# Foods you just don't understand. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635 "2011-04-08T06:23:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/101 "2011-04-09T15:50:50Z")
Things that I don’t get. Lobster and crab as previously posted. Rice, like eating cardboard. My ex told me that eating oysters was like eating snot. I tried it and she was right. But what I really, REALLY can’t understand is how people can eat “Mushy”,peas , sometimes called "Processed"peas. (Enter someone who tells me the subtle difference between the two) For non Brits these are Camo green, incredibly sour/bitter and just all round foul tasting. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy ordinary peas, whether they’re mushed, mashed,fried or juggled. Mushy peas are an abomination to all thats human. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/102 "2011-04-09T16:14:48Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Well that has got to be one of the tackiest things I’ve ever seen. Is “summer sausage” code language for “sausage that has so much sodium nitrite in it that you don’t need to refrigerate it… ever”? Yes. I’ve gotten a few of those over the years as an obligatory Christmas present, i.e., I feel I must buy you something but know fuck all about what you like, so here!, and they are pretty terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/103 "2011-04-09T16:23:09Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Two? One plastic and one stainless. Is the number of colanders owned an indication of foodie tendencies? I was just making a reference to a current Pit thread that has devolved into people poking fun at each other for the number of colanders they or their family own. I’d avoid it if I were you - the proletariat may rise up and violently denounce your extravagant colander ways. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/104 "2011-04-09T16:45:14Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Well that has got to be one of the tackiest things I’ve ever seen. Is “summer sausage” code language for “sausage that has so much sodium nitrite in it that you don’t need to refrigerate it… ever”? In the case this is not completely facetious, that’s the general idea behind cured meats, as a form of long-term preservation and, yes, that’s whence the name “summer sausage” comes. It doesn’t need to involve nitrates (for a long shelf life, you’d want nitrates not nitrites), but it does generally involve salt, sometimes smoke, and sometimes fermentation (which lowers the pH of the meat.) I have meat and sausage that’s been hanging in the cellar (about 60F) for six months now, and it’s perfectly fine to eat. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/105 "2011-04-09T18:57:13Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > Yep. I think most Indian food is ruined by too much Chilli. I am fine with the other spices, in fact I really, really like them, but for some reason you’ve also got to have the burning sensation. Paraphrasing a pit thread regarding Sushi from a long time ago, Indian food is not an extreme sport. I kind of sorta agree with you. On one hand, I read up on phall after someone posted about it in the “Foods You Love” thread and it sounded horrifying. There is no good reason (IMO) to use habaneros for anything other than jellies and Matouk’s hot sauce (best hot sauce of all time). That shit burns my stomach lining and I have an incredibly high tolerance for spice. On the other hand, there are parts of India where the food is spicy, full-stop. I don’t eat my Indian food spicier than normal because I’m trying to be macho, but because that’s just how it’s cooked where my mom and dad come from and they’ve been stuffing it down my throat since I started on solids. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/106 "2011-04-09T19:21:24Z")
> [@Lasciel](#): > > The ones I’ve had must have been commercial then - they were at a retreat, and they tasted like nasty slightly-off-fish sausages, AND they were all gritty in my teeth (I guess that would be the bones?) Dunno, but it seemed like a waste of perfectly good fish to let it go slightly off and then grind it all up like that. It was pretty much the same year to year, so I always figured that was what it was supposed to be. There shouldn’t be bones ground up in the gefilte. It should be a mix of _filleted_ _fresh_ (or frozen & thawed) fish, cooked in a fish stock made by boiling the rest of the fish that the fillets were cut from. Commercial preparations get it wrong a lot, and are salty (and sugared) as heck. Blech. > [@](#): > > Hehe - I love it when people actually know how to spell that the correct way. Now my question is whether you can pronounce it right also? 😉 What, “chitlins?” Yeah, I know more about “chitlins” than I want to! > [@](#): > > I will eat them in gravy on Thanksgiving, because it’s a family tradition, but I try not to actually eat any lumpy bits. Lumpy bits?! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/107 "2011-04-09T20:15:59Z")
