I’m sure we’ve had threads on this before, but I don’t see them, so apologies in advance:
What exactly is the reasoning behind people being angered by how someone else eats their food?
Examples including, but not limited to:
[ul]
[li]Having a steak cooked well-done[/li][li]Putting ketchup on a hot dog in Chicago[/li][li]Pineapple on pizza[/li][li]Putting Swiss on a Philly cheesesteak[/li][/ul]
Is the idea that people hate seeing “waste”, and they consider a well-done steak to be wasted? Is it just projection - “if I consider Method X of eating this food to be the appropriate way, then anyone who eats it a different way is doing it the wrong way?”
I’m sure there are some people that really do get angry at such things. There is always someone who will get angry at anything. 96.3% of the time (scientifically proven) it’s just people having fun needling someone. I don’t even get angry at that sloppy casserole they have the gall to call a pizza in Chicago.
I don’t think anyone is actually “angered” but it’s a fair question as to why people are, let’s say,emotionally invested in the eating habits of others.
You most likely have it right about it being people projecting their likes and dislikes onto others. I know when I hear someone order a steak well done I think (but don’t say) “ewwwwww” because to me that sounds wretched. Of course that’s where the part about thinking it and not saying it comes in
Other people are very passionate about food and perhaps see other folks’ flaunting of tradition as some kind of affront.
Some people are simply “know it alls” and will profess to be the expert on everything.
If the food is prepared for someone else to enjoy, how is it ruined? It might not be how you’d eat it but if that is how somebody wants it, what is the issue?
Description of obligatory link: It’s a scene from the BritCom Chef. If you want to see someone invested in others’ food choices, this is as good as it gets.
I get angry if people pull the wings off a butterfly. I get angry when people destroy great works of art. It’s the same with food. If you really want to desecrate food, destroy the delicate balance of flavor and texture that defines great food, at least do it in private and don’t talk about it.
I think a lot of it could be rooted in some sense of place; in other words, there’s the ‘right’ way to make something where you’re from, with possible alternate versions from other respectable places, and then there’s the *wrong *way to do it, which is pretty much everything else.
So if you’re a person who takes a lot of pride in where you’re from and what you eat from there, I can see how you might be annoyed or even angered by someone from somewhere else making it wrong, and then talking about their wrong version like they know WTF they’re talking about. Take chili, for example. It evolved in Texas, and is a quintessential Texan dish. It traditionally doesn’t have beans and is made from beef. So when I hear about some sort of f-ed up other kinds of chili elsewhere, it is mildly annoying (to me) because that’s NOT chili.
It’s a sort of cultural appropriation I suppose.
(strangely, Cincinnati chili doesn’t bother me, because it’s actually derived from a Greek stew instead of being a crap knock-off of actual chili, and just ended up called chili because that’s what it most resembled)
But if someone loves well-done steaks, to him/her, the sight of other people ***not ***having their steaks well-done is “destroying” the steak experience. Everyone’s taste bud preferences are different.
I think a lot of the emotional reaction is class snobbery.
“OMG. You are seriously going to order a steak well-done? What are you, a rube? Don’t you know only unsophisticated country bumpkins eat like that?”
Food evokes a visceral response that flies in the face of rationality. Like, intellectually I get that someone may genuinely like sriracha on ice cream. But it would be hard for me not to say something negative if a friend were whip out a bottle everytime we have ice cream. It wouldn’t be anger I would be feeling. Just mild disgust.
It’s tribalism. Food = culture. Two of the four examples in your OP are obviously regional in nature (and the pineapple-on-pizza one may also be, I’m not sure), and the steak one is class-marked (Donald Trump notwithstanding, there is a correlation between meat doneness preferences and income, and an even stronger one with education). And, frankly, being snobbish about food is one of the more socially acceptable ways of being snobbish about class these days.
Assuming this isn’t a spoof, there is no definitive “great food”. Only the eater of said food can determine if it’s good or not.
Obviously there are finer cuts of meat and purer ingredients etc,. I just mean the finished product is only *subjectively *good as the intended consumer thinks it is.
I understand a certain level of indignation at seeing a nice cut of steak cooked well done. A ribeye (for example) is a more valuable resource than a sirloin. Overcooking it destroys the qualities which make it more valuable. It’s a wasteful act and it’s okay to be discomfited by a wasteful act even if the person is fully within their rights to be wasteful.
Likewise, prepared food can be an expression of a person or a culture. If a Chicagoan gets peeved at the idea of putting ketchup on their eponymous dog, it’s because the dog in some small way represents Chicago’s cultural identity.
When I cook something special for my parents, I always ask them to try a bite or two before seasoning (they loooove their seasonings and condiments) because I want them to enjoy what I made before they adulterate it. The meal is an expression of my love for my family and, while I don’t really care if my dad wants to cover his steak with A1, I at least want him to have a few bites. I can understand similar but more intense feelings from a chef who has carefully prepared an experiential meal.
None of this excuses throwing hate at people who like pineapple on pizza or mayonnaise over Miracle Whip or whatever else. That’s just the same simple “us vs. them” mentality that drives every other bit of tribalism in our culture.
It’s not my fault that some people have bad taste buds. Downright malfunctioning and disrespectful tastebuds. Late at night I hear the screams of pizzas topped with pineapples, and <gasp> well done steaks.
It’s also an affordable way to be snobbish. Most people can’t afford a yacht but a lot more people can afford to go to Whole Foods and then look down on your choice of standard grocery store non-farm-fresh-organic-heritage-broccoli.
Don’t soccer hooligans attacking opposing fans with beer bottles come from that kind of “pride”? Tribalism leads to all sorts of conflicts.
Wow, that’s way beyond the OP’s examples. “F-ed up” and “It’s NOT chili”?
Do you tell anyone “That’s NOT a hot dog now”, or that their well-done steak is NOT a steak?
Just for the record, I had to choke back a tear just typing ‘well-done steak’. Almost as sad as watching my BIL eat a dry, grey shingle drenched in A1. While telling everyone how good a cut it is… (how can he tell?).
I have never gotten angry at anyone for eating anything. I have been annoyed when restaurants decide to get cute with concepts like ‘fusion’ and ‘deconstructed’ and the next thing you know your ‘Philly Cheesteak Sandwich’ is served as 4 purple cubes with a side of pineapple chutney.
Yeah, basically this. There’s some performative anger that is all in good fun.
Sometimes I am concerned that people (my parents for example) don’t realize that they’re buying choice cuts of meat that don’t need to be burnt like the cheap depression-era cuts they ate in childhood. I think they’re not only overpaying, but missing out. But they inevitably say that’s what they’re accustomed to, and they prefer it, so I just sigh and move on.
I’m don’t eat meat or drink alcohol. Whenever anyone makes a comment, I just think my favotie Homer Simpson line: He did it because he’s stupid. That’s the only reason anyone does anyrhing.
I then say “I don’t have to explain my food choices to you.”
