# On the omnipresence of food-snobbery in everyday recipes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 22, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007 "2023-12-22T20:28:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/221 "2023-12-30T23:32:02Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Based on their ages I’d estimate the mayonnaise-making was sometime in the 1920s. So, olive oil was not completely unknown before the foodies invaded. It was not mentioned in any way to draw attention as some exotic ingredient either. Though perhaps the obsession with “extra-virgin” olive oil is more recent? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/222 "2023-12-30T23:35:44Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > But what’s wrong with seaweed? Nothing wrong with it at all - in fact I bought some for my son’s Christmas stocking. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/223 "2023-12-30T23:50:41Z")
Looks great - I just ordered a copy. Thanks for the recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![Tride](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tride/32/13907_2.png) [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/224 "2023-12-31T01:29:14Z")
We should start a thread when you get it… It’s very…masculine, but not (I think) in a bad way. My father took it as bible, and he’s a hell of a cook. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/225 "2023-12-31T03:13:38Z")
Now I am intrigued. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/226 "2023-12-31T07:16:21Z")
> [@Chingon](#): > > WASP isn’t the default setting for American, and hasn’t been for a while now. > > What a lot of people find as “snobbery” now has been just normal cooking for others for decades now Depends on where you were. My not so little town in the Bay Area is a lot more food diverse than New York was 60 years ago. Lots of delis, lots of Chinese restaurants (but less regional cooking than today) and of course Italian, depending on your neighborhood. I’ve been cooking since 1972, and the range of ingredients and types of cuisines I make has just exploded since then. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Many of my back of the box recipes have been modified a little. I do a nice cinnamon star that was inspired by a recipe published by King Arthur flour, but i looked up a couple other recipes online and interpolated a bit. I look up recipes on line to match the ingredients I have, and when you see three or four nearly identical recipes, with just some ingredients changed, you are encourage to experiment. Plus there are lots of dishes that are designed to use what is available, like meat loaf, gumbo and lots of stews. We follow the recipe the first time we make something, and then we diversify. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2023, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/227 "2023-12-31T07:59:51Z")
Here is another one for you food wannabes: [https://www.foodtimeline.org/](https://www.foodtimeline.org/) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/228 "2024-01-16T14:42:58Z")
O the topic of salt. [![](https://i.imgur.com/8d79Kum.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/8d79Kum.jpeg) Can you imagine, building a fort with canons to protect your _salt_? [![](https://i.imgur.com/oDxqwJA.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/oDxqwJA.jpeg) Just back from a hike to the remains of the fort. Cruise ships in the distance. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/229 "2024-01-16T17:34:48Z")
The wealth of medieval Venice was from its production of salt. You don’t skimp on protecting a resource that valuable. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/230 "2024-01-16T17:39:00Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Can you imagine, building a fort with canons to protect your _salt_? Absolutely. For thousands of years it was one of the most valuable commodities in the world. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/231 "2024-01-16T17:54:50Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Like it or not, what we buy as ‘sea salt’ is often mined. Not here, where salt mines aren’t a thing. All our local salt is sea salt ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/232 "2024-01-16T18:04:03Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Most supermarket tomatoes are picked green and allowed to ripen off the vine. The reason is shipping and storage. Also tomatoes grown for shipping to supermarkets are often varieties that are selected for attributes that either aren’t about eating quality (uniformity of size, simultaneous ripening of crop), or are outright antithetical to eating quality - durability of skin, toughness of flesh - which helps them survive mechanical sorting and packing, and long distance distribution. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/233 "2024-01-16T18:35:49Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Absolutely But a ship sails from Europe to the Caribbean, and the locals bombard them with canons! Why can’t we all just get along? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/234 "2024-01-16T18:36:12Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Cruise ships in the distance. Fire! Me laddies, and take care not to miss! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/235 "2024-01-16T18:39:13Z")
Leave the Church out of this. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/236 "2024-01-16T19:02:14Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Also tomatoes grown for shipping to supermarkets are often varieties that are selected for attributes that either aren’t about eating quality (uniformity of size, simultaneous ripening of crop), or are outright antithetical to eating quality - durability of skin, toughness of flesh - which helps them survive mechanical sorting and packing, and long distance distribution. That’s for sure, and why I pretty much only eat tomatoes I grow. There was a New Yorker article about Florida tomatoes which began with the writer seeing tomatoes falling off a truck going at a good clip. He stopped, picked some up off the ground - and found they were undamaged from the fall. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/237 "2024-01-16T19:24:04Z")
Was that the article in which the writer witnessed tomatoes bouncing off the ground after falling off the truck? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/238 "2024-01-16T20:20:06Z")
This is how we get attack of the killer tomatoes, isn’t it. Dammit. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/239 "2024-01-16T20:26:14Z")
I grew a lot of tomatoes last year. They were some of the best tomatoes I’ve ever eaten and of course I cooked with some of them, but I still continued to buy canned tomatoes for cooking, just because the intensity of flavour and colour of tomatoes grown to the peak of ripeness under Mediterranean sunshine, even when canned, would not be matched by my salad varieties grown here in a greenhouse in the UK (even though it was a pretty good year and the tomatoes were excellent). There are a lot of vegetables that suffer badly from a canning process, but I’d say tomatoes are one of the better examples of canned products (especially when they’re going to be cooked anyway) It’s sort of hilarious that an OP containing complaints about food snobbery goes on to commit food snobbery in the same post. ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007/240 "2024-01-16T21:04:25Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Not here, where salt mines aren’t a thing. All our local salt is sea salt Reminds me of a local salt mine, markets as “[unrefined sea salt mined from an ancient seabed in Utah where it’s safe from modern pollutants.](https://redmond.life/collections/real-salt)” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-omnipresence-of-food-snobbery-in-everyday-recipes/995007.md?page=13)