# What common food items have you never had? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749 "2016-08-04T16:37:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/101 "2016-08-08T00:37:14Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I’ve never drank coffee. I’ve inadvertently tried coffee flavored ice cream and candy but I’ve never tried the real thing. It just smells gross to me and why would someone drink something that wasn’t cold and refreshing? 😃 Actually I really like the smell of it brewing or especially if it’s being ground up in those machines that you don’t see in supermarkets anymore. (At least not in my neck of the woods). But the taste…where’s a hazmat container? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/102 "2016-08-08T00:45:00Z")
While perusing a related thread, it occurred to me that while I’ve had most of the other fine Chef Boy-ar-dee products, I’ve never eaten Spaghetti-Os in my whole entire life. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOldKJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc79bd/32.png) [@GoodOldKJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOldKJ)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/103 "2016-08-08T01:26:41Z")
Tuna fish. The smell alone makes me gag. Beef ribs. Just not done around here. SpaghettiOs. I don’t care for Spaghetti so there’s no point. Give me raviolis anyday. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/104 "2016-08-09T02:20:27Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > Grew up in the midwest and basically ate beef, pork, potatoes, basic vegetables, fruit, soft drinks, and milk. Never developed a taste for the other foods and never liked foods that were a mixture of multiple foods. And just as a side note, I’ve never used an ATM, never twittered, never text messaged anyone, and only E-mailed 3 times in my life. Am I normal? > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > This thread is getting pretty silly. I grew up in the Midwest as well, and have relatives that are 20+ years older than **Vicsage.** > > Maybe not Japanese food, but they’ve certainly had cheese and/or rice. :rolleyes: Indeed. Don’t blame your plebeian-assed diet on the midwest; I grew up in the midwest, too, and I’m not burdened by that particular handicap… Then again, I’m also twenty years younger than you, so maybe midwesterners had just stopped being scared of food by the eighties? Also, I must have seen at least a half-dozen references to bugs on the first page: where the hell do you people live where bugs are a “common” food item? I mean, I did eat a worm on a dare, once, but I wouldn’t fix my mouth to call that “common”… ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/105 "2016-08-09T02:22:10Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > There’s a great article in today’s NYTimes magazine about how the pretentious, over-monied, self-important assholes of the SF tech region have fucked up the idea of what “cuisine” means. You might wanna read it. Biff and I would pop our monocles if the plebes ever got ahold of rice! Bosh! Flimshaw! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/106 "2016-08-09T04:31:08Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > When I was a kid we fairly often had baked Spam. Mom would treat it like a real ham – cut lines into it, poke it with cloves, put something like maple syrup over it, then bake it. We liked it, but then, we didn’t know any better. Mom grew up during the depression and was good at stretching a dollar. > > I have never eaten head cheese. It looks and smells disgusting to me. My husband used to eat it until I told him what it was made of. Why would he need to be TOLD what it’s made of? All he had to do was look at it and he’d have a pretty good shot at identifying the parts inside. I’ve never been able to bring myself to try it. Bits of meat scraps suspended in a slice of meat-flavored Jell-O? Just no. Jell-O is supposed to be fruit-flavored. I don’t care for the idea of tomato aspic, either. That said, neither of those counts as a _common_ food item, so I’m still batting .000 on meeting the conditions of the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![yesanything](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@yesanything](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yesanything)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/107 "2016-08-09T04:35:40Z")
I was raised kosher, quit following those rules years ago, but to this day there’s just something about baked ham that skeeves me. Bacon? - no problem Prok Ribs? - delicious Baked Ham - No way ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/108 "2016-08-09T08:01:09Z")
First time I’ve heard of Lunchables, McRib burger and spaghetti-o . Never had grits or hominy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/109 "2016-08-09T16:53:01Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Raw oysters, nothing special? BLASPHEMY! > > You gotta imagine someone takes a very thin sausage skin. They hock a giant loogie into it, piss in it, and drop in a pinch of sand. How can you possibly call that “nothing special”! I haven’t had a raw oyster either. Love fried and cooked ones, but haven’t ever really wanted to eat one. Plus, my Dad described them as being like a big cold loogie once, and that put me right off. My grandfather (Dad’s dad) used to pick them off the bottom while wade fishing and crack them open right there and slurp them down while (mostly) alive. And for the record, I’m pretty sure \*\*Vicsage \*\*is pulling our legs and is full of shit, or he’s some kind of weirdo proto-Amish person. I refuse to believe that someone growing up in mainstream America, no matter how stereotypically Midwestern, won’t have had pizza, fish, rice, or macaroni and cheese. I can sort of see not having had Mexican food; a small-town Iowan I know was totally apprehensive of Tex-Mex/Mexican food, as it wasn’t made with ingredients he recognized, and had different flavors, and wasn’t Taco Bell. We started him out on carne asada and fajitas- grilled beef and onions was something he could wrap his head around, and branch out from. ---
