# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/61 "2005-01-12T19:49:31Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > A point my ex-girlfriend made numerous times. She delighted in pointing out that what I was eating was somehow counterfeit delicious. That it was somehow “illegal” to enjoy it. > > Please. > > I’d have sex with a diseased yak if there were white chocolate involved. OK, white chocolate is the only food I guess I do get snobby on. But it’s because I make medicines, including suppositories and boluses (suppositories for the vagina). And the base for suppositories? White chocolate. OK, it’s cocoa butter. Unsweetened white chocolate. It’s hot, sticky, unpleasant work. And the smell. Dear Og, the smell sticks in my nostrils for hours! So white chocolate as an accent on a nice piece of dark or milk? No problem. Hunk o’ white chocolate? _gag_ Dude! You’re eating a suppository! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/62 "2005-01-12T19:53:34Z")
I’m getting a little bit (only mildly) annoyed at the whole “XXX is the ONLY WAY EVER to eat such and such”. What prevents me from flipping out over it is that I know it’s usually exaggeration for effect. And as long as I don’t shove my yellow mustard down your throat, or you don’t make me eat your nanner and mayo sammitch, all is good. My version of the Food Zombie are those that are oblivious. I don’t hate these people, I just don’t get it. A friend of mine was telling me about the smoked fish sandwich they got at a seafood joint. It was so awesome. So I asked them what goes on a smoked fish sandwich, having never had one. They honestly couldn’t answer me. Umm, I don’t know. Maybe some creamy sauce? Huh? How do you not know (at least _generally_) what makes up the food you like? Was it sour cream? Cream cheese? Mayonnaise? They all taste different! Of course, this all could explain why I have to watch what I eat so I don’t have a weight problem, and why some people remain inexplicably thin. Food is a big deal in my world. I am, however, admittedly not high class in what I choose to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/63 "2005-01-12T19:58:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > However, I’ve always harbored this theory that people in America have forgotten what food is supposed to taste like. There’s so much mediocre and overpriced crap on the market. I think a major problem is that we got so used to pre-packaged food that people don’t know what food is supposed to taste like without artificial preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup. They end up wanting a lot of sweetness in their food because since the day they were born, that’s all they’ve known. My French nieces (3 & 5) love sweet stuff, but they also like black coffee, and salty-salmon spread or tapenade on toast. It’s a culture where you’re taught to appreciate all the flavors along the spectrum. . .bitter, tart, salty, sweet. Here, I think we chow sweet and tend to forget the others. At least food-wise, that is something to feel superior about. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/64 "2005-01-12T19:58:57Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Are you happy that Jeffrey Dahmer was thrown in prison? If so, you _do_ care about what other people eat–you just base your cares on a different morality. > > Daniel Daniel, she’s apologized. Please get the stick out of your ass. You riding her ass over badly phrasing something is really not attractive, and it’s making me reconsider my assessment of you as one of the non-asshole vegetarians. ---
**Author:** ![the\_Lady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@the\_Lady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_Lady)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/65 "2005-01-12T20:02:12Z")
I would never mock anyone for drinking Bud (well - except my brother) but there is exactly one situation in which I will drink it; it’s free, and I have no other choices. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/66 "2005-01-12T20:02:47Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > Drink a cosmopolitan, daquari, or pina colada and your a wuss. Drink some Jack Daniels and your a man… [Those who ignore the lessons of Kids in the Hall](http://www.kithfan.org/work/transcripts/three/girldrnk.html) are destined to…do something. Not quite sure what. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/67 "2005-01-12T20:14:28Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Beer – I’m a snob in both directions. People who won’t try “interesting” beer fall into “not experiment” category. People who won’t drink Bud from a pitcher in a plastic cup when they’re out with the gang come across as priggish. Swill a fuckin’ brewski, fop! I’m in agreement here. There is a time and a place for Bud and other beers like it, and I’ve been known to enjoy more than a few of such beers in my day. But it’s also fun to try micros and special or unusual (to me anyway) beers. Or wines or spirits, for that matter. Quick story: Many years ago, when I was finishing university, a bunch of us guys decided to go camping for the weekend. We planned to drink beer, get some work done for the friend whose land we’d be camping on, and drink more beer. Naturally, each of us brought a case of cheap beer. Except for one guy. He showed up with–get this–a $40 bottle of imported wine! And he was definitely looking down his nose at us cheap beer drinkers. “You guys need some class,” he sneered. And he showed us class. First, by having to ram the cork down into the bottle using a stick, because he forgot a corkscrew. Then, by drinking his fine imported wine from a cracked coffee mug. Yup. Definitely more class than drinking our screw-cap cheap beers from the bottle. 😃 ---
