# Holiday "Foods" You Loath! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556 "2006-11-23T16:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/61 "2006-11-25T06:59:09Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] On New Year’s, saurkraut and sausage and stuffed peppers are a staple in the Midwest. I hate it all. Maybe that is why I am so unlucky. [/QUOTE] See, that’s where you got it wrong. You gotta have legumes (black-eyed peas in the South), and greens (I recommend collard greens, ditto). Oriental societies agree in large part. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/62 "2006-11-25T07:07:16Z")
[QUOTE=Rysdad] Rutabagas. Even the word looks, I don’t know, sort of rude and perverted somehow. I don’t know why, but this vile susbstance has become kind of a holiday staple in my family. The taste of rutabagas sickens me. The smell repulses me. The knowledge that it exists saddens me. [/QUOTE] Rutabagas, parsnips, turnips, carrots, and any other root vegetables, are, to my palate, best served in some sort of stew. By themselves, not so shiny. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/63 "2006-11-25T07:21:58Z")
To the turkey-haters: Perhaps you have never experienced the mouth-orgasm that is a Cajun-syle deep-fried turkey. I have. Or maybe you have missed the roast turkey that is the masterpiece of [The Other Master](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_8389,00.html). I haven’t yet, but I intend to pry the duty of turkey-roasting from my mother’s cold fingers when she joins the heavenly choir. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/64 "2006-11-25T07:24:33Z")
To the fruitcake haters: You should try **The Other Master’s** [Free Range Fruitcake](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_8157,00.html). I haven’t made it yet, but I have never seen a bad review. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/65 "2006-11-25T12:20:11Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] Or maybe you have missed the roast turkey that is the masterpiece of [The Other Master](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_8389,00.html). [/QUOTE] Well, we agree on that. Here, you can have all my sauerkraut, but we have to share the turkey. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/66 "2006-11-25T16:13:13Z")
After many years eating Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family, somehow we ended up just staying home. Dinner for just the four of us made it much easier to please everyone. Last year, my older daughter went to her boyfriend’s family’s celebration in another state. This left Me, My wife and my younger daughter. We cooked New York Strips on the grill and had a green salad and baked potato. Maybe not traditional holiday fare, but tasty noe the less… hHis year, our favorite restaurant had a Thanksgiving package: traditional turkey dinner for 6-8 people for $75.00. we picked it up wednesday evening, re-heat it according to instructions and relaxed the rest of the day ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/67 "2006-11-25T17:06:11Z")
[QUOTE=Oslo Ostragoth] Or maybe you have missed the roast turkey that is the masterpiece of [The Other Master](http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_8389,00.html). [/QUOTE] Bibliocat has partaken of such at my house before and will again in a few weeks. In fact, I’m thinking we’ll cook another one so I have some frickin’ leftovers after the plague of locu- I mean, dopers, have left. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/68 "2006-11-25T17:51:56Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] Bibliocat has partaken of such at my house before and will again in a few weeks. [/QUOTE] And it was Yum-Mee! ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/69 "2006-11-25T18:17:01Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] On New Year’s, saurkraut and sausage and stuffed peppers are a staple in the Midwest. I hate it all. Maybe that is why I am so unlucky 😉 [/QUOTE] I’ve never heard of those things associated with New Year’s, being a Florida boy. But I love them all! ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/70 "2006-11-25T20:01:36Z")
I’m not a big fan of turkey either. I can take it or leave it and once a year is way more than enough for me. Unfortunately, I have to eat on Thanksgiving AND Christmas Eve. I do a prime rib roast for Christmas Day, always to rave reviews. Other things I dislike or loathe: Christmas stollen. I don’t have the umlaut thingies, but if any of you have eaten this you know what I’m talking about. It’s dry with dried thingies and sometimes nuts. Similar to fruitcake, but not as dense. The green bean casserole. I’ve made it on request, but I use fresh or frozen beans, never that canned crap. I’m still not a huge fan though. The infamous cranberry log. I love fresh cranberries that a person actually has to cook, but the log is just gross. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2006, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/71 "2006-11-25T22:53:35Z")
