# Foods with darn-near universal appeal **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762 "2007-05-04T16:52:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/1 "2007-05-04T16:52:05Z")
There is no such thing as a food that _everyone_ likes, obviously. Hell even water is disliked by a lot of people (not technically a food, but the point stands). But what is the closest we can come? To start off with I think I’d have to say that it can’t be a meat, because there are large vegetarian populations and even whole countries that are largely vegetarian. At the very least it couldn’t be a pork product or beef, because in addition to the vegetarians you’ve got the muslims, jews, and hindus that won’t eat it. Likewise it probably can’t be something heavy on dairy, because a lot of cultures are icked out by dairy and a lot of people are lactose intolerant. Peanut allergies are fairly common… ok we could eliminate a lot of stuff, so let’s try to define “nearly universal appeal” as _ **"I, personally, have never/rarely met someone who doesn’t like \_\_\_\_\_"** _ I’m gonna go with **homemade chocolate chip cookies**. They can even be made vegan, though I personally don’t. Anyone care to dispute it? Know a whole enclave of chocolate-chip-cookie haters? So what’s your “nearly universally appealing” food nomination? (Mods, I was debating Cafe Society/IMHO and kinda flipped a coin. If I got it wrong, move as you see fit) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/2 "2007-05-04T16:56:18Z")
Pizza. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/3 "2007-05-04T16:57:25Z")
Yeah I’ll vote for that one. Non-cheese-lovers can always get pizza with no cheese, etc. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/4 "2007-05-04T16:58:08Z")
Chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Doris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/5 "2007-05-04T16:58:19Z")
That’s a tough one. Not everyone has a sweet tooth, though. I dunno, hot buttered toast (or bread product + oil/grease substance) there seem to be a whole lot a variants on the bread/grease combination. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/6 "2007-05-04T16:58:54Z")
I actually have to say I’ve met a frightening number of people who _dislike_ chocolate. I know, I don’t understand it either, but I’ve seen it with my own eyes. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/7 "2007-05-04T17:00:00Z")
Bread. There may be people who don’t eat bread for dietary reasons, but I’ve never met a person who _dislikes_ it. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/8 "2007-05-04T17:01:09Z")
I’m going to go with french fries. Plus, bread and hot oil combinations (like fried dough) are popular the world over, in a wide variety of formats. If you love one, you love them all, it seems. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/9 "2007-05-04T17:01:35Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] I actually have to say I’ve met a frightening number of people who _dislike_ chocolate. I know, I don’t understand it either, but I’ve seen it with my own eyes. [/QUOTE] I’ve **never** heard anyone say they don’t like it. I know people who like other types of candy or sweets more and would choose those first if given a choice, but never ever heard anyone say “Ewwww, chocolate, yuk!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/10 "2007-05-04T17:02:48Z")
I’ve yet to encounter a vegetarian country. Even in Buddhist countries like Thailand, you’re viewed as odd at best if you don’t eat meat. China has been through so many famines over the millennia that eating meat is a status symbol. Most large populations that don’t eat meat don’t eat it because they’re too poor to afford it or it’s scarce, not because they don’t like it. So I nominate chicken. I can’t think of any religion it offends like pork does. I’ve never been anywhere where chicken wasn’t liked. It’s big business all over Southeast Asia; that’s why just hearing the term “bird flu” causes chills to run up people’s spines here. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/11 "2007-05-04T17:07:32Z")
There are many millions of people who don’t eat meat by choice, though. You don’t know any vegetarians? Hell there were three of us in my 15-student English class this semester. I’d hardly say it’s rare. The criteria here is that you have **never/almost never** met someone who doesn’t like it, not “what food is not universally avoided by entire cultures”. And just in case you actually haven’t ever met a vegetarian, _holds out hand_ Hi, I’m Opal. (Reading your edited post I think you have misunderstood the question. You seem to be reading it as “what are popular foods in most cultures” and that’s not what I’m asking. I’m asking what foods are out there that it’s really really hard to find ANYONE who doesn’t like them. It’s not hard at all to find vegetarians, which automatically puts things like chicken out of the running.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/12 "2007-05-04T17:12:46Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] There are many millions of people who don’t eat meat by choice, though. You don’t know any vegetarians? Hell there were three of us in my 15-student English class this semester. I’d hardly say it’s rare. The criteria here is that you have **never/almost never** met someone who doesn’t like it, not “what food is not universally avoided by entire cultures”. And just in case you actually haven’t ever met a vegetarian, _holds out hand_ Hi, I’m Opal. [/QUOTE] I said I’ve not seen a vegetarian country. You did say there were countries that were largely vegetarian, and I’ve never seen such a thing. I only know one or two vegetarians over here, but they’re Westerners. I knew many more vegetarians when I lived in the US. I don’t know any Thai vegetarians at all. I’ve heard they exist, but they are rare here. The Westerners I know here who are vegetarians are looked at as odd by the locals. And I always laugh when I see backpackers meticulously ordering vegetarian fare, not knowing it’s being fried in lard. There was a thread about this in fact. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/13 "2007-05-04T17:12:48Z")
