# What foods do you take as granted? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2005, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321 "2005-04-14T18:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/21 "2005-04-14T22:32:41Z")
When I was being wooed for an academic position in eastern Ohio, I was taken to a Thai restaurant for dinner by one of the faculty and his wife. The only one for 100 miles around. It was a bit of a surprise to learn that, having just come from Berkeley. It actually wasn’t too bad, considering. It was really hard to find anything Asian beyond soy sauce when we lived in Western PA. Thank goodness Erie finally got a Wegman’s. Here in San Diego there’s probably a source for just about anything. How come all you people can’t find any maple syrup? It costs an arm and a leg, sure, but I’ve never seen a grocery store that didn’t carry it. ---
**Author:** ![Corii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Corii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corii)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/22 "2005-04-14T22:35:35Z")
> [@Creaky](#): > > TastyKakes. It used to be almost impossible to get them outside of the Baltimore/Philadelphia area (we used to mail them to friends out West and abroad). But I bet you can get them anywhere now. I loved TastyKakes. Yeah! They deliver now! I ordered a case of peanut butter candy cakes a while back, my diet was shot for a MONTH. Oooh and the pies. I kinda miss scrapple too, all nice and fried up crispy with scrambled eggs and a dab of ketchup, or pancakes and maple syrup. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/23 "2005-04-14T22:43:39Z")
Can I lament upon the Mexican-food wasteland that is everywhere but California? > [@](#): > > What, we have Taco-Bell! That’s not Mexican. So sorry. Although it is the Fast Food of Choice after a nasty evening at the bar for me. And yes, Mr. K’s is long, long gone, **Johnny L.A.** And that Basque joint in Rosamond is gone now, too. Pity, I never got to try either. Although the Whole Wheatery makes some pretty tasty baklava, but that and Ouzo is pretty much the limit of my experience with Greek cuisine. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/24 "2005-04-14T22:54:13Z")
I took for granted good Italian and foreign food - and variants there of - from up North. In the North, it is not uncommon to go to a chain grocery store and get a decent loaf of Italian or French bread. Here in Greensboro, Italian is synonymous with French which in turn is synonymous with bread. Pepperoni rolls, too, are something you can never find done here, along with chipped ham. No one here even understands the concept of chipped ham. Thin is not chipped, plain and simple. I have also never even seen gnocchis or periogees down here, besides what I can make or buy. Mrs. T’s are decent, but if I want a periogee I want it done right. Other things that seem to be absent from the part of the South I exist in is good Chinese, good salami, pastromi in any form, French, and decent hoagies. Supposedly, it’s getting better, but I’m not holding out any hope. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/25 "2005-04-14T22:58:47Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > How come all you people can’t find any maple syrup? It costs an arm and a leg, sure, but I’ve never seen a grocery store that didn’t carry it. One has to be careful; just because something is labelled “Pure Maple Syrup” and is expensive does not mean it is really maple syrup. When you check the ingrediants, look for actual, raw maple syrup ingrediants. Beware of flavoured corn syrup. ---
**Author:** ![Creaky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e68b1a/32.png) [@Creaky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creaky)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/26 "2005-04-14T23:05:27Z")
**Corii** … Yeah, the Peanut Butter Cakes were always my favorite, too. That is so cool that they deliver. Unfortunately, that stuff is not on my diet, but I can dream… > [@Anastasaeon](#): > > One has to be careful; just because something is labelled “Pure Maple Syrup” and is expensive does not mean it is really maple syrup. When you check the ingrediants, look for actual, raw maple syrup ingrediants. Beware of flavoured corn syrup. AND… Yep. My dad is apparently particular about maple syrup, and orders his stuff from Maine or Vermont or wherever the heck real maple syrup comes from. I’m just, like, pass the Aunt Jemima. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/27 "2005-04-14T23:07:24Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > One has to be careful; just because something is labelled “Pure Maple Syrup” and is expensive does not mean it is really maple syrup. When you check the ingrediants, look for actual, raw maple syrup ingrediants. Beware of flavoured corn syrup. Incorrect. If it says “Pure Maple Syrup” and it’s not 100% the product of the tree, that’s unlawful labelling. However, sometimes you’ll see PURE MAPLE flavored syrup. That’s what you gotta watch out for. Many syrups don’t even have enough actual maple in them to be termed maple-flavored and are usually called something like “pancake syrup.” Another point, however, is that even the real 100% maple syrup you can get in the supermarket is not as good as what you get when you go to an area where it’s made and buy it from the source. The supermarket stuff is often a blend from various sources, and is simply not as good. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/28 "2005-04-14T23:25:22Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Incorrect. If it says “Pure Maple Syrup” and it’s not 100% the product of the tree, that’s unlawful labelling. Then what I posted wasn’t incorrect, but the companies who do so are frauds - and they still exist, because sometimes you do still find them - at least, I did last year when I was looking for maple syrup. Unfortuantely I don’t remember the brand (or the store, I was still new here), or I’d cite it. And bring 'em down, now that I know it’s illegal. But yes, I agree, go to the source. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_syrup) has some interesting information, though little to do with expensive fakes. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Violaceous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Miss\_Violaceous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Violaceous)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/29 "2005-04-15T00:16:02Z")
> [@Anastasaeon](#): > > And while I’m at it, I agree with the real maple syrup thing. The imitations are just sad. Well… they make _me_ sad, and long for the real stuff. ☹ Maple sugar candy… not just the hard stuff, but those little lumps of sugar shaped like maple leaves, MMMMMM! How I miss those… I see real maple sugar candy (shaped like maple leaves n’ everything) in health food stores a lot, these days. Give it a go. Not so much in Whole Foods (or maybe I’ve just never found it because WF is so huge), but in local health food stores in two different towns in two different states I’ve seen the same brand of maple sugar candy. It’s good. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/30 "2005-04-15T00:30:13Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > But I’ve never seen or tasted an avocado. You’re not missing anything. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/31 "2005-04-15T01:21:43Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > You’re not missing anything. Word. I think perhaps only tofu rivals avocado for sheer tastelessness. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/32 "2005-04-15T01:25:23Z")
I have eaten salmon from most of the better and average seafood restaurants in the greater Seattle Tacoma area. It has always been pink to dark pink in color and for the most part, tastes very good. While in San Francisco 4 years ago, my wife and I ate dinner at Bubba Gumps at Pier 39. One of the specials that day was baked salmon. Sounded good to me so I ordered it. I was served an almost white piece of fish that was way overcooked. It crumpled instead of flaking off the bone and had very little flavor. When the waitress came to see how our dinner was, I told her that this stuff in the worst excuse for salmon I have ever seen. She took my plate and apologised and allowed me to order something else from the menu. A few minutes later a cook came out and wanted to know what was wrong with the salmon. I told him what real salmon looks and tastes like. He claimed the salmon I was served was the best farm raised salmon available and that it was from New York. New York? A restaurant that has a view of the Pacific Ocean, the producer of the best salmon anywhere, bar none, serves salmon from New York. Bubba Gumps would not survive as a seafood restaurant in the Seattle area. Copper River salmon will be available soon, I can’t wait. ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/33 "2005-04-15T01:31:38Z")