I live in Norway. This December and into early January, I will once again be politely saying No Thank You to:[ul] [li]lutefisk[/li][li]gravlaks[/li][li]smalahove[/li][li]more varieties of herring than I once dreamed existed[/li][li]goro (beautiful cookies that taste like… nothing)[/li][li]medisterpølser[/li][li]Scandihoovian fruitcake[/li][/ul] So do I win? I mean, _lutefisk,_ folks. I believe that’s the Yucky Holiday Food Trump Card right there. Fortunately I’ll have my krumkaker and pepperkaker to sustain me through another holiday season 😃 ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/72 "2006-11-26T00:52:40Z")
**BiblioCat** , we can have Thanksgiving together sometime. ::Adopts Frankenstein’s monster voice:: Sauerkraut BA-A-AD. Oysters GOO-OO-OOD. There is one time during the holidays that I willingly allow sauerkraut to pass my lips, and that is on New Year’s Day, when I must fix Grandmother Spalding’s cabbage rolls. (My mother said she got her recipe from a woman of Hungarian descent – Mrs. Farcas. So of course I think of “A Christmas Story” and Scut Farkus every time I make them.) They are not the typical cabbage rolls in tomato sauce. You put a thin (or if you’re me, microscopic) layer of sauerkraut in the bottom of the pan and over the cabbage rolls, pour beef broth in the pan, and bake. Then you use the broth in the pan to make brown gravy and serve the cabbage rolls with mashed potatoes. Once a year, they’re great. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/73 "2006-11-26T00:58:22Z")
What’s wrong with gravlaks? ---
**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:** [November 26, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/74 "2006-11-26T01:04:27Z")
[QUOTE=flodnak] So do I win? I mean, _lutefisk,_ folks. I believe that’s the Yucky Holiday Food Trump Card right there. [/QUOTE] I’ll certainly give lutefisk the prize. Most of the other things mentioned in this thread are foods that I either like or feel neutral toward. Lutefisk is something that I might refuse to eat even if I were starving to death. It totally amazes me that anyone eats it voluntarily, but I’ve seen it eaten with apparent delight by several persons, so I guess this is just one of those culinary delicacies whose appeal I will never understand. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/75 "2006-11-26T03:02:49Z")
There’s worse, you know. Skata, for instance. Putrified skate (ray). Icelanders eat it twice a year for some saint’s day (he has two days). I’m glad I’m living “im Ameriku” and not in Iceland, let me tell you. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/76 "2006-11-26T03:48:38Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] **BiblioCat** , we can have Thanksgiving together sometime. ::Adopts Frankenstein’s monster voice:: Sauerkraut BA-A-AD. Oysters GOO-OO-OOD. [/QUOTE] Damn, right, baby. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/77 "2006-11-26T04:52:43Z")
[QUOTE=Diceman] I don’t think I’ve ever eaten fruitcake. Seriously. I’d like to try one, just to see what all the fuss is about. [/QUOTE] If you can’t get homemade, then buy a good one, like [Harry & Davids](http://www.harryanddavid.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/BECProductDisplay?storeId=10051&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&superItemId=7046&sliSearch=fruitcake). There’s a lot of bad fruitcake out there, but one good one makes up for all the bad ones. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/78 "2006-11-26T15:57:30Z")
Christmas cake icing,Turkey and Brussel Sprouts(traditional vegetable that accompanies Brit. Christmas dinner.) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/79 "2006-11-26T16:05:46Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] What’s wrong with gravlaks? [/QUOTE] Or herring, for that matter? Feel free to send either my way! ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2006, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556/80 "2006-11-26T16:14:22Z")
I love herring, but as adventurous as I am, lutefisk sounds too weird even for me. I had a friend who made me fruitcake cookies last year, which she claimed were a million times better than fruitcake, and perfect for people who don’t like fruitcake. Meh. They were like little round bites of fruitcake. No offense, she’s a dear friend, but fruitcake is fruitcake! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-foods-you-loath/381556.md?page=5)