Unpopular Food Likes/Dislikes: Table for One

[joelene]

See, that makes sense to me. I hate garbanzo beans, but turn them into hummus and I'll eat the hell out of it.

Oh, oh yes, totally on the same page about this one! Beans in general I have a problem with. I wish hummus was more common in Sweden. It's not especially difficult to find or anything but it's not something you'll find in the average Swede's fridge.

Edited November 6, 2014 by joelene

[backformore]

I hate twinkies

Twinkies are gross.  They're an example of something made with artificial butter and vanilla flavors that taste "off"  to me. 

I actually looked into why stuff tastes so weird to me (slow day at work) and it's pretty clear to me.  

 

VANILLA tastes good to me - it's plant-based, made from the vanilla bean pod, which grows on a flowering plant. 

Artificial vanillin is a petroleum-based synthetic copy of vanilla.  It's cheaper, and some food manufacturers use a LOT of it.   When I eat something where the primary flavor is artificial vanillin  - twinkies, some cookies,some  store-brand vanilla ice cream -  The fake stuff has a weird after-taste to me - like soap, or like eating a candle. 

[harrie]

For me it's not a soapy taste (which I get from cilantro) but a creepy mouth feel of the Twinkie (or whatever mass-produced baked good).  After eating one, my mouth has this waxy coated sensation, and it's very unpleasant.   When I was very young I loved Snowballs, but now I look at them and wonder what I was thinking.  No nostalgia there whatsoever. 

Edited November 6, 2014 by harrie

[Bastet]

Twinkies were a treat when I was a kid, but I haven't tried one in eons; I think I'd find it gross.  My unpopular pre-made sweet treat dislike as kid were those Hostess chocolate cupcakes with the squiggly ribbon of white icing on top. 

[janestclair]

When I was a kid, we went on a few school field trips - one to a hostess factory and one to Sunshine Biscuit (they made Cheez its at the time). Hot off the line mass produced baked goods are delicious, but Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes are gross now. Part of it is being an adult and part of it is they cheaped out on all the ingredients. Nothing tastes like it used to anymore.

[mansonlamps]

One weird thing I've always loved since I was a kid was Braunschweiger. I don't let myself eat it very often anymore since it isn't that great for you, but a braunschweiger sandwich is my ultimate comfort food.

Yum Brahunschweiger. Love it. Though now when I allow myself to eat it it's on a triscuit with Dijon. Mmmmm. Add a sliver of avocado, even better!

[ikmccall]

When I was a kid, we went on a few school field trips - one to a hostess factory and one to Sunshine Biscuit (they made Cheez its at the time). Hot off the line mass produced baked goods are delicious, but Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes are gross now. Part of it is being an adult and part of it is they cheaped out on all the ingredients. Nothing tastes like it used to anymore.

Food manufacturers have cheaped out on ingredients and added more chemicals (to extend shelf life).

[PRgal]

A small list of things I won't eat/don't like:

 

• Duck of any kind
• Most shellfish (though I will eat shrimp in fried rice)
• Crunchy, packaged cookies unless they're sandwich cookies (but even then it's a bit low on my list)
• Potatoes, especially in large amounts (makes me feel bloated.  I will eat them in very limited amounts and only when cooked in stew has lots of flavour)
• Canned cranberry sauce (I make my own...with maple sugar)
• Froot Loops, Lucky Charms and any high sugar/high colour cereal
• Anything super hot/spicy
• Taro
• Overly sweet soy milk, especially served hot (the kind you find in some Chinese restaurants)
• Watery congee (rice gruel/cereal) my parents often make, especially after Thanksgiving
• Pepperoni pizza
• Peanuts (I had a bad reaction to airplane peanuts when I was a kid, but was later told that I was NOT allergic.  Still, I avoid them)
• McDonald's "sausages"
• Kraft Dinner (known as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the US)
• Cheez Whiz
• Chinese red bean "soup," a very standard dessert at Chinese restaurants.  Also won't eat tofu pudding, even though I LOVE tofu otherwise, or black sesame dessert soup.