[QUOTE=romansperson] I’ve **never** heard anyone say they don’t like it. I know people who like other types of candy or sweets more and would choose those first if given a choice, but never ever heard anyone say “Ewwww, chocolate, yuk!” 😛 [/QUOTE] I worked for a guy who didn’t like chocolate. Not “preferred other stuff” but actually disliked the way chocolate tasted. But even he ate chocolate chip cookies when I brought some in to work! I think that chocolate chip cookies are not overpoweringly chocolate and so even a lot of people who wouldn’t eat a chocolate bar can enjoy them. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/14 "2007-05-04T17:15:15Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] I said I’ve not seen a vegetarian country. [/QUOTE] Which is irrelevant to the thread entirely. (Yes, I mentioned it by way of pointing out there were a lot of vegetarians out there. I was thinking of countries with high Hindu populations, for what it’s worth. “Largely” is a relative term, and I was using it to relate to the percentages of vegetarians in places like the US.) If you’ve met a couple of vegetarians (who cares if they’re Westerners? Are they human? That’s the point here) then you are admitting that you have met multiple people who wouldn’t eat chicken. That disqualifies it from what this thread is about (and I should know, since I started the thread 😃 ) I have literally never met anyone who said they disliked chocolate chip cookies, by comparison. Even people who aren’t chocolate fans. _(Added clarification)_ ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/15 "2007-05-04T17:16:01Z")
Either I have a serious case of deja vu or something wierd is going on here… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/16 "2007-05-04T17:18:42Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] Which is irrelevant to the thread entirely.If you’ve met a couple of vegetarians (who cares if they’re Westerners? Are they human? That’s the point here) then you are admitting that you have met multiple people who wouldn’t eat chicken. That disqualifies it from what this thread is about (and I should know, since I started the thread 😃 ) I have literally never met anyone who said they disliked chocolate chip cookies, by comparison. Even people who aren’t chocolate fans. [/QUOTE] Look, young lady, I’m sorry I rained on your thread. I’ll withdraw the nomination if it makes you happy, but from what I’ve seen, chicken is nearly univerally liked on this side of the world. I didn’t know it was all vegetarians in the West now. And I didn’t know that knowing a couple of people who would not eat meat disqualified chicken, since you said largely universal, not unanimously. My mistake, though. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/17 "2007-05-04T17:20:59Z")
[QUOTE=OpalCat] I have literally never met anyone who said they disliked chocolate chip cookies, by comparison. Even people who aren’t chocolate fans. [/QUOTE] My husband likes plain sugar cookies, but he won’t eat chocolate chip cookies. When we were courting, I baked him some, and he got this pained look on his face when he took a bite, as if I were asking him to eat a mud pie. Then he asked if I could please make the same sort of cookie, but leave out the chips. I did, and he loved 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/18 "2007-05-04T17:21:57Z")
I’ll nominate rice. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/19 "2007-05-04T17:25:56Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Look, young lady, I’m sorry I rained on your thread. I’ll withdraw the nomination if it makes you happy, but from what I’ve seen, chicken is nearly univerally liked on this side of the world. I didn’t know it was all vegetarians in the West now. And I didn’t know that knowing a couple of people who would not eat meat disqualified chicken, since you said largely universal, not unanimously. My mistake, though. [/QUOTE] Um, if you wanna get pissy please start a thread in the Pit. I said in the OP: “let’s try to define “nearly universal appeal” as “I, personally, have never/rarely met someone who doesn’t like \_\_\_\_\_”” and I also specifically mentioned that the high numbers of vegetarians in the world pretty much automatically precluded meat. I never said anything about it being “all vegetarians in the West now” but I think that just about everybody has at least met a few, which if you will _look at the criteria as stated in the OP_… _sigh_ :smack: :rolleyes: why am I even bothering, since you seem to have come in here specifically to hijack and start shit? ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762/20 "2007-05-04T17:26:53Z")
My nephew dislikes chocolate, even in cookies. For candy-giving holidays, he always gets the fruit-flavored candies like Skittles while the others get M&Ms. When his grandmother baked cookies for Christmas, she made some chocolate chip free, just for him. Otherwise, I’d still say chocolate has near universal appeal, as does pizza. Another one you rarely find people disliking is a burger, even if it’s a meatless one. On the other hand, with both pizza and burgers (or sandwiches, more accurately,) they’re very versatile. You may loathe pepperoni but love ham & pineapple and still fall under the “loves pizza” camp. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-with-darn-near-universal-appeal/402762.md?page=2)