# Ever try a food because of a movie/show/song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 29, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125 "2011-04-29T04:32:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/61 "2011-04-29T17:10:38Z")
I tried Vegemite in college because of “Down Under.” My friend and I were obsessed with Men at Work (my first-ever concert was one of theirs) and when Vegemite turned up in our college cafeteria one morning for breakfast, we both put a little on our toast and gave it a shot. Verdict: The most vile substance ever inflicted on humankind. It was like pure salt suspended in brown stuff. Ugh! Thus ended our experiment with Vegemite. We still liked Men at Work, though 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/62 "2011-04-29T17:16:01Z")
I got Totino’s Pizza Rolls because of the Plinkett reviews and it was the biggest disappointment since my son ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/63 "2011-04-29T17:17:07Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Two points to be made about Turkish Delight. First of all, you’ve obviously only ever had the cheap stuff. Proper Turkish Delight is mostly made of nuts and dates, and the jelly is only a small part of it. > > The second point is, that Edmund came to Narnia from Britain during World War II. Sweets of all kinds were heavily rationed and in short supply. This was possibly the only sweets he had eaten for several months. Nuts and dates? That sounds even worse! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/64 "2011-04-29T17:23:41Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Two points to be made about Turkish Delight. First of all, you’ve obviously only ever had the cheap stuff. Proper Turkish Delight is mostly made of nuts and dates, and the jelly is only a small part of it. Well, I got mine at the high-end confectionary stand in Harrods, so don’t think I was slumming. And while there were variations like you described, they had the simple jelly ones too. Not impressed. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/65 "2011-04-29T17:26:14Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I used to hate strawberries but I was finally convinced to give them a try after all the scenes in movies where they are portrayed as fruity orgasms. Not in the movie _Fearless_ (someone is deathly allergic to them and nearly dies after trying to eat one). I always thought Turkish Delight was just made up by Lewis. I imagined it to be a really heavy, chewy, sticky kind of taffy/toffee/caramel/whatever you call it, and it kind of dopes you while you’re working it around in your mouth, making you more docile and suggestible. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/66 "2011-04-29T17:35:34Z")
I first ordered Chow Fun based on George Costanza’s description of it and I loved it! ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/67 "2011-04-29T18:02:28Z")
I would _love_ to try some [Chow Yun Fat](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000334/) – sounds delicious! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/68 "2011-04-29T18:09:19Z")
I love turkish delight! It isn’t _always_ flavored with rose water, though I have no problem with it being. A few months ago, someone brought some ginger flavored turkish delight to a party, and everyone seemed to like it. And of course, [Aplets and Cotlets](http://www.libertyorchards.com/category/Turkish_Delights) are really just fruit flavored turkish delight. Does anyone NOT like those?(Actually, that reminds me that they have traditional flavored turkish delight in their catalog, including rose-and-pistachio, and I’ve never tried it. I should order some!) Admittedly, the first time I tried turkish delight as a child, it was for the same reason as everyone else, and I had the same reaction. It didn’t take me long to develop a taste for it, though. Most of the stuff you buy in the store in the UK (like Fry’s) is pretty much rubbish, I have to say. Other foods I’ve tried because of some fiction…Do Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans count? Also fried green tomatoes. Oh, and Bill Gannon’s garlic-nut-butter sandwich (from Dragnet) is actually delicious! Haven’t had one of those in ages! I’m sure I’ll think of more… ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/69 "2011-04-29T18:13:43Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > [Turkish Delight, from _The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe_] was mine too. Disgusting! The Queen must have had some kick-ass powers to make anyone want to eat more of it. I prefer to think of Turkish delight the way I imagined it as a kid; definitely something chocolatey. Another vote here for TD, except that when I finally had it as an adult, I didn’t find it disgusting so much as kinda meh - rather like dried out marzipan with chewy fruit bits reminiscent of jelly beans. As I kid I never pictured it as a confection-in-cubed-pieces either. Based on the illustration of Edmund being presented some by a Dwarf on a silver dome-covered platter I thought it was more