**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 12, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/68 "2005-01-12T20:14:32Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > I’m getting a little bit (only mildly) annoyed at the whole “XXX is the ONLY WAY EVER to eat such and such”. What prevents me from flipping out over it is that I know it’s usually exaggeration for effect. I have one absolute food snob rule, which actually is more a rule of tradition: A Chicagoan should _never_ put ketchup on their hot dog. There are no exceptions to this rule. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/69 "2005-01-12T20:22:48Z")
Left Hand of Dorkness: > [@](#): > > For example, my sister asked my dad to provide the wine for her wedding. He wasn’t sure whether to get red or white wine, so he compromised by buying mostly pink wine. I was just wooshed. You mean wine coolers? > [@](#): > > Oh, please. Are you a cannibal? If not, it’s probably for moral reasons. Nah. People just don’t taste very well. And cooking one just results in this nasty smell all over the place. Trunk: [quote[I guess the main point is this: I’ll eat mild wings and hot wings. You’ll only eat mild wings. Ergo, you have a less interesting diet than I.[/quote] Actually, really hot stuff just burns me. No “endorphins”. No excitement. It just burns. That and I really can’t _taste_ it at all. On a alreated note, I’ve come to like rollercoasters (not that I have many opportunities to get on one), although I flatly refuse to get into any ride which involves deliberately dropping me off some high place. tdn: > [@](#): > > They don’t bother to apply fancy-schmancy gourmet additives to their food. You know, things like salt. Actually, I’m of the opinion that salt tend to obliterate the real flavors underneath. I usually don’t take any extra, since I usually find my food i better without it. If I need some flavoring, I prefer pepper straight. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/70 "2005-01-12T20:41:21Z")
> [@smiling bandit](#): > > I was just wooshed. You mean wine coolers? I think he meant a bland blush or zinfandel. > [@](#): > > Nah. People just don’t taste very well. I once killed and ate a clown. It tasted a little “funny” to me. I once killed and ate a sailor. It was too salty. > [@](#): > > Actually, I’m of the opinion that salt tend to obliterate the real flavors underneath. I usually don’t take any extra, since I usually find my food i better without it. If I need some flavoring, I prefer pepper straight. I tend to under-season as well, although I think a little salt brings natural flavors. Unsalted beef just doesn’t taste very beefy. But I wasn’t talking about food that’s not over-seasoned. I’m talking about food with no flavor at all. No finesse. No style. These people can manage to make even strong fish taste like watered-down cardboard. The one meal I had with them was rather astonishing in its blandness. It’s almost like they found a way to take natural flavors _out_ of it. And the salad – how do you screw up salad? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/71 "2005-01-12T20:45:36Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > Daniel, she’s apologized. Please get the stick out of your ass. You riding her ass over badly phrasing something is really not attractive, and it’s making me reconsider my assessment of you as one of the non-asshole vegetarians. I’m sorry that you don’t find it attractive, but I stand by the point that everyone makes moral decisions about what they’re willing to kill and eat (well, almost everyone): it bugs me when people act like vegetarians are the only ones that make that choice. You can disagree with the particular morality vegetarians are using to make their choice, but you’re almost certainly not disagreeing with the concept of using (and enforcing) a morality about what’s an acceptable food source. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/72 "2005-01-12T20:50:30Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I think he meant a bland blush or zinfandel. A rose, I think–but “Pink Wine” is what we called it. My brother threw a blasphemy part one Good Friday, and among other gifts, I brought the last bottle of this wine and some Zima I’d purchased for the occasion. I labeled the Zima “The spittle of Christ” and the wine “The spittle of Christ after He flossed for the first time in a year.” High class, that’s me. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/73 "2005-01-12T20:52:04Z")
