# 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:** 9
**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 1, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/161 "2018-09-01T23:01:44Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Polenta is ground coarser and uses yellow flint corn. You can also get white polenta as well as yellow. I’ve never studied the intricacies of it, it isn’t that common here, we don’t grow a lot of corn locally, it’s imported. The recipe I mentioned before is called “grillades and grits”, it’s a type of stew on top of the grits. Looks tasty ---
**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 1, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/162 "2018-09-01T23:16:52Z")
> [@blob](#): > > I’ve never tried a lot of “mainstream” American things that I hear about on TV/in movies. Things like Twinkies and Moonpies and other “stuff” like that. You can get American sweets/candies here, but to be honest the look of those Twinkies on the packet has never enticed me to try one. Twinkies are just sponge cake with a vanilla “cream” filling (which I think is aerated lard). MUCH sweeter now than when I was a kid, SFAICT. When they first came out in 1930, they had banana filling, but that changed during WWII. > **[Twinkie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie)** > > A Twinkie is an American snack cake, described as "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling". It was formerly made and distributed by Hostess Brands. The brand is currently owned by Hostess Brands, Inc., itself currently owned by The J.M. Smucker Company and having been formerly owned by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos and Company as the second incarnation of Hostess Brands. During bankruptcy proceedings, Twinkie production was suspended on November 15, 20 I see they’ve reintroduced the banana filling, but I haven’t seen them yet. The cakes are actually not bad, so long as you dig out most of the filling. ---
**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 1, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/163 "2018-09-01T23:26:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I hate beets - but somehow my mother transformed them into something tasty when she made borscht. > Wish I had her recipe. It’s definitely an acquired taste. For years, I hated beets—I thought they taste like dirt! After having them in Russian salads, finely grated and mixed with sour cream, I can eat them—and, of course, in borscht. When I make it, it’s usually rustic, with chunks of veg. My ex, who is Russian, grates the veg so they largely dissolve as the soup cooks. In Moscow a couple of years ago, I tried making it with a brand of “health juice” at my local supermarket—basically a liquified blend of beets, carrots, and other veg. It was good! :o ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2018, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/164 "2018-09-01T23:38:12Z")
> [@blob](#): > > I was sent a Louisiana cookbook and I think there was a main meal recipe in it that was “grits and something”. I remember thinking it sounded nice and that I might try making it. (don;t have the book handy to look it up right now, obviously) Probably grits and shrimp. That’s a common combination in Louisiana. ---
**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 1, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/165 "2018-09-01T23:43:02Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Probably grits and shrimp. That’s a common combination in Louisiana. A delicious, delicious common combination. 🙂 ---
**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 1, 2018, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/166 "2018-09-01T23:56:22Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Twinkies are just sponge cake with a vanilla “cream” filling (which I think is aerated lard). It’s that filling that looks unappetising to me, it’s unearthly white, doesn’t look like food at all. I’m not much of a sweet tooth, so there’s that as another “disincentive” to try that type of thing. I don’t mind Reece’s peanut butter cups, even though the peanut butter filling is very sweet and we’ve got Krispy Kreme donuts here now, and occasionally I don’t mind gutsing on those, despite their unbelievable sweetness. I don’t like shrimp (prawns) so a lot of the recipes in the book aren’t appealing to me. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/167 "2018-09-02T00:30:05Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > - Clam chowder If you’ve ever had cullen skink, then clam chowder is in the same general area -just with clams instead of smoked haddock. ---
**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 2, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/168 "2018-09-02T00:33:57Z")
> [@blob](#): > > I don’t like shrimp (prawns) so a lot of the recipes in the book aren’t appealing to me. You might change your mind if you ever try Shrimp Creole. It is to die for! :o ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/169 "2018-09-02T00:50:05Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Graham crackers taste a lot like digestive biscuits; I assume you (Peter Morris) know what those are, being British. Digestive biscuits sound to most Americans like something people eat when they’re sick; I love them. > > Clam chowder is a milk- or cream-based soup or stew, red or white depending on where it’s made, with potatoes and clams. I’ve only had the canned variety, and Campbell’s Chunky is my favorite. (Sorry if anyone’s a chowder connoisseur and thinks that’s gauche.) > > Biscuits and gravy are baking powder biscuits (NOT what we Americans call cookies) served hot and topped with a white flour gravy fortified with sausage and black pepper. > > I’ve never seen borscht on a menu, although I can’t recall ever having patronized a Russian or Eastern European restaurant. It does look like it would be quite easy to make, and I have seen it in grocery stores. [It’s so much more delicious if you make it from scratch!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6838081&highlight=borsch#post6838081) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/170 "2018-09-02T00:51:45Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > There’s white borscht, too. > My impression, likely wrong, is that Polish beet borscht broth tends to be vegetarian while Russian or Ukrainian versions start as a bone broth. Polish borscht is typically based on a beef stock (or a smoked pork stock, based on smoked ribs, hocks, etc.). For Christmas eve, though, we do a vegetarian version, as no meat (except for fish) is served on that day for _wigilia_, the Polish Christmas eve dinner. In that case, we serve the clear bortscht with mushroom-stuffed tortellini (the _uszka_ I mentioned before). But, otherwise, assume it’s based on meat unless otherwise informed. And, yes, there’s white borscht, and that’s a soup based on soured ryemeal/grains (and one of my favorite soups in the whole world.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/171 "2018-09-02T00:54:55Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > \*Okroshka \*is delicious and refreshing as well. I first had it in Riga back in 1975. It clearly made an impression on me: > > [Okroshka - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okroshka) Interesting. I’m going to have to try that. There’s a grocery store by me that sells various types and/or brands of _kvass_ (I never looked really closely, but they have part of a shelf devoted to them.) ---
