Controversial opinions about food

[freezeblade]

(Though sometimes coffee shops smell nice, and I don't know what makes the difference).

In my experience (working at a coffee shop), even people who don't like the taste of coffee, still enjoy the smell of it brewing, I figure it has something to do with the VOCs that are released upon grinding and brewing, some of which are not soluble (or not as soluble) in water, so they don't translate into the final brewed cup.

[Zohar]

Have you ever tried cold-brew coffee? Not saying that you need to, but I find it tastes so different from regular hot coffee (no matter which method I'd tried), that I'm curious if you have a different reaction to it. It's a lot less acidic and bitter, in my experience.

[Pfhorrest]

I had some canned energy drink thing from Starbucks once that I think might have been described as made from cold brew coffee, though I might be misremembering. It had the overall impression of a soda, but its caffeine content was of coffee origin. I enjoyed that. Didn't taste like coffee at all.

[doogly]

Oh man if you find yourself in New York and are in a sufficiently choice and excellent place, you may be able to find Manhattan Special

Drink that one

[Ginger]

I like cold or warm coffees. And energy drinks. I know they're totally awful yet I used to try every flavor I saw in different stores. And then feel all buzzed and tingly for about an hour or two. Controversial food opinions about kids: I think if I were a mother I'd let my kids eat mostly what they wanna. I wouldn't force feed them vegetables, or take away their candies on Halloween like some mothers do to their daughters, or scold them for eating past dinnertime or whatever. I wanna let my kids like like their foods and not hate on them because I told them to eat/drink what I would eat or drink. Your experiences with parenting may vary.

[AngrySquirrel]

Problem is, kids are idiots. If you just let them eat what they want they happily live on sugar alone until they get real sick. And when you as the responsible adult allow that to happen it is called neglect.

[Ginger]

Oh I see. So... so let me get it straight: You as a mommy just said your kids are idiots. That's not abusive? Treating kids like they don't know what they like to eat and drink and what makes them feel healthiest is moronic and neglectful of me as a mommy? Sure sure. Letting kids have freedom is just bad wrong bad. We need to restrict their eating habits until they develop anorexia and bulimia like I did. We need to call them morons about their eating habits and gossip about how They Live and Die for Sugary Foods and Drinks and shame them when they overeat. WAY HEALTHIER than just allowing them to eat and drink what they wanna.

[AngrySquirrel]

Oh I see. So... so let me get it straight: You as a mommy just said your kids are idiots. That's not abusive? Treating kids like they don't know what they like to eat and drink and what makes them feel healthiest is moronic and neglectful of me as a mommy? Sure sure. Letting kids have freedom is just bad wrong bad. We need to restrict their eating habits until they develop anorexia and bulimia like I did. We need to call them morons about their eating habits and gossip about how They Live and Die for Sugary Foods and Drinks and shame them when they overeat. WAY HEALTHIER than just allowing them to eat and drink what they wanna.

a) I am not a mom. I just spend a lot of time around kids. (and I'm talking toddlers here, older kids have some basic survival instincts, toddlers dont).
b) I never said letting kids have freedom is wrong. I am saying if you give kids absolute freedom they will not survive. Kids need frames or they tend to become extremely insecure. That is not a good thing. Taking basic responsibility for kids is not the same as "restricting their eating habits until they develop anorexia and bulimia". You can give kids basic frames and good habits without shaming them. There is a middle ground here.

[Ginger]

You're so awesome for spending a lot of time around young kids. No one wanna let me near their kids at all... sad sad sighs. Anyways what you just said is very very reasonable and I guess I can't disagree? I'm just saying that in my household even when our parents monitored what we ate and drank or gave us diet advice it wasn't very healthy. Like, my dad's solution to everything was to eat more meat, and my mom's solution was to deny deny deny deny yourself food or eat too much when you did eat. So I got super way conflicting advice about food and drinks from my parents and my solution was to... allow the kids I can... never have biologically or otherwise to eat and drink more freely so they don't feel like starving dogs wishing desperately for meal times. I agree there is balancing acts to do when teaching kids stuff though very sagacious of you Miss Angry Squirrel. :)

[AngrySquirrel]

And I've struggled with ED's for most of my life cause I grew up learning that food was scarce so when you get it you better eat ALL OF IT REALLY FAST. And also that food was a reward so it makes you feel good so if you eat you feel good so eat so you don't feel so bad all the time.

