Popular food & drink trends you don’t get?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. Food & drink is a big element of our everyday lives, and often, certain trends become very popular among the general population and become accepted as an everyday staple. But are there any of these food & drink trends that you just don’t identify with? Are there any where you’re finding yourself asking “why is this so popular”? Which popular food & drink trends do you not agree with, if any?

I’ll get the ball rolling with some of my personal nominations. I’ll preface this by saying that I’m not the most adventurous when it comes to food, and I have quite a basic palette:

• Cooked breakfast/Full English Breakfast - Starting off with a big, controversial one! I’m not sure how popular cooked breakfast actually is abroad, but in Britain at least, a massive fry-up, or a Full English Breakfast to give it its proper name, seems to be a staple of many Brits’ diet, and the thing most people look forward to most about going to places like hotels. But personally, I’ll admit that I don’t quite get the hype. Don’t get me wrong, sausages and baked beans are great, and I quite like hash browns as well, but they’re not the sort of thing I’d ever think to have for breakfast. And the rest of a Full English doesn’t really appeal to me that much, personally (yes, I’m a meat-eater who surprisingly doesn’t like bacon, and I also don’t like eggs either). I understand why people like it, but I’m personally more into sweeter things for breakfast, and I’m also someone who doesn’t like to fill up on too much in one go; at a hotel, for instance, I’d always go for the Continental options over the cooked.
• Condiments - This might sound a bit strange, but I’m not generally much of a condiments person, or at least, not to the same extent as most people. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind some condiments; for instance, I like apple sauce with pork, I like custard or ice cream with a dessert, and I also don’t mind a bit of gravy with a roast dinner (although if I had the choice, I’d personally go for a more moderate quantity as opposed to having the whole plate absolutely swimming in it). But on the whole, I’m not fussed on condiments. I like my chips plain, I like plain burgers (or “naked”, if you’re in a fancy restaurant), I like my salad plain, without any dressing, and in general, I don’t personally identify with society’s love of smothering everything in some kind of sauce or dressing.
• Alcohol - I don’t know if this is just my age or unique to my family in particular, but it feels like practically everyone around me loves alcohol, and loves a good drink. However, I’ve been 18 for over 6 months now, yet I’m still teetotal (which is apparently the term for “I don’t drink alcohol”), and I don’t have any huge desire to change that any time soon, and I’ll admit I don’t get the general hype surrounding alcohol. That’s for multiple reasons. Firstly, while I’ve never actually tasted a true alcoholic drink, I’ve smelt a fair few alcoholic drinks over the years, and I’ve also had a brief sip of both non-alcoholic beer and non-alcoholic gin & tonic when encouraged to by my family, and I can’t say that any of those experiences were particularly positive or drinks I particularly liked. I’ve always found alcohol to either smell too strong for me, have a smell that I generally find somewhat unpleasant or both. Secondly; I know this probably makes me sound overly neurotic, but I also don’t like the general idea of drinking something that has the ability to alter your mental state. I know that’s why a lot of people like alcohol, and I understand that, but personally, the thought of doing things and saying things while you’ve got a weakened grip on reality and potentially not remembering those things afterwards scares me. I apologise if that makes me sound weird, but that’s what I genuinely think.

So those are some of the food & drink trends I don’t personally follow. I apologise if any of that’s triggering or controversial. Though this is all down to opinion, after all, and I certainly get why people like the things I’ve identified above.

But what are some of the food & drink trends you don’t really get?

 

[Bentleya]

Condiments:- Now this for me is love / hate - if I love it, I really love it and if I hate it, I really hate it.

Anything tomato or mustard based is a real winner
Anything mayonnaise based is a real no no

In the dessert department, if it’s a choice between custard or ice-cream; I’m normally a bit piggish and I have both.

Cooked Breakfast:- now this is truly one of life’s real pleasures, I went to a boarding school though my secondary school years and a cooked breakfast started the day and it’s something which has stayed with me through to this current day. Admittedly, It’s not as common as it once was - but it’s just something to get the day going and just makes me extremely happy.

Now approaching my 31st year, I have to tone it back a bit - as my metabolism isn’t what it once was and I can easily gain unnecessary weight.

Alcohol:- I didn’t really have the urge for an alcoholic beverage till I was around 25, like you I just didn’t get it…
Well, something just clicked - a decent wine paired nicely with dinner is one of the most enjoyable things in the world, along with sweet cocktails; these go down like a dream.

I can’t stand beer or sparkling wines though!

 

[Will]

Secondly; I know this probably makes me sound overly neurotic, but I also don’t like the general idea of drinking something that has the ability to alter your mental state. I know that’s why a lot of people like alcohol, and I understand that, but personally, the thought of doing things and saying things while you’ve got a weakened grip on reality and potentially not remembering those things afterwards scares me. I apologise if that makes me sound weird, but that’s what I genuinely think.

Smart man - and you're right - that's why a lot of people higher than average on the autistic spectrum take to alcohol in a big way - they can trick themselves into thinking they fit into social situations - it slowly becomes the only way they know how to make their heads shut the **** up...

