# Food trends that can stop right now **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 20, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740 "2013-08-20T20:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/121 "2013-08-22T12:36:02Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > #3) Whole wheat pasta-no it does not taste good. I know that a strong enough sauce can mask the flavor but pasta should not have to be masked by the sauce. The pasta itself should taste good. Put the whole wheat somewhere else but not in my pasta. I happen to like whole wheat pasta just fine, and from what I gather it’s definitely healthier, but I can understand being turned off by the texture. But when you talked about flavor, you lost me. Pasta has flavor? I thought that was the sauce’s job. The pasta’s job is as a delivery system for the sauce. > [@](#): > > #4) Greek yogurt-stop trying to convince me that this is some new wonderful food. It’s just like yogurt only more so. All the thing I dislike about regular yogurt, the sourness, the texture, are multiplied in greek yogurt. If I liked yogurt I would like it but I don’t like yogurt and there is nothing about greek yogurt that makes it more appealing. I _like_ yogurt, but I’ve never quite _trusted_ it, and I find Greek yogurt even more suspicious, looking all congealed as it does, like what you would get if you left a bowl of milk sitting out for a couple of weeks. And no one’s ever been able to explain to me what Greek yogurt _is_—what makes it Greek, what’s different about it—except that doesn’t “Greek” mean “anal”? So I’ve never been able to give it a fair trial. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/122 "2013-08-22T12:47:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I _like_ yogurt, but I’ve never quite _trusted_ it, and I find Greek yogurt even more suspicious, looking all congealed as it does, like what you would get if you left a bowl of milk sitting out for a couple of weeks. And no one’s ever been able to explain to me what Greek yogurt _is_—what makes it Greek, what’s different about it—except that doesn’t “Greek” mean “anal”? It’s not nearly so bizarre. They just use a particular set of cultures, and then once the yogurt is made, they strain it / de-water it. That’s it. Nothing particularly funky at all. (For the record, fresh non-Greek style yogurt is kind of gelatinous and a little on the soupy side after it’s stirred, due to all the extra liquid within.) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/123 "2013-08-22T13:33:18Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > I’ve encountered two distinct types of peppers that were both called “banana peppers”. One type is the very mild, sort of tangy ones like you find at Subway. The other type I sampled was offered as a pizza topping at an independent restaurant; these had a heat level just under that of a jalapeno. Interesting posts from you two, thanks. My personal experience differs, but that’s what’s cool about the web, eh? Different vantage points. I need a dancing banana smilie ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/124 "2013-08-22T14:33:56Z")
Sour dough bread. Chefs worked for hundreds of generations to select and encourage active sweet-tasting yeasts. They traveled the world and brought them home and preserved them with loving hands, feeding and mixing and perfecting them to produce delicious lovely breads. Dropping them all for an older sour-tasting razor-crust producing throwback is not an improvement. And “crusty” is good; “brittle enough to produce a mouthful of shards” is not. And OK, I get it, some folks like the sour, and want to connect with their peasant ancestors. Lovely, support them and provide the product they want. But do _not_ put a loaf on the shelf and label it Ciabatta, or French loaf, or Italian loaf that tastes like you added a tablespoon of acetic acid to it. Burning coffee beans and then selling them as “Gourmet.” I am especially floored by the Folgers “Black Silk.” These are the production errors that used to go into the dumpster. Red onions in everything. Yes they are lovely and add a nice touch of color. But they also have a very specific high-sulfur flavor with a touch of the acrid to it; they are not to be used lightly and do not play well with mild flavors. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/125 "2013-08-22T14:47:50Z")
Sourdough bread is a trend? ---
**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:** [August 22, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/126 "2013-08-22T15:00:57Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > I’ve encountered two distinct types of peppers that were both called “banana peppers”. One type is the very mild, sort of tangy ones like you find at Subway. The other type I sampled was offered as a pizza topping at an independent restaurant; these had a heat level just under that of a jalapeno. Yeah, I just checked at the local grocery store, and I noticed that Vlasic banana peppers come in both mild and hot. There apparently are [hot banana peppers](http://bonnieplants.com/products/vegetables/peppers/hot-banana-pepper), so I’m assuming the hot product must be made from something like this. I don’t recall getting anything that hot except for Hungarian wax peppers (which as I said before are sometimes called banana peppers.) We do have fresh banana peppers at the grocery store, and they’re at somewhere I’d guess in the 500-1000 Scoville range. So there is a little kick, but not much, certainly not in the 5000-10000 range like those peppers. The banana peppers I’m used to are the kinds at Subway or Quizno’s which are more vinegary than anything. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/127 "2013-08-22T18:13:23Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > … > That’s all about marketing. You can’t just have “Green Rice With Chicken” - you have to have Artisanal Lime Rice with Organic Free-Range Fire-Roasted Chicken. That way people don’t squawk as much at the price tag… That’s one thing that I love about Chinese restaurants, none of that marketing crap. Even their native language is simple and to the point. Rice with vegetable…which vegetable? Who cares! Spicy beef…how is it prepared, what spices, what complimentary garnish? Who cares! Consider yourself lucky if the menu even has a photo of the dish. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/128 "2013-08-22T19:35:08Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > \ > I _like_ yogurt, but I’ve never quite _trusted_ it, and I find Greek yogurt even more suspicious, looking all congealed as it does, like what you would get if you left a bowl of milk sitting out for a couple of weeks. And no one’s ever been able to explain to me what Greek yogurt _is_—what makes it Greek, what’s different about it—except that doesn’t “Greek” mean “anal”? So I’ve never been able to give it a fair trial. And blueberry yogurt - could it look more like bugs in yogurt? > [@GargoyleWB](#): > > That’s one thing that I love about Chinese restaurants, none of that marketing crap. Even their native language is simple and to the point. Rice with vegetable…which vegetable? Who cares! Spicy beef…how is it prepared, what spices, what complimentary garnish? Who cares! Consider yourself lucky if the menu even has a photo of the dish. “Beef and rice with four vegetables” - which four? Whichever four we have today, I assume. 🙂 ---
**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:** [August 22, 2013, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/129 "2013-08-22T20:02:23Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Wow. People actually like whole wheat pasta? I’m genuinely surprised. I tend to at least enjoy those “healthy-tasting” foods, but whole wheat pasta is just… not pleasing. I’ve heard that the texture has improved dramatically in the lsat few years; have you tried it recently? Most of the pasta we eat is whole-wheat, because it has more flavor and is healthier. I’m on board with the anti-gluten-free movement, however. 🙂 Seems like half the middle-aged white women I know have discovered a gluten allergy. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/130 "2013-08-22T20:09:54Z")
I like the whole wheat pastas. I add garlic to the cooking water and after draining pour extra virgin olive oil (sometimes other flavor oils) on it. They seem to hold those flavors better than the bleached pasta. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/131 "2013-08-22T20:10:48Z")
Tofu. White pasty blegh … what the hell is bean curd anyway? Just say no fu. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/132 "2013-08-22T20:13:54Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’ve heard that the texture has improved dramatically in the lsat few years; have you tried it recently? Last week, actually. I’m still working my way through some whole wheat pasta that I bought on sale last year. It’s Ronzoni Healthy Harvest brand. I can’t figure out a good way to use it. I like brown rice and pairing it with rich, earthy things, much like I would, say, something like barley or buckwheat, but whole wheat pasta doesn’t work well for me with my standard pasta dishes, so I’ll just keep going with white pasta. I only eat pasta once every two weeks or so, so it’s not like the extra gram of fiber I’m getting from whole wheat is going to make any health difference whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/133 "2013-08-22T20:19:54Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’m on board with the anti-gluten-free movement, however. 🙂 Seems like half the middle-aged white women I know have discovered a gluten allergy. It’s the ailment-du-jour, much like adult ADHD was for a while there, and self-diagnosed Aspergers/Autism. While there are people with real gluten issues, they’re fewer and farther between than all the crap in the stores would suggest. I think it’s a combination of attention-whoring and placebo effect myself. (IANA doctor, so take my opinion with a grain of salt) ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/134 "2013-08-22T21:26:14Z")
