Food and Food Culture

Vegemite/Marmite is kind of overrated on its own (aside from pranking unsuspecting tourists), but with cheese and crisps, it's god tier savoury sandwich feeling.

Meanwhile, in New Zealand (yeah, you can put it on bread):

Eh, I tried Marmite once. I could take it or leave it.

You want disgusting sandwich condiments? Try Swedish sandwich caviar.

Hell, we even had a whole ad campaign dedicated to a grand total of nobody outside of Sweden liking it! The people of Japan and Bosnia at least pretended to appreciate it - Then they tried it in America, and the Americans flat-out told them "That's not food, man!". The slogan, incidentally, was "A very Swedish flavor".

(Incidentally, I'm not very fond of it either. I can handle it mixed with cream, and I know that sounds even grosser, but the cream does a lot to make the flavor milder)

Edited by MagmaTeaMerry on Dec 17th 2020 at 9:48:52 PM

Well, I doubt this will help, but I like fermented tofu, hate anchovies and have never had durians.

It's a beer yeast extract spread. It's vile.

The Marmite crunch peanut butter basically uses the yeast extract in the peanut butter to give it a marmite-esque aspect. Which is beyond vile.

Marmite created the UK's most iconic Broken Base, which is where the 'Love it or Hate it' campaign came from; because it's so divisive and has an extremely small middle ground (indifference), Marmite decided to make a marketing campaign out of it — a highly successful marketing campaign. Whether people loved or hated Marmite, everyone liked the marketing campaign because it was funny and tongue-in-cheek... and true. In the UK, 'it's like marmite' is now a pop culture reference for anything that creates a Broken Base.

My posts are probably far too subtle for you to be able to guess which camp I fall into.

I really like the look of that. I don't know if I could eat it because of the oil, but I'd certainly try it once.

We have some similar variants of that (usually scrambled eggs, and either haddock, anchovies or salmon; in Wales, there's a Welshman's caviar version — so, seaweed instead of fish). I think the weirdest name goes to Scotch Woodcock which uses anchovies with the eggs; it's a Victorian invention, by the English and uses no woodcocks — the name was apparently a deliberate nod to Welsh Rabbit, which contains no rabbit.

Edited by Wyldchyld on Dec 18th 2020 at 1:24:54 PM

Favorite Preserves: Strawberry

Favorite Jam: Also strawberry, though Holiday Jam is good too.

Favorite Jelly: Grapes the only one I've ever had

Favorite Butter: Apple Butter, Peanut Butter (Smooth, not crunchy), And Peanut Butter with honey.

I also love Nutella. Hazelnut is wonderful

Nutella is a sometimes food for me - it goes well in crepes.

Relevant:

What about Vegemite?

McDonald's China is offering Spam-and-Oreo burgers for a limited time.

What.

So that's what they do with their surplus...

...mash it into paste and sell it as hamburgers.

Also vile. As is Bovril.

Tangentially related to this thread, but during my research into the Prohibition Era, Al Capone also dealt in, of all things, the milk industry.

Apparently, he was the first one to put expiration date labels on milk bottles, which made me wonder what the hell was FDA doing until then.

Back then, you didn't go shopping for milk—the milkman delivered it to your doorstep straight from the dairy. I'm guessing most consumers assumed that the dairy was keeping track of stuff like expiration dates for you.

The dairy wouldn't put it on the bottle cap? I’m pretty sure that’s how our delivered milk used to have a use-by on it when I was a small kid (so 20 years ago).

Edited by Silasw on Dec 20th 2020 at 8:45:15 PM

Why would you have an expiration date on milk in the damn 20's? Either it's curdled or not.

Cosmic coincidence of the day: was having breakfast today and noticed the milk I had put in my coffee was strange. Commented with SO; she found it strange, since the milk was new, she had drunk it and hadn't noticed anything different. She suggests that I get a little amount of milk and taste it. Bingo: it had gone bad. She is now mildly disturbed for not having noticed it.

Edited by KusaMigeru on Dec 21st 2020 at 7:22:09 AM

Okay, not quite sure if this question fits here or the History thread, but I got a question for a story.

So the story starts with an immigrant settling in San Francisco during the 1910s. Having been a meat lover in his home country, he wants to find a cheap source of meats in the new place as well, and if failing that, other sources of protein.

Now, what were some meats that used to be (or still are to this day) really affordable for poor immigrants? I think I heard that before the 1920s and the marketing ploy that made bacon a staple in the American diet, butchers either sold pork belly really cheap, if not threw them away altogether.

One strategy is to use regular beef or pork, but add an extender like crushed stale bread crumbs to make the meat supply last longer.

That is the origin of the Mississippi Slugburger:

Edited by M84 on Dec 21st 2020 at 8:44:02 PM

I made Asian style chicken wings today in honour of Christmas. I also made buffalo wings. It may not be Chinese food, but I should honour my heritage somehow.

!מולד שמח

Edited by SkyCat32 on Dec 24th 2020 at 1:33:07 PM

So I just tried a hot toddy for the first time and OMG I wish I tried them earlier in my life.

Do you guys have any foods that you think taste better when eaten in a certain way, regardless of whether it's "traditional" or not? There are some foods that I think just taste better when I eat them in a particular way, even when it really shouldn't affect the taste at all.

For example, I think fläskpannkaka^note A thick pancake made in a pan in the oven with bacon bits at the bottom. tastes better when eaten with chopsticks. There's some nostalgic value there for me, since I noticed us having chopsticks when I was, like, 7, and I was so intrigued by them that I just wanted to use them. And since we had the pancake for dinner that day... It just happened.

I also think Christmas ham tastes better after the Christmas celebrations. My favorite sandwich is the one eaten the day after, with crisp bread, cheese, mustard, ham and apple sauce. Sure, I eat it on Christmas Eve (The day we celebrate it) as well, but it tastes better the day after. I can't really explain why.

Roasted chicken.

Buy one raw from the store.

Just put it in the oven, zero spices or anything, on it beforehand.

Roast for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Pick it out.

Wash the hands first and dry them, thoroughly.

Then dissect it by hand until it's free from bones, one-by-one, (put in a separate little bowl by the side).

Eat the meat. (One hand only.)

Then eat the skin last. (Still one hand only.)

(And have three napkins ready, they will be needed.)

...

I have tried this with both store-roasted chicken and the ones mentioned above. And frozen chicken. With and without knife and fork.

The homemade ones, Raw and fresh, clearly taste better for some odd reason through this method by hand.

Perhaps its the sensation of "touch" that's spicing it up for me, better than any other spice could accomplish through my non-existent sensation of "taste" or "smell" alone.

(Have lost two of my senses through medical conditions in my life some time ago...)

What will you guys be having for New Year's Eve dinner? Me and my family are having BBQ ribs and a humble but sumptuous full-course meal in our house. We're holding a small celebration to mark the end of this lousy year

During the night or during the day?

If during the day: Home-made roasted chicken and mixed vegetables.

If during the evening: Dried plums.

Edited by TitanJump on Dec 31st 2020 at 12:29:32 PM

Nothing special. Just a quiet dinner with family.

And maybe a generous amount of hard liquor around midnight.