Wings.
Yes, yes and more yes!
Chocolate. I don’t dislike it, but the way people obsess over it baffles me.
Bacon. I prefer prosciutto, even if the OP doesn’t.
Beer and Wine.
Have to agree with wings. I just dont get it, they are way too much work for a bite of BBQ chicken.
Fucking mucous.
Polenta.
Quinoa.
Anything Gluten Free. It’s like eating cardboard. At least do me a favor and say “it’s okay if you don’t have it, I’m just on a diet, I’m not actually allergic to it”. I’m getting tired of going through all the ingredients in for every component in a meal to make sure there’s no gluten in something because you’re pretending to be allergic to gluten this week.
In an article I read once, if you were actually allergic to Gluten you wouldn’t ask for a gluten free meal at the Italian restaurant…you just wouldn’t go to a restaurant that has pasta or breading or bread with just about every single thing.
I had a guy in my store last week that asked about gluten free something or other. He did say that he just had a sensitivity to it and could tolerate it a few times a month…then proceeded to buy three sandwiches and some beer.
At least when people were on Atkins it was easier. “okay, here’s your sandwich…er here’s some meat and lettuce and cheese”.
**In-N-Out Burgers **
Burgers and fries. You can get equal quality at countless quick-food restaurants in America.
Good, but I think even Wendy’s is almost equal. Shocking for some, but true.
My wife and son both have celiac; fortunately they are not so sensitive as to need to worry a lot about cross contamination, in which they could be affected by, say, having their food touched by a spoon that had been used to stir a pot of pasta made from wheat. (I think that’s what you’re referring to with regard to the comment about not going into an Italian restaurant. My understanding is that while some people with celiac are that sensitive, many, possibly most, are not. We have no problem eating out at any restaurant that offers GF dishes.)
I was not pleased when I realized this would mean that the vast bulk of my diet would be GF going forward. Though I still eat gluten at restaurants and occasionally buy gluten-ous crackers and cookies, it obviously doesn’t make sense to prepare two dishes at home, one with and one without.
I agree that some GF food tastes pretty poor, but I’ve actually been surprised at how good a lot of it is–and how difficult it can be to tell, in many cases, that I’m not eating gluten. I have had some wonderful brownies, cakes, gravy, pasta, etc., all of it GF, some prepared commercially, some by my wife and son (both excellent and creative cooks). I don’t feel deprived, though I expected I would. Obviously, your mileage varies.
Steak. A lot of meats in general, actually, but steak is usually seen as king of the meats. Men overrate meat, women overrate chocolate.
For some people, “gluten free” is functionally pretty much the same as Atkins. I don’t like bread or beer- so I can do without the substitutes. I don’t really get substitute things in general. If I were vegetarian, I wouldn’t want to eat fake hot dogs. I eat meat as it is and hot dogs are not exactly the most appetizing thing. I don’t get “good” fake substitutes of “bad” food. I’d rather just avoid all forms of it completely. Avoiding a food group and then faking the lowest forms of it seems strange to me.
I don’t think most people do GF to lose weight. At least, I don’t. I do it because I do actually have a wheat allergy. It’s a pretty severe one, but I ignored it for most of my life. However, as I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed how crap I feel from eating wheat products.
I’m a bread maker and a homemade pasta maker… giving up wheat was quite an adjustment. But the pain relief I realized from doing it is enormous and makes the hassle more than worth it.
That said, I’m not one to make a fuss if the only foods available are wheat-based. I’ll eat a small portion, thank the host/hostess and go home knowing I’ll pay the price with swollen joints and painful gastrointestinal distress for a couple of days.
Like Ulf, I’ve found some fantastic recipes and GF replacements for wheat products. But you’re right – some of them would be put to better use as packing material. Quinoa pasta… say… no… more. Ugh.
In answer to the OP, I’ll add my vote for sushi. The craze is not as bad as it was a few years ago, but I just don’t get why people go berserk for it. It’s ok… not a squick thing for me, just… meh. I love some of the sauce flavors, but I’d enjoy them more on fish that was cooked.
I’m going to play the defender of delicious food here.
Escargot is about the seasoning, but also about the texture. The meat doesn’t have a strong flavor, but it’s unique. I don’t use the word unique often, because it’s grossly misused, but escargot has a unique texture and mouthfeel. Some mushroom varieties are probably the closest thing I can think of (I love me some mushrooms) but only slightly close. Nothing really tastes like escargot except escargot and I am pro-escargot.
