere into it and seal the carton. well, that probably is what they do.

i remember reading a nutritionist on the subject of o.j a while ago--i believe he said people should throw away the juice and eat the pulp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
laurenmilan

laurenmilan

Posted
Posted
yes, and is there anything more repellent than commercial "extra pulp" variant o.j? it is as though they take the usual crap o.j and dump 2 lbs of pulp that's being lying around in a dumpster somewhere into it and seal the carton. well, that probably is what they do.

It goes great with a bowl of Total cereal, that has the fiber & vitamins refined out of the original wheat, then poured back onto the processed flakes! :laugh:

"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

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NulloModo

NulloModo

Posted
Posted
Orange juice should always be pulp free :biggrin:

I guess some people like swallowing all that stringy stuff. All I end up doing is choking. :angry:

paging NeroW and Tommy...

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

Link to comment
Share on other sites
HungryChris

HungryChris

Posted
Posted

I have a lot of friends / coworkers who have told me about how great pierogies are. After a great deal of exprimentation and frustration, I am now convinced that there is a peirogie gene, and I don't have it!!!

Cheers,

HC

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NulloModo

NulloModo

Posted
Posted
I have a lot of friends / coworkers who have told me about how great pierogies are. After a great deal of exprimentation and frustration, I am now convinced that there is a peirogie gene, and I don't have it!!!

Cheers,

HC

What type are they? How are you preparing them, and what are you serving them with?

He don't mix meat and dairy,

He don't eat humble pie,

So sing a miserere

And hang the bastard high!

- Richard Wilbur and John LaTouche from Candide

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KarenS

KarenS

Posted
Posted

I buy the oj with pulp; I prefer it and it seems more real to me. My first choice though is grapefruit juice.

What I don't get is fried chicken. I don't like the skin, coating, or the fat/oil. It seems like a way to ruin a healthy protein. I love roast chicken though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
NeroW

NeroW

Posted
Posted
Orange juice should always be pulp free :biggrin:

I guess some people like swallowing all that stringy stuff. All I end up doing is choking. :angry:

paging NeroW and Tommy...

Yeeees?

I realized last night that I don't really like candy. Maybe once a year. :blink:

Noise is music. All else is food.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...