# Foods that should taste good but don't. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158 "2017-02-18T17:12:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/41 "2017-02-19T03:32:58Z")
Chocolate-dipped fruit - like Shari’s berries. Blech! They certainly look enticing, but so cloyingly sweet - two great tastes that DONT taste great together. My prejudice against chocolate with fruit also extends to chocolate cakes with raspberry filling, chocolate-dipped apples (and caramel-apples), and chocolate bars with fruit. If the fruit is good, and the chocolate is good, there is no reason for their union. I love them each - separately. And scotch. I see people enjoying it, so I need someone to give me a lesson there - it is one drink I cannot stand - tastes and smells like something used for cleaning machinery. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/42 "2017-02-19T03:38:40Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I’ve never been enraged by cheese (band name!) but I do enjoy the stinky cheeses I’ve had and the cheeses with rinds and the extremely hard cheeses and… well, I’ve had my share of the cheese board, and I’ve never had one I’ve considered actively _bad_, as opposed to merely not as good as others. That is because there are people like my ex-wife and I that are taking the bullet for you. It is a noble profession in that way. You won’t ever be able to buy the disgusting ones in your local supermarket because they have been carefully vetted. There is a market for stinky cheeses but it is easy to pass the limit of what any normal person can tolerate. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/43 "2017-02-19T03:43:01Z")
I’m not a picky eater by any stretch of the imagination, but olives just have an off putting taste to me. I’ve never been able to find them appetizing. Yet many people find them delicious. I use the hell out of olive oil though. It’s my go to oil for almost everything. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/44 "2017-02-19T03:50:00Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I’m not a picky eater by any stretch of the imagination, but olives just have an off putting taste to me. I’ve never been able to find them appetizing. Yet many people find them delicious. I use the hell out of olive oil though. It’s my go to oil for almost everything. Huh. I have a brother who doesn’t like olives, and he’s the only one in the family who doesn’t. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > That is because there are people like my ex-wife and I that are taking the bullet for you. It is a noble profession in that way. You won’t ever be able to buy the disgusting ones in your local supermarket because they have been carefully vetted. There is a market for stinky cheeses but it is easy to pass the limit of what any normal person can tolerate. Oh, I’m sure there are some truly disgusting cheeses I’ll never get to try. I’m quite happy with the level of disgustingness I’ve encountered thus far. > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Anyway, the way Russians eat caviar is to slice bread thick, spread a pretty thick layer of UNSALTED butter on it (you have to ask if you want salt on your table), and then spread a layer of caviar on the butter. The caviar is not usually spread quite as thick as the butter. Or, at least it was that way for years up until the 1970s, when I was there, and the Russians who visited us in the 80s still did it. > > If you are determined to keep trying caviar, try it like that. Use a farmer’s white bread, or a light rye bread. A marble rye would probably also work, although I don’t recall ever seeing marble rye in Russia. That sounds like a plan, and I’m just enough of a glutton for punishment to actually try it. If nothing else, I’ll have some good white bread and unsalted butter. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/45 "2017-02-19T03:53:03Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I’m not a picky eater by any stretch of the imagination, but olives just have an off putting taste to me. I’ve never been able to find them appetizing. Yet many people find them delicious. I use the hell out of olive oil though. It’s my go to oil for almost everything. I like olives as a “back flavor,” that is, when they are one of many ingredients in a stew or sauce, and they just add a grace note. But I can’t stand eating them plain, because the texture is off-putting. I don’t care for them on a pizza for that reason, although I’ll accept them if I’m the lone dissenter in a large group, or if it’s the compromise I have to make to get a veggie pizza. I’ve been known to get them on a sandwich from one particular place, though, because for some reason, theirs are not very salty, like most peoples’. I use the hell out of olive oil in everything but sweet things. I use corn oil for that. If I had my way, I’d use more sesame oil, but it’s expensive. I use olive oil during Passover instead of the expensive KFP margarine. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/46 "2017-02-19T04:18:10Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I’m not a picky eater by any stretch of the imagination, but olives just have an off putting taste to me. I’ve never been able to find them appetizing. Yet many people find them delicious. I use the hell out of olive oil though. It’s my go to oil for almost everything. Must be opposite day. I love olives, black ones, green ones, stuffed ones - but I cannot abide the taste of olive oil. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/47 "2017-02-19T04:41:48Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > If I may go one step further, I’d say strawberries themselves. I’ve eaten them many times but they’re almost always disappointing. They’re a little tangy, a little sweet, but mostly bland. I usually end up having to add sugar or some other sweetner to them. I don’t have that problem wiith other types of ripe berries and fruits. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Grocery store strawberries are like grocery store tomatoes. With few exceptions, absolutely worthless tasting mostly of water and flavorless plant cellulose with a faint aroma of the fruit in question rather than the actual fruit. Yep. I get some strawberries in the spring from farmers who set up little stands on the side of the road, and those things are so freakin’ good. Unlike anything you’ve every had from a conventional grocery store. I’m with **astro** on olives. I really, really wish I could like them, but I just don’t. They ruin anything they’re in. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/48 "2017-02-19T05:38:51Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > There shouldn’t be any qualitative difference between kosher and non-kosher hot dogs. “Kosher” just means that the animals were slaughtered in a particular way. The Kosher dogs my dad used to buy in the American Midwest (primarily from Chicago) came from a different universe than the all-beef franks I get here in Toronto. (I suppose I could try a Halal butcher and see if I can find anything like them. I have yet to see Kosher meat offered anywhere near where I live.) > [@](#): > > I have lived in Russia, where caviar is on every table like ketchup in the US. I lived in Russia full-time from 1992 to 2008. I can recall only one instance where I was offered caviar in someone’s kitchen, and that was because (a) the couple was rich (we’re talking BUCKETS of fresh black caviar) and (b) I was giving the wife English lessons. Nowadays, the average Russian can barely afford a tin of the stuff to enjoy at New Year’s, and supermarkets keep their selection under lock and key. I go back to Russia at least twice a year, and have noticed that ersatz caviar made from kelp is now on sale in a lot of stores. (Not bad stuff, either.) > [@](#): > > Anyway, the way Russians eat caviar is to slice bread thick, spread a pretty thick layer of UNSALTED butter on it (you have to ask if you want salt on your table), and then spread a layer of caviar on the butter. The caviar is not usually spread quite as thick as the butter. Or, at least it was that way for years up until the 1970s, when I was there, and the Russians who visited us in the 80s still did it. This is quite common wherever hors d’oeuvres are served. The bread is normally a round slice from a baguette, and is not terribly thick. The caviar is usually red salmon roe and comes with thin slices of smoked salmon curled and placed on top. You can sprinkle it with lemon juice, if you want. > [@](#): > > If you are determined to keep trying caviar, try it like that. Use a farmer’s white bread, or a light rye bread. A marble rye would probably also work, although I don’t recall ever seeing marble rye in Russia. Neither do I, though my local supermarket (in Moscow) always has a bewildering variety of bread on sale. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/49 "2017-02-19T05:50:45Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, man, I dunno. A nice goose foie gras is one of my gustatory pleasures. I don’t have it very often, but, along with the chestnuts I mentioned before, the Hungarians were big on their goose liver (France and Hungary are the two largest foie gras producers in the world), and that’s one delight I did develop a taste for. Just sublime. On one cooking show, I saw a French chef make a dish with layered foie gras and grilled apple slices. If I ever make it back to Paris, that’s a menu item I’m definitely going to try! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/50 "2017-02-19T05:57:56Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Caviar is only considered “high-class” because it is hard to produce so therefore expensive. I like it just fine in moderation but I am not going to pay for it myself. > > There are a number of exclusive foods like that. Fugu (poisonous pufferfish) is really bland. I had fugu exactly once, at a restaurant in Japan. It was some of the best sashimi I’ve ever tasted. Subtle, yes. Bland, no. Japanese food is not like American food. Americans go for BIG FLAVORS. Thick sauces that sometimes drown out the food they are on. Japanese food is pure and delicate. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/51 "2017-02-19T08:49:58Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Blueberries. Never had one that didn’t taste a little bland and chalky. I think they’re only good when cooked into jam or pie filling, and even then I find it underwhelming compared to other fruits. You’re not the first one I’ve heard who’s made this complaint about blueberries but I’ve noticed it seems only to apply to blueberries in the Northeast US. Not to brag but the blueberries grown in the Pacific Northwest taste pretty sweet even when eaten raw. Must be a different variety. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/52 "2017-02-19T14:07:26Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Roasted chestnuts. The famous song makes them sound so enticing but don’t fall for it because it’s a trap! I am not a picky eater in the least and I love nuts but roasted chestnuts are nasty as hell. The vile taste and texture are hard to describe but they are like vaguely spoiled, spongy, mealy, semi-sweet hunks of unidentifiable purification. They could have literally picked almost any other type of nut and it would have work out infinitely better - walnuts, pistachios, pecans etc. Those are all excellent but not so with chestnuts. The best use I’ve found for roasted chestnuts is a cream soup using them along with wild rice. We serve it once a year around xmas, and people are always amazed. It’s a difficult soup to make (scoring, roasting, peeling the chestnuts) but worth the effort. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/53 "2017-02-19T14:24:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The best use I’ve found for roasted chestnuts is a cream soup using them along with wild rice. We serve it once a year around xmas, and people are always amazed. > > It’s a difficult soup to make (scoring, roasting, peeling the chestnuts) but worth the effort. Ooo… that actually sounds really tasty. I’ll have to remember that next winter when the chestnuts show up at the grocery and give it a try, ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/54 "2017-02-19T14:34:42Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The Kosher dogs my dad used to buy in the American Midwest (primarily from Chicago) came from a different universe than the all-beef franks I get here in Toronto. (I suppose I could try a Halal butcher and see if I can find anything like them. I have yet to see Kosher meat offered anywhere near where I live.) Canada doesn’t have Hebrew National? > [@](#): > > I lived in Russia full-time from 1992 to 2008. I can recall only one instance where I was offered caviar in someone’s kitchen, and that was because (a) the couple was rich (we’re talking BUCKETS of fresh black caviar) and (b) I was giving the wife English lessons. Nowadays, the average Russian can barely afford a tin of the stuff to enjoy at New Year’s, and supermarkets keep their selection under lock and key. I go back to Russia at least twice a year, and have noticed that ersatz caviar made from kelp is now on sale in a lot of stores. (Not bad stuff, either.) Like I said, I lived in the Soviet Union. It was a different place. > [@](#): > > Neither do I, though my local supermarket (in Moscow) always has a bewildering variety of bread on sale. I remember the food generally being terrible in Russia (I once was served a bowl of chicken soup with a feather in it), but the bread was amazing. > [@NDP](#): > > You’re not the first one I’ve heard who’s made this complaint about blueberries but I’ve noticed it seems only to apply to blueberries in the Northeast US. Not to brag but the blueberries grown in the Pacific Northwest taste pretty sweet even when eaten raw. Must be a different variety. In S. Indiana, we had neighbors who had blueberry bushes in their backyard. They had a high yield, and the neighbors used to invite people to come and pick blueberries, because they had more than enough for themselves. They were delicious. It’s probably just another garden vs. store thing. In New England, they are very proud of their blueberries, so they cultivate them, and they are better there-- there are several varieties. My mother lives in Maine, and overnights me fresh blueberries a couple of times a year, in addition to sending blueberry jams and other things. They are fantastic. But year, fresh blueberries from the store in Indiana are like eating slightly sweet packing peanuts. When I bake blueberry muffins, I use frozen. There is a brand that is way better than the fresh ones. My mother also sends me dried Maine blueberries for my Hamantashen. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/55 "2017-02-19T15:16:55Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I’m sure a lot of people think Scotch tastes sublime. But I can’t get over the word association that it should taste like butterscotch. It don’t. You might enjoy the below stuff, which has recently come on the market in the UK. I’m finding it rather nice. > **[THE ORIGINAL TOFFEE VODKA FROM WALES](https://toffoc.myshopify.com/)** > > The Toffee vodka from Anglesey Wales.Toffoc drunk on its own or mixed to make perfect cocktails. Toffoc and Prosecco.Toffoc in your Pornstar Martini .Toffoc in your Expresso Martini.Toffoc by the pool. Toffoc on the beach.Toffoc at your... ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/56 "2017-02-19T15:24:28Z")
I ordered a blue-cheese stuffed burger once. I love burgers and I love blue cheese, so I expected to like it. Unfortunately the flavors seem to clash instead of complementing each other. It wasn’t inedible but I would rather have had a regular cheeseburger. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/57 "2017-02-19T15:38:50Z")
I have learned that I should order blue cheese in upscale restaurants only. Blue cheese is one of those things you should never buy on the cheap. Huge quality difference between cheap blue cheese and expensive blue cheese. I’m going to guess that restaurants that serve hamburgers aren’t the place to go for really good blue cheese. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/58 "2017-02-19T15:42:18Z")
I get a “black and blue burger” at a local restaurant that is delicious. Home made blue cheese dressing on the bottom bun and crumbled Maytag on top of the meat. Mmmmmmmmm ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/59 "2017-02-19T15:53:56Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The best use I’ve found for roasted chestnuts is a cream soup using them along with wild rice. We serve it once a year around xmas, and people are always amazed. > > It’s a difficult soup to make (scoring, roasting, peeling the chestnuts) but worth the effort. I have a tin of chestnut puree (made in France, I think). Can I use that instead of chestnuts out of the bag? ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/60 "2017-02-19T15:58:43Z")
I came THIS CLOSE to pitting prosciutto. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158.md?page=4)