# Any Food Feuds You Know of?  Where do You Stand on Them?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 19, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663 "2017-07-19T18:06:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![SacFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@SacFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SacFly)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/61 "2017-07-20T02:54:06Z")

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> [@Loach](#):
>
> Pork roll vs Taylor Ham. In the northeast part of New Jersey they call it Taylor Ham. The rest of the state calls it pork roll. I’m from the border region hence my location. It’s pork roll by the way but whatever you think it’s called it’s part of the best breakfast sandwich ever.

Pork roll, egg, and cheese, salt, pepper, ketchup, on a roll. Breakfast of champions…

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**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/62 "2017-07-20T03:04:06Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> (snip)  
> The one point on which the South is just wrong is sweet tea, which takes the worst components of tea flavor, turns them up to 11, and throws the rest out. Making the result so sickly sweet that you can stand a spoon up in it not only does not cover for this sin; it makes it worse.

Now see, you’re making the common but reasonable Yankee mistake of thinking that sweet tea has anything at all to do with _Camellia sinensis_. It only shares a name with tea; it’s really just brown Kool Aid, and designed to give us that last little push over the top into full-blown diabetes.

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/63 "2017-07-20T03:12:49Z")

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Chili requires its own thread.

I’ve made chili 50 different ways over the course of my cooking life…No beans, no onion, no tomato…with all three, or parts thereof…chopped cheap steak and ground beef…pinto beans, black beans, small red beans…Texas styles, New Mexican styles, Cincinnati styles, New England styles…

I have settled into a version that my family likes and is conducive to applying leftovers to chili dogs:  
A base of ground beef, an onion, LOTS of garlic, LOTS of chile peppers toasted soaked and mashed, a MINIMUM of tomato, cumin, oregano…simmered for several hours, then add CANNED RED KIDNEY BEANS.

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**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/64 "2017-07-20T03:17:54Z")

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Clams with tomatoes are ambrosia. Order a plate of Vongole Posillipo at any red-sauce Italian restaurant in New York, Chicago, or San Francisco.

I also love a good New England clam chowder…had a bowl two weeks ago in Hull’s Cover, Maine. Rhode Island style is even better.

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/65 "2017-07-20T03:37:57Z")

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> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#):
>
> Never! The sausage is salty, the pickle spear is salty…why do you want to dump _more_ salt on it?

Which is exactly why I eat hotdogs/polish sausage with ketchup: the sweetness of the ketchup helps cut the saltiness of the dog. Sweet relish can also help, but the fullness/roundness of the ketchup really complements the flavor of the hotdog. No other sausage that I can conceive of would be well-served by ketchup, though.

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**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/66 "2017-07-20T03:41:56Z")

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> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#):
>
> Chili requires its own thread.
> 
> I’ve made chili 50 different ways over the course of my cooking life…No beans, no onion, no tomato…with all three, or parts thereof…chopped cheap steak and ground beef…pinto beans, black beans, small red beans…Texas styles, New Mexican styles, Cincinnati styles, New England styles…
> 
> I have settled into a version that my family likes and is conducive to applying leftovers to chili dogs:  
> A base of ground beef, an onion, LOTS of garlic, LOTS of chile peppers toasted soaked and mashed, a MINIMUM of tomato, cumin, oregano…simmered for several hours, then add **CANNED RED KIDNEY BEANS.**

Hurl!!!  
Pinto beans only.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/67 "2017-07-20T03:55:01Z")

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> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> Hurl!!!  
> Pinto beans only.

Gotta disagree. If you are going to commit heresy, then red or pink kidney beans are the way to go. Pintos are what you want to serve _alongside_ proper chili, which has no fucking beans in it! 😃

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**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/68 "2017-07-20T05:28:26Z")

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> [@JcWoman](#):
>
> Sugar does not belong within ten miles of cornbread. That northern USA habit of putting sugar in the cornbread recipe makes it nasty and inedible. Much prefer the southern style where it’s left savory.
> 
> Also, I can’t for the life of me figure out why people pollute a good sweet potato recipe (or even just a baked one) with sugar. “Hmm, this naturally sweet ball of delicious vegetable isn’t sweet enough, let’s add a pound of brown sugar!” :mad: Oh, and marshmallows. :smack:

Disagree with you on the cornbread; I like a vaguely sweet cornbread, but only just. Sweet potatoes definitely need no brown sugar or eww–marshmallow. S/P, maybe a drizzle of butter or sesame oil.

