# Your National Dish Of Shame **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [May 20, 2022, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784 "2022-05-20T19:31:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/61 "2022-05-21T01:58:38Z")
What do mothballs taste like? ---
**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:** [May 21, 2022, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/62 "2022-05-21T02:40:09Z")
More important: How do you get their little legs apart? 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/63 "2022-05-21T02:43:51Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bcYppAs6ZdI/hqdefault.jpg "Ba dum tss") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcYppAs6ZdI) ---
**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:** [May 21, 2022, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/64 "2022-05-21T03:14:11Z")
Thank you, thank you, ladies and germs! You’ve been a great audience, have a good night! 👋 ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/65 "2022-05-21T03:15:22Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > The Full English Breakfast (particularly the version that comes with baked beans). It’s way too much for any meal, let alone breakfast. It’s full of fat/grease. It features baked beans in the morning. It comes with a mug of tea. You need to elaborate to make the “shame” connection. Sounds like National Dish of Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/66 "2022-05-21T04:37:52Z")
Coconut tapioca sounds delightful! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/67 "2022-05-21T04:39:27Z")
If, by dried fruit, you mean raisins, what would bread pudding be without them? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/68 "2022-05-21T04:52:16Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Thank you, thank you, ladies and germs! You’ve been a great audience, have a good night! **Terentii** , ladies and gentlemen. Hey, he’s in town all week. Try the veal, and don’t forget to tip your waitresses–it’s pretty funny when they fall over. Let’s have another round of applause for **Terentii**! [Seriously, that one was good.] ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/69 "2022-05-21T05:04:41Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > I’m English, and I’ll offer as my national dish of shame The Full English Breakfast (particularly the version that comes with baked beans). It’s way too much for any meal, let alone breakfast. It’s full of fat/grease. It features baked beans in the morning. It comes with a mug of tea. Nope, I have to disagree with you there. A good FEB is something to be proud of, not ashamed. It’s not for everyone, or every occasion, but: - it sops up a hangover like nothing else - it is superb if you are going to do something physical for the day, and/or will have little time or space for lunch - eg there are few better ways to start a day when you are about to go walking in the fells or doing a physical job, or a day of touristing when getting lunch will involve paying 15 quid in a tourist hotspot for a lettuce sandwich on stale bread - they are generally unparalleled good value, if you get one from a working person’s cafe. If money is tight and you want to fill up with solid food, there is nothing like it. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/70 "2022-05-21T05:09:15Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > The US has a lot of shameful choices. So very many to choose from. Since we have to start somewhere, I’ll open with the **corn dog**. My thoughts precisely. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/71 "2022-05-21T05:21:42Z")
This is a [good recipe also](https://www.goodfood.com.au/recipes/maple-syrup-bread-and-butter-pudding-20111018-29wi2), though non-traditional. It does come with one unusual ingredient which - as a Canadian - you shouldn’t have too much difficulty sourcing. I can’t emphasise enough that the whole trick to a good BBP is to have the bread totally soaked, right through, in the liquid (custard) before you start baking. When I make it, I don’t put the bread in then pour the custard over because it won’t soak through. I put in a layer of bread, then some custard, then bread, then custard etc. And I would say if you can leave it to soak for most of a day you will get far better results than 30 min. It is an inferior dish if the middle is dry. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/72 "2022-05-21T05:27:30Z")
How much starch can one consume in a single meal? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/73 "2022-05-21T05:36:36Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned [Scotland’s haggis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haggis). Perhaps it is because no one feels that confident about their affiliation with Scotland? I mentioned a “shameful” food from a country that is not my own (Indonesia) only because I feel I have earned the right to comment from many years of thoughtful participation and integration into that utterly amazing nation. About haggis – I only had it once, so perhaps I had an unrepresentative dish. But if what I ate was typical, haggis is mouthwateringly delicious. I was almost afraid to try it when it was served, but as soon as I tasted it I was casting longing glances at the plates of my fellow diners, to see if there was any chance they’d share their portion with me (they did not, it was all gobbled up). ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/74 "2022-05-21T05:38:20Z")
I think the problem is, for the US at least, defining a ‘national’ dish. There are regional dishes, there are foodstuffs served nationwide, but I’m not sure they would be considered a representational dish. A few things I would consider though. Spagetti-O’s (especially with meatballs). Damn those things were ubiquitous when I was growing up, and I tolerated them when I was young, but even then I knew they were nasty, and I’d flat refuse any with ‘meat’ in them. Another ‘food’ in this category are the other Chef-Boyardee crap such as canned ravioli and the like. In fact, let’s just make Chef Boyardee the mascot of US Shame Food. Boiled Oscar Meyer Hot dogs. These were also extremely nasty, smelled terrible, and made from the pink goo of a thousand liquified hog souls screaming in pain. But they were everywhere for years growing up. The smell of movie theater hot dogs probably account for 90% of all the haunted multiplex scares of the last 3 decades. And on a final, but related moment, movie theater/sporting arena Nachos. OMFG, the bright, neon yellow/orange of the ‘cheez’, half formed, over picked, heatless jalapeno slices. The plastic texture that lingers in your sense memory even long after the endless heartburn faded, and the lifeless corn chips, crying out in desperation from their epic staleness despite having more salt than the Salt Lakes. Each single element was a crime against humanity, and the whole was a crime against nature that even the Great Old Ones themselves found unnatural and mindbending. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/75 "2022-05-21T05:50:06Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > But if what I ate was typical, haggis is mouthwateringly delicious. Yep for all that people exaggerate how disgusting it sounds, the reality is it’s just a form of very tasty sausage or meatloaf. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2022, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/76 "2022-05-21T05:57:12Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > > [@terentii](#): > > > > Thank you, thank you, ladies and germs! You’ve been a great audience, have a good night! > > **Terentii** , ladies and gentlemen. Hey, he’s in town all week. Try the veal, and don’t forget to tip your waitresses–it’s pretty funny when they fall over. Let’s have another round of applause for **Terentii**! > > [Seriously, that one was good.] Ask yourself this: When was the last time you laughed at a joke that can trace its origin to Richard Nixon? 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/77 "2022-05-21T05:58:40Z")
When he was on “Laugh-In,” saying “Sock it 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:** [May 21, 2022, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/78 "2022-05-21T06:00:07Z")
Oh yeah, he did do that, didn’t he? ✌ ✌ ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/79 "2022-05-21T06:05:02Z")
He did. The only thing missing was a pie to his face, but he was the US President, and all. ---
**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:** [May 21, 2022, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784/80 "2022-05-21T06:21:24Z")
He wasn’t President yet. That episode aired two months before Election Day: > **[In 1968, When Nixon Said 'Sock It To Me' on 'Laugh-In,' TV Was Never Quite...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1968-when-nixon-said-sock-it-me-laugh-tv-was-never-quite-same-again-180967869/)** > > The show's rollicking one-liners and bawdy routines paved the way for "Saturday Night Live" and other cutting-edge television satire The standard fee for one appearance was $210 in 1968. This was equivalent in purchasing power to about $1,744.62 today, an increase of $1,534.62 over 54 years. But we digest… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-national-dish-of-shame/964784.md?page=5)