Which of course doesn’t mean that a food with a great texture can have a nasty flavor, only that there are foods which are elevated to greatness primarily because of the way they feel in the mouth, usually the way they feel against your teeth.
The two that come instantly to mind for me are pie crust and macadamia nuts. Pie crust sort of stands for a whole category of pastry that is flaky…when done properly. Done poorly of course it is gummy cardboard and nasty as hell. But good pie crust is a thing of real beauty. And assuming the ingredients are all fresh, it’s really not about the taste, it’s the feel.
And macadamias have such delicate flavor that you’d be hard-rpessed to identify it separate from the experience of biting into one. Which is not the case with peanuts, for instance - or really any other nut (or pseudo-nut…yes, peanuts are legumes) that I can think of. They are all pretty identifiable by taste and smell.
But Macs are all about that amazing and unique texture.
I am a particular fan of egg custards that are made properly. Not creme brulee, but a real egg custard. See, egg custards are more properly made with milk, and are fairly delicate in texture, creme brulee is made with cream and is more puddinglike. If you over cook a custard it breaks =( and the texture is ruined. The flavor is very delicate which is why most people prefer the brulee as it tends to be creamy, and have the crunch of the burnt sugar, and more flavor from the carmelization.
I have to agree with the macadamia nuts as well, they have a very interesting texture.
I would also perhaps suggest water chestnuts - especially in something like bacon wrapped water chestnuts. They don’t really have a lot of flavor [mrAru considers this a bacon delivery system] but a nice crunch that works with the bacon.
Eli’s Cheesecake, especially that awesome first bite off the pointy center. Delicious and an awesome mouth feel.
On the bad side, just about any time nuts are inside or on top of anything soft. That clash of hard gritty chunks in something uniform and soft is repulsive, it tells my brain that I’m biting into a bug or something else that doesn’t belong and could be poisonous.
One of my specialties! I say it myself because everyone who has ever eaten it agrees: I make superb egg custard. And one of the things I do that is radically different than most is dial down the sugar. But it’s the texture that is the ticket: silky.
I had some really bad cheesecake when I was a child. Not bad as in gone bad, just a bad texture. It put me off cheesecake for YEARS, until my mother whispered to me that I had to take and eat a small sliver of Grandma’s cheesecake (made from scratch) or her feelings would be hurt. And I discovered that Grandma really knew how to make a proper cheesecake.
I hate liver because of the taste AND the texture.
Part of the greatness of pecans and walnuts is their texture. I can’t describe it. It’s kind of crunchy, but also they can be chewed into a mealy paste which is wonderful.
I like Hazelnuts for the same reason, but better taste. Something that might be related, I like to make instant oatmeal but add a packet of instant grits at the last half of cooking. I purposefully encourage them to clump and form lumps, the larger the better. Guess it’s a hominy nuttty, textural contrast, almost like little dumplings…
Ah yes… “variety meats” - I am a committed carnivore, but I draw the line at organs of every sort, largely because of the texture. It’s also why I don’t really care for filet mignon - it’s too smooth and soft. Reminds me of liver.
And all nuts share that wonderful nutitude, I think Macs just express it in its highest form. (Flavor wise, though… gotta give to pecans over wallys or just about any other nut. Although if you’re putting nuts in brownies it has to be walnuts. Nothing else will do. I think it’s because they stand up to the chocolate the best,
Haloumi - wonderful squeaky texture.
Water chestnuts or cashews in a stirfry
Used to be a UK chocolate bar with tiny air bubbles called Wispa. Like an Aero but much smaller bubbles. Like eating velvet.
Really ripe brie or camembert.
I have been making gazpacho a coupla times each week, trying to maximize our garden’s bounty.
The latest recipe combined tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, onion, olive oil, vinegar, all blenderized. The cool part is the stale french bread that is added and further blenderized. Then the whole thing goes through progressively finer sieves, then cheesecloth. It is served, chilled, in a glass.
My gf couldn’t believe there was no cream in it. It had almost scary creamy mouth feel.
I think pâté is France’s greatest contribution to world cuisine.
Take a main ingredient that is utterly disgusting.
Chop it up too fine to be identified by appearance or texture.
Add spices until it cannot be identified by taste or smell.
Give it a fancy name, and serve it in expensive restaurants.
One of my co-workers went to a deli once and came back with a tongue sandwich and cut me off a little piece. It tasted fine but the texture was just nasty.
I love orange juice, the flavour of an orange, but I cannot eat an actual orange. The texture makes me want to vomit.
Same goes for - retch - tomatoes. Oh my god tomatoes. Ack ack ack. Love tomato pasta sauce, love ketchup, but you couldn’t get me to eat a real tomato. The goo! Dear lord the goo.
Greek yogurt - same taste as regular with an amazing texture. I’ve been eating a lot of this lately.
Bacon - the difference between great (crispy and slightly chewy) and gag-inducing (undercooked and rubbery) is a very fine line, all dependent on texture. A single strip of bacon can traverse from sublime to disgusting.
Oh God! I have a fantastic taqueria around the corner from me, and the waitress finally convinced me to try the lengua. Holy shit on a shingle, I think I’d rather have shit on a shingle. That texture completely squicked me out.
(Eating one now!)