 

As for what I DO like?  Quinoa, chickpeas (especially in hummus or falafel form) kale, avocado, eggplant, tofu and wild pacific salmon.  If I only had those foods, I am good - especially if there's garlic to go along with it. 

Edited November 11, 2014 by PRgal

[Helena Dax]

I dislike some vegetables -Brussels sprouts, spinachs, olives...- but the thing I really, really hate is milk. Especially hot milk. I can't even look at it without wanting to throw up. Sometimes I can't even talk about it. Absolutely disgusting. 

 

I like snails. It isn't my favourite food, but I like to eat them from time to time. 

[emma675]

Tried beets for the first time in my life this past weekend. Turns out, I hate beets.

[mansonlamps]

the thing I really, really hate is milk. Especially hot milk. I can't even look at it without wanting to throw up. Sometimes I can't even talk about it. Absolutely disgusting.

OMG hot milk ::shudder:: My grandma used to make us a bowl of hot milk with Italian bread chunks and ricotta cheese in it for lunch sometimes. I could vomit just thinking about it.

[PRgal]

OMG hot milk ::shudder:: My grandma used to make us a bowl of hot milk with Italian bread chunks and ricotta cheese in it for lunch sometimes. I could vomit just thinking about it.

 

Milk, cheese and bread together sounds gross.  And I like milk and cheese.  Cheese and bread go together (I love my grilled cheese!!!), but the thought of having milk, bread AND cheese in the same bowl sounds...pukey...

[mansonlamps]

Milk, cheese and bread together sounds gross.  And I like milk and cheese.  Cheese and bread go together (I love my grilled cheese!!!), but the thought of having milk, bread AND cheese in the same bowl sounds...pukey...

Trust me...it was. Strangely enough my brother has very fond memories of this atrocity.

[Uncle Benzene]

Confession: I absolutely love surimi. (Specifically, the kind we here in North America tend to refer to as "krab" or "imitation lobster" or whatever.)

 

Heavily processed. I get it. "Mystery meat." I get it. The fish equivalent of hot dogs. I get it. Probably too much sodium, a bunch of additives and preservatives, main ingredient probably harvested via Burns OmniNet. And on and on like that. Maybe, if that's how you choose to look at it. But I'll be damned if that stuff isn't tasty.

 

I like to use it to make chowder. (Chowdah! Say it right!!!) Taters, onions, corn, homemade seafood stock, half & half, etc. It's freakin' delicious. But I tend to make it when I only have to feed myself, because I know what kind of reactions I'll get from others. "Ew! Fake fake fake!"

 

In fact, I just had that conversation with a friend because I'm making a big pot of it tonight and I figured I'd toss out the invite. And, as usual, I had to defend the "krab." Here's my thing: it ain't "fake shellfish" it's REAL FISH. I mean, sure, if I were trying to pass it off as crab or lobster, that would be one thing. But I'm not, I'm telling you straight up that it's fish paste. And if you don't like it, or otherwise choose not to consume it, then fine. No problem, to each one's own and all that. I'm just saying I reject "Ew! Fake!" as a valid objection.

 

I blame North American manufacturers. I mean, in Asia they have no problem calling it what it is. In the land of baseball, hot dogs and apple pie, are hot dogs "fake steak?" Of course not. We all know what hot dogs are, and that doesn't stop (most of) us from enjoying them from time to time. And while surimi might be basically the fish equivalent of hot dogs, and "hot dog soup" sounds (and probably is) nasty, in my opinion that doesn't apply with "krab." (Furthermore, give me a "krab stick" on a bun over a hot dog any day.)

 

Anyway, the point of all that bloviating is just to say... "Table for one! I will not apologize for my surimi chowdah! Don't want it? More for me!"

[mlp]

Surimi - It's good with cocktail sauce and a heck of a lot cheaper than the real stuff.  Not as good, of course, but perfectly acceptable IMO.  I used to belong to an email group with an elderly gentleman in Australia who loved the stuff.  He called it "seafood extender" and it became a running joke in the group.  He died a few years ago but, every time I think of surimi, I think of Jerry.