They fuck you up your mum and dad
They may not mean to but they do
(From "This be the verse" by Philip Larkin)

Edit 1: But this is getting off-topic.
Controversial opinion: Potatoes are the worst. Unless spiced beyond recognition.

Edit 2: Or I guess "the worst" is a bit extreme. They are pretty blah.

[Ginger]

Controversial opinions about food: Being a vegan girl don't mean I can't eat some products that imitate the tastes of meat. And they're not bad yet never actually taste like meat. Just put sauces or spices on them ha-ha. And I don't like most potatoes either unless they're spiced or have like peppers w/them maybe maybe? And I like rice and everyone says rice is just for Japanese ppl or w/evs ha-ha. People's controversial opinions that pizza sucks can just go away too I enjoy it even if it is unhealthy. AND You can still put vegetables on it. And I'm not coming back to argue if anyone wanna argue about it.

[speising]

I don't like the mushy consistency of cooked potatoes. Fries are ok, chips are ok, a lot of crunchy potato products are ok. Slimy potato salad is the worst, though.

I can't stand zucchini. People tell me they don't have any taste anyway, to which i reply, first, that, yes, they do have a taste which i can notice because my taste buds aren't ruined yet, and, second, why the fuck should i eat them if they don't have any taste??

[Quercus]

Slimy potato salad is the worst, though.

Oh my yes! Potato salad is one of those things that I have a family recipe for and any other way of cooking it is wrong dammit!

• Waxy potatoes, ideally pink fir apples
• Vinaigrette, not mayo, mayo has no business anywhere near a potato salad. The family is divided on whether to use white wine vinegar or cider vinegar, and how much mustard to use. I go for white wine vinegar, and a moderate amount of wholegrain mustard (I think everyone else uses dijon, but I like the crunchiness). Vinegar to oil ratio is also a point of contention.
• Red onion, slightly blanched
• Nothing else - it's a side, you're going to have other stuff with it, no need to make it complicated

[doogly]

Yeah mayo is unacceptable. So much vinegar. The most vinegar.

I will also accept a ham in there. This is a Tante Rosie maneuver.

[moody7277]

Basically, the bigger the part of a potato you can fry the better. Shoestring fried potatoes are of the devil, potato chips are okay, but steak fries (wedge sections) are best. If you could somehow fry an entire potato and have it come out crispy outside and fluffy inside, that would be ideal.

[Angua]

You mean a jacket potato?

[Thesh]

Fries are best when the crispy and fluff are in balance. Steak fries have too much fluff, and not enough crispy.

[Pfhorrest]

If you could somehow fry an entire potato and have it come out crispy outside and fluffy inside, that would be ideal.

You mean a jacket potato?

Google tells me "jacket potato" is another term for "baked potato", and moody there said "fried".

I suppose one could bake a potato to cook the inside properly and then flash-fry that to achieve the desired result. I would think it best then sliced into bite-sized cross-sections so you get a bit of the fried outer layer and the soft and fluffy interior in every piece. I'd certainly give that a try.

[Moo]

If you coat it in a bit of oil before baking it ends up functionally similar though. The outcome is pretty much the desired description.

[Liri]

You mean a jacket potato?

This term confused me for a good few seconds when I visited.

Aren't potatoes crazy? I get this weird feeling at times about foods that they aren't actually edible and we're faking it somehow. Same deal with music when I'm not actively listening to/playing it - it's just messy vibrations in the air!

[Thesh]

Basically, if it's a new world crop, it's poisonous.

[Pfhorrest]

Soooo many New World crops are in the "deadly nightshade" family it's ridiculous. Tomatoes, all chilis, tobacco, probably potatoes and sweet potatoes too, it wouldn't surprise me at all if cocoa were in there too...

[Ginger]

Is that poisonous? What is a, "deadly nightshade?" OOPS Thesh said it was never mind. He said, "It's Poisonous."

[Quercus]

Is that poisonous? What is a, "deadly nightshade?" OOPS Thesh said it was never mind. He said, "It's Poisonous."