The recent obsession with sweet potato
Halloumi
Hash Browns
Gin & sparkling wine (keeping with the alcohol theme)
Veganism
Weird fad diets that exclude bread
Pasta

 

[Eyebrows]

For me:

• None of them?

I will eat anything you put in front of me, and I’ve enjoyed most everything I’ve eaten! I’ve also been blessed with a large stomach and a fast metabolism, so I’m a bit of an eating machine. There isn’t a lot of food that I haven’t tried, and I’m always down to take recommendations or try something new!

In short, I love food. All of it. Give it all to me.

 

[Gazza]

Two things

-Salted Caramel. I hate it because now its often the only option in lieu of ordinary caramel flavour.

-Serving food on chopping boards. Makes me nervous that food is going to roll off it.

 

[Howie]

Salted Caramel. I hate it because now its often the only option in lieu of ordinary caramel flavour.

You bahhhh-stud, this was totally gonna be my answer. Like, why does all caramel need to be called salted caramel these days? What happened to good, old fashioned sweet caramel? The fact that caramel has always contained salt doesn't seem to matter, it just seems to me that adding the word 'salted' to the product simply makes it sound posher.
I blame Hotel Chocolat - they did it first.

Another minor, OCD style annoyance of mine is how you can't seem to get macaroni cheese anymore, it has to be the Americanised, grammatically bone-idle 'Mac & cheese' instead
Love the stuff, could eat it by the bucketful, but I point-blank refuse to cave in to the social trend of being too lazy to say the 4 syllable word 'macaroni'.
Not happening.
Never.

 

[JoshC.]

Not a food trend per se, but I'm not a big fan of salt. I don't mind it occasionally, and I can cope with in some cases, but gah, salt is just not something I like. It's one reason I've never been big on Chinese food I've tried, because of the MSG which is usually added.

I don't drink alcohol.
I don't eat bacon, and in generally am not a fan of fatty food. So fry ups and all that are not my thing. I 'get' the appeal, but yeah, not for me.

I guess for an actual 'trend', which I've seen occasionally: having a ton of melted cheese just poured over a meal. Like it seemed to be a viral thing a while back from "fancier" restaurants, where they would come to the table with some cheese that was a bit melted, and it's just cut and poured over your food. I like cheese, but damn, I just don't get it.

 

[Thekingin64]

Avocado for me. Never liked it, likely never will. Don't like coffee either, so guess I'm the complete opposite of the "millennial" stereotype....

Don't like eggs either but will eat them as part of a breakfast wrap or similar. Will remove them from a full English though.

 

[Christian]

There are 2 things I have a awful time eating.

Mayonnaise - This gets me to throw up. Whatever dish that contains this will certainly not be eaten by me. It's usually disguised or hidden making it impossible to find before sticking it in you mouth. When in the mouth the fatty creamy texture paired with the disgusting taste is just awful. Dreadful stuff.

Too much salt - I don't have the same phobia of salt as I have off Mayonnaise but I certainly don't like it in huge amounts. My ideal food is almost completely unsalted but I love normally salted food too. Whenever the food is a level above normally salted then it gets disgusting that's why I'm not a fan of the salted caramel trend.

@Matt N I truly admire your teetotalism. Here in Sweden, alcohol is probably the main part of university life. Aside from attending lectures everything relating to uni involves drinking in varying amounts.

 

[SkyrushSimp]

coffee. i guess you could say it's not my... CUP OF TEA

 

[Indy]

Kale - I mean, it's fine. It's just nothing to go nuts about.

Hard Seltzers - I've tried a lot of them in an effort to get what people are going nuts about. Not a single one of them is worth drinking. I'd rather just drink La Croix or tap water.

Light Beer - The calorie savings to taste sacrifice ratio is waaaay off.

 

[solarfall]

Alcohol

Man, what kind of Brit are you? (kidding)

For me it's boba tea. I'm not really much of a tea-drinker in the first place, but those little deer poop-shaped rubbery tapioca pellets unexpectedly shooting up the straw into your mouth is just like.... yeeugh. I don't get it at all. It's the food equivalent of the uncanny valley. That texture does NOT belong in that liquid.

Also this is hardly a new trend, but American cheese legitimately makes me gag. If I order a drive-thru burger and they forget to take off the American cheese, I will honest to god throw it away before eating it.

 

[RcTmix]

Truffle oil. It tastes like dirt. What’s that? I can order the truffle fries and pay $4 extra for you to sprinkle some dirt on my dinner? No thank you!

 

[caffeine_demon]

Pulled pork - It just clumps together like cotton wool!

Salad - Tomato, cucumber and peppers are ok, but lettuce tastes of nothing and takes about 3 hours to eat!, and don't get me started on raw onions / mushrooms

Lettuce on burgers - I don't want my burger to crunch, and hot damp lettuce may be even worse than cold lettuce!

Chips in baskets/buckets - just put em on the flippin' plate!

food on chopping boards - ya didn't want that sauce to stay put did you?

Food on shovels/ in troughs - Is this a farm/zoo?

