# Food preferences that people think make them superior **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 12, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404 "2005-01-12T16:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 11
**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:** [January 14, 2005, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/201 "2005-01-14T06:27:53Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > I’ve tasted ketchup. I’ve tasted mustard - yes, many kinds of mustard, from crayon yellow to spicy brown. I like mustard on sandwiches, but I still put ketchup on hot dogs and would never think of using mustard on one. Ugh! > [@Cecil Adams](#): > > Paul, I know you don’t mean to act like an alfalfa-chewing barbarian, but this is like asking why Leonardo didn’t paint the Mona Lisa on black velvet. Ketchup is destructive of all that is right and just about a properly assembled hot dog (and we’re talking about a pure beef hot dog, not one of those things you could serve with dressing on Thanksgiving). > > Ketchup smothers the flavor of the hot dog because ketchup makers add sugar to their products. That takes the edge off the highly acidic tomatoes, but it takes the edge off everything else, too Cecil knows. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/202 "2005-01-14T07:21:40Z")
“Ketchup smothers the flavor of the hot dog”? Ridiculous. I can taste the hot dog just fine. Mustard, on the other hand, spoils the flavor of the hot dog, because it spoils the flavor of nearly everything it touches. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/203 "2005-01-14T08:05:04Z")
Aaaargh! Around noon time I was reading the Dope, and came across a message asking about why there were many widely varying forms of mustard (yellow, dijon, german, deli, etc) but no variants of ketchup had caught on. I had barely skimmed the opening 'graph of that message when I had to divert my attention to some genuine work. I’ve been waiting ever since to read the rest of the message, and what others might have had to say on the matter, but I CANNOT FIND THE MESSAGE! I thought it must have been in this thread, but no luck. I’ve tried searching on mustard and ketchup and catsup and flavored in various combinations…and can’t find the thread, or at least don’t recognize it from the title. Did anyone else read this elusive message? D’you recall which thread it was? Or at least which forum? This is so aggravating… ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/204 "2005-01-14T08:17:58Z")
[“The Ketchup Conundrum” All about mustard & ketchup. Terrific article by M. Gladwell!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=296646) ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/205 "2005-01-14T08:35:12Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > [“The Ketchup Conundrum” All about mustard & ketchup. Terrific article by M. Gladwell!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=296646) Thank you, thank you! But…why the hell didn’t that thread show up when I searched on “ketchup” and “mustard”??? Search engines hate me. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/206 "2005-01-14T14:09:06Z")
> [@TonyF](#): > > Rattle on about your wines and hot dogs. How terrible and tragic, to argue about nothing. > > Listen! Listen; receive my wisdom. > > The best food comes in a plastic package with a flavor packet, and it is called **Ramen**. > > And you may eat the chicken or the pork or the oriental flavors without scorn, though beef is the best and is true and right; all other flavors are mockeries! Those that eat not but Maruchan shall have Heaven’s praise, for all other brands are tasteless, cardboard, undeserving of 3 minutes in two cups of boiling water. > > In this, I am right and just. Poseur! 😛 Everyone knows that the ultimate ramen is Maggi 2-Minute Curry Ramen. Hard to find, but worth the effort. Maruchan, decent as it is, doesn’t quite reach the pinnacle that is Maggi’s 2-Minute Curry. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/207 "2005-01-14T14:37:44Z")
**Ramen!** amen. ---
**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:** [January 14, 2005, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/208 "2005-01-14T17:04:37Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > “Ketchup smothers the flavor of the hot dog”? Ridiculous. I can taste the hot dog just fine. Mustard, on the other hand, spoils the flavor of the hot dog, because it spoils the flavor of nearly everything it touches. You challenge Cecil’s wisdom? Blasphemer! Naw, but seriously, hot dogs should be tangy, not sweet. Ketchup pairs poorly with almost any type of sausage. It’s just not meant to be. I mean, look at the Germans and Poles and people who come from a long tradition of eating forcemeats. Mustard is the (correct) condiment of choice. But hey, as Mike Royko said, it’s a free country. If you want to put toenail clippings on your hot dogs, go ahead and do it. And it’s my right to think you’re nuts. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404.md?page=10)