# You gave in to the food temptation and regretted it forever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 30, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900 "2005-04-30T22:53:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![N.Sane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f19dbf/32.png) [@N.Sane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N.Sane)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/101 "2005-05-03T01:47:36Z")
Ugh–caviar. Yucko. The Turkish Delight in my imagination had nothing in common with the Turkish Delight I tried some years ago. When I first discovered seafoam, however, my tastebuds shrieked eureka! That’s what my imagination thought Turkish Delight must taste like, so whenever I read those books, I get a piece or two of seafoam. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/102 "2005-05-03T02:00:38Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > You poor, lost soul. 😛 Amen! Boiled peanuts are nifty. Here in FL you buy them from carts on the side of the road on the way to the beach. Speaking of Beverly, I have warning for anyone going to Epcot this summer: they have it there, too. To me it tasted just like carbonated bile, or maybe aspirin in seltzer. Yechhh. Everyone who tried it got this “sweet merciful Og, what is this _crap_??” look on their face. _Very_ funny to watch if you are pure evil. The melon soda from (I think) China was my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/103 "2005-05-03T02:30:59Z")
I love sushi. I love calamari. I love potato chips. So a bag of japanese fried squid looked like a winner for a tasty snacky treat. The happy squid on the outside of the bag beckoned me to rescue him from the endless rows of giant sized stuff on the shelves at Costco. Urgh. Deep fried inner tube rubber infused with the foulness of a pile of dead (probably murdered, likely in a foul manner) fish left lying on concrete in the sun all afternoon. Or like what you’d get if you raked up a Lake Michigan beach after a particularly bad alewife die-off and deep fried it. I couldn’t even finish one bite. Also put me in the TLW&W turkish delight disappointment camp. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/104 "2005-05-03T13:09:14Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > You poor, lost soul. 😛 Assuming you like boiled peanuts, believe me, the sentiment is mutual 🙂 Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/105 "2005-05-03T15:25:10Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > While this is a funny line, I just thought I’d be educational and let everyone know that in Turkey (and also Greece, which stole all its good food ideas from Turkey) it is called lokum. However, this is not the Turkish Delight from TL,TWATW. That refers to salep, a drink. Here’s the wikipedia page on it:[Salep](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salep) Are you sure? Wikipedia’s occasionally wrong about that sort of thing, and although I don’t have the book, I’m pretty sure I remember Edmund eating, not drinking, the Turkish Delight. I’ve never actually heard of salep before. Was it common in war-era Britain? For the record, the folks who make Aplets and Cotlets (mmmmmmm…) also make a version of [lokum](http://www.libertyorchards.com/Detail.asp). I’ve never tried it, but I love their other candies, and if it’s the same texture as Aplets but with rosewater and pistachio, it sounds pretty good to me. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/106 "2005-05-03T18:41:20Z")
Indeed–a bit of googling turns up the following passage from TLtWatW: > [@](#): > > “At first Edmund tried to remember that it was rude to speak with one’s mouth full, but soon he forgot about this and thought only of trying to shovel down as much Turkish Delight as he could, and the more he ate the more he wanted to eat…” (Lewis, 1986, p.37) One doesn’t shovel down a drink, nor does one eat it. I think Wikipedia is wrong on this front. (The Queen also gives Edmund hot chocolate, which may have confused them.) Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/107 "2005-05-03T20:13:59Z")
Told this story before, but what the heck: > [@aankh](#): > > Vegemite. Uuurrggh. > [@manx](#): > > The trick to it is to spread it v-e-r-y thinly. Scrape it across your hot buttered toast, and mmmmm. I honeymooned in Fiji. The proximity to Australia and New Zealand meant we Americans were outnumbered by Downunder-ers. I spotted the little packets of vegemite at breakfast, and was intensely curious: partly because of the Men at Work song, and partly because I like trying new things. Of course, I had no experience with it, so I grabbed a packet, sat at my table, and carefully watched the neighboring Aussies to see how this was done. Toast, okay. Butter is… optional? Some are putting it on first, some aren’t. I didn’t. Okay, spread the vegemite thin. Very thin. Knife scrapes the toast. Okay, got it. Now, take a bite… The flavor of vegemite, for the record, is equal parts getting hit in the face with a large salt lick and enthusiastically rimming a horse. One bite was enough. The rest of the triangle of toast went untouched. You can have it. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/108 "2005-05-03T20:19:29Z")
German hand cheese handkäse. It looked interesting but it was just not nice at all. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/109 "2005-05-03T20:54:24Z")
… and then there are the elusive and rarely spotted Blackberry, Pineapple, and Peach Hostess Fruit pies. I have actually had both Blackberry and Peach pie sightings, but alas, failed to snatch them up… one of many regrets in my life. For twenty minutes in the late eighties I savored what many claim is but a mirage, figmented imagination… the mythological, but in truth, only extinct Hostess Chocolate Pudding Pie… a glazed chocolate pastry encrusting luscious chocolate pudding. It had a counterpart, the yin to its yang, the vanilla pudding pie. I however, hate vanilla… the vile pod that nauseates. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/110 "2005-05-03T21:05:35Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Those of you who hate Turkish Delight: have you had other things flavored with rosewater? If so, do you hate them, too? > > It took me awhile before rosewater desserts didn’t taste like dish-soap to me; but once I got past that association, I really dig them. > > Daniel Me, I love other rosewater-flavored things. It wasn’t the flavor, but the fact there was hardly any _of_ it (the flavor, that is) in just a sweetened jelly blob. Blech! It’s possible I just had a crappy brand. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/111 "2005-05-03T21:20:52Z")