Hellman’s is the only true mayo, besides my own, when I can be arsed to make some. Even so, I think I prefer Hellman’s.

Chicago deep dish is its own thing. Don’t compare it to pizza in general. It is delicious and probably doesn’t qualify as pizza as such, but it is a yummy food when done right.

There are 4000 kinds of mustard and I like just about everything I’ve tried; I just don’t have the fridge/pantry space. Even Plochman’s yellow. They all have a food they are suited well for. My absolute favorite is Edmund Fallot Dijon, but it’s a trifle overwhelming on some foods (it’s pretty damned hot). Excellent on a boring ham and cheese sandwich, but, i.e., a bratwurst is better served by a stoneground milder mustard, like Zatarain’s Creole or Gulden’s.

On the rare occasions I am compelled to order a hamburger out–please do not sneak barbecue sauce on it. It does not belong. Particularly if you are also putting cheese and vegetables on the sandwich!!! I could maybe understand A-1 sauce, but not that smoky ketchup garbage you call barbecue. Please stop sneaking it onto my twice-yearly fast-food burger that otherwise sounds pretty good.

Chili: I am pretty ecumenical when it comes to chili, and I make several versions. There is Midwest chili, with ground beef and lotsa tomatoes and some sort of beans, and there is Texas-ish chili which is mostly peppers and braised beef. Then there’s my in between versions, and also green New Mexico style chili. It’s all good.

Last, and this is particularly addressed to my teenaged children: French fries, cereal, tofu dogs and Oreos do not a healthy vegan diet make. Get outta here. You want to be vegan? Eat some damned vegetables. I probably eat 4x as much vegetables as you do with my omnivore diet you scorn.

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**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/69 "2017-07-20T06:09:19Z")

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[Lefse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefse): a tasty soft Scandinavian flatbread made with potatoes. it’s best simply with butter but can be eaten many ways with many foods from many different cuisines.

Just do NOT put sugar on it.

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**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/70 "2017-07-20T06:29:00Z")

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I don’t like food all that much. I have very narrow and somewhat childish tastes in food, and I frankly don’t care what anybody eats. It’s your stomach, eat whatever you like. Try not to do it to excess, exercise a bit to mitigate the worst of it, but whatever, go for what makes your mouth water.

In return, please do not tell me what to eat, what not to eat, and, maybe most importantly at all, which foodstuffs are good for me, because that in particular, according to nutrition science, changes from month to month. Good things are now bad, bad things are now good.

Eat in moderation. As long as it doesn’t make you sick, who gives a monkey’s left knuckle?

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**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/71 "2017-07-20T06:30:59Z")

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> [@NDP](#):
>
> [Lefse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lefse): a tasty soft Scandinavian flatbread made with potatoes. it’s best simply with butter but can be eaten many ways with many foods from many different cuisines.
> 
> Just do NOT put sugar on it.

Never had it, but sounds yummy to me (if I’m not watching my  
carb intake). Would sour cream on top be bad? Because it looks like something I would want to put a smear of sour cream on.

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**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/72 "2017-07-20T07:48:35Z")

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> [@Elemenopy](#):
>
> Never had it, but sounds yummy to me (if I’m not watching my  
> carb intake). Would sour cream on top be bad? Because it looks like something I would want to put a smear of sour cream on.

By all means, go ahead (just don’t add sugar :mad:). In fact, a wrap or burrito made with lefse would probably taste quite good. I only problem I can think of is lefse doesn’t hold together as well as a flour tortilla.

