# 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:** 5
**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 20, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/81 "2017-02-20T03:29:30Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Consider me whooshed. Yeah, you got me. I think maybe it has something to do with geographic protectionism of the name prosciutto, but that refers to specific prosciuttos, like Prosciutto di Parma, or Prosciutto Toscano, etc. The name “prosciutto,” on its own, can be used by others, as far as I know. One of my favorites, La Quercia’s [Prosciutto Americano](http://laquercia.us/cuts_ham_prosciutto_americano), is made right here in America, in Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/82 "2017-02-20T03:33:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I love blueberries because of how easily they freeze. I made blueberry waffles for breakfast yesterday from last year’s harvest and couldn’t tell them from freshly picked. My daughter loves them frozen. She will just freeze them and eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/83 "2017-02-20T03:46:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, you got me. I think maybe it has something to do with geographic protectionism of the name prosciutto, but that refers to specific prosciuttos, like Prosciutto di Parma, or Prosciutto Toscano, etc. The name “prosciutto,” on its own, can be used by others, as far as I know. One of my favorites, La Quercia’s [Prosciutto Americano](http://laquercia.us/cuts_ham_prosciutto_americano), is made right here in America, in Iowa. Ohhhhh, yes… **La Quercia** makes amazing stuff! Try their speck, if you haven’t already. **Derleth** , come back, you are too subtle for us. Are you calling out Big Prosciutto? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/84 "2017-02-20T03:49:42Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Pasta. The sauce cooking makes some pretty good smells, but put it on top of a plate full of bland noodly noodles… yuck. Noodles should always be used in moderation. They’re not a dish in and of themselves, no matter what sauce you pour on top to pretend they have actual flavor. :eek: ---
**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 20, 2017, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/85 "2017-02-20T04:45:55Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Ohhhhh, yes… **La Quercia** makes amazing stuff! Try their speck, if you haven’t already. Oh, I have! And the prosciutto piccante, the lomo, the pancetta. For some reason, I want to say that I tried the acorn edition prosciutto, but I’m now doubting my memory. Yeah, I know, it should be something seared into my brain if I did. I’ll have to ask my brother, because if I did, he would have been involved, and his memory is better than mine these days. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/86 "2017-02-20T04:53:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Actually, I’ll side with **Shagnasty** on this. Roasted chestnuts smell like they should be the greatest thing in the world but they end up tasting like, as you described it, slightly sweeter (and vaguely nutty) baked potatoes. Not my thing at all. I’ve eaten them at the Christmas markets in Europe (mostly Budapest) where they are ubiquitous, so it’s not the quality of chestnuts that’s the problem. They’re just bland. I’m not sure I’ve ever gotten ones that match Shagnasty’s description, but I just didn’t get their appeal. Of course, I’m also not a fan of baked potatoes, so maybe that has something to do with it. And every year I would try them again, enticed by the smell, and every year I wonder why I bothered. I love chestnuts. The flavor is subtle, but delicious. Mildly sweet without being cloying. Baked potatoes are bland. Chestnuts are sublime. ---
**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:** [February 20, 2017, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/87 "2017-02-20T06:08:04Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Chocolate-dipped fruit - like Shari’s berries. Blech! They certainly look enticing, but so cloyingly sweet - two great tastes that DONT taste great together.\ I agree with you if the chocolate is milk chocolate - fruit is best with darker chocolate, so the bitterness of the chocolate and the sweetness of the fruit play off of each other. > [@eschereal](#): > > Huckleberries. From the Gifford-Pinchot, picked of the bush on a hot and dusty August afternoon. PNW blueberries a just a ball of wet sugar. They’re not nearly as commercially available as blueberries, but [saskatoon berries (aka seriviceberries or a bunch of other names)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier) are far tastier. I have learned that not everyone eats saskatoon berries, though - they are only grown as ornamental shrubs in some places. That is a true shame, since the berries are so tasty. > [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > I can’t warm up to gin or scotch. Gin smells lovely, but tastes so medicinal. \ I thought gin was one step removed from rubbing alcohol until I met Bombay Sapphire. That gin gave me an insight into why anyone would drink gin willingly. 🙂 My “food” would be wine. I like the occasional zinfandel, but I have tried very few wines that I would bother with, white or red. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/88 "2017-02-20T06:41:40Z")
Chocolate covered pretzels are the middling contamination of two great snacks. ---