[potatoradio]

Ohhhhh! Fun! Perfect to write as I eat lunch and smell the offerings from my coworker's lunches. 

 

Unpopular Dislikes

 

Bacon (super salty combo of chewy flab and burned meat? Naw...you can have mine)

Pretzels (dry, tasteless, cardboard bits o' gross)

Croutons (see pretzels, except even the bit of spice doesn't make these better)

Thin crust pizza (not a fan of tomato sauce on friggin' crackers, thanks)

Grape-flavored purple candies (they DO TOO taste different; will gladly trade purple jellybeans for the black ones!)

Chamomile tea (how about I just drink hot water instead?)

Constant Comment/orange spice tea (Gack! Did they have to put the ENTIRE spice rack in this crap?)

Alfredo sauce (why, yes, I'd love a thick layer of goop that tastes like hot flour. Yum)

Vinegar (I know a little acid is supposed to perk up a salad, but it just makes my mouth hurt)

Honey (it's like caramel without the buttery flavor or saltiness - it's weird)

Hot and sour soup (see vinegar)

Pickles (there's a theme here...)

Clams and oysters (why did someone just blow their nose all over my plate?)

Berries (stop saying they're just as sweet as candy. They're not)

Green bean casserole 

Any salad that combines fruit and vegetables, including the popular spinach and strawberry version. Not a good combo. Brings back memories of my mom's "clean out the produce drawer" versions that included apple/orange/onion/mushroom. With Italian dressing. And croutons. That had to be eaten before any cake. Hard knock life. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PRgal]

Ohhhhh! Fun! Perfect to write as I eat lunch and smell the offerings from my coworker's lunches. 

 

Unpopular Dislikes

 

Bacon (super salty combo of chewy flab and burned meat? Naw...you can have mine)

Pretzels (dry, tasteless, cardboard bits o' gross)

Croutons (see pretzels, except even the bit of spice doesn't make these better)

Thin crust pizza (not a fan of tomato sauce on friggin' crackers, thanks)

Grape-flavored purple candies (they DO TOO taste different; will gladly trade purple jellybeans for the black ones!)

Chamomile tea (how about I just drink hot water instead?)

Constant Comment/orange spice tea (Gack! Did they have to put the ENTIRE spice rack in this crap?)

Alfredo sauce (why, yes, I'd love a thick layer of goop that tastes like hot flour. Yum)

Vinegar (I know a little acid is supposed to perk up a salad, but it just makes my mouth hurt)

Honey (it's like caramel without the buttery flavor or saltiness - it's weird)

Hot and sour soup (see vinegar)

Pickles (there's a theme here...)

Clams and oysters (why did someone just blow their nose all over my plate?)

Berries (stop saying they're just as sweet as candy. They're not)

Green bean casserole 

Any salad that combines fruit and vegetables, including the popular spinach and strawberry version. Not a good combo. Brings back memories of my mom's "clean out the produce drawer" versions that included apple/orange/onion/mushroom. With Italian dressing. And croutons. That had to be eaten before any cake. Hard knock life. 

 

What about soft pretzels?

[AltLivia]

I have been given such flack about not liking mayo. What thick, gloppy and tasteless grossness. Pickles, as well. As a result, I have never had potato salad or macaroni salad, because it has generous helpings of both.

 

Alfredo sauce (why, yes, I'd love a thick layer of goop that tastes like hot flour. Yum)

Agreed. Additionally, I hate it when there are gobs and gobs of tomato sauce on a pizza. Just enough to hold the cheese and toppings on, please.

I strongly dislike pineapple in savory foods, because I was forced to eat a lot of sweet and sour chicken as a child. Pineapple was prominently featured.

I can't stand pinto beans, unless they're hidden in a chili with tons of other beans and spices. I once had a standoff with my dad as a kid because I wouldn't eat them. I stared at my plate for hours. I wasn't intensely picky. This was the only stand I ever took.

I dislike cooked red/green peppers, unless it's in a stir fry with meat and plenty of seasoning. 

Deviled eggs. No. A thousand times no. 

I really don't care for ham. It's always tasted sickeningly sweet to me. 

