The most overrated foods and drinks

Steak? Are you mad? Steak is good.

Amyntas - I'd have to say you're wrong on all three.

I would agree, wrong on all three. In fact I could get by on nothing else!

abalone - just like raw pork fat
pluck
brain

quote:

Originally posted by Chief Chirpa:
Amyntas - I'd have to say you're wrong on all three.

I'd say Amyntas is right on the first two.

oysters
beetroot
spinach
asparagas........hate em all !
especially oysters how anyone can enjoy cold snot is beyond me!

With respect, you're kidding me?! 00 grade, or better still, 000 grade Beluga caviar is tha shiznit.

As for champagne, my butler assures me that just about any is luvverly.

quote:

Originally posted by Chief Chirpa:
With respect, you're kidding me?! 00 grade, or better still, 000 grade Beluga caviar is tha shiznit.

As for champagne, just about any is luvverly.

Equally respectfully, caviar is fish eggs and champagne is just fizzy wine! Racing drivers have the right idea - spray it around don't bother drinking it!

And add foie gras to the list too!

quote:

Originally posted by scottyhammer:
oysters
beetroot
spinach
asparagas........hate em all !
especially oysters how anyone can enjoy cold snot is beyond me!

Scotty, you and Chillkram are very disappointing!

You've not had the right ones, or the right scenario for the consumption of the same.

James

Champagne, oysters & caviar.
I'm sure that some people genuinely enjoy all these foods for the taste, but I am convinced that a whole load of people only consume this stuff in an attempt to make themselves feel rich/worldly & appear that way to others.

A good friend of mine was recently telling me that one of her greatest joys was to sit at the oyster bar in Harrods, drink champagne (it HAS to be Bollinger )eat oysters & watch the world go by. And hey, once she even caught a glimpse of mr Fayed! WOW!!
These foods are summed up thus;-
"image over substance"
Matt.

We have whitebait and crayfish in New Zealand - which are considered delicacies. I don't see what the fuss is about though.

quote:

Originally posted by JWM:
You've not had the right ones, or the right scenario for the consumption of the same.

I've had Beluga caviar that was brought back as a gift from Russia. I've eaten foie gras in Gers in France and drunk many bottles of champagne including Cristal at £300 per bottle.

None of it was nasty, just overrated.

There is a real risk of a thread like this simply turning into a 'food I don't like' thing.

Lets think of over rated food here. Heck you may even like it.

Avocado.
I can eat it. But lets get down to brass tacks. It has no taste what so ever. You are relying on the texture to do something for you. Invariably it has to be mixed with something with flavour. So one is left wondering, 'why bother'
And they are expensive as well.

quote:

Originally posted by Deane F:
We have whitebait and crayfish in New Zealand - which are considered delicacies. I don't see what the fuss is about though.

Deane,
I reckon these poor buggers have not even seen a Bluff Oyster, let alone tasted one.

It is widely known that cheap Champagne is just that...cheap (and nasty with it) and usually bettered by "run-of-the-mill" sparkling wines. Fine (and prohibitively expensive) Champagne is a different thing altogether. Very, very nice.
As for Oysters and Caviar, it may be my loss but I just cannot bring myself to consume them. The thought of an oyster, or as Scotty so eloquently puts it, "cold snot" sliding down my throat has me gagging as I write!
My nomination would be the late night variety of Kebabs. The fact you have to be pissed to eat one is proof enough I think.
Regards,
Steve O.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve O:
It is widely known that cheap Champagne is just that...cheap (and nasty with it) and usually bettered by "run-of-the-mill" sparkling wines.

I have to declare an interest here, I as work for a well known small family Champagne house. We view our Champagne as a great wine first then Champagne.

I would never even consider our Champagne to be the best - that's for the consumer to say - I always say at events and tastings - "the best champagne in the world is the house you enjoy the most"

Don't get oysters to be honest or roast parsnips - which are pretty far apart in food groups

And I certainly don't get or understand mico herbs - which seem to be all the rage at the moment in Restaurants - PEE SHOOTS! nah

quote:

Originally posted by manicatel:
Champagne, oysters & caviar.
I'm sure that some people genuinely enjoy all these foods for the taste, but I am convinced that a whole load of people only consume this stuff in an attempt to make themselves feel rich/worldly & appear that way to others.

A good friend of mine was recently telling me that one of her greatest joys was to sit at the oyster bar in Harrods, drink champagne (it HAS to be Bollinger )eat oysters & watch the world go by. And hey, once she even caught a glimpse of mr Fayed! WOW!!
These foods are summed up thus;-
"image over substance"
Matt.

I think the give-away there is where your friend chose to eat rather than what she chose to eat

quote:

Originally posted by Deane F:
We have whitebait and crayfish in New Zealand - which are considered delicacies. I don't see what the fuss is about though.

Both great tastes but I wouldn't consider them delicacies. I suppose that differs the world over

WINE. I just don't get it.

I guess I've never drunk a really pricey bottle but even things that people tell me are 'good' leave me totally cold. I will drink a half glass and then generally find I've finished a meal and not bothered with the rest.

I genuinely wonder about how much of the pretentious tosh written about wine is charade! (ducks)

I'm also struck by the reaction of people (and in particular restaurants) when you say you are not interested in wine-as if you have just committed a horrendous social faux-pas.

Perhaps I have an 'ill-educated' palate (and I'm not much of an alcohol consumer) but I can appreciate malt whiskies and beers.

Bruce

Colchester or Aldeburgh Oysters washed down with a bottle of decent Chablis - delicious!

For those folks who don't like Oysters (or the thought of eating them raw) have you tried them grilled with breadcrumbs, butter and Parmesan?

My view is that, rather than a particular type of food or drink being overrated, its preparation and its provenance have a greater influence over its taste than the ingredients themselves.

As someone who really enjoys food and unfortunately all types of good quality alcohol, I've made a point over the years in retrying food and drink that in the past I've disliked. How many people have been put off cabbage for life as the result of having to eat the overcooked stuff they used to dish out in school?

For food and drink in this thread, substitute music. Some we like, some we're not into but accept it's got merit, some we hate, some we regard as only listened to by those seeking to impress. And, yes, some pretentious tosh!

I forgot about avocado - it ought to have been on my original list.

Oysters: tried one once, utterly revolting, but I know some people love them.

I knew there would be a risk of this thread becoming just a list of likes and dislikes, but I do quite like caviar, for example but for the price you must pay, you can forget it. Likewise champagne. As for steak, it is so often tough and tasteless that I eat it only on rare occasions.

A friend told me once anyone can find a really good expensive wine, the trick is to find a good cheap one. Like most things the law of diminishing returns operates. At one of the places I was lodging in,the owner (a pretentious snob) told me after I said I didn't get purple sprouting broccoli,that I was the wrong class to appreciate it! I took this to mean that my class would not just spend any amount of money on some thing some one said was good because it was expensive.

quote:

Originally posted by Frank F:
Hi,

For children - Mac Donalds and it is bad for you, but who can overcome peer pressure,

FF

My two, aged 5 and 9, scream insults at the place when ever we pass one. Early brain-washing can work.

As for overrated foods some fancy ingredients leave me cold, I find simple is best.

Jono