Pretentious / Not Pretentious.

[SkullTraill]

Ok, so I'm gonna list some expensive foods and ingredients and say whether or not I think they are pretentious.

Feel free to do the same, but obviously only stuff that you've tried yourself (or else how would you know).

Wagyu/Kobe Beef: Not Pretentious – This shit really is on a different level. It's a fucking experience, and while it's not an "every day" food, you MUST try this at least once in your life. The way it melts away in your mouth, and the pure taste of the fat is just unbeatable.

Truffles: Semi Pretentious – Unless you get FRESHLY shaved white or black truffle IN SEASON it's kinda shit. The "truffle oil" thing is just a fad, and it's disgusting.

Caviar: Not Pretentious – It just genuinely tastes good, and you can get cheaper fish roe/substitutes to caviar that taste almost as good.

Foie Gras: Not Pretentious – Definitely unethical, and I understand people not wanting to eat it, but it's definitely worth every penny, cause it just tastes so good. It doesn't taste like liver at all, the taste is more like butter mixed with good quality egg yolk to me... and I really like it. Again, not an every day food, but imo worth an experience in your life.

Flaky Salt: Pretentious – Fucking worthless overpriced shit that tastes no different.

 

[Scottish_Pride]

As somebody born and raised in cattle country and spoiled with particularly easy access to beef, Kobe has always sounded interesting to try. I remember being told that they actually give the cows beer in order to make em nice and fat, though idk how true that is.

 

[Mider2009]

Tried iberico ham, pretentious crap, tasted like fruity ham

tried a 30 dollar burger- not pretentious, great meat, toppings, well cooked.

 

[Mider2009]

Tenderloin or chateaubriand is pretentious, tastes like average meat...no fat so very little flavor, needs a good sauce.
paged beef and goat cheese- not pretentious...it’s not amazing but it’s interesting, very funky

 

[SkullTraill]

As somebody born and raised in cattle country and spoiled with particularly easy access to beef, Kobe has always sounded interesting to try. I remember being told that they actually give the cows beer in order to make em nice and fat, though idk how true that is.

Yeah, you must try it. Like proper kobe though, not american wagyu. American/australian wagyu is good as a traditional angus/whatever breed steak replacement i.e. it's better than most other varieties of beef, but it isn't kobe. Kobe is kobe.

I'm talking about shit like this:

It's gotta be almost-white from having such a high fat-meat ratio.

Mmmm....

Tried iberico ham, pretentious crap, tasted like fruity ham

tried a 30 dollar burger- not pretentious, great meat, toppings, well cooked.

Hmm... I really loved jamon iberico. I will agree that the fruity/acorn taste isn't for everyone. In face, even I don't like the actual meat of the ham that much, BUT the delicate, soft, melt-in-you-mouth fat is delicious imo.

Tenderloin or chateaubriand is pretentious, tastes like average meat...no fat so very little flavor, needs a good sauce.
paged beef and goat cheese- not pretentious...it’s not amazing but it’s interesting, very funky

I do agree, if you're eating tenderloin it is for the softness more than the flavor, and you must enhance it with fat or sauces.

For example, the only recent memory I have of eating tenderloin was at this place where they would serve fried foie gras over the tenderloin. Perfect compliment, meat is soft and tender, and lean, but the fat is provided by the foie gras.

Was a good combo.

 

[Scottish_Pride]

Yeah, you must try it. Like proper kobe though, not american wagyu. American/australian wagyu is good as a traditional angus/whatever breed steak replacement i.e. it's better than most other varieties of beef, but it isn't kobe. Kobe is kobe.

I'm talking about shit like this:

It's gotta be almost-white from having such a high fat-meat ratio.

Mmmm....

Jesus Fucking Christ that looks AMAZING. It's like the fatty edge of a rib eye you save for last, except it's most of the steak.

 

[Mart]

Himalayan salt - pretentious "pretty" salt.
Nice cheeses - not pretentious at all, nothing like a nice cheese board. Love come Cheddar, aged hard or Brie, but blue mold ones are fucking gross.
Would love to try Parmigiano someday, just can't afford it lol.
Can't speak for anything beef, since even regular beef is too expensive here, let alone anything fancy pantsy...