Pretzels. The are stale bread with salt and they smell like barf. I’ve never understood pretzels. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/108 "2011-04-09T20:16:24Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > I kind of sorta agree with you. On one hand, I read up on phall after someone posted about it in the “Foods You Love” thread and it sounded horrifying. There is no good reason (IMO) to use habaneros for anything other than jellies and Matouk’s hot sauce (best hot sauce of all time). That shit burns my stomach lining and I have an incredibly high tolerance for spice. Habanero tastes so much different than most other peppers. It’s also a main signature for jerk (well, it’s close cousin the Scotch bonnet is) and a lot of foods from that general area of the world (the Yucatan likes its habernos, too, although their cuisine, overall, is not necessarily very spicy.) It tastes a little bit odd to me in Indian food (even though I have used it in phall), but completely fine in others. For many people, it’s not a macho game at all. One just builds up spice tolerance, and, after awhile, you need more and more heat to register that nice “glow.” I don’t get a good glow at anything under a Thai chile or habanero level. When I eat a sandwich, for example, I like to sometimes have one or two raw habaneros to eat along with it. Nobody’s watching me, I’m not trying to impress anyone. It’s that I love the taste of habanero, and that’s about the only pepper that brings me the heat anymore. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/109 "2011-04-09T20:29:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Habanero tastes so much different than most other peppers. It’s also a main signature for jerk (well, it’s close cousin the Scotch bonnet is) and a lot of foods from that general area of the world (the Yucatan likes its habernos, too, although their cuisine, overall, is not necessarily very spicy.) It tastes a little bit odd to me in Indian food (even though I have used it in phall), but completely fine in others. > > For many people, it’s not a macho game at all. One just builds up spice tolerance, and, after awhile, you need more and more heat to register that nice “glow.” I don’t get a good glow at anything under a Thai chile or habanero level. When I eat a sandwich, for example, I like to sometimes have one or two raw habaneros to eat along with it. Nobody’s watching me, I’m not trying to impress anyone. It’s that I love the taste of habanero, and that’s about the only pepper that brings me the heat anymore. I agree about both the Thai chile (my preferred pepper) and the “tolerance” level. I like to tell people some of us just burned our taste buds off :). I love Matouk’s and habanero hot sauces (the only ones that are edible, IMO) but I cannot stand them used like regular Asian chilies in dishes. But I will admit that there might be something about the oil in that particular chili when fresh that does a number on me (and everyone else in my family) that gets muted or destroyed in the pickling process. I once got desperate and used one to make a bhaji and had to survive on milk, water and plain chapatis for two days. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/110 "2011-04-09T21:36:54Z")
Habaneros and Scotch bonnets do come from a different species of capsicum–_Capsicum chinese_–than most other hot peppers (which are usually either _capsicum annum_ or _capsicum futescens_). So perhaps there is something about that species of chili that bugs you other than the heat. Have you ever had bhut jolokia (ghost pepper)? That’s also from the same species. ---
**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:** [April 9, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/111 "2011-04-09T21:44:43Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Yeah, texture is a biggie for me. Raw carrots? LOVE 'em! Cooked carrots? \ Amen. Why would anyone cook a carrot? And I agree with the licorice and wasabi haters. My entry (if it hasn’t been done yet): Artichokes. Why would I want to spend so much time scraping some goo off a petal? It doesn’t really have much taste, and I can think of much better ways to get my butter/garlic fix. As for the raw oyster thing, you guys are reverse snobs. I love the things. They’re a great way to start out a meal, and they go wonderfully with a nice white wine (or even champagne). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/112 "2011-04-09T22:42:16Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > A different sort of “don’t get”: The canned soups that proudly proclaim they have 25% less sodium, when they still have way more than anyone who’s concerned about their sodium intake should have. If you can leave out 25% of the sodium, why not leave out all (or at least most) of it? Because then it will taste like water, and most people already have that stuff directly piped into their kitchen. I don’t understand Sun Chips. I see people on the internet raving about them all the time, calling them the best thing ever, but I’ve had them a few times and found them to be fairly bottom tier chips. I mean, they weren’t gross or inedible or anything, but I just don’t understand the big deal people make over something so inferior to Doritos (or Pringles, or Tostitos, or Lays, or whatever) ---
**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:** [April 10, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/113 "2011-04-10T02:10:19Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Habanero tastes so much different than most other peppers. It’s