> [@zweisamkeit](#): > > It’s possible I just had a crappy brand. Could well be. If you’re ever willing to give it another try, I’d recommend finding a restaurant with good Middle Eastern food and trying theirs. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/112 "2005-05-03T21:44:05Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > … and then there are the elusive and rarely spotted Blackberry, Pineapple, and Peach Hostess Fruit pies. > > I have actually had both Blackberry and Peach pie sightings, but alas, failed to snatch them up… one of many regrets in my life. For twenty minutes in the late eighties I savored what many claim is but a mirage, figmented imagination… the mythological, but in truth, only extinct Hostess Chocolate Pudding Pie… a glazed chocolate pastry encrusting luscious chocolate pudding. It had a counterpart, the yin to its yang, the vanilla pudding pie. I however, hate vanilla… the vile pod that nauseates. GODDAMMIT, EVERYONE! Now I’m gonna have to get some Hostess Pies. And I had Hostess Chocolate Pudding Pies quite often in the 80s and 90s. I’ll see what kind of selection my Krogers (or Meijers, wherever I go) has and get back to you. Hostess Pies aren’t anything like _real_ pies, but it’s just like how sometimes you want home-baked macaroni and cheese, with four kinds of cheese and a nice browned crunchy top… and sometimes you want the powdered cheese “mac and cheese”. You don’t _want_ the real food, you want the crap! And as for Turkish Delight, since I live in Metro Detroit, I’ll be able to find a metric ass-ton of different brands, so I’ll give it another shot. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/113 "2005-05-03T22:08:47Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > \The flavor of vegemite, for the record, is equal parts getting hit in the face with a large salt lick and enthusiastically rimming a horse.\ :eek: This is perhaps the funniest thing I have read in a long time. Thank you **Cervaise** , thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/114 "2005-05-03T22:18:27Z")
[QUOTE=Susie Derkins] Amen! Boiled peanuts are nifty. Here in FL you buy them from carts on the side of the road on the way to the beach. [QUOTE] You must be in North Florida, because that’s not true for SE FL. Anyway, boiled peanuts are vile. See, peanuts are supposed to be crunchy, not all soft and mushy. ::shudder:: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/115 "2005-05-03T22:35:22Z")
Oooh, how about the Hershey’s Chocolate Mint Candy Canes? I had been wanting to try these for ages, but just never got around to it. Then my sister brought home a box from school this year and I nicked on. Bleh. It was like sucking on a stick of air freshener. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/116 "2005-05-03T22:38:43Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > … and then there are the elusive and rarely spotted Blackberry, Pineapple, and Peach Hostess Fruit pies. Oh, man, I haven’t seen the blackberry Hostess fruit pie in years. I’ve been hoping it’s a regional thing. Can anybody confirm the continued availability of blackberry pies anywhere in the country? I had roasted chestnuts for the first time at an outdoor market in Germany about six months ago. Eh. Not as awful as what some of the folks here are describing, but there’s no lingering desire to ever try them again, either. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/117 "2005-05-03T22:48:44Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > I too am constantly falling prey to interesting drinks in the Asian store. Among the worst experiences I’ve had include Chrysanthemum drink and some truly horrific concoction dubbing itself Grass Jelly Drink. Ah, grass jelly drink. I had a friend who brought some home, just for me to try. I was instantly suspicious, but I decided to try just a little and violate the personal rule of “don’t drink liquids with gelatinous chunks”. I found out that some rules were just not made to be broken. Sugar cane juice, though vile, wasn’t as bad. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2005, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/118 "2005-05-03T23:02:55Z")
Sugar cane juice freshly extracted from a chilled green stalk of cane, called _guarapo_, is a common refreshing drink at Latin restaurants throughout Miami. It’s delicious over ice on a hot summer day, and even better when blended with Gosling dark run, fresh mint, and lime wedges to make a mojito, one of the most perfect mixed drinks ever. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/119 "2005-05-03T23:43:28Z")
A cursory glance of the Roadfood forum confirms that most of the flavors are still available, including the pudding pies (the last one of which I had in 1994). I would venture to guess that the bakery thrift shops are the place to go, since the stores seem to order little more than apple and cherry (rarely, blueberry). B&M Brown Bread (canned). I had gotten some to go with the beans. Oh, the picture looks _much_ better than the taste. Like raw, vaguely-sweet flour. Shasta Diet Chocolate soda. I had gotten this in 1990, shortly after they introduced the white can. It looked like it would be good; it tasted like Coke to which dark chocolate syrup was added—in other words, simply awful. Clamato. Menses. 'Nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![Susie\_Derkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900/120 "2005-05-03T23:47:34Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > You must be in North Florida, because that’s not true for SE FL. Yep, I’m in Tallahassee. And I’m ignoring the rest of what you said. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-gave-in-to-the-food-temptation-and-regretted-it-forever/301900.md?page=7)