# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/81 "2019-04-25T07:45:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I once bought some marshmallow root to make Real marshmallow out of, but I chickened out and never tried it. It comes out more like nougat or halva than modern marshmallows. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/82 "2019-04-25T07:51:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And yes, it is real cheese. It’s a blend of real cheeses that are melted together and re-solidified. These two sentences are contradictory. Did you mean to say “it _was_ real cheese”? If I grind a steak up and put it into burger patties, I don’t think I can get away with still saying “it’s a steak”. It’s steak-based burgers. “Processed cheese” (which I have no problem eating, BTW - here, that would be Melrose wedges) isn’t cheese anymore. It’s a cheese-based food product. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/83 "2019-04-25T07:54:16Z")
jack in the box tacos… its neither tacos nor food … but man there good after a night at the pub … ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/84 "2019-04-25T08:20:13Z")
nacho “cheese” you know the yellow stuff comes 5 pounds in a can…favorite of "homemade"concession stands ---
**Author:** ![SOJA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SOJA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SOJA)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/85 "2019-04-25T09:27:30Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > These two sentences are contradictory. Did you mean to say “it _was_ real cheese”? If I grind a steak up and put it into burger patties, I don’t think I can get away with still saying “it’s a steak”. It’s steak-based burgers. “Processed cheese” (which I have no problem eating, BTW - here, that would be Melrose wedges) isn’t cheese anymore. It’s a cheese-based food product. If you treat pure cheese with sodium citrate, it’ll stay in a melted stay forever. No other liquid needed. Is it still cheese or a cheese based food product? Less than 2, maybe even less than 1 g of sodium citrate is needed to keep a half pound or more of cheese in this liquid state. Your argument gets a little weird when you think of colby jack since it’s a marbled blend of two different cheeses and pressed together, under which force they become one. But velveeta as his or her example. That’s not cheese. I don’t think it is. I’m pretty sure it’s some processed cheese with a stabilizer that keeps it in semi-solid form and loses function after being heated up. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/86 "2019-04-25T12:11:10Z")
> [@SOJA](#): > > If you treat pure cheese with sodium citrate, it’ll stay in a melted stay forever. No other liquid needed. Is it still cheese or a cheese based food product? Cheese food product. > [@](#): > > Your argument gets a little weird when you think of colby jack since it’s a marbled blend of two different cheeses and pressed together, under which force they become one. Way I understand it, marbled cheeses like Colby-Jack and Marbled Cheddar are made when the _curds_ for two different cheeses are combined but not homogenized, and _then_ set/pressed. I’m happy still thinking of them as a style of cheese. It’s _post_-setting processing that renders it a product to me (and even then, purely mechanical processing doesn’t count - grated cheese is still cheese). ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/87 "2019-04-25T13:06:06Z")
My understanding is that the difference is live culture. Cheese food products start with cheese with live culture, but by the end there isn’t any left. (Left open, and unrefridgerated, Kraft slices don’t mould, they become oily, brittle plastic. Real cheese moulds.) It’s called ‘cheese food product’, because cheese manufacturers objected and insisted it’s not cheese. ‘Cheese’ remains in the name because they do start with actual cheese, and Kraft is a powerful player. ---
**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 25, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/88 "2019-04-25T14:13:02Z")
Is the filling of a grilled cheese sandwich cheese? Is the topping on a pizza cheese? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/89 "2019-04-25T14:26:54Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > My understanding is that the difference is live culture. Cheese food products start with cheese with live culture, but by the end there isn’t any left. That doesn’t sound right to me. Unless you’re buying raw cheese, I believe any cultures should all be dead. I don’t think most commercial cheese has any live cultures left in it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/90 "2019-04-25T15:25:40Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > jack in the box tacos… its neither tacos nor food … but man there good after a night at the pub … Yeah. Once in a while, those are tasty. ---
