Truffles, they tasted like rich smokey dirt.
Gefilte fish. Very bland. Made better when wrapped in bacon, but still underwhelming. These were out of a jar. If I have the opportunity to try ‘good stuff’ (i.e., made by someone), I’ll try it again; but I won’t be buying any more.
Pickled pigs’ feet. Hormel. Not sure what I was expecting, but not something I’d go out of my way (read: buy) to eat again. They were also kind of gross, with the gelatin and cartilage. Unlike the fish, these got tossed.
I had an uncle (and dad, too) who said peanut butter and dill pickles tasted great. I haven’t tried that combination.
Down Under was playing a lot on the radio, and I worked with a guy who had been a missionary in Papua New Guinea. I tried Vegemite and loved it. I mostly ate it (and still eat it) on English muffins. But I also like it on breakfast burritos – back then, and today. There was a catering truck near the office, and sometimes I’d have Vegemite on my Thai chicken. Anyone who has tried Vegemite and doesn’t like it, and doesn’t know what to do with the rest of the jar, send it to me.
I had completely the opposite experience with paella - everything was way too hard and crunchy.
I would like to submit Champagne - it tastes like just another white wine to me. I’ll admit that I’ve never been able to pick out subtle flavours in any kind of wine - but considering the status that champagne has acquired over the centuries, I expected some kind of “wow” factor, even for someone who is clueless when it comes to wine tasting.
Raw oysters are fine, but don’t justify the expense to me (and I am a die-hard seafood lover). Raw clams are 10x better.
Sweetbreads. I like most organ meats, and they were the special one night at the yummy French place I like to go to, so I gave them a shot. They were bland, oddly-textured (somehow mushy, rubbery, and spongy all at once), and what little taste they had was off. I didn’t even finish the plate.
Couscous for me. I really wanted to like it since it seemed everyone else did, but it is nasty to me. Blech.
Phosphates are fabulous! If you like sour acidic things. Yum! Though I’m more partial to cherry or lime over strawberry. Haven’t had one since the 80s though. Not sure anyone serves them anymore.
And Moxie is awful. My husband loves it but I think it’s foul.
Another vote for, in this case, very expensive Champagne being highly overrated IMO. Just too, too dry - hate making an involuntary duck-face with some really expensive stuff. Got a few laughs from cohorts though.
I was introduced to lobster in the early '70’s and it was divine. In the late 80’s I moved to Kodiak and ate more king crab than you can imagine. I came home in 2010 and have been to a very nice seafood restaurant several times and had the lobster and found it to be meh. I don’t know if it is just the variety of lobster being served, but I will happily eat any other seafood rather than lobster, with king and opillio crab being my top favorites.
Polenta
People: it used to be called mush or grits.
Boiled corn meal add some butter and parm and sell it for an outrageous amount of money. What you like is the butter and the parm–not the grits/mush.
What a scam.
I enjoy wine, can pick out flavours (though don’t ask me about it! I buy whatever bottle looks the most interesting to me that day) and I hate champagne. I’ve had it a couple times, and once it was a supposedly good bottle of it that had been a gift to my Nana. Since everyone was home all the adults got a couple sips. Tastes like really weird bubbly apple juice. I have some sparkling non alcoholic drinks that taste a million times better.
Crabs have a more assertive flavor. You probably judged by that.
Weird - I’ve heard people complain that ostrich is too gamey and meaty (compared to beef), but bland?
I politely disagree, I enjoy the mild and subtle flavor of other seafood. I remember lobster as being tender and succulent, however the lobster I have had in the last few years has tasted salty and strong, and the tail meat has been thin and kind of stringy. Perhaps I am getting poorly cooked lobsters, but I have had the same experience with a handful of restaurants. Perhaps I need to procure a live one and cook it myself before I write them off.
My father used to make those, they’re…meh. I mean, they’re not nearly as gross as they sound, but they’re not really good either. The overall effect is like extra-salty peanut butter. Meh.
But lox is cured, not smoked.
You could try some actual smoked salmon, although the smoky flavour usually isn’t very strong.
Grass fed beef. I’d heard it was supposed to dramatically improve the flavor of beef when the cows were grass-fed but it just ended up being unpleasantly gamey.
Monkfish. I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t the boney, tough, small piece of tail that I had.
A few years back, all the food and cooking shows started singing the praises of a certain herb. OK, thought I, I’ll try it- I like most herbs and spices. But I found out that
CILANTRO SUCKS!!!
No, it doesn’t.