I don't care for chocolate cake or ice cream, but oddly, I do love brownies.

 

Weird Likes:

No one in my family likes peas. I love them. 

I like vegetarian food, just for the taste of it.

I love different kinds of bread. Any flaky on the outside, soft on the inside bread and a little butter. That's all I really need. My friends find this incredibly strange.

Edited November 20, 2014 by AltLivia

[backformore]

I can't stand pinto beans, unless they're hidden in a chili with tons of other beans and spices. I once had a standoff with my dad as a kid because I wouldn't eat them. I stared at my plate for hours. I wasn't intensely picky. This was the only stand I ever took.

Are we related? My dad was a stickler about eating all your vegetables. We used to have CANNED mixed veggies. Truly awful stuff. I once lost the standoff and was forced to eat the lima beans I had separated out from the pile and tried to hide under a napkin. Since becoming an adult I have not eaten a lima bean. I've never served them to my kids, either.

And I never will.

Edited November 20, 2014 by backformore

[potatoradio]

 

What about soft pretzels?

 

Afraid not. I would definitely pick a soft pretzel over a bag of hard ones, but they are still, somehow, tasteless to me. Weird, because I am a bread fanatic, so I always thought I'd love soft pretzels, but nope. And I don't like the "cheese" sauce, either. Now that I think about it, I might have a hard time on the East coast! Don't like pretzels, don't like thin crust or New York style pizza, don't like cheesesteak "cheese," and don't like clams or mussels. But I love lobster and crab, so maybe that means I should just hide up in Maine? :)

 

 

[callie lee 29]

Apple juice. The taste, the smell, it makes me vomit.

[Jazzy24]

Dislikes

-Beans: I've always hated beans I still hold a grudge against my grandma when I broke my wrist she made me eat beans, ugh.

-Coffee: nasty I hate the smell and taste ugh

-Tea: ugh

-Peas are mushy and taste like throw up to me ugh

-Grape flavored anything taste like cough syrup

-Peanut butter is becoming gross to me

-Any diet soda I can taste the difference and it's gross

-Tofu that's just nasty

-Dark chocolate and chocolate ice cream yuck!!

-Black licorice

-cooked fruit not a fan

Likes

-I love seafood

-spicy foods are my love

-love olives

-I like most vegetables I can eat almost any salad

-I like hot chocolate only with real milk

Edited November 24, 2014 by Jazzy24

[Wings]

I like all food, really everything.  There are some foods I don't choose to cook or order in a restaurant but to say I hate them is an overstatement.  

 

Italian food is crap to me.  A big plate of tomato sauce does not appeal.  A high end restaurant that serves northern Italian food is a different story.  

 

Chinese food is not a favorite of mine.  No one makes their own egg rolls anymore.  :-(   Their menus are too big to have anything fresh. 

 

Ahhhh!  I found something I don't like.  Baby corn!  It just tastes canned.  

[PRgal]

 

 

Italian food is crap to me.  A big plate of tomato sauce does not appeal.  A high end restaurant that serves northern Italian food is a different story.  

 

Chinese food is not a favorite of mine.  No one makes their own egg rolls anymore.  :-(   Their menus are too big to have anything fresh. 

 

 

 

I agree with re: Italian.  It has to be more "authentic."  As for Chinese food, it's next to impossible to find egg rolls in Toronto these days, probably because they're butchered, North American versions of spring rolls.  Most of the North Americanized Chinese places are long gone and have been replaced by authentic Hong Kong restaurants, thanks to immigration.  OK, I lied.  You can readily find "egg rolls" in Toronto, but it's not what non-Chinese people think of as egg rolls.  To an average Hong Konger or Hong Kong-Canadian, "egg rolls" are cookies - think cannoli without filling.  Wikipedia calls them biscuit rolls.