**Author:** ![SOJA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SOJA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SOJA)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/91 "2019-04-25T16:14:14Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Cheese food product. > Way I understand it, marbled cheeses like Colby-Jack and Marbled Cheddar are made when the _curds_ for two different cheeses are combined but not homogenized, and _then_ set/pressed. I’m happy still thinking of them as a style of cheese. It’s _post_-setting processing that renders it a product to me (and even then, purely mechanical processing doesn’t count - grated cheese is still cheese). Left to go to room temperature, epoisse turns from semi solid to near liquid. If a change in state dictates cheese or cheese food product, then it’s a cheese food product and not a cheese using your flawed logic. ---
**Author:** ![SOJA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SOJA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SOJA)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/92 "2019-04-25T16:21:26Z")
Triple cream brie and Delice de Burgogne change fluidity states depending on ambient temperature in correlation with the cheese’s temperature. Both will be runny at room temperature. The latter is like cream cheese but softer in a cold state. There is a set point where a cheese can be heated and still reset as a solid. Where oil separation doesn’t occur due to not enough heat in addition to exposure time. You can theoretically take Toscano and cambezola, let them melt a little and reset the cheese in the refrigerator as a hybrid Frankenstein cheese. As both cheeses changes states not once but twice, your logic would indicate that because of that, they’re a cheese food product. Furthermore, my original question was a trick question. Sodium citrate is naturally ocurring. However, enough calcium chloride will reverse what the sodium citrate did to the cheese and rerender a liquefied cheese back into its solid state in whichever form you wish it to be in. Via this method, the cheese doesn’t incur any flavor change or texture change you would get from normal cheese somehow melted without a roux. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/93 "2019-04-25T16:40:04Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > jack in the box tacos… its neither tacos nor food … but man there good after a night at the pub … Oh yeah. It’s been years (well decades) but dam I loved those ‘things’. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Ducky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrs_ducky/32/6227_2.png) [@Mrs\_Ducky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Ducky)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/94 "2019-04-25T16:56:30Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’m surprised no one has mentioned imitation crab (surimi) yet. That stuff is good for making sushi rolls - I’d never bother with real crab meat. And many years ago while living in Micronesia, a local restaurant used to served grilled sandwiches made with a filling of surimi, cheddar, mayo, and pickle relish. I don’t know if I’d still like it (seems a little cloying to me now), but when I was in my 20s and could eat all kinds of rich food without getting sick or gaining weight, I loved it. Oddly enough, I already had this on my grocery list for tomorrow before you even posted it! ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/95 "2019-04-25T17:01:27Z")
Twinkies!!! Ummm…okay, it’s made with real ingredients, but I’ve had sponge cakes and whipped frostings, but there’s nothing like a Twinkie! Even the “new” Twinkie isn’t quite the same. _sigh_ ---
**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 25, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/96 "2019-04-25T20:53:01Z")
So you’re saying, the imitation imitation food isn’t as good as the real imitation food? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/97 "2019-04-25T21:00:22Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Folks who’ve been raised on ‘thicker, richer’ not-maple syrup find the real thing too thin and a little astringent. They could make the real thing thicker but given how expensive it is already, reducing the yield by boiling the sap down further to make it more concentrated isn’t cost effective. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/98 "2019-04-26T11:22:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is the filling of a grilled cheese sandwich cheese? Is the topping on a pizza cheese? Sure. Melted cheese is still cheese. Basically, if it’s all still cheese, no additives, then it’s still cheese. Melted cheese is still cheese. Frozen cheese is still cheese. Grated cheese is still cheese. Cheese + added citrate is not cheese. Cheese + added emulsifier is not cheese. Cheese + added wine+starch+kirsch is _delicious_, but no longer just cheese. Curiously, in some cases, cheese + added fungus \*is \*still cheese. There’s that hobgoblin… > [@SOJA](#): > > If a change in state dictates cheese or cheese food product Good thing for my argument that I didn’t say that, then… ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/99 "2019-04-26T13:52:31Z")
Not sure if this belongs here but, how I long for a Hydrox cookie. IMO much better than an Oreo. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841/100 "2019-04-26T14:11:28Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I’m surprised no one has mentioned imitation crab (surimi) yet. That stuff is good for making sushi rolls - I’d never bother with real crab meat. I love surimi! It’s definitely a distinct thing from actual crab meat. But I don’t like the American brands. The best brand IMO is Osaki and it’s the only one I will buy. It’s likely the most expensive brand, especially compared to the American ones, but it’s almost a completely different product. Side by side they don’t even really resemble each other. The sticks are smaller, looser, and wetter, and the “strings” easily separate under light pressure (looks like this, as sushi: [https://bathsushi.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/01/43-Crab-Stick-Nigiri.jpg](https://bathsushi.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2016/01/43-Crab-Stick-Nigiri.jpg)). I know a sushi place is good when they use this brand. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-or-dishes-you-perfer-the-imitation-version-of-instrad-of-the-real-thing/832841.md?page=6)