I am so pro-oyster that it’s almost embarrassing. Now, all oysters are not created equal. I’ve paid $24/dozen or even $18/half for some really bland oysters in restaurants, but good oysters are amazing. A good Kumamoto oyster is at the very top of the list of things I like to eat. Wegmans has a partnership with a Chesapeake Bay farm and they sell very good (not exceptional) oysters for a buck apiece.
Talk about all things not being equal. Caviar should never be soft and snotty, it should be kind of crunchy and pop when you bite into it. Salty I’ll admit, but I like salty. I’ve never eaten fine caviar, but a Lumpfish or Tobiko caviar is reasonably priced and pretty damned good, in my opinion. I’m not a $500 an ounce caviar on gourmet blini kind of guy, but I do really enjoy some affordable caviar. Usually as a topping on a good cracker with brie. Not a regular purchase for me, but reasonable for an occasional splurge. I am moderately pro-caviar but I’m not in a league to extol the virtues of fine caviar.
Being from Buffalo, the canonical wing is not BBQ, it’s deep fried and tossed in a mix of Frank’s and butter or margarine. BBQ wings are great, probably my second favorite behind a traditional hot wing. Sadly, the popularity has driven the price such that the original point of wings has been defeated. Wings used to be considered garbage parts, now they’re premium. I love wings, but agree that the over-rating of wings have driven the price to the point that I don’t bother with them anymore. Pro-wing but anti-stupid wing prices. They are currently past the point of diminishing return.
In-N-Out is a victim of its own success. It gets way over-hyped and all of us east-coasters go to In-N-Out when we get to California, thinking it’s going to be the best burger ever. It’s not, and it was never intended to be. In-N-Out is fast food burgers priced like fast food burgers and kicking the shit out of anyone in their competitive market at their price point. They compete with McDonald’s, BK, Wendy’s and Carl’s Jr. and they have a better product than any of them. I will admit that their fries suck. I am pro-In-N-Out, but anti-In-N-Out aggrandizing.
This is another not all (fill in the blank) are created equal. Steak can be anything from practically inedible to practically divine. Not only do you have cut preferences from chuck to loin, but USDA ratings and other world rating systems from Japan, Australia, Canada and Argentina. All I can really say here (and I’ve never had a stupid expensive steak) is that if you’ve never had a steak that made you stop and think (or say) holy fuck! then you’ve probably never made into the upper half of what a steak can be. I am pro-steak and pro-steak education. A piece of meat isn’t good just because it’s called a steak.
I do like quality beer and agree that the IPA thing is done to death. I even like a good IPA, but when 2/3 of the craft beer cooler is full of IPA, Double IPA, Imperial IPA and Double Imperial Fuck You With Hops IPA, I tend to grab a stout or porter off the warm rack just out of spite.
The only other thing I can think of that is way over-hyped is pumpkin spice. Pumpkin spice beer, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice booze, pumpkin spice bagels (I swear to god these exist), pumpkin spice blah, blah, blah. Fuck pumpkin spice! Seriously. I don’t even like pumpkin pie.
Coca-cola. I like an occasional ice-cold Coke on a hot day, but I don’t know why it’s THE most popular soft drink in the world (although I think it’s being overtaken by bottled water?)
It’s brown fizzy sugar water.
They’re still pretty cheap around these parts. Last week I bought 5 pounds @ $1.29/lb, but you have to buy the “family size” bags for it (even managed to find wings at Aldi 1/2 off at under a buck a pound–and they were good wings, too.). Otherwise, it is something stupid like $2.49-$2.99/lb. But the whole point of wings is the perfect skin-to-meat ratio. If you don’t like skin, then I understand not liking wings.
Cupcakes.
Right, exactly. I pay less than that for boneless, skinless breast cuts. That’s my point. Wings were restaurant garbage in the past and never even sold in grocery stores. Stock fodder, at best. The fact that they got to the point of competing with or exceeding the rest of the cuts of a chicken is entirely contrary to the concept of wings.
Most restaurants or bars want a buck a wing (piece) now. 20 years ago, 10 cent wing nights were a thing. Blah, blah, when I was a boy… I know, but seriously. Even at $1.29/lb wings are overpriced when you consider what you’re paying for the bones.
Anything that has the word “artisan” in front of it. To me that just screams “pretentious rubbish”.
Nutella.
It’s far too sweet - enough to give me the shakes if I just have a little - and I don’t get any particular chocolate or hazelnut flavor in it, just sugar.
I prefer Krab to Crab. If I’m cooking for others I use crab because it’s “classier” but if it’s just me I’ll use Krab.