# What new to you food most disappointed you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 20, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630 "2018-09-20T13:29:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/41 "2018-09-20T16:19:34Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I really thought this would be first. C.S. Lewis hoodwinked a lot of us poor impressionable Americans! I’m going back to imagining it as something more akin to Wonka’s Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight. Never try Wonka-brand candy, then, because hoo boy. Turkish delight was a disappointment to me, but I had it in the third grade and experienced (and got over) the disappointment pretty quickly. Then as an adult I saw it on the dessert menu of a local Middle Eastern restaurant. Their homemade Turkish delight, studded with pistachios and served alongside strong coffee? Yeah, I could see selling out my family for that. Another disappointment was uni (sea urchin gonads served as sushi)–not because I had such high hopes for it, but because my upbeat curiosity was so cruelly dashed against the rocks of its “Bugs Bunny’s lung biopsy” texture. So orange, so mucousy, so revolting. I ordered it a second time, years later, to see if I was wrong. I was not. My favorite food disappointment wasn’t mine, it was my cousin-in-law-once-removed or something. My wife and I visited their family and went out to a restaurant. The one-year-old watched in fascination as my wife slurped down her plate of mussels, and finally my wife asked her cousin if the little kid could try one. She said yes, so my wife gave one to the baby, and over about twenty seconds her face went through stages: Delight Anticipation Chewing Thoughtfulness Concern Panic Outrage Utter betrayal She burst into distraught sobs, while the rest of us tried to contain our terrible mirth. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/42 "2018-09-20T16:38:53Z")
Kale - It’s supposed to be some kind of wonder green that everybody’s nuts for. I tried it and it tasted like sugar-coated rubber. Frappacino - Supposed to be the nectar of coffees. Tasted like a sugar-coated ashtray to me. Poutine - Wasn’t bad, gravy and cheese curds on french fries, but I decided a southern climate wasn’t good for it. Cold and snowy outside, sure, the starch content will heat up your blood. In 90+ degree weather, you sweat like a whore in church. ---
**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 20, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/43 "2018-09-20T16:50:48Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Hoo, I had the same experience with German beer. The only difference from American beer is German beer is more potent. Taste? It’s the same. I guess getting drunk faster is a selling point for certain people, but not me. Not really. Most German lagers (and I’m assuming you are having Pils/Lager style beers if you’re describing them as tasting the same) are around 5% abv, like American beers. Maybe some come close to 5.5%, but that’s not going to make much of a difference in terms of feeling drunk faster. For example, Radeberger Pils is 4.8%, HB (Hofbräu) Original is 5.1%, Warsteiner (typical German mass-market beer) is 4.8%, Bitburger is 4.8%, Paulaner Original is 4.9%, etc. To compare, American Bud is 5%, MGD is 4.7%, Coors (not Light) is 5%, PBR is 4.7%, Busch is low at 4.3%, Old Style is 4.6% etc. (Then you have the “Ice” beers which are in the high 5s.) Now, sure, once you venture outside the lagers and pils, you’ll get more punch, but you’ll get more punch in American beers, too, if you venture outside mass market lager/pils style beers, too (if anything, American brewers tend to overpower their beers alcoholwise vs their European counterparts when it comes to other styles.) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/44 "2018-09-20T16:52:41Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Hoo, I had the same experience with German beer. The only difference from American beer is German beer is more potent. Taste? It’s the same. I guess getting drunk faster is a selling point for certain people, but not me. That’s not even true, at least not in any significant way. Mass-market US beer is usually in the 4-6% abv range, with most common German beers settling in the top half of that range (5-6% abv). What is typically true is that German beers are considerably more intense because they’re made from 100% malted barley and usually add more hops than mass-market US beer, which is typically about 40-50% corn or rice, and have minimal hops added. I suppose it could be that you don’t drink a lot of beer and even our mass market beer is perceived as bitter; if that’s the case, I can see how German beer might not seem much different. But you can’t take say… Paulaner Pilsner and compare it to say… Budweiser and say they taste the same; although they’re ostensibly in the same style, there’s a lot of difference in the flavor and the intensity of flavor. ---
**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 20, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/45 "2018-09-20T16:54:25Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Kale - It’s supposed to be some kind of wonder green that everybody’s nuts for. I tried it and it tasted like sugar-coated rubber. What kind of kale are you eating that it tastes sugary? :eek: I mean, I can take it or leave it, but it’s like everything the opposite of sweet to me. > [@](#): > > Frappacino - Supposed to be the nectar of coffees. Tasted like a sugar-coated ashtray to me. Frappacinos are a coffee milkshake for people who actually don’t like coffee. Definitely not the nectar of coffees. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/46 "2018-09-20T16:57:04Z")
To be fair to British literature, a lot of it may have been coloured by the authors’ experiences of rationing during WWII and the early post-war years (1939-1954), which made modest foodstuffs, such as perhaps a cautiously-flavoured confectionery, something of a rare delight and almost unimaginable treat. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/47 "2018-09-20T16:58:02Z")
