Some people are snobs about all food sensations, some don’t give a shit. I am in between about a lot of things, and am going to guess that most SDMB denizens feel the same as I do.
So…here is a thread to discuss your snobberies, tolerances, and how they intersect.
As for me, I understand but do not totally buy into snobbery about coffee and chocolate. And the post that prompted me to start this thread was about butterscotch.
I would eat bad butterscotch pudding at the same time I reserve my highest praise for the really good stuff.
What foods do you feel a similarly ambivalent reaction to? Meaning, you will eat and enjoy versions that really don’t express the ethereal truth of a particular food, but you still understand and appreciate what it means to reach true perfection?
I like good whiskey (Scotch or Irish), but that usually means stuff that runs $60-$80 (or more) for a bottle. I only drink it straight (or with a splash of water), rather than in a cocktail, and so, I don’t like less-expensive whiskies very much. If offered it by a well-meaning friend, I’ll drink it, but I won’t enjoy it nearly as much as one of my preferred brands.
Good one. I’ll add coffee. I’m a former barista, know all the jargon and when to swagger and when to swizzle.
Running late and instant is all we got?! Cool, load me up. At the state fairgrounds and the brew sold is from that 10 gallon tower of stainless percolation that been going for the last 7 hours? Yes, please.
IMO, a good guacamole is just mashed avocado with lime juice, salt, pepper, and a few dashes of hot sauce mixed in. However, I’m also an absolute sucker for the San Diego-style guacamole that’s ubiquitous at taco shops across the southwest (and increasingly in the PNW), which is more of a salsa of tomatillo, guacamole, and onion, seasoned and then run through a blender until it achieves a uniform greenish consistency.
On the other hand, I won’t put up with any form of “parmesan cheese” other than real imported Parmigiano-Reggiano, and when cooking with it I insist on buying it in wedge form and grating it myself so I can see from the markings on the rind that it’s the genuine article and doesn’t include any fillers. I always insist on grating my own cheese rather than buying pre-shredded, anyway; I can taste the difference the anti-caking agent makes in the pre-grated stuff.
Under such circumstances, I would reassess such a friendship.
I have determined the best pizza can be found in the New York, New Jersey, Connecticut area. Even the worst pizza in that area is still pretty good. I generally tolerate Chicago style pizza, but it’s not my favorite. As you get further away from New York, pizza quality tends to diminish quickly. There might be one decent place in town. I refuse to eat Dominos or similar chain pizza.
Off the top of my head, I will love really good chocolate, coffee, tea, whisky, beer, poultry, serrano ham, cheese, fruits and vegetables and will forgo the mediocre or bad products because they are not worth the calories.
Of course I will grate my cheese myself, but I will accept a good grana padano instead of a parmigiano reggiano. That is not a line I draw.
But if the OP calls this attitude snobbery we will not agree on much. I would call it a privilege I am glad I can afford.
The amusing thing about these threads is that people’s concept if low-brow/high-brow is so relative. You get one person saying “I like a nice hotel, but if I am just passing through, any hotel will do. Perfectly happy to stay at the Holiday Inn” and someone else will be “In my old age, I like to indulge myself. I’m just not willing to stay at a cheap motel. Even if it’s just for a night, I’ll opt for the Holiday Inn or similar”.
Fresh field-ripened pineapple, as is commonly available in Hawaii: Yum! (ETA: Any excess juice, if not consumed, can be used to take the rust off your chrome bumpers. )
Pineapple, as commonly found in supermarkets most everywhere else: Blech!
Hamburgers. Made at home with care and good ingredients, they can be sublime. Mass produced, they’re an abomination. I haven’t been to any of the newer or specialty franchises that have appeared in recent years, so, if that ever happens, maybe I’ll be in for a nice surprise.
I used to enjoy eating out so much that it was practically a hobby. The food didn’t have to be fancy, just something I wouldn’t mind paying for. Without being too extreme about it, I’ve always thought that anything served at a restaurant, diner or whatever should be at least as good as what I can make at home. That expectation can easily be taken too far, and a detail or two gone wrong isn’t normally an issue for me, because part of the experience is just being out of the apartment and enjoying myself. So what’s changed? Although I’m a better cook, the real reason is the declining quality I’ve seen in recent years. The last straw, as it were, was a bowl of lentils that were undercooked and way too salty, and an incompetent cook is the only explanation for that. There’ve been other disappointments, and the pandemic has changed my habits, too. I miss going to some of those places I used to frequent.
In-N-Out Burgers, if available in your area, aren’t bad.
ETA: There’s a burger joint in Paso Robles, CA called Good Ol’ Burgers that is good – they grill the burgers right there in front of you. They also make humongous thick-sliced deep-fried battered onion rings (which they used to call “Wagon Wheels”), three of which alone are a full meal. Again, fried right in front of you while you watch.
If you’re referring to Good Ol’ Burgers, it’s not a new place – I lived near Paso Robles in the 1990s and it was there then. It has since been bought out by Bubba’s (a chain of which I know nothing), but I recently ate at GOB and it hasn’t changed much. Except they don’t call their onion rings Wagon Wheels any more.
If you’re referring to In-N-Out Burgers, they are all over the Western states. Worth a try if you’re ever out this-a-way. Note, if it matters to you: They have recently gotten controversial in the news for refusing to enforce mask mandates in the S. F. Bay Area.
Okay. I meant Good Ol’ Burgers, based on your description. Neither are in my area, though. There are some places I could try, but it’s not something I’m going to do intentionally.
Chocolate was the first thing that came to mind for me. I don’t know that I qualify as a snob, because I like Hershey’s fine, realizing it’s not even close to some of the good Belgian chocolates I’ve had.
However, I draw the line at the super-cheap, waxy, foil-wrapped so-called chocolate that shows up on store shelves for holidays. It’s universally nasty and I avoid it.
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