Another food and beer snob checking in. I’ve gotten better about keeping my trap shut over the last few years. Sometimes I’ll jokingly kid with someone about what they’re eating/ordering, but I won’t sneer at them. The achilles’ heel in my gustatory mien of congeniality is Miller Lite. I can’t even choke down that swill when it’s free, and I have a hard time keeping quiet about how I feel about it. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/74 "2005-01-12T20:55:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I have one absolute food snob rule, which actually is more a rule of tradition: A Chicagoan should _never_ put ketchup on their hot dog. There are no exceptions to this rule. I’m not a true Chicagoan, then. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/75 "2005-01-12T20:56:07Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I’m sorry that you don’t find it attractive, but I stand by the point that everyone makes moral decisions about what they’re willing to kill and eat (well, almost everyone): it bugs me when people act like vegetarians are the only ones that make that choice. You can disagree with the particular morality vegetarians are using to make their choice, but you’re almost certainly not disagreeing with the concept of using (and enforcing) a morality about what’s an acceptable food source. > > Daniel It isn’t that only vegetarians use morals when making their food choices, but that they are the only ones who will use morals to _justify_ their decision when explaining it to me. Organic-only people are also guilty of this, and it makes me feel all defensive and annoyed. It also makes me want to eat a Carl’s Jr hamburger right in front of them, just to piss them off. Self-righteousness is never attractive. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/76 "2005-01-12T20:57:46Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > I have a hard time keeping quiet about how I feel about it. Try ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/77 "2005-01-12T21:00:37Z")
> [@SusanStoHelit](#): > > It isn’t that only vegetarians use morals when making their food choices, but that they are the only ones who will use morals to _justify_ their decision when explaining it to me. Organic-only people are also guilty of this, and it makes me feel all defensive and annoyed. I believe the reason they’re distinct isn’t the one you mention, but it’s because they’re the only ones whose moral strictures are regularly violated in front of them. I mean, if you were sitting down, and you realized the guy across the table from you was eating your best friend’s schnauzer that he’d kidnapped from your friend’s yard, wouldn’t you have a moral problem with what he was eating? And mightn’t you say something about it? Would saying something about it make you self-righteous? I ain’t saying they’re right. I’m saying they’re not that different from you except in the particulars of their moral code. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/78 "2005-01-12T21:04:05Z")
> [@scout1222](#): > > And as long as I don’t shove my yellow mustard down your throat, or you don’t make me eat your nanner and mayo sammitch, all is good. **scout** is alluding to my love of banana sammiches. _Sniff_ It’s almost like I’ve been pitted. It’s as close to a pitting as I’ve ever gotten. I am so happy right now! _sniff_😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/79 "2005-01-12T21:06:31Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I’m sorry that you don’t find it attractive, but I stand by the point that everyone makes moral decisions about what they’re willing to kill and eat (well, almost everyone): it bugs me when people act like vegetarians are the only ones that make that choice. You can disagree with the particular morality vegetarians are using to make their choice, but you’re almost certainly not disagreeing with the concept of using (and enforcing) a morality about what’s an acceptable food source. > > Daniel Perhaps this should be taken elsewhere, but I don’t make dietary decisions about what I kill and eat based on morality, but by what’s available at the supermarket. I don’t kill my own food. When there’s an “eeeeew!” factor preventing me from buying and eating chitlins, it’s because of social mores in my peer group, not morals. If someone served me his neighbor’s dog, my problem would be with the theft of his neighbor’s property/companionship, not the eating of dog. If he wants to humanely kill and serve me his own dog? Sure, I’m game. The social “eeew” against dog isn’t as strong in me as the “eeew” against pig intestines. But neither one has anything to do with morality. ---
**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 12, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404/80 "2005-01-12T21:07:31Z")
I’m not a food snob at all. I’ll happily snack on Osetra if you happen to be out of Beluga. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-preferences-that-people-think-make-them-superior/284404.md?page=5)