**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 2, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/172 "2018-09-02T00:57:43Z")
> [@blob](#): > > I’ve never tried a lot of “mainstream” American things that I hear about on TV/in movies. Things like Twinkies and Moonpies and other “stuff” like that. I’ve always thought of Moonpies as a Southern thing, since I had never heard of them until I started spending summers in West Virginia with my dad. A Moonpie is two soft “graham cracker” cookies (they always seemed more like gingerbread to me) with a layer of marshmallow in between, and covered with chocolate coating. They’re okay, but I was never big on them. I liked eating them in combination with Yoo-Hoo, another thing I never saw until I was in West Virginia. [http://www.americanfoodroots.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/state-tn.jpeg](http://www.americanfoodroots.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/state-tn.jpeg) [https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tR2b1-XkUDE/hqdefault.jpg](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tR2b1-XkUDE/hqdefault.jpg) The thing about Yoo-Hoo is that it doesn’t need to be refrigerated, like chocolate milk. It’s classified as a soft drink, though it isn’t fizzy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/173 "2018-09-02T01:02:40Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I liked eating them in combination with Yoo-Hoo, another thing I never saw until I was in West Virginia. There’s a drink I haven’t thought about for awhile. It used to be in the vending machine in the lunchroom at my high school here in Chicago. I’m pretty sure they still sell it, and I may have bought it a few years ago here. I didn’t realize it was regional. ---
**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 2, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/174 "2018-09-02T01:10:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > A Moonpie is two soft “graham cracker” cookies (they always seemed more like gingerbread to me) with a layer of marshmallow in between, and covered with chocolate coating. oh thanks. We have something similar here called a “wagon wheel”, but the biscuit (cookie) isn’t soft and there’s jam in the middle, too, as well as the marshmallow. [https://www.arnotts.com.au/products/wagon-wheels/](https://www.arnotts.com.au/products/wagon-wheels/) > [@terentii](#): > > You might change your mind if you ever try Shrimp Creole. It is to die for! :o I’ve eaten a prawn relatively recently. It wasn’t horrible, but it didn’t really taste like anything. They are expensive, and it’d be a complete waste of money to buy them to stick in a stew/sauce and plain I’d rather a hunk of cheese… shrug. Looking up the sauce, I’d just as soon use pasta, it would taste about the same to me 😃 ---
**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 2, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/175 "2018-09-02T01:18:33Z")
> [@Eva\_Luna](#): > > [It’s so much more delicious if you make it from scratch!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6838081&highlight=borsch#post6838081) I had to laugh reading the post in your link. When I was a grad student in Moscow (1989–90), I wanted to make pizza for my friends one weekend. We hit the hard currency stores for tomato paste, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, et cetera. Didn’t bother buying any yeast, because I was assured there was some at the apartment where I’d be cooking. Got there Saturday afternoon, and nope, there was no yeast: “_Defitsit._” So I went back downtown in the middle of a blizzard to look for yeast. _Finally_, after traipsing around for a couple of hours, I found some at the \*beryozka \*near the Belorusskaya metro station; by this time, I had a splitting headache from sweating inside my shapka. I gathered as many packets as I could afford and got into line. When I got to the cashier, she said “Sorry, this is a store for diplomats. We don’t accept hard currency, just diplomatic chits.” I finally gave up and went back to the apartment (a good 45 minute journey) to make the pizza. It turned out alright, though the crust was pretty crunchy. A day to remember! ---
**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 2, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/176 "2018-09-02T01:18:58Z")
I thought “grillades”was just the Creole term for quick-fried cutlets, no gravy to go alongside. Dry cutlets would be yummy with buttered grits, but braised shrimp and its sauce would be better. Shrimp n’ grits is really more of a Low Country dish (Charleston, Savannah, Beaufort, and surrounding area) than New Orleans. ---
**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 2, 2018, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/177 "2018-09-02T01:23:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There’s a drink I haven’t thought about for awhile. It used to be in the vending machine in the lunchroom at my high school here in Chicago. I’m pretty sure they still sell it, and I may have bought it a few years ago here. I didn’t realize it was regional. I guess it’s marketed across the US now (it was invented in New Jersey, but the first bottling plant was in South Carolina). I don’t know how widespread it was 50 years ago, just that I had never seen it in Minnesota. ---
**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 2, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/178 "2018-09-02T01:30:42Z")
Okay, I wikied and see that grillades are commonly made with a gravy these days. My previous knowledge was gleaned from _The Picayune Creole Cookbook_ (1899), still in print from Dover Books and worth owning. ---
**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 2, 2018, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/179 "2018-09-02T01:33:02Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I thought “grillades”was just the Creole term for quick-fried cutlets, Apparently, it’s the name for the “hunks of meat” but the recipe itself is a type of stew, served with grits. [https://www.daringgourmet.com/new-orleans-grillades-and-grits/](https://www.daringgourmet.com/new-orleans-grillades-and-grits/) ---
**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 2, 2018, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463/180 "2018-09-02T01:47:28Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I have a couple cousins who don’t eat seafood. There are hundreds of kinds of seafood, with different textures, tastes, what-have-you, but they don’t eat any of it. If it was raised in water, they don’t eat it. Of course not: “Those fish are swimmin’ in their own toilet!” _—Roseanne Roseannadanna (Gilda Radner)_ and “I never drink water. Fish fuck in it.” _—WC Fields_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-mainstream-food-item-have-you-never-tasted/820463.md?page=10)