> [@Alpha\_Twit](#): > > Scallops just never did very much for me. I’m not a huge seafood fan at the best of times but even a perfectly seared scallop is ignorable. Mild flavor, meaningless texture and where I live, HUGELY over priced. Similar to **DCnDC** ’c “bad one” comment, people often tell me that I just have not had one properly prepared and that if I go to their particular favorite restaurant then I’d love them. They often openly, gleefully hate the idea that I think I’m allowed to not adore something that they _know_ is the absolute perfect food. I just don’t get it. Those were probably sea scallops. Bay scallops are much better, with far more flavor. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/48 "2018-09-20T17:00:33Z")
Durian. It’s a southeast Asian fruit notorious for smelling like rotting garbage but tasting like ambrosia. Alfred Wallace described it like this: > [@](#): > > When brought into a house the smell is often so offensive that some persons can never bear to taste it…[The] pulp is the eatable part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich butter-like custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but intermingled with it come wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, brown sherry, and other incongruities. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid, nor sweet, nor juicy, yet one feels the want of none of these qualities, for it is perfect as it is. I had a chance to taste some on a recent trip to Malaysia, and the smell wasn’t nearly as disgusting, nor the taste so exquisite, as I had been led to believe. The smell was kind of musty, like old socks, but no worse than a lot of cheeses (and not nearly as bad as Limburger). I liked the taste OK, but wouldn’t go out of my way for it. It was kind of like custard with a faint tang of onion. I was quite disappointed on both counts. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/49 "2018-09-20T17:03:15Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Those were probably sea scallops. Bay scallops are much better, with far more flavor. Stranger things have happened. I’m not a huge fan of the whole “Fresh is king” food movement but I can certainly see the point for seafood. I live over a 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean and I’m just not going to find the good stuff up here. I’m headed for the East U.S. coast early next year for a family trip. Maybe I can find some decent ones there. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/50 "2018-09-20T17:26:14Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Here I’m talking about some food item you became aware of without actually eating it, as in from novels or movies, and all the mentions made it sound wonderful and you were super eager to try it. And then, possibly years later, you finally got to eat this marvelous thing… and you reaction was something on the spectrum from “ugh!” to “meh.” > > As a school child I grew up reading English books and tons of them included loving descriptions of the wonders of tea. Well, not the tea so much, as the glorious items that got served along with it. Whether at Tea Shops or served by livery-clad retainers in Great Houses or just school kids over there salivating over sneaking treats at their schools. Everyone raved over how marvelous it was, and I was consumed with envy. > > Fast forward to college days when I came across an announcement that a hotel in the nearby city would now be hosting ‘proper’ English teas on weekends. I headed there the first weekend I could talk my roommate (she had a car, unlike me) into sharing this delight with me. > > Verdict: meh. > > The magically named fairy cakes are just ordinary cupcakes. ☹ Scones are just rather crumbly but sweeter biscuits. 😕 Most disappointing of all were the crumpets. Really?? _THOSE_ are what Lord Peter and a million school kids slavered for? :mad: > > I apologized to my roomie for dragging her there. > So, how about the rest of you? What untasted food got built up in your mind into ambrosia, only to have the reality leave you crushed? I wouldn’t judge British afternoon tea by what an American hotel is likely to offer. If you get the chance to try again in Britain, please do. Fairy cakes are, I think, mostly intended for children. Scones are, as you say, similar in texture to American biscuits and are intended as a sturdy vehicle for such things as clotted cream and jam. Crumpets need to be toasted until crisp (often served too limp in the US) and are a vehicle for delicious melted butter. These are not fantasy foods, they are just everyday accompaniments to the tea, for a small meal intended to tide you over to your late dinner. You might also find dainty sandwiches on very thin bread, or cake and other pastries. Note that afternoon tea is different from “high” tea, which has been the evening meal for lower class families. ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/51 "2018-09-20T18:49:25Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > French macarons, a pretty cookie (NOT a macaroon). They sounded very exotic and tasty, made with almond flour, coming in various flavors, and very labor intensive to make. We looked at a Martha Stewart recipe and it seemed very complex, so when they showed up at a shop near us, I bought us some. Four for $7! Pricey! they must be a real treat right? Wrong. … Very disappointing, very bland, just sweet. I liked the texture, but they weren’t all that. Yes, a “proper” macaron can be AMAZING but there are plenty out there that are just one-dimensional (that dimension being SWEET) and generally boring. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/52 "2018-09-20T19:17:27Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Frappacinos are a coffee milkshake for people who actually don’t like coffee. Definitely not the nectar of coffees. “Nectar” like “drink of the gods”? Nah. “Nectar” like “drink, mostly sugar-water, in a schmancy container”? Sure. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/53 "2018-09-20T20:03:26Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > French macarons, a pretty cookie (NOT a macaroon). They sounded very exotic and tasty, made with almond flour, coming in various flavors, and very labor intensive to make. We looked at a Martha Stewart recipe and it seemed very complex, so when they showed up at a shop near us, I bought us some. Four for $7! Pricey! they must be a real treat right? Wrong. … Very disappointing, very bland, just sweet. I liked the texture, but they weren’t all that. While I like macarons, I simply don’t understand why they’re so expensive. There’s a place near here that sells them for $1.75 each (or $1.50 each if you buy twenty or more) and another, for $2.00 each. It’s madness, I tell you. Madness! ---
**Author:** ![ebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@ebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebb)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/54 "2018-09-20T20:38:16Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > I think the combination of the English being really great at literature and really lousy at cooking is responsible for a lot of disappointment. That is an extremely wise statement. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/55 "2018-09-20T20:40:51Z")
Age 6 - baked potatoes - puked’er right back out again. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/56 "2018-09-20T21:14:12Z")
Uni. Everyone on Food Network acts like sea urchin is an orgasm on a spoon. In actuality it was fishy and bitter with no redeeming qualities. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/57 "2018-09-20T21:31:15Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Another example from BritLit. In the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Edmund sells out his siblings for Turkish Delight. Whoa… it’s from The Mysterious Far East, home of exotic words like Mohammedans and The Byzantine. And it’s clearly a delight… > > Forty years later, I’m intrigued by a plate of powdered rectangles of goopy sugar jellies at a party in Seattle. These “[Aplets & Cotlets](https://www.libertyorchards.com/category/Aplets_and_Cotlets)” are too sweet for anyone else, but I think they’re not too bad. A friend sidles up and says “These were invented by Turks who were harvesting apples and apricots in Eastern Washington.” “Okay…” “So you realize, you’re eating Turkish Delight?” > > Really? The evil queen of Narnia controlled people by bribing them with ordinary sweets? I know the Aplets and Cotlets of which you speak… and I can assure you that fresh Turkish delight in the bazaars, restaurants, and bakeries of Turkey would blow your mind. It’s a nutty chewy marshmallow with lots of fruit gumminess. A similar comparison would be comparing Haribo gummies with the deliciousness of Marks & Spencer’s Percy Pig collection. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/58 "2018-09-20T21:36:06Z")
I will submit jicama. You know, the root that gets peeled and sliced to be added to your salad as some sort of crunchy, juicy, somewhat sweet equivalent to croutons, but healthier. After trying several times to like it, thinking, “Oh, it adds a sweet dimension here”, I find it is just one of those things I can easily leave out of my salad no matter how healthy it may be. Has the mouthfeel of watery, vaguely sweet styrofoam that was rubbed thru a bowl of dust. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/59 "2018-09-20T22:04:24Z")
Lobster. I’d heard so many great things about it, and I love seafood. First time I tried it, I was underwhelmed. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630/60 "2018-09-20T22:36:17Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I wouldn’t judge British afternoon tea by what an American hotel is likely to offer. If you get the chance to try again in Britain, please do. This is probably true, though the hotel menu claimed their chef had specially gone over to London to learn to create the classic delights. :dubious: OTOH, in the “Midsummer Murder” series there was one episode with a monstrous woman and her weirdo son, and they offered tea to the policemen. Then the son wheeled out a cart packed full of all sorts of little cakes and pastries and cookies and all and they looked wonderful. Would that sort of offering just be called tea, too? Or does it have a special name so you’ll know when you’ve found one. Or does no one except murderous whackos actually do that? In which case I’ll skip it, thanks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-new-to-you-food-most-disappointed-you/821630.md?page=4)