also a main signature for jerk (well, it’s close cousin the Scotch bonnet is) and a lot of foods from that general area of the world (the Yucatan likes its habernos, too, although their cuisine, overall, is not necessarily very spicy.) It tastes a little bit odd to me in Indian food (even though I have used it in phall), but completely fine in others. > > For many people, it’s not a macho game at all. One just builds up spice tolerance, and, after awhile, you need more and more heat to register that nice “glow.” I don’t get a good glow at anything under a Thai chile or habanero level. When I eat a sandwich, for example, I like to sometimes have one or two raw habaneros to eat along with it. Nobody’s watching me, I’m not trying to impress anyone. It’s that I love the taste of habanero, and that’s about the only pepper that brings me the heat anymore. This is interesting. To my completely intolerant-to-spice tongue, hot peppers don’t even have a flavor, they just hurt. Putting habaneros in a sandwich is the equivalent of putting wasps in a sandwich to sting you all over your mouth, throat, and stomach on the way down. I guess some people just like a little hostility in their food. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/114 "2011-04-10T02:53:33Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I don’t understand Sun Chips. And they’re _sweet_, which is extra icky. ---
**Author:** ![Sakuma\_Drops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sakuma\_Drops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sakuma_Drops)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/115 "2011-04-10T03:39:10Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I don’t understand Sun Chips. I see people on the internet raving about them all the time, calling them the best thing ever, but I’ve had them a few times and found them to be fairly bottom tier chips. I mean, they weren’t gross or inedible or anything, but I just don’t understand the big deal people make over something so inferior to Doritos (or Pringles, or Tostitos, or Lays, or whatever) Sun Chips are marketed and perceived as healthier alternatives to other potato- or corn-based snacks. As such they’re popular for the same reason that Diet Coke is popular: not necessarily better-tasting, but people don’t feel as guilty about consuming them. I kinda like the flavored Sun Chips, especially the cheddar ones. To me they’re better tasting than the “baked” versions of Lay’s, Doritos, etc. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/116 "2011-04-10T07:40:30Z")
Stinky Egg. Ok but enough with foreign food. Cole slaw. Ew. And to further alienate my Irish brotherhood. Corn beef and cabbage has scarred me permanently as a childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/117 "2011-04-10T17:36:27Z")
Carbonated drinks. There are a few exceptions, for instance, when I feel kind of sick to my stomach carbonated water or soda can help. But I just don’t understand why everything must be carbonated. The first year I went to college I didn’t drink any carbonated beverages for months. I had milk, or water, or orange juice in the mornings, and I just didn’t think about it. Then my mom came to visit and took me to a restaurant and I made the mistake of ordering diet coke. It hurt! Even now, when I do drink carbonated things once in a while, soda straight from the bottle will still hurt. I have it over ice, if I have to drink the stuff, just to make it a bit flatter and more tolerable. Why must drinks hurt?! Also snacks that are primarily puffed corn or similar and bear no relation to any real food. The only thing they’ve got going for them is salt and fake flavour, the combination of which is terrible. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/118 "2011-04-11T19:29:27Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > Putting habaneros in a sandwich is the equivalent of putting wasps in a sandwich to sting you all over your mouth, throat, and stomach on the way down. I guess some people just like a little hostility in their food. 🙂 I’m going to steal this! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/119 "2011-04-11T21:09:46Z")
Fried calamari. No taste of its own-to me, it is something to dip into marinara sauce. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635/120 "2011-04-11T21:37:46Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > Strangely, I like artificial cherry and think it can be used strategically and in combination with real cherry to incredible effect. Artificial raspberry, on the other hand affects me much as your aversion. Blue Raspberry also has the honor of violating my color spectrum prejudice in conjuction with my tastebids. And really that fondness for cherry was instilled deep in my chidhood with Luden’s coughdrops from my Father’s pocket. I imagine if you grow up with some flavors you are “imprinted” to them. Really, we are talking about the food of our father’s and their father’s, and really the shame is that often times we can’t venture outside of that culture or even be open to the new experience. Most food aversions are mental blocks… psychological in nature, not genetic. That’s what I don’t understand about neurotic eaters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-you-just-dont-understand/577635.md?page=5)