**Author:** ![Windchaser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/windchaser/32/294_2.png) [@Windchaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windchaser)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/89 "2017-02-21T12:34:55Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Ohhhhh, yes… **La Quercia** makes amazing stuff! Try their speck, if you haven’t already. > > **Derleth** , come back, you are too subtle for us. Are you calling out Big Prosciutto? I think this is the gag: [Westphalian system - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westphalian_sovereignty) I go through a lot of frozen pizzas (I work a weird schedule, and hate cooking for just myself) and there’s a particular ‘meatball marinara’ one that I just can’t stand. I like that brand’s meatballs with a different sauce, I like that sauce with different toppings, but that particular combination is just blech. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/90 "2017-02-21T13:20:21Z")
> [@Windchaser](#): > > I think this is the gag: [Westphalian system - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westphalian_sovereignty) Yes, that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/91 "2017-02-21T16:47:17Z")
Red Delicious apples! They look exactly what their name implies - red and delicious BUT they have to be the blandest apples grown. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/92 "2017-02-21T18:41:53Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Foie gras (fattened goose liver) is sometimes tolerable but usually tastes like licking a newborn baby’s diaper. :eek: You’re not getting good/properly prepared foie gras then. Seasoned and seared with a bit of an acidic fruit compote or some such with some toast points, or a nice torchon with dried apricots served on brioche…it’s EVILLY good. ---
**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 21, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/93 "2017-02-21T20:58:24Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Red Delicious apples! They look exactly what their name implies - red and delicious BUT they have to be the blandest apples grown. Seconded. Altho if you have had one right off the tree you would swear it is not the same apple as the mealy mess they sell at the grocer. That’s probably the same for all store-bought apples, tho. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/94 "2017-02-21T21:53:05Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Red Delicious apples! They look exactly what their name implies - red and delicious BUT they have to be the blandest apples grown. Buy only the good ones! The name Red Delicious describes a _family_ of apples. Some are great, many are lousy. Look for firm ones that are not completely red. Maybe even an orange-red streak appearance. Like with many popular things (e.g., some breeds of dogs), the growers went hog wild planting trees without any concern over quality. Combined with crappy long term storage systems they’ve nearly ruined the whole category. But there are really good ones out there. I know I’m going to take heat for this one, but … I like chocolate. I like raisins. But chocolate covered raisins are the food from Hades. How could these two things taste so awful together? And why do people buy them??? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/95 "2017-02-21T23:20:49Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > One time I had some granola and some chocolate milk, so I thought: how couldn’t that be great? Oats, raisins, almonds, chocolate, milk? Yum! > > Gag. I’ve got a hiking book here with a recipe for emergency rations, useful for storing and carrying when you get called out for a search party. Chocolate and Oats. It says (and I do not quote exactly), “At first it won’t appeal to everyone. But after a couple of days, it won’t appeal to anyone” ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/96 "2017-02-22T13:41:04Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Vanilla Extract is not good to drink, as my 4 year old self learned, to my rue & regret. When _I_ was four I climbed up into the cupboard and found mom’s stash of Hershey’s baking chocolate. I couldn’t read but I knew what a flat package with silver letters on brown meant. Not good. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/97 "2017-02-22T13:54:59Z")
Stuff made by Hostess looks like they should be tasty pastries, but bleah! Sno Balls [Sno Balls - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sno_Balls) Sing Dongs [Ding Dong - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ding_Dong) Ho Hos [Ho Hos - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Hos) Cupcakes [Hostess CupCake - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostess_CupCake) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/98 "2017-02-22T14:50:02Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#): > > For me, it’s coffee. That stuff smells just wonderful when it’s brewing, but let any of it get into my mouth, and I’ll spew it out in a heartbeat. I can’t even stand anything that vaguely tastes like coffee; coffee ice cream, for example. I love the way coffee looks, particularly with cream added. Such a pretty color. I love the way coffee is so nice and warm. Wrapping your hands around a cup is heaven. I love the way coffee makes me feel, so energized. I love the way coffee smells. Like being alive. But coffee tastes like shit. Why do you think people add so many different things to it? ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/99 "2017-02-22T14:55:13Z")
Candy apples and caramel apples. I am pretty much convinced that the entire appeal is only visual, I refuse to believe someone eats those for the taste alone. ---
**Author:** ![Catamount](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/catamount/32/2840_2.png) [@Catamount](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catamount)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158/100 "2017-02-22T17:04:02Z")
I like watermelon-flavored candy (especially Jolly Ranchers) but I \*haaaaaaaaaate \*real watermelon. Any melons, actually. They all taste like dirty water to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-should-taste-good-but-dont/780158.md?page=6)