**Author:** ![Vicsage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e68b1a/32.png) [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/110 "2016-08-09T18:27:59Z")
Actually Baptist. But the term weirdo proto-Amish seems kind of elitist and a touch micro-aggressive. And I am telling the truth. Just because your experiences don’t have people who don’t do what most everyone else does, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. And to further vex you, I’ve never had coffee either. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/111 "2016-08-09T18:52:45Z")
Not much that I can think of, but limiting it to common foods already mentioned (and a couple of others that they reminded me of): Twinkie \*Taco Bell Ramen noodles Big Mac Nutella McRib Pig’s feet Head cheese Souse meat Scrapple PB&J sandwich \*Although someone did once give my their Taco Bell order when they found out it wasn’t what they had ordered. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/112 "2016-08-09T18:54:53Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > Actually Baptist. But the term weirdo proto-Amish seems kind of elitist and a touch micro-aggressive. And I am telling the truth. Just because your experiences don’t have people who don’t do what most everyone else does, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. And to further vex you, I’ve never had coffee either. It’s hardly elitist to say someone’s full of shit for claiming not to have eaten some of the absolutely most common foods in the world. It’s extraordinarily weird. Like living in a compound with your sister-aunts and brother-uncles weird. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/113 "2016-08-09T19:27:47Z")
I’m another one who has never tried coffee. I’m familiar with the flavor, as I’ve had coffee-flavored hard candy and Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream. I don’t mind it. Wouldn’t seek it out, but it’s not like I find the flavor nasty or anything. But actual coffee itself? No. For one thing, I’m not a fan of hot drinks. I also have perfectly satisfactory caffeine infusion mechanisms, in that I drink a shitload of Diet Coke and iced tea. Plus, I’ve got enough vices. Why add one more? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/114 "2016-08-09T19:45:33Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > First time I’ve heard of Lunchables, McRib burger and spaghetti-o . > Never had grits or hominy. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk McRib is not a burger, it’s chopped pork scraps molded into slightly rib shape. In my mind, it’s delicious, and the best thing McDonald’s offers. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/115 "2016-08-09T20:15:52Z")
> [@Meltdown](#): > > Breakfast cereals. I never had any of them. I never liked the idea of pouring milk over something and eating it. Eat them dry out of the box, like I do. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/116 "2016-08-09T20:18:34Z")
> [@appleaday](#): > > Went through 60 of my 61 years without ever eating Spam. Then, one day, I thought I’d give it a try. Why not? How bad could it be? So I tasted some Spam, and wished I hadn’t. I’d have to be starving and near death before I’d eat that stuff again. It’s good three ways: Chopped into a omelet or scrambled eggs, fried in bacon grease, or again, chopped and added to mac & cheese. Just eaten out of the can it is nasty. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/117 "2016-08-09T20:20:09Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Re: Lunchables. You’re not missing anything. Worst tasting meat I’ve ever eaten. How this company manages to stay in business is beyond me. Yes, they are nasty. Kids. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/118 "2016-08-09T20:26:43Z")
Having checked the foods listed here, I have eaten them all. Not liked all of them (I can skip tripe\*, thankyouverymuch). I have never tried Durian Fruit, but would- maybe. But I hardly consider it “common”. - along with Pig’s feet Head cheese Souse meat Scrapple Deep fried twinkies SpaghettiOs (for kids) ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/119 "2016-08-09T21:01:45Z")
> [@Vicsage](#): > > Actually Baptist. But the term weirdo proto-Amish seems kind of elitist and a touch micro-aggressive. And I am telling the truth. Just because your experiences don’t have people who don’t do what most everyone else does, doesn’t mean they don’t exist. And to further vex you, I’ve never had coffee either. Speaking for myself, I am not denying your experiences at all. I believe one hundred percent that you’re telling the truth about your food experiences. I just think it’s bullshit that you’re putting it on “growing up in the midwest.” Not vexed by the coffee thing at all. I’ve never had coffee either, simply because I find the smell to be repugnant. I also find the notion of all the additives that people put into coffee to be counterintuitive: if you have to put so much shit into your coffee to make the coffee enjoyable, then what’s the point? There are far less objectionable ways of getting caffeine… Shout out to those of you who drink it black, though. You’re hardcore. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749/120 "2016-08-09T21:16:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It’s good three ways: > > Chopped into a omelet or scrambled eggs, fried in bacon grease, or again, chopped and added to mac & cheese. > > Just eaten out of the can it is nasty. Ever had a spam bento? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-common-food-items-have-you-never-had/761749.md?page=7)