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**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/73 "2017-07-20T08:33:08Z")

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Hard shelled tacos vs soft shelled tacos

Soft shelled proponents argue hard shelled tacos are inauthentic and aren’t real tacos because in real Mexican/Hispanic food it was always soft shelled tacos that were eaten and hard shelled tacos are an American commercial invention.

Regular people say who gives a shit, they taste good.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/74 "2017-07-20T09:12:52Z")

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Speaking as someone who has only begun to be exposed to Mexican food recently - how the hell are you supposed to eat hard shelled tacos, anyway? You take one bite, they crack and crumble and then your hand is full of filling.

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**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/75 "2017-07-20T10:33:34Z")

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> [@squidfood](#):
>
> In & Out versus Five Guys has started a few wars.

There is a case for mutually assured destruction then…

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**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/76 "2017-07-20T11:21:42Z")

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> [@Alessan](#):
>
> Speaking as someone who has only begun to be exposed to Mexican food recently - how the hell are you supposed to eat hard shelled tacos, anyway? You take one bite, they crack and crumble and then your hand is full of filling.

Exactly. I’ve got no dog in the hard shell-soft shell fight, but I always eat soft shell, just for that reason. Hard taco shells are just really big tortilla chips, and I prefer my chips on the side.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/77 "2017-07-20T11:30:48Z")

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Currently in the whatsapp list of Mensa Zaragoza (and surroundings), whether potato omelette should or should not have onion (which is used as a preservative). I consider that in general no, but if you’re taking it for a picnic then it should have a little (enough to preserve, not enough to be noticed). I haven’t expressed this opinion in the list because it would get me lynched by both sides.

Any time potato omelette comes up there is also the question of whether it should be wet or dry. I am firmly on the wet side, as are all peoples of good taste.

And if someone claims to be from Valencia, ask whether paella should have green peas. If they say yes, they’re imposters from Castellón (where they put green peas on everything); if they sputter and finally call for the guts of whomever made such a suggestion to use as garters, they truly are from Valencia and may even be able to make a decent paella. I’m on the side of “there actually is more than one recipe for paella (as you can see by simply looking at the meny of any paella restaurant), but paella valenciana (like any other proper paella) definitely does not include green peas.”

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**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/78 "2017-07-20T12:25:17Z")

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> [@Grrr](#):
>
> A thin crust Pizza Hut Pizza isn’t just better than any NY pizza… it’s WAY better than any NY pizza.

Every word in that sentence is English, but when you put all of those words together in the order that they did, they make no sense.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/79 "2017-07-20T12:51:01Z")

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**silenus** , if you don’t want to taste clams, then why eat clam chowder at all? I think we can all agree on a good bowl of just plain tomato soup.

Rhode Island style (that’s the kind with the clear broth, right?) is acceptable, but I grew up with New England style, so that’s got the comfort-food edge for me.

**Elemenopy** , vaguely sweet cornbread is what you get if you add no sugar at all. Corn has a little bit of sweetness itself.

And I’ll agree with you that there are many different good mustards, which go with different foods, and there isn’t enough cupboard space to stock them all, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say that all of them have their place. Anything that American yellow mustard is good for, brown deli mustard is better, and Bertman’s Ballpark is the king of the brown mustards.

**Asuka** , I think that the best taco option is the double-wrap, a hard shell with a soft shell wrapped around it (maybe a thin layer of refried beans in between to glue them together). That way, you get the crunch, but the soft shell keeps it from falling apart. But I won’t argue with either style.

Oh, and the Cola Wars: I prefer Pepsi over Coke, but RC over both of them. But I’ll take any of them over anything diet, which invariably tastes utterly foul. Oh, and would it kill the stores/vending machines to offer a caffeine-free but non-diet version? Sometimes I’d like to drink a cola in the evening.

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**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-food-feuds-you-know-of-where-do-you-stand-on-them/791663/80 "2017-07-20T12:54:47Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Sometimes I’d like to drink a cola in the evening.

I usually just add rum to counteract the caffeine.

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