Would that be gluten-free salt? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/135 "2013-08-22T21:32:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Last week, actually. I’m still working my way through some whole wheat pasta that I bought on sale last year. It’s Ronzoni Healthy Harvest brand. I can’t figure out a good way to use it. I like brown rice and pairing it with rich, earthy things, much like I would, say, something like barley or buckwheat, but whole wheat pasta doesn’t work well for me with my standard pasta dishes, so I’ll just keep going with white pasta. I only eat pasta once every two weeks or so, so it’s not like the extra gram of fiber I’m getting from whole wheat is going to make any health difference whatsoever. I could tolerate eating it. I didn’t love it, but I could tolerate it as a healthier substitute. Once I found out it wasn’t much different (nutritionally) than the good kind, I quit buying it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/136 "2013-08-22T21:35:43Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Tofu. White pasty blegh … what the hell is bean curd anyway? Just say no fu. Say yes to fu. Our local Thai place makes a tofu krapow that is toe-curlingly good. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/137 "2013-08-22T23:15:26Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Sourdough bread is a trend? Cilantro was around long before it cornered the herb market, and sourdough was around long before it became the artisanal “must” for every “real” baker. Now I can barely find fresh-baked bread without it. There _WAS_ a time when sourdough was a specialty product for San Francisco ex-pats. Now, get off my lawn! LOL! ---
**Author:** ![Noelq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noelq/32/16438_2.png) [@Noelq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noelq)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/138 "2013-08-23T00:04:50Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Look, I know a lot of people like cilantro. I know it doesn’t taste the same to them, and I don’t begrudge them the non-traumatic cilantro experience that is closed to me. By all means, have cilantro in dishes that traditionally are made with cilantro, and offer it in some new combinations, too. Just don’t put it in every damn dish. _Especially_ if you don’t mention the fact on the menu. Leave me some ground where I can stand without a little green mine on it, and I’ll hold my peace. > > But the next time I find the vile herb on my pizza, or in my mac & cheese (and no, I’m not kidding about this), with no warning, I will consider it an act of _war_. Cilantro is the devil’s soapy herb. My friends can’t taste it. To me, it tastes like you’ve washed your face in Irish Spring, and the soap accidentally gets into your mouth. Its awful, and it permeates every corner of the dish. Like that horrid concoction, Feta Cheese, and its bastard brother, Blue Cheese. Here, suck on a lump of mold I just pulled out of my dishwasher - it’ll taste the same. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/139 "2013-08-23T00:10:38Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Tofu. White pasty blegh … what the hell is bean curd anyway? Just say no fu. I can’t imagine trying to eat the stuff plain, but properly prepared tofu is a wonderful little flavor sponge. The texture isn’t bad either, as long as it’s not overcooked. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I just checked at the local grocery store, and I noticed that Vlasic banana peppers come in both mild and hot. There apparently are [hot banana peppers](http://bonnieplants.com/products/vegetables/peppers/hot-banana-pepper), so I’m assuming the hot product must be made from something like this. I don’t recall getting anything that hot except for Hungarian wax peppers (which as I said before are sometimes called banana peppers.) We do have fresh banana peppers at the grocery store, and they’re at somewhere I’d guess in the 500-1000 Scoville range. So there is a little kick, but not much, certainly not in the 5000-10000 range like those peppers. Very interesting! While I’m not a fan of hot foods at all, I do enjoy items where the flavor of the pepper is enjoyable. So many people seem to think that the point of a hot pepper is the searing heat…I’m not really sure that I understand that. (Strangely enough, jalapeno pepper Jelly Bellies have a nice flavor. The chili mango ones are tasty too…I’m not sure if they’re still being made though.) > [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Interesting posts from you two, thanks. My personal experience differs, but that’s what’s cool about the web, eh? Different vantage points. > > I need a dancing banana smilie It’s peanut butter jelly time? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740/140 "2013-08-23T00:12:39Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > Cilantro is the devil’s soapy herb. > > My friends can’t taste it. To me, it tastes like you’ve washed your face in Irish Spring, and the soap accidentally gets into your mouth. Its awful, and it permeates every corner of the dish. > > Like that horrid concoction, Feta Cheese, and its bastard brother, Blue Cheese. Here, suck on a lump of mold I just pulled out of my dishwasher - it’ll taste the same. I agree about the cilantro, but we must agree to disagree about feta. I adore it. But then, I never met a cheese I didn’t like. Yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-trends-that-can-stop-right-now/666740.md?page=8)