Here's a controversial one - super expensive wine is absolutely pretentious! I'm saying this as a wine lover lol. There's quite a few blind tests done, one of them was really funny - for shits and giggles cheap as shit wine was poured into different glasses and the wine snobs thought those were all distinctly different from each other.

In general I'm convinced that aging food, be it brew or otherwise, will only make a difference up to a certain point, after which the returns will be negligible.

 

[SkullTraill]

Himalayan salt - pretentious "pretty" salt.
Nice cheeses - not pretentious at all, nothing like a nice cheese board. Love come Cheddar, aged hard or Brie, but blue mold ones are fucking gross.
Would love to try Parmigiano someday, just can't afford it lol.
Can't speak for anything beef, since even regular beef is too expensive here, let alone anything fancy pantsy...

Here's a controversial one - super expensive wine is absolutely pretentious! I'm saying this as a wine lover lol. There's quite a few blind tests done, one of them was really funny - for shits and giggles cheap as shit wine was poured into different glasses and the wine snobs thought those were all distinctly different from each other.

In general I'm convinced that aging food, be it brew or otherwise, will only make a difference up to a certain point, after which the returns will be negligible.

Completely agree with you.

 

[SkullTraill]

Jesus Fucking Christ that looks AMAZING. It's like the fatty edge of a rib eye you save for last, except it's most of the steak.

Yep, and as you said earlier, they feed the cows with beer and olives, so the meat even tastes completely different. It's like a tastier, softer, meltier-in-your-mouthier, fattier, ribeye cap.

It was one of the only foods that shook me when I had it the first time... more than truffles, caviar, jamon iberico and even more than foie gras tbh.

 

[Scottish_Pride]

Here's a controversial one - super expensive wine is absolutely pretentious! I'm saying this as a wine lover lol. There's quite a few blind tests done, one of them was really funny - for shits and giggles cheap as shit wine was poured into different glasses and the wine snobs thought those were all distinctly different from each other.

In general I'm convinced that aging food, be it brew or otherwise, will only make a difference up to a certain point, after which the returns will be negligible.

There is actually some factual backing to that idea. Because modern technology and agricultural science has let us far better understand and control everything from the properties of the grapes grown, the environment of brewing and ingredient use, etc., we are better equipped for winemaking than people even 100 years ago. So there is a point where that should probably be taken into account- for most of history people have mainly been just doing shit by blind trial-and-error or tradition.

With whiskey, though, my dad once found an 1800's bottle of Macallen Highland Scotch, rare enough to be worth a quarter million dollars. He got it for $200 from a man who didn't know what it was worth, and drank it because he didn't either. According to him, it tasted like smoke, and felt like it in his mouth. It didn't feel like he was drinking a liquid. He said it was the best drink of his life.

 

[Mart]

There is actually some factual backing to that idea. Because modern technology and agricultural science has let us far better understand and control everything from the properties of the grapes grown, the environment of brewing and ingredient use, etc., we are better equipped for winemaking than people even 100 years ago. So there is a point where that should probably be taken into account- for most of history people have mainly been just doing shit by blind trial-and-error or tradition.

With whiskey, though, my dad once found an 1800's bottle of Macallen Highland Scotch, rare enough to be worth a quarter million dollars. He got it for $200 from a man who didn't know what it was worth, and drank it because he didn't either. According to him, it tasted like smoke, and felt like it in his mouth. It didn't feel like he was drinking a liquid. He said it was the best drink of his life.

Damn. No matter how good it would have tasted, I would've beaten myself up for guzzling down that kind of money for the rest of my life.

 

[Maulbeere]

Ooh I found one: gold flecked Ramen noodles, "Koa, a Japanese restaurant in Manhattan, is now serving gold-flecked ramen for $180 per bowl"

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You can buy ramen and edible gold leaf and make this for under a fiver too.

 

[SkullTraill]

Ooh I found one: gold flecked Ramen noodles, "Koa, a Japanese restaurant in Manhattan, is now serving gold-flecked ramen for $180 per bowl"

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You can buy ramen and edible gold leaf and make this for under a fiver too.

Yep, I need to add this to my OP actually. Anything with gold leaf added to it is just pure pretentious bullshit.

 

[Scottish_Pride]

Damn. No matter how good it would have tasted, I would've beaten myself up for guzzling down that kind of money for the rest of my life.

My dad sure as fuck did!