# food or dishes you perfer the imitation version of instrad of the real thing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841 "2019-04-21T06:02:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/41 "2019-04-22T10:45:28Z")
well when my family makes it it has eggs and pickle relish and mayo/whip and you just keep adding some of each until your satisfied with the taste ….pretty much like tuna but do your self a favor if you ever do use bologna … get the less sodium version cause I don’t know If it was the bologna I used but it was salty as hell ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/42 "2019-04-22T11:36:53Z")
I think in all the cases listed above that I tried, I prefer the original to the imitation. But I suspect that I prefer modern “marshmallow” to The Real Thing, even though I’ve never tried The Real Thing. Real marshmallow is shredded marshmallow root, boiled and strained and mixed with sugar or other sweetener, then poured into a pan and allowed to set. The stuff we toast over campfires and make S’Mores out of is gelatin mixed with sugar syrup (and maybe a touch of vanilla), whipped into a froth, and allowed to set. I once bought some marshmallow root to make Real marshmallow out of, but I chickened out and never tried it. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/43 "2019-04-22T11:50:15Z")
My daughter is a vegetarian. The last time I made dinner for her I used my favorite beef stroganoff recipe, but used portobello mushrooms in place of the beef. It was awesome and I will be making it again. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/44 "2019-04-22T13:07:28Z")
To others saying surimi: Maybe I was just ruined by a bad batch of it, but back when I was a kid, Mom was on a diet that required a certain amount of fish, and to add variety we bought some fake lobster tails and fake crab legs. Those things were so vile that even the cats wouldn’t eat them. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/45 "2019-04-22T14:31:29Z")
I’ve never had the fake lobster, only the “crab” that gets into sushi rolls. It’s not crab, but I like it. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/46 "2019-04-22T15:43:01Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I’ve never had the fake lobster, only the “crab” that gets into sushi rolls. It’s not crab, but I like it. It’s usually described among my family and friends as “Crab, with a K” i.e. “Krab” to indicate it’s bootleg-ness. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/47 "2019-04-22T16:35:11Z")
I prefer canned chil to chili made from scratch, mainly because “from scratch” usually involves kidney beans. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/48 "2019-04-22T17:04:12Z")
While I prefer real food to fake food, I only drink diet soda and put saccharine in my coffee and tea. Real sugar in drinks tastes too sweet to me. ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/49 "2019-04-22T17:20:56Z")
frozen pizza is the closest I can come. I love Red Baron special deluxe as well as some other frozen pizzas and don’t like Pizzeria pizza at all. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/50 "2019-04-22T17:22:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > To others saying surimi: Maybe I was just ruined by a bad batch of it, but back when I was a kid, Mom was on a diet that required a certain amount of fish, and to add variety we bought some fake lobster tails and fake crab legs. Those things were so vile that even the cats wouldn’t eat them. I just pissed my pants laughing! 😃 ---
**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 22, 2019, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/51 "2019-04-22T18:45:48Z")
I prefer ranch when made by mixing sour cream and a packet of seasoning to the “real” ranch dressings. To me, the real ranch has too much of a tangy taste to it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_wind_of_my_soul)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/52 "2019-04-22T19:17:53Z")
I have a few that have already been mentioned here (I prefer veggie burgers to real burgers, processed cheese in my macaroni and cheese to the real thing, and I like fake crab about as much as real crab meat). My unique contribution: pepperoni-flavored sausage. When I was a kid, I’d sometimes microwave Celeste frozen pizzas. That brand had the best pepperoni pizza around, and I wondered why nobody else could figure out how to make their pepperoni taste as good. Then one day I shared my musings with my family, and they pointed out to me that it wasn’t actually pepperoni I was eating, but pepperoni-flavored sausage. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/53 "2019-04-22T19:39:13Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Mashed potatoes. I like them when made with the dehydrated potato flakes mix. Tasty and smooth. > > Mashed “real” potatoes seem to have too earthy a taste for me, and…LUMPS. If I eat real mashed potatoes and get a lump in my mouth, it is everything I can do not to gag and want to throw up. I have no idea why. If your mashed potatoes are lumpy then they’re not being properly mashed. Use an electric mixer and add a little milk and they’ll be just as smooth as the ones made from flakes. > [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > … > > My unique contribution: pepperoni-flavored sausage. When I was a kid, I’d sometimes microwave Celeste frozen pizzas. That brand had the best pepperoni pizza around, and I wondered why nobody else could figure out how to make their pepperoni taste as good. Then one day I shared my musings with my family, and they pointed out to me that it wasn’t actually pepperoni I was eating, but pepperoni-flavored sausage. Pepperoni is a kind of sausage, so calling it “pepperoni flavored sausage” is redundant. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/54 "2019-04-22T21:09:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think in all the cases listed above that I tried, I prefer the original to the imitation. But I suspect that I prefer modern “marshmallow” to The Real Thing, even though I’ve never tried The Real Thing. > > Real marshmallow is shredded marshmallow root, boiled and strained and mixed with sugar or other sweetener, then poured into a pan and allowed to set. The stuff we toast over campfires and make S’Mores out of is gelatin mixed with sugar syrup (and maybe a touch of vanilla), whipped into a froth, and allowed to set. > > I once bought some marshmallow root to make Real marshmallow out of, but I chickened out and never tried it. Huh. I never even knew there was such a thing as real marshmallow until today! ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/55 "2019-04-22T21:50:41Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > If your mashed potatoes are lumpy then they’re not being properly mashed. Use an electric mixer and add a little milk and they’ll be just as smooth as the ones made from flakes. Milk makes me gag too. :o ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/56 "2019-04-22T21:53:11Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > It’s a close thing, but if offered a choice, I’d go for Kraft Mac ‘n’ Cheese over homemade elbow macaroni and cheese. > Sentiment counts for something, I guess. Related to that: Kraft changed its mac & cheese recipe. It removed artificial preservatives, flavors and dyes and nobody noticed years ago. > **[Kraft changed its mac & cheese recipe and nobody noticed](https://money.cnn.com/2016/03/08/news/companies/kraft-mac-and-cheese-recipe/)** > > Kraft's new mac & cheese recipe changed in December, and nobody noticed. Still though: > [@](#): > > That doesn’t make them healthier – the only difference between artificial and natural flavors is that natural flavors are derived from a certain list of plants and proteins. Both are heavily processed, constructed in laboratories and in no way resemble any naturally occurring food. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/57 "2019-04-22T21:58:13Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Milk makes me gag too. :o Use a ricer or a food mill on you potatoes after boiling…then incorporate butter and cream or milk…smooth and delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/58 "2019-04-22T23:05:53Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Huh, I don’t think I would have called a dish made with biscuit dough rather than lagena noodles “lasagna” (fake, or otherwise). I’d just have called it some sort of casserole. But it sounds good to me. Lasagna casserole probably was actually the name of the dish/recipe she used. I may not have been paying close enough attention but when I sat down to “lasagna” without layered pasta, topped with a biscuit top, and had sour cream in it I was not too happy. The “kids” (all in their 20’s) though will still ask for her to make it if they are home. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/59 "2019-04-23T09:42:43Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > That’s funny, I never knew about this but I recently went to Kroger and saw some “ham” salad along with the pre packaged potato salads, cole slaw, etc. and there was what I thought was ham salad. I looked at a little closer and it was “Sandwich Spread.” Even closer it said it was made with bologna. > > I never knew this was a thing, but it must be common enough for a national grocery chain to carry a Bologna Salad pre made and not an actual Ham Salad. > > My contribution, although I can’t stand it is that my wife and kids love a faux lasagna. Same basic concept except it involves sour cream and the canned biscuit dough. I don’t have many details since I once sat down for “lasagna” and was served this. I’m not usually a fan of sour cream and when it suddenly appears where it has no business it was a bit off setting. I don’t know the exact details, and don’t care to find them… I just know I ate it once and I’m done. They still eat it occasionally when the kids are home and I make a sandwich. that sounds like it should be on [www.midcenturymeals.com](http://www.midcenturymeals.com) they try all sorts of horrors there ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2019, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/60 "2019-04-23T15:11:54Z")
> [@adhemar](#): > > frozen pizza is the closest I can come. I love Red Baron special deluxe as well as some other frozen pizzas and don’t like Pizzeria pizza at all. Aside from one or two local pizza _restaurants_, I’ll take Red Baron thin crust bacon lover’s over just about any take out pizza chain. Though I don’t love it like I did as a kid, I’ll take good ol’ Chef Boyardee ravioli thanks, and you can keep your cheese fill abomination to yourself, Carrabaroni Garden. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841.md?page=4)