Decades-old fish sauce at abandoned factory in Canada finally being removed • Hacker News Board

Re: Decades-old fish sauce at abandoned factory in Canada finally being removed

#291

Post by xp84 » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 6:30 PM UTC

elzbardico wrote: post #279

xp84 wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in America it’s the same - the people selling the fake stuff (sorry, “plant based stuff”) get around it by using fanciful spellings, that’s why we have “Cheez” and “OatMylk” and stuff. Also a VERY popular one: “Crème” - sounds fancy and French!! McDonalds offers a “Strawberries & Crème Pie.”

As long as people’s preferences are respected and they are not misled buying a plant-based product when they wanted an animal-based one and vice versa I find this kind of name reservation a misguided approach. We always had peanut butter for example, almond milk was always almond milk. Just make sure I don’t run the risk of exposing my sophisticated Italian descended taste buds to some trash soy-based simulacra produ…

The problem is, if you open the doors to the good-faith vegan kind of stuff that isn't trying to lie, you also open the doors to a product called "Milk" which, only if you read the fine print on the label, is made of one part milk, two parts water, and 2 parts seed oils and "flavorings". Sold to unsuspecting people at a discount.

Re: Decades-old fish sauce at abandoned factory in Canada finally being removed

#292

Post by antonvs » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