It's a biological family - Solanaceae. Many species in that family contain highly toxic alkaloids, but in some the levels are low enough in certain organs that they're safe for humans to eat.

[Mikeski]

Soooo many New World crops are in the "deadly nightshade" family it's ridiculous. Tomatoes, all chilis, tobacco, probably potatoes and sweet potatoes too, it wouldn't surprise me at all if cocoa were in there too...

Potatoes are nightshades, sweet potatoes (and yams) are not. Cocoa is not. Eggplants are, though.

The "poisonous" chemicals in a potato tuber are mostly in the skin (the rest of the plant is worse, but we don't eat potato leaves or potato berries.) The green-colored parts of younger potato tubers have a higher concentration of "nightshade poison" in them, also. If you're worried, don't eat the green bits or the skin. And break off any green edges on a potato chip (UK: crisp) or french fry (UK: chip).

All the nightshades produce poisons; alkaloids to serve as built-in pesticides. The alkaloids in potatoes are solanine and chaconine, not the same as the truly-deadly nightshades like belladonna (atropine, scopolamine, etc)...

The poisonous alkaloid chemical that tobacco produces? Nicotine. Nicotine poisoning is far from the most dangerous thing about using tobacco, but tobacco farmers have to take precautions against it, as you can absorb nicotine through the skin just by handling the plants. And belladonna's scopolamine is used in anti-motion-sickness medications and other drugs. So "the dose makes the poison", as always.

[Peaceful Whale]

If you coat it in a bit of oil before baking it ends up functionally similar though. The outcome is pretty much the desired description.

I bake fries this way. (Chips if you’re not amarican)
+egg whites and salt.
They’re not as good as deep fried ones... but they’re better than potato slices and healthier.

[Liri]

sigh I did not intend to start a Solanaceae tangent - my inane post applied to all foods we eat

[poxic]

This is FaiD xkcd a bigole pile o' nerds. We will take any excuse at all to shitpost/informapost/nitpickpost/postpostpost.

[Sandry]

Controversial opinion: seaweed is absolutely loathsome, and therefore using it liberally as a garnish without warning is a horrible life choice.
Today's lunch is basically inedible in a way I was totally not expecting.

[commodorejohn]

Seaweed, like olives, seems to exist solely as a delivery vehicle for brine.

[Taylor90]

Rare steak is a waste of steak. Well done or GTFO.

[PAstrychef]

Well, I’m sure your shoe leather is very tasty-but you can have it. Steak should just about moo when I poke it with a fork.

[freezeblade]

Well, I’m sure your shoe leather is very tasty-but you can have it. Steak should just about moo when I poke it with a fork.

Wipe it's ass and toss it on the plate, I always say.

[commodorejohn]

If I wanted raw meat I'd just eat raw meat, thanks. That said, "well done" is code for "industrial linoleum in the shape of muscle tissue," so I'll take it somewhere in the middle, thanks.

[dubsola]

Rare steak is a waste of steak. Well done or GTFO.

Well done for posting something truly controversial.

You're wrong, of course, but at least you hit the thread's intended purpose right in the bullseye.

[natraj]

okay but the idea that well done steaks is bad is controversial like evolution or the earth being a sphere is controversial

like yes lots of staunch deniers exist but they're objectively incorrect and can safely be ignore

[dubsola]

They can be ignored but I prefer to cook and eat a steak in front of them. I'd never do that to a vegetarian but it is kinda funny for the well done folks, they look horrified. As do I when they do the same

[Pfhorrest]

I don't give a fuck if someone else prefers their steak poorly-done (that is, the opposite of well-done), but I get pretty sick of the all-pervasive condescending attitude that that is the only way to eat a steak.

And I'm not even someone who really cares about (or hardly ever eats) steak. But when I do, I want it done well. And also slathered in A1. I tried it "the right way" first, and as usual, most people are just self-righteously wrong.

[Thesh]

Sounds to me like you just don't like steak.

That said, marinated skirt steak, grilled and sliced thin can be pretty good when well-done.

[commodorejohn]

Marinate in soy sauce and garlic.

Cook until it's not actively goddamn bleeding out like it was just sliced out of the cow.

Enjoy.

Do not mutilate with any God-damned "sauce."

This is the Tao of Steak.