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

I have to agree with the people who said cooked breakfast! I am not much of a breakfast person anyway, but if I do have breakfast, give me a small bowl of cereal or some yogurt. I get miserable if I'm bloated off crappy, greasy food right from the day's start. BACON is like, the worst thing ever in terms of both smell and taste. I really don't get the obsession over the stuff.

Another one is sushi. Okay, don't get me wrong, I LOVE sushi and sashami, but I feel like a lot of "omg look at us gals going out for sushi" is just a trend and it pisses me off.

 

[Sandman]

'Proper' coffee.

I've got this friend (bit of an arsehole) who likes to remind me he has a nice coffee machine at home. Always trying to peddle his Argentinian blends and Italian coffee beans onto me.

"This is the good stuff, not that cheap stuff you usually drink" he'd say with a huge anticipatory grin on his smug arsed face.
"Tastes absolutely ****e" I'd bluntly reply

And to me, it does taste ****e. I don't want some expensive bitter coffee, all in the name of pretentiousness.
Give me a massive Sports Direct mug filled to the brim with a cheap yet respectable brand of instant coffee. That'll do me absolutely fine.

 

[Serena]

• Alcohol - I don’t know if this is just my age or unique to my family in particular, but it feels like practically everyone around me loves alcohol, and loves a good drink. However, I’ve been 18 for over 6 months now, yet I’m still teetotal (which is apparently the term for “I don’t drink alcohol”), and I don’t have any huge desire to change that any time soon, and I’ll admit I don’t get the general hype surrounding alcohol. That’s for multiple reasons. Firstly, while I’ve never actually tasted a true alcoholic drink, I’ve smelt a fair few alcoholic drinks over the years, and I’ve also had a brief sip of both non-alcoholic beer and non-alcoholic gin & tonic when encouraged to by my family, and I can’t say that any of those experiences were particularly positive or drinks I particularly liked. I’ve always found alcohol to either smell too strong for me, have a smell that I generally find somewhat unpleasant or both. Secondly; I know this probably makes me sound overly neurotic, but I also don’t like the general idea of drinking something that has the ability to alter your mental state. I know that’s why a lot of people like alcohol, and I understand that, but personally, the thought of doing things and saying things while you’ve got a weakened grip on reality and potentially not remembering those things afterwards scares me. I apologise if that makes me sound weird, but that’s what I genuinely think.

I don't drink alcohol either @Matt N and I fully understand not wanting to alter your mental state. Normally I don't talk about not drinking alcohol, because my choice is always met with questioning: "why not?! Don't you like to have fun?!" etc. But I just wanted to show my support for your choice and say you're not on your own with this. Stick to what feels comfortable for you and never let people make you feel like you're the odd one out for not drinking.

I experienced so much peer pressure over my life to drink alcohol (beer pressure?) - to the point where I would actually pretend to drink just to shut people up. (I would hold an alcoholic drink in my hand and then poor some of it down the toilet sink at regular intervals!)

Food trends I dislike:

- this new coleslaw thing in restaurants, often abbreviated as 'slaw' where it's just a bunch of dry cabbage and onions and none of the delicious creamy sauce that you get with shop- bought coleslaw.

- sourdough bread. It's disgusting.

- also not a fan of a cooked breakfast - there's too much going on on one plate! I'd rather just have eggs

 

[Nicky Borrill]

'Proper' coffee.

I've got this friend (bit of an arsehole) who likes to remind me he has a nice coffee machine at home. Always trying to peddle his Argentinian blends and Italian coffee beans onto me.

"This is the good stuff, not that cheap stuff you usually drink" he'd say with a huge anticipatory grin on his smug arsed face.
"Tastes absolutely ****e" I'd bluntly reply

And to me, it does taste ****e. I don't want some expensive bitter coffee, all in the name of pretentiousness.
Give me a massive Sports Direct mug filled to the brim with a cheap yet respectable brand of instant coffee. That'll do me absolutely fine.

We have a traditional dual head Espresso machine, and 2 bean to cup espresso machines... All commercial grade obviously... Give me a cup of Nescafe Azera any day!!!

 

[rob666]

I grind my own (cheap supermarket) beans in a vintage grinder that coast me a tenner, and use a three quid cafatiere, with full fat milk...skinflint heaven.

I have to agree with the people who said cooked breakfast! I am not much of a breakfast person anyway, but if I do have breakfast, give me a small bowl of cereal or some yogurt. I get miserable if I'm bloated off crappy, greasy food right from the day's start. BACON is like, the worst thing ever in terms of both smell and taste. I really don't get the obsession over the stuff.

Another one is sushi. Okay, don't get me wrong, I LOVE sushi and sashami, but I feel like a lot of "omg look at us gals going out for sushi" is just a trend and it pisses me off.

So you happily chew on raw fish, but object to bacon???
Takes all sorts.

 

[Sandman]

We have a traditional dual head Espresso machine, and 2 bean to cup espresso machines... All commercial grade obviously... Give me a cup of Nescafe Azera any day!!!

Someone is spying on me...