[ALenore]

An interesting article on the subject of this forum: Polarizing Foods, Why Do People Love or Loathe Certain Tastes? http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/11/food_preferences_and_aversions_cilantro_cranberry_sauce_stuffing_olives.html

[Wings]

An interesting article on the subject of this forum: Polarizing Foods, Why Do People Love or Loathe Certain Tastes? http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/11/food_preferences_and_aversions_cilantro_cranberry_sauce_stuffing_olives.html

 

 

I don't think conclusions can be drawn. I was born and raised in the Midwest and spent my adult, child rearing years in MA until I moved to FL where good food is next to impossible to find.  

 

I am a foodie and have an adventurous tastes.  My mother was an excellent cook and never made the typical casseroles from the 50s that so many love.  Some  aversion to foods is not being exposed to sophisticated options.  And there are always exceptions, of course.  The only seasoning in my husband's childhood home was salt and vegetables were canned.  I opened his world!  

 

My biggest problem with food is paying $25 for an entree and getting a frozen offering from Sysco (restaurant supplier).  If I have a hankering for chicken croquettes I head to a diner.  They are frozen and I am fine with that because I expect it and the price is fair.  

[ALenore]

My mother was an excellent cook and never made the typical casseroles from the 50s that so many love.

 

My mother did make those casseroles, I never liked them much.  I taught myself to try adventrous options, trying all sorts of things from cookbooks and newspaper recipes.   

The only seasoning in my husband's childhood home was salt and vegetables were canned.  I opened his world!

 

Same with my husband.  He never liked vegetable much until I made them for him,  all the vegetable he had as a child were always cooked to death and over salted.  

[Shannon L.]

Ok, here's one for the holidays:  I'm not a big fan of most Thanksgiving dinner staples:  Turkey?  it's ok, but I prefer it as leftovers for sandwiches.  Yams?  Meh.  Cranberry sauce?  No thank you.  Stuffing?  I can choke down some recipes (and Stove Top), but most of them, no way.  Green bean casserole (is that what it's called?)?  Meh. Pumpkin and apple pie?  Blech.

 

 

I could, however, live on mashed potatoes, corn, biscuits and gravy.

[Wings]

Ok, here's one for the holidays:  I'm not a big fan of most Thanksgiving dinner staples:  Turkey?  it's ok, but I prefer it as leftovers for sandwiches.  Yams?  Meh.  Cranberry sauce?  No thank you.  Stuffing?  I can choke down some recipes (and Stove Top), but most of them, no way.  Green bean casserole (is that what it's called?)?  Meh. Pumpkin and apple pie?  Blech.

 

 

I could, however, live on mashed potatoes, corn, biscuits and gravy.

 

 

So screw low carb eating, eh?  :>D

[Shannon L.]

 

So screw low carb eating, eh?  :>D

Carbs are the best!  :)  When I was pregnant, that's all I craved.  It makes this dieting thing really tough.

[Wings]

Carbs are the best!  :)  When I was pregnant, that's all I craved.  It makes this dieting thing really tough.

 

 

I love them too.  Crave them and write love letters in my mind to bread.  White bread.  Good white bread, crusty with yeasty chewy interior.  I steer clear of wheat bread. I don't trust it.  It just sits there looking sneaky.  

[annzeepark914]

*snip&

Alfredo sauce (why, yes, I'd love a thick layer of goop that tastes like hot flour. Yum)

*snip*

Wow - you must never have had home made Alfredo sauce; it's divine!  I once made the mistake of ordering Fettucini Alfredo in an Italian restaurant (to be fair, it wasn't a very good restaurant) and it was so awful I couldn't eat it (looked like pale cheese whiz on top of pasta).  I make Fettucini Alfredo maybe once a year as it's OTT in cholesterol & use freshly grated Parmesan.  Delicious :>)

 

I agree with the comments about manufacturers destroying those wonderful childhood treats by using cheap ingredients and also adding preservatives.  Used to love Hostess cupcakes back in the day (chocolate as well as the orange ones). Today the frosting is as "chewy" as the faux chocolate topping on Eskimo bars (it's as though you're chewing gum). 

 

Pancakes.  I don't know how people can order pancakes at diners or IHOP,etc.  They're so heavy and sat in my stomach like a lead balloon. So this past summer, while staying at a B&B, I was leery of eating the pancake they delivered to my table (they said the pancakes were light as they were made with cottage cheese...oh Lawdy, help me be polite so I can eat this).  Well...they were right. It was the lightest pancake I'd ever had in my life & very tasty. So, why can't diners and IHOP make light pancakes?