Originally Posted by MLS Until recently, not a whole lot of people outside of the NY metro area knew what a bagel was. > [@iwakura43](#): > > 😕 Just how recently? I was born in the midwest before moving to New England, and I’ve been eating bagels all my life. > > You in North NJ? Where do you get your favorite bagel? In the early 70’s, a friend from Long Island was going to college in Rock Island, IL. One Sunday they served bagels. I believe she was the only student who knew what the “hard donuts” were 😉 BTW, IMHO, in Hillsborough, Bagel B.O.P has the best bagels 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/34 "2005-04-15T02:21:48Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Interesting about the avocados ( **romansperson** , **fishbicycle** ). I was taken aback when I heard people were unfamiliar with them in the '80s. (Once in the O-Club, an Eastern woman looked at the huge bowl of freshly-made guacamole and didn’t know what it was.) When I was a kid we just picked them off of my grandmother’s tree. Later, we just bought them at the supermarket. I thought that by now, there wouldn’t be anyplace that didn’t have them. > > I used to live in Lancaster (Mojave Desert) and there was a Greek restaurant called Mr. K’s that made really good souvlaki. (I believe they’re long gone now.) And I got some nice Hungarian goulash in Hollywood. And, oddly enough, Mr. K’s had GREAT chili. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/35 "2005-04-15T02:31:32Z")
Wonderful foods in my adopted home: Palisade peaches, Olathe (CO) sweet corn, and Rocky Ford melons. Is it summer yet? And **The Sausage Creature** usually makes her annual trip around the last part of July. I wonder why that is? ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/36 "2005-04-15T02:48:56Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > You’re not missing anything. I suspected about as much! So, what is guacamole like? What else does it have in it besides avocados? And as **buns3000** said about tofu, I haven’t had any desire to taste it. Not that there would be much to taste, according to the descriptions. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/37 "2005-04-15T03:26:28Z")
**fishbicycle** , I learned to like avacados by trying guacamole first with other Mexican food. Now I like it sliced on BLT sandwiches or with walnuts, bean sprouts and tofu. And I’m a picky eater! Things that I miss when I leave the South: "Meat ‘n’ 3 meals where you choose one meat from a list and then choose three veggies from another list that will also include starches and baked apples. You also have a choice of rolls or cornbread. All of this costs about five dollars. I was surprised that my daughter-in-law from New Jersey had never eaten black-eyed peas. I knew that she had never eaten grits. It surprised me even more that she had absolutely no intention of trying them and apparently considered them an inferior food. Two things from West Tennessee are like no place else on earth: fresh strawberries in May and BBQ. (I won’t argue about Texas BBQ and which is better; I’m just saying that West Tennessee BBQ is _different_. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/38 "2005-04-15T03:55:58Z")
Born and raised in Maryland, and I used to take properly done steamed blue crabs for granted. No longer! From now on I promise I will eat them whenever they are offered, lest that time be the last… ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/39 "2005-04-15T04:37:29Z")
> [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > And yes, Mr. K’s is long, long gone, **Johnny L.A.** And that Basque joint in Rosamond is gone now, too. Pity, I never got to try either. Although the Whole Wheatery makes some pretty tasty baklava, but that and Ouzo is pretty much the limit of my experience with Greek cuisine. Villa Basque is gone? Dang, I never got round to going there! **Cheez\_Whia** : I can’t remember ever trying the chili at Mr. K’s. (Incidentally, on Avenue K, for those who might wonder.) I couldn’t resist the souvlaki. > [@racer72](#): > > I have eaten salmon from most of the better and average seafood restaurants in the greater Seattle Tacoma area. I baked a salmon fillet with Soy Vay Very Very Teriyaki today. A one-pound wild-caught fillet that was nice and red. I won’t buy the farm-raised, colour-added salmon unless I’m _really_ jonzin’ for salmon and there’s no wild-caught to be found. Fortunately for me, the Lummi Indians seem to have an unlimited supply of wild-caught salmon. 🙂 By the way, my friends liked the teriyaki salmon. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2005, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321/40 "2005-04-15T13:11:58Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > And, oddly enough, Mr. K’s had GREAT chili. Go figure. Well, it was a Greek family that created Cincinnati’s famous Skyline Chili, after all. It’s nothing like more traditional Texas or Southwestern-style chili, but really unique (served over spaghetti or “Coney” hot dogs). Cinnamon and chocolate are among the ingredients, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I’ve eaten at the only two Skyline Chili restaurants I know of in Florida (both in Broward County), and most people I’ve talked to have either never heard of it, or just act grossed out when I mention serving chili over pasta. It’s so good, though! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-foods-do-you-take-as-granted/299321.md?page=3)