# Best and Worst Appetizer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 28, 2023, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257 "2023-12-28T05:25:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/101 "2023-12-30T01:14:26Z")
Every “southern tip of S-America” BBQ is being kicked off with a choripan … (choripan in right hand, vino tinto in the left) those - often outclass the carne asada … . [![](https://www.grillseeker.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/choripan-on-cutting-board-recipe-card.jpg) ](https://www.grillseeker.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/choripan-on-cutting-board-recipe-card.jpg) . best thing of those BBQs … you know you are in for 8+ hours of eating … ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/102 "2023-12-30T01:17:36Z")
That looks fabulous! ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/103 "2023-12-30T01:22:42Z")
Take equal parts chopped cooked bacon, chopped walnuts, fine chopped onion, and shredded cheddar cheese. Bind together with mayo. Put spoonfuls onto squares of standard white bread (eg Pepperidge farm) with crusts removed, bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Not sure what they’re called but they are always a hit ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/104 "2023-12-30T01:25:45Z")
Those look fantastic but are they apps? Not that I care much, I want one. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2023, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/105 "2023-12-30T01:27:29Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > Ididnt even know they made jarred cocktail sauce. I had only ever had what we mixed ourselves, Ketchup, horseradish and worcestershire sauce. If you can find Heinz Chili Sauce, use it instead of ketchup in your recipe. It’s like their ketchup, but less sweet. Makes great cocktail sauce. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/106 "2023-12-30T02:58:50Z")
No, I was referring to the _Somebody Somewhere_ St. Louis Sushi. It’s a special variation! > [@needscoffee](#): > > If you can find Heinz Chili Sauce, use it instead of ketchup in your recipe. It’s like their ketchup, but less sweet. Makes great cocktail sauce. Yeah, we use Heinz Chili Sauce for those “dump something on a block of Philly cream cheese” things. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/107 "2023-12-30T03:34:40Z")
Note: avoid avoid avoid “Louisiana” brand cocktail sauce. Normally I mix my own cocktail sauce containing ketchup and a liberal amount of ground horseradish root. I made the mistake at the supermarket of being tempted to try a small bottle of the “Louisiana” stuff which listed horseradish in its ingredients. They must’ve just exposed the contents to a photo of a horseradish root, for the sauce was disgustingly sweet with no discernible horseradish bite. Blurgh. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/108 "2023-12-30T04:12:44Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > They must’ve just exposed the contents to a photo of a horseradish root, for the sauce was disgustingly sweet with no discernible horseradish bite. Homeopathic horseradish, says I, nodding sagely. See my earlier comments about cocktail sauces that taste like _sweeter_ ketchup and that’s all you can detect. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/109 "2023-12-30T05:48:34Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > For worst-- how about meatballs in a sauce that’s half BBQ sauce, half grape jelly? > > (_Timidly_…) Um, I kinda like those. I work at a ~~restaurant~~ local pizza joint, and New Year’s Eve is our busiest night. By tradition, the manager brings in snacks to feed the crew, cuz it’s “all hands on deck” that night and nobody really has time to eat properly amidst the chaos. Last year (my first NYE there) she brought in the grape jelly meatballs, and I was SO EXCITED. I just asked her tonight if she was for sure making them again, and was reassured that she would, in fact, have them ready. I told her semi-seriously that those - and her taco eggrolls - are the only reason I’ll be showing up that night. (Before anyone asks … Fuck if I can remember the details of the taco eggroll, I managed to snag _one_ a year ago and the details have been lost to the misty haze of my trash can memory. I just remember it being delishush. Will report back with details after the NYE. Someone, remind me?) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/110 "2023-12-30T05:54:10Z")
The recipe I’ve had, and it’s actually very good, was meatballs in half grape jelly and half chili sauce. I don’t know who came up with it, either. I think it’s also one of those things where using certain brands is absolutely necessary or it won’t come out right. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/111 "2023-12-30T06:00:15Z")