 

Oatmeal.  It's like paste.  And what is the stuff that follows the spoonful of oatmeal up to the eater's mouth?  It looks like saliva. Nasty.

[Wings]

I adore cottage cheese pancakes!  They are an xmas morning staple and for special occasions. 

 

http://www.dramaticpancake.com/2012/07/brent-cottage-cheese-pancakes/

 

Martha Stewart has a good recipe too, that does not require the egg whites be beaten. 

 

I never use vegetable oil (obviously!) and I use full fat products, never reduced or fat free anything.  

Edited November 28, 2014 by wings707

[annzeepark914]

@wings707:  Thanks for the recipe link. This looks good!

[Wings]

@wings707:  Thanks for the recipe link. This looks good!

 

 

It is a good way to get protein into my vegetarian granddaughter, too.   They are delicious, I like them with butter, powdered sugar and a squeeze of lemon.  YUM

[Janet Snakehole]

I don't really like any sweet breakfast foods, like waffles, pancakes, donuts. I like savory stuff and eggs far more.

I hate chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream. Real dark chocolate is good. Weirdly, I love white chocolate.

I don't eat bacon bc I won't eat pig meat, but the taste is OK. However, I am tired of the trendiness of bacon and how people act like you murdered their family if you turn it down or don't like it.

Not a fan of thanksgiving food other than stuffing. It is all bland and lays like a brick in my stomach.

I love any and all cheese, but milk is the most disgusting and foul food or beverage ever. I hate looking at it, the sight makes me want to throw up. Watching people drink it makes me twitch.

[Mindymoo]

I'm with you on the milk thing, Janet Snakehole. I am lactose intolerant, but will eat cheese like crazy. Milk, however, is repulsive to even look at. It is just vile. I find it so weird that we are the only species that continues to drink milk outside of infancy, and that will drink the milk of other animals. I also hate sweet breakfast foods. The only pancakes I like are potato pancakes, and those aren't a breakfast food. Donuts are okay as a dessert, but not as a breakfast. And they have to be the right kind of donut too. Those fluffy greasy ones are nasty, but the cake donuts you get from an actual bakery are delicious.

 

I hate gravy. The only time gravy is any good is when it's on poutine. But on beef? Chicken? Turkey? Mashed potatoes? Count me out.

[potatoradio]

 

Wow - you must never have had home made Alfredo sauce; it's divine!

 

Guilty! Nope, I've just had it in restaurants; am notoriously bad at making my own sauces, but good to know it's actually supposed to taste like Parmesan cheese!

 

 

Used to love Hostess cupcakes back in the day (chocolate as well as the orange ones). Today the frosting is as "chewy" as the faux chocolate topping on Eskimo bars (it's as though you're chewing gum).

 

Oh, this makes me so sad. I loved the orange cupcakes. I tried Zingers again recently (um...well, OK, six years ago) and thought they were OK. 

 

Speaking of frosting/cakes - I hate, HATE fondant and "light, whipped" frosting. I'd like the old-fashioned, super sweet buttercream, please. No need to have "light, airy, refreshing" frosting. It's FROSTING. I thought I was going to tear my hair out looking for a baker that would make a cake with traditional buttercream frosting and not the trendy "whipped" crap. 

 

 

I use full fat products, never reduced or fat free anything

Same. I was a victim of the Susan Powter fat free stop the insanity craze during my  college years. Ate so much fat free ranch dressing I convinced myself that the delicious chemical taste was good for me. I also consumed enough aspartame that I'm probably a ticking time bomb for brain damage or genetic rearrangement or whatever happens when you consume an unholy amount of substitute instead of learning to eat sugar in moderation. So, no sugar substitutes, either. 

 

 

I hate gravy.

 

Me, too. Any kind - brown, white - on anything. I generally like the food underneath enough that I don't want a coating of tasteless fatty grossness on top of it. 