cake-like. Basically I imagined what a Napoleon (mille-feuille) actually is, except that I’d never seen or had a Napoleon yet. That was more a lifelong (well, up until the age of 38) curiosity about Turkish Delight though; I wasn’t moved to seek out the food to try it out based on reading about it. In fact I can’t think of any examples of that offhand. What I can give instead is an example of a food I was predisposed to AVOID because of a cartoon: a Woody Woodpecker one where he throws a cake (meant as bait) back in someone’s face with the retort, “I… Don’t… Like… CHEESECAKE!!” And so until I was 12 or so I refused to try cheesecake. “I don’t like… CHEESECAKE!” Then my mom insisted I try a Baby Watson cheesecake from the supermarket. I loved it. Actually that DOES remind me of a food I wanted to try because of on-screen exposure: “flapjacks”, due to a Chilly Willy cartoon where he’s constantly trying to sng some freebies from the big Swedish walrus who ran a restaurant in a logging camp. I was born and raised in NYC but as the only child of Chinese parents, such a food never crossed my table. It wasn’t until I was about 9 years old on a long weekend camping trip with my Cub Scout troop that I got a chance to actually eat them, at an IHOP in upstate New York. I initially found them inedibly sweet - I had always pictured them as a _savory_ food, since it was usually shown as served with bacon and eggs and butter (that is also how they were described in books like _Little House on the Prairie_ or Jack London books I’d read), and I was expecting something more like egg-and-scallion pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/70 "2011-04-29T18:24:21Z")
Conch Fritters because of Jimmy Buffet. Awful. Rubber bands in fried dough. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/71 "2011-04-29T18:32:39Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Fried green tomatoes. Ah yes! Ditto. They’re delicious. I’ve been wanting to try Calpis spotted in the movie Tokyo Zombie. There’s a Japanese grocery near here that carries the renamed American version, Calpico. (I s’pose a drink that sounds too much like Cowpiss doesn’t sell very well.) If sweetie wasn’t milk-intolerant I’d have picked some up already. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/72 "2011-04-29T18:50:12Z")
I tried a variety of Doritos that I probably wouldn’t have ever thought about because Stephen Colbert was doing some kind of Doritos-oriented joke on his show. They weren’t terrible, but I’ve never felt the need to try them again. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/73 "2011-04-29T18:54:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I adapted a tuna salad recipe from an Ellery Queen novel, leaving out the poison. A Dorothy Sayers’ novel led me to try a “jolly old arsenical omelet,” leaving out the arsenic. It was a “sweet” dessert omelet with a little sugar mixed into the eggs and a hot jam filling. The jam, however, melts to a liquid state and runs all over the place. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/74 "2011-04-29T19:02:22Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Well, I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer… The beer I had for breakfaast wasn’t bad, so I had one more for dessert… After seeing _Serenity_, I had a craving for \*\*Fruity Oaty Bars \*\*for weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/75 "2011-04-29T19:29:52Z")
Oh! I thought of another one! Pocari Sweat (which I saw for the first time in Hawaii) after reading a thriller set in Japan called “Tokyo Zero.” I really liked it, and wish they had it around here! ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/76 "2011-04-29T19:41:47Z")
I drank vodka and lime for the first time after hearing Simon and Garfunkle’s “Hazy Shade of Winter.” It just sounded cool! I was 18. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/77 "2011-04-29T19:56:10Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Pocari Sweat (which I saw for the first time in Hawaii) after reading a thriller set in Japan called “Tokyo Zero.” I really liked it, and wish they had it around here! Same here, then I saw it on my first trip to Japan and now it is a must have every trip over there. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/78 "2011-04-29T20:00:57Z")
Thanks to this thread, I walked over to the box of [del]Turkish[/del]Cyprus Delight I brought back to the office from Cyprus. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/79 "2011-04-30T00:06:40Z")
I was inspired to try potted meat, which is a favorite of the mentally retarded protagonist in “Sling Blade.” Absolutely terrible, looks and smells just like cat food. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125/80 "2011-04-30T00:22:41Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > I first ordered Chow Fun based on George Costanza’s description of it and I loved it! Similarly, I was a bit let down by calzones. Seinfeld led me to believe that this would be awesome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-try-a-food-because-of-a-movie-show-song/580125.md?page=5)