I used to live in a place where a farmer’s market vendor sold duck eggs. They’re much yolkier than a hen’s egg, and the shells are rubbery and harder to crack. I have also heard of people using avocado in deviled eggs. Those sound like something that probably tastes MUCH better than it looks. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/112 "2023-12-30T11:49:27Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Those look fantastic but are they apps? > > Not that I care much, I want one. in the sense of “thats not an appetizer … THAT is an appetizer”, its job is to get the GI juices flowing and prepare your body for what is coming - so yes … mind you, we are talking countryside BBQ scenario, here what might throw you off is the fact that is by no means a _petite bouche_. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/113 "2023-12-30T12:20:35Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The recipe I’ve had, and it’s actually very good, was meatballs in half grape jelly and half chili sauce. Yeah, I originally said BBQ sauce, but I believe the canonical ingredient is Heinz brand chili sauce with the jelly. And yes, in a subsequent post I did admit it was actually pretty good, but I was trying to think of a “worst appetizer” and never having met an appetizer I didn’t like, that was the best, as in worst, I could come up with. It’s worse in concept than in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/114 "2023-12-30T12:32:41Z")
Do you have a recipe you will share with us? (please say yes) ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/115 "2023-12-30T13:12:29Z")
well, to be honest, there isn’t much of a recipe to it … you take a bbq’d “chorizo” (a spicy bratwurst) and put it into a crunchy piece of white bread (think: baguette) and then you add the: chimichurri (argentine), pebre (chilean) or pico-de-gallo (elsewhere?) … which is basically all the same thing (with minor local colorite) just finely chopped tomatoes/onions/cilantro-leaves/sometimes a bit of avocado to make it creamier and merkén (smoked hot pepper flakes)… [![](https://headbng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Choripan.jpg) ](https://headbng.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Choripan.jpg) [![](https://myfriendstaci.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/choripan_finished2.jpg?w=660) ](https://myfriendstaci.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/choripan_finished2.jpg?w=660) best if you only use 1/2 of the chorizo (sliced lenthwise) - to make for easier eating (things won’t fall apart as easily) traditionally people dig the soft part of the baguette out to make space for the corizo and throw the soft bread to the dogs … ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/116 "2023-12-30T13:29:09Z")
I always had a thing for sausage cheese balls. It’s a classic from the 60s/70s. When I make them for office parties the older people all love them. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/117 "2023-12-30T13:42:33Z")
Yesterday Mrs. Solost just happened to make her signature app / snack / side dish that I love: a spicy Asian-style edamame. I will share the recipe: Ingredients- soybeans in the pod, red chili pepper flakes (or, a heaping spoonful or two of chili crisp would work very well), soy sauce, garlic finely minced or run though a garlic press, peanut oil. Other things can be added depending on how creative you want to get. Minced fresh ginger would be good. Maybe a couple drops of toasted sesame oil to finish after cooking it. Add all ingredients to a pan (soybeans stay in the pod) and cook covered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens enough to stick to and coat the soybean pods. The edamame is consumed by holding a pod at one end and raking the pod through one’s teeth, pulling the beans out of the pod and getting the flavors from the outside of the pod, then discarding the pod part. See if you have enough self-control to not eat the entire batch at once. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/118 "2023-12-30T15:42:18Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I have also heard of people using avocado in deviled eggs. Those sound like something that probably tastes MUCH better than it looks. Hey, I have a couple of hard-boiled eggs that need eating, and some guacamole on hand. That gives me an idea… ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/119 "2023-12-30T16:44:11Z")
Never made it, but have been told Heinz chili sauce is mandatory for grape meatballs. Don’t know nothin’ about no stirring. _Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse._ ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257/120 "2023-12-30T16:49:15Z")
I’ve never made or eaten that meatballs in chili sauce and grape jelly thing but wonder about the idea of not stirring. It seems that the ingredients wouldn’t be mixed. Or is that the idea? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-appetizer/995257.md?page=7)