 

Oh, and I can live with dry turkey. I know it's supposed to ruin a holiday meal, but I just take comfort in knowing it is well done. 

[backformore]

My biggest problem with food is paying $25 for an entree and getting a frozen offering from Sysco (restaurant supplier).  If I have a hankering for chicken croquettes I head to a diner.  They are frozen and I am fine with that because I expect it and the price is fair.

 

RIGHT!   I remember Gyros sandwiches being made with crispy, chewy meat that tasted wonderful. And different Gyros places had their own twist on it, each one slightly different.   Then, suddenly  - ALL Gyros tasted alike, at every place in Chicago.  I asked at one restaurant why they changed the recipe, and was told that the gyros meat they bought was no longer made at the restaurant, that it was cheaper to buy the pre-made loaf stuff and then put it on the spit to finish it.  Every place bought the same stuff.  that was the first time I realized that restaurants were not MAKING their own food.   Then I found a sarah lee  outlet store where you could buy these whole (pre-sliced)  fancy mousse layer cakes and tortes for under $20 - and they were the identical cakes that restaurants buy, and sell at $5+ per slice.  Restaurants had "signature"  cakes that drew customers in - and the cakes were Sarah Lee!

 

Used to love Hostess cupcakes back in the day (chocolate as well as the orange ones). Today the frosting is as "chewy" as the faux chocolate topping on Eskimo bars (it's as though you're chewing gum).

Yeah,  transfat and preservatives, with maybe a TINY bit of cocoa.   It doesn't taste like chocolate, because it isn't.  In fact, people are so fooled by the COLOR of chocolate, they convince themselves that it's chocolate.   Some packaged stuff says "chocolate-flavored" instead of chocolate, which translates to - no actual chocolate, but plenty of brown color. 

[Crs97]

RIGHT!   I remember Gyros sandwiches being made with crispy, chewy meat that tasted wonderful. And different Gyros places had their own twist on it, each one slightly different.   Then, suddenly  - ALL Gyros tasted alike, at every place in Chicago.  I asked at one restaurant why they changed the recipe, and was told that the gyros meat they bought was no longer made at the restaurant, that it was cheaper to buy the pre-made loaf stuff and then put it on the spit to finish it.

 

 

My friend and I took a cooking class at a top restaurant in Houston decades ago.  The head chef/owner who was supposed to teach the class that morning bailed on us, leaving us with the sous chef.  As people started to get angry (it was expensive and billed as cooking with that head chef), the sous chef tried to make it up to us by letting us have the run of the kitchen and allowing us to go through the fridge and grab whatever we wanted.  We were supposed to cook 2-3 things and ended up cooking and eating 7-8.  When I was in the fridge, I was surprised that most of the soups and sauces were packaged from a restaurant supplier.  The chef said that they just added some fresh herbs and seasonings.  It seemed like everything we asked about making he said they started with a commercial base.  The morning was fun (I didn't really care who taught the class), but I was disappointed to find out how much of their menu relied on frozen, commercially-produced products, and I don't think I ever went back to that restaurant again.

[WendyCR72]

Oh, @potatoradio, I love your post just for this part alone:

 

Speaking of frosting/cakes - I hate, HATE fondant and "light, whipped" frosting. I'd like the old-fashioned, super sweet buttercream, please. No need to have "light, airy, refreshing" frosting. It's FROSTING. I thought I was going to tear my hair out looking for a baker that would make a cake with traditional buttercream frosting and not the trendy "whipped" crap.

 

I haaaaaaaaate the whipped cream "frosting". Bleah! Buttercream ALL THE WAY! No substitutions! (Unless it's a chocolate cake/frosting deal!)

