Do We Know What Grapes Taste Like Any More?
"One of my greatest pet peeves (and a conversation I encourage you to never start with me, because I just go on and on about how much it 'annoys' me until you roll your eyes, or at least that's what my husband does) is what companies get away with printing on product labels. 'A good source of calcium!' 'Boosts childrens immunity!' 'Fat free!" (Dude, it's ketchup.) And especially: 100% juice! (Welch's). Because I had eaten grapes (tons, actually, in the 9 months before this sock monkey thief came along) and they didn't taste anything like that ridiculouslessness in the bottle. How do they get away with making such false claims? And then, last week I had my first Concord grape. And guys, it tasted precise like… bottled grape juice (or Kedem, for those of you ushering in 5771 wine-free this week). Have I been wr-r-r- (this word, it hurts) -ong? Is it possible that nutritional claims made on labels might not be universally dubious? Some people read Ayn Rand and suddenly have to reconsider everything they once thought they knew about the world; me, I ate a grape."
-Our Lady of Smitten Kitchen is really procrastinating hard on her cookbook.
But we all agree that banana flavored candies taste nothing like bananas, right?
Yes, which is why I like them! See now-and-laters for an ideal reference.
I like the noxious fumes from banana laffy taffy once you start chewing it.
when i read "grape focaccia" this morning i almost unsubscribed to her mailing but i'd still buy her cookbook!
I used to be a daily reader of SK, but the pregnancy and baby tangents have sort of (sorry!) turned me off. Speaking as a devoted father, she really could take it down a notch.
I still love her recipes, though.
If you can get to Sullivan Street bakery and have their grape and anise pizza, you should go to there.
The Harry Potter vomit flavored jellybeans really taste like vomit.
The snozzberries taste like snozzberries!
Get thee to an Asian grocery store/market. Try the banana or coconut wafer cookies. You'll thank me later.
Sounds like a bad grape to me. Or a grape engineered for shelf-life, color, etc. until it a grape in name only.
Nope. Concord grapes all really do taste like that!
But I eat a couple quarts each year, from up in the Finger Lakes, and the thought that goes through my head is more like, all those other grapes taste like "grape-flavoring".
Like, seedless grapes? Taste like grape flavoring? That sounds like you're into some high-end, organic shit!
FACT: Artificial cherry flavor tastes better than real cherries but real strawberries taste better than artificial strawberry flavor.
WRONG. Almost nothing tastes better than real cherries. They are the monarch of fruits.
AGREED
When I was a kid, my sister told me that all cherries have worms in them, and I still can't enjoy them. To this day :(
Just so we're all clear, only some cherries have worms.
Yes, bod, but which ones??
@garge: your sister should go to food jail for depriving you of the delights of cherries. That's just wrong. Did she also tell you avocadoes were fattening?
This is why I prefer flavors that are 100% artificial. Reese's breakfast cereal? Sure! S'mores pop tarts? Absolutely! Cotton candy vodka? Why yes!
Okay, some of those examples are not as good as the others.
Concord grapes used to thrive in the Ontario city where I grew up. I've never cared at all for 'normal' grapes, or anything 'grape-flavoured', but I love those concord grapes. Eespecially the Manichean struggle between the super sourness of the skin and the sweet globe encased inside, that pops out like an eyeball
The appearance on our nation's sugary cereal boxes of "Boosts Children's Immunity" around the time of swine flu = hilarious. Also, I always wondered, "Immunity to what?" Unfortunately, likely not to bullshit marketing.
My kitchen full of bottled esters has no idea what this post is discussing.
There are many different kinds of grapes! Grab some champagne grapes from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Delicious!
Champagne grapes are wonderful. And sometimes – because the stems are so thin that it's more of a hassle to break the tiny grapes off – I will eat the stem as well.
Muscat grapes taste like you are having an aperitif…Please try them…Go for a free grab in WF or TJ…
Once you read Ayn Rand, it's the world that will have to reconsider everything it has thought about you.