# What Mainstream Food Item have You Never Tasted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2018, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463 "2018-08-29T12:53:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/201 "2018-09-03T15:46:22Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > In the U.S., we would call that ham, right? > > I like to mix black pudding with runny egg yolks. Not exactly ham. Closer to Canadian back bacon (which is not the same as the Canadian bacon used in Egg McMuffins). This is British bacon: [![](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-9ea98138afc0f76290e1c8eaf189ed7b-c) ](https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-9ea98138afc0f76290e1c8eaf189ed7b-c) ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/202 "2018-09-03T16:30:07Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I hate beets - but somehow my mother transformed them into something tasty when she made borscht. > Wish I had her recipe. Add me to those who detest beets (here in the UK, “beetroot”) – wish I didn’t; I’ve tried, but… am certain enough that content of said root will ruin any dish for me, that I rule out standard-type borscht. I have a small book of Russian recipes (in English, of course): includes one for “green borscht”, which is without the purple horror, but contains plentiful spinach, sorrel and parsley – have made that, and thought it very nice. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/203 "2018-09-03T17:40:05Z")
Count me in on not liking beets. They taste like soil smells. I prefer the borscht variants that don’t use beets. My third wife was a Ukrainian national and\_boy howdy!\_did she love her some beets. The only dish containing them that I liked, and I will heartily agree that it doesn’t taste right without them, was a herring/beet/potato/mayonnaise salad. I don’t remember what the Ukrainski name for it was, but the English translation is “fish in a blanket.” Apparently, the Russians call it [shuba](https://www.thespruceeats.com/russian-herring-under-fur-coat-salad-recipe-1137331). That wasn’t the Ukrainian term though. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/204 "2018-09-03T18:16:02Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Count me in on not liking beets. They taste like soil smells. I prefer the borscht variants that don’t use beets. My third wife was a Ukrainian national and\_boy howdy!\_did she love her some beets. The only dish containing them that I liked, and I will heartily agree that it doesn’t taste right without them, was a herring/beet/potato/mayonnaise salad. I don’t remember what the Ukrainski name for it was, but the English translation is “fish in a blanket.” Apparently, the Russians call it [shuba](https://www.thespruceeats.com/russian-herring-under-fur-coat-salad-recipe-1137331). That wasn’t the Ukrainian term though. Aka “Herring Under a Fur Coat” – which for me, has to be one of the most utterly reverse-of-appealing names for a food item, that I’ve ever encountered. I find the pictures pretty off-putting too; but if I could just get past the beet element, I might be ready to attempt giving it a fair trial. [https://petersfoodadventures.com/.../shuba-salad-herring-under-a-fur-coat/](https://petersfoodadventures.com/.../shuba-salad-herring-under-a-fur-coat/) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/205 "2018-09-03T18:40:31Z")
I can’t stand canned beets (are they pickled?) but fresh beets sliced and sautéed in butter with salt and pepper is fine. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/206 "2018-09-03T18:53:31Z")
Scrambled eggs. Just, yuk. ---
**Author:** ![winneee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a88e4f/32.png) [@winneee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/winneee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/207 "2018-09-03T19:00:07Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I cannot think of a single mainstream food item I haven’t eaten. I’m honestly curious as to why you would post to this to the thread? It’s nothing against you personally, I just wonder why posters respond to a specific question when the specific question is basically not applicable to that poster. It happens all the time and I don’t get it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/208 "2018-09-03T19:45:56Z")
> [@winneee](#): > > I’m honestly curious as to why you would post to this to the thread? It’s nothing against you personally, I just wonder why posters respond to a specific question when the specific question is basically not applicable to that poster. It happens all the time and I don’t get it. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro It’s still a valid answer to the question, another data point of information regarding the query. “I can’t think of any items” responds to the interrogative quite nicely. And knowing the number of people who feel they’ve tasted all mainstream food items compared to those who haven’t would also seem to be of interest to someone who is querying about the topic in the first place. And if someone walked up to me and asked **What Mainstream Food Item have You Never Tasted?** , the answer given by **kayaker** seems to be a perfectly normal response. QtM (who also answered along the lines of “I Can’t think of any items”) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/209 "2018-09-03T20:43:33Z")