[partofme]

I'm a very picky eater and did not outgrow it when I grew up.  Foods I loathe include:

 

Ketchup
Tuna
Spinach
Mustard
Mayo
Chinese Food
Mexican Food
Brussel Sprouts
Cheerios
Any cheese not on pizza
Vinegar
Any salad dressing
Jelly
Raisins
Relish
Any egg other than hardboiled
White bread slices (like wonder bread)
Toast
Sour cream
Butter on bread( I only like butter in baked potatoes, on corn on the cob and cooked into things)
Strawberries

Cold cuts

Edited December 3, 2014 by partofme

[janestclair]

Oh god, fondant. Blech.  Actually the entire notion of fancy cakes is vile to me.  Why do I want to eat a cake that 3 different bakers have had their hands all over in the process of creating it?  Yuck.  Cake is supposed to taste good, that is all. I don't need it to be sculpted in the shape of a cartoon character. 

[JTMacc99]

Heh. That's a pretty good list partofme. So if you wanted a sandwich for lunch, what would it be? 

[PRgal]

Another thing I don't like:  the savoury soy milk that some Shanghainese or Taiwanese style restaurants serve.  They tend to have yaotiu (savoury fried dough, kind of like churros) slices floating in them as well as chili oil.  Ummmm.... WHY?

[partofme]

Heh. That's a pretty good list partofme. So if you wanted a sandwich for lunch, what would it be?

I don't generally eat sandwiches but if I did it would be bacon, either on whole wheat or rye.

[annzeepark914]

Ugh...fondant.  Will this disgusting faux food ever go out of fashion?  I only had it once and only because it was on a slice of wedding cake (had never had fondant nor heard of it before) back in 1998.  The cake was beautiful but that fondant was beyond inedible.  I pulled it away from the cake and just ate the cake.  I guess this means to a lot of people that the look of the cake is more important than the taste?  That stuff cannot be good for our digestive systems. Blech.  Ptooey!

 

Jelly beans, especially black jelly beans.  So OTT sweet and overly chewy.  Miracle Whip (why does this exist when we already have mayonnaise?) I just don't understand...soooo icky sweet.

 

Omelets and scrambled eggs that are a little too watery or oozy (pleeeeeze...they must be fluffy! no ooze).  Oh, and stuffed French toast.  They always serve stuff like this at B&B's and the owners are so proud of their creations.  Can't I please have my French toast plain? (from now on I intend to make that request ;>)

[Qoass]

I once made a FABULOUS birthday cake for a friend with fondant.  We all raved over how it looked but I told her to feel free to eat the cake but stay the heck away from the frosting/decorations.  Too much messing around on the kitchen counter and heaven only knows what's really in those food coloring pastes and sugars...

[Mittengirl]

I saw a show about Disney World weddings on some cable channel and of course the weddings were all princessy, Cinderella type extravaganzas. They would wheel out the eleventy-seven layer fondanted-all-to-hell cake for the cake-cutting ceremony, then wheel it in the back, take it apart, peel off the fondant and then slather it in buttercream and pipe on a few quick decorations, then cut it for serving. It made sense to me, but seems like a waste of money.

[Wings]

I saw a show about Disney World weddings on some cable channel and of course the weddings were all princessy, Cinderella type extravaganzas. They would wheel out the eleventy-seven layer fondanted-all-to-hell cake for the cake-cutting ceremony, then wheel it in the back, take it apart, peel off the fondant and then slather it in buttercream and pipe on a few quick decorations, then cut it for serving. It made sense to me, but seems like a waste of money.

 

 

I attended a wedding, the only good one I have EVER attended.  Poached salmon, noodle kugel (never had one this good), roast beef and tons more.  The buffet was beyond excellent.  They rolled out a cake to have the cutting/feeding ritual and it disappeared.  Waiters brought trays of assorted pastries to each table that were FABULOUS!  It was clearly a nicely decorated cardboard cake with a small area in the bottom layer to cut.  Loved that idea.  They probably have those to rent.  It looked beautiful, you would never know. 

 

It was a Jewish wedding and I have vowed never to attend a Christian or other wedding again.  They know how to do it.  First there is cocktail time and hors d'ouvres were passed by waiters on sliver trays, then the brief ceremony outside.  When finished we went back into the same room that had been transformed into the dinning room.  The venue was beautiful, too.  THAT is the way to do them.  Usually the guests are tortured with lots of waiting time and horrible sit down diners (why do people do that?) and lousy cake.  

Edited December 4, 2014 by wings707