Hmm, I’m a picky eater, but I like to try new things, so I’ve at least tasted almost everything mentioned in this thread. Except: > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > … > I’ve never had a Big Mac… Yeah, I’ve never had a big mac. I had the McDonalds hamburger once as a kid, and it grossed me out. All that nasty stuff on it. (mustard, onions… I have an excellent sense of taste, and it was even stronger when I was a kid, and as a child, I didn’t like any strongly-flavored food like mustard. Now I can enjoy tiny smidges of it.) So when I was dragged to McD as a kid, I got the fish sandwich, and scraped off the tartar sauce, and ate that. That and the fries are still pretty much the only things I’ll eat at McD’s. > [@EscAlaMike](#): > > I can’t really think of anything mainstream that I haven’t tried. > > Does soul food count as mainstream? Because I have never had pickled pigs feet, pickled eggs, or chitlins. Dunno whether it’s mainstream, but you did name some foods I haven’t eaten. I’ve had roasted pig feet (yummy) but not pickled. I wouldn’t swear one way or the other on pickled eggs, and I’m pretty sure I’ve never had chitlins. I’d try any of them once, but doubt I’d enjoy the pickled eggs. > [@bobot](#): > > I’ve never had lobster. I like fish, but I don’t really care much for shrimp. Lobster looks more like a shrimp than a fish, so there. Plus it’s expensive in the midwest. I can die without ever trying it with no regrets. Don’t eat it in the midwest. Like crab, it is SO much better when it’s fresh. I only eat lobster in the northeast, and only eat local crabs on the coasts. West-coast crab is awesome. > [@blob](#): > > …I’ve never had scallops or yabbies or oysters or a lot of seafood that isn’t fish… what are yabbies? > [@carrps](#): > > I’ve had sweetbreads at a French restaurant, and they were crispy and delicious, like the ones at your Argentine steak place. Braised does indeed sound “ooky.” I had sweatbreads once in a French restaurant. They were braised, and one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever tried to eat. The flavor was okay, but the texture! It was like little bits of brain in a matrix of snot. I won’t be ordering that again. > [@Arcite](#): > > This is a nitpick, but, while I see from Googling that tongue is often referred to as organ meat, the tongue is a skeletal muscle. Its cellular structure is exactly the same as that of any of the more common cuts of beef we’re used to eating. It’s not at all like liver, brain, sweetbreads, etc… The cellular structure may be the same as ordinary meat, but the organization of those cells is quite different – probably because the tongue can move any-which-way. Tongue is yummy, but I can see how it would feel weird and “other” and get classed with organ meats. > [@Sloe\_Moe](#): > > …squirrel. Never tried squirrel, but I would if I had a chance. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/210 "2018-09-03T21:07:35Z")
I have not had the pleasure of eating quinoa yet. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/211 "2018-09-03T21:12:21Z")
**puzzlegal @#209:**. Congratulations on being the first human being ever to declare distaste for McDonald’s products for having _too much flavor!_ ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/212 "2018-09-03T21:24:41Z")
Well, if the burgers tasted like beef, they wouldn’t have to cover up the flavor under all that crap. 😉 ---
**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:** [September 3, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/213 "2018-09-03T21:57:43Z")
> [@winneee](#): > > I’m honestly curious as to why you would post to this to the thread? It’s nothing against you personally, I just wonder why posters respond to a specific question when the specific question is basically not applicable to that poster. It happens all the time and I don’t get it. > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro I spent a lot of time contemplating the question. When I was unable to come up with a single item, I found that fact remarkable. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/214 "2018-09-03T22:32:39Z")
I’m not sure how ‘mainstream’ this is, but I’ve never had a single malt whiskey. I’ve had the cheap types as a kid (sorry - young man over the legal drinking age), and found I dislike the ether burn assocoiated with spirits. Not a great fan of any - vodka, brandy, bourbon etc - I will drink gin in some (extremely weak) concoctions (and I know gin is basically flavoured vodka. OK, so I like juniper). I just never saw the point of spending all that money on something that I probably wont like. I’ve received a few bottles here and there as presents etc, amd have always just passed them on. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/215 "2018-09-03T22:38:08Z")
Since they’re mainstream in various cultures, I can list haggis, menudo, sweetbreads etc. Too many dissecting table associations, plus there’s lots of other good stuff to eat. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/216 "2018-09-04T01:04:47Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > what are yabbies? Like crayfish/lobster, but little and live in freshwater, not the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/217 "2018-09-04T05:14:32Z")
I like beets, but if I eat more than a few bites, I (ahem) see evidence of it a day or two later. To me, they’re more of a condiment than a main or even side dish. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/218 "2018-09-04T08:31:16Z")
> [@blob](#): > > Like crayfish/lobster, but little and live in freshwater, not the ocean. or exactly the same as crayfish, which i thought were small freshwater critters that look like lobsters. Per the Wikipedia entry on crayfish: > [@wikipedia](#): > > Crayfish, also known as crawfish, crawdads, crawldads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, mudbugs or yabbies, are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters (to which they are related). ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/219 "2018-09-04T09:36:56Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > or exactly the same as crayfish, which i thought were small freshwater critters that look like lobsters. Per the Wikipedia entry on crayfish: I hate them, so I’ve never cared who is what, but apparently the crayfish we have here are now known as “rock lobsters” as well as “crayfish”. They were always called crayfish when I was a kid and we’d go out (ie out on the ocean) and pull craypots from our boat. [http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Species/Rock-Lobster/Pages/default.aspx](http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Species/Rock-Lobster/Pages/default.aspx) For “other” crayfish, we call them “freshwater crayfish”. Whatever species, they’re all yucky 😃 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/220 "2018-09-04T11:29:37Z")
Rock lobsters and freshwater crayfish aren’t nearly as good as north Atlantic lobster. If you haven’t had it, and if you like crab and shrimp, it’s worth giving them a try if you are in New England or the Canadian Maritimes. But lobster and crab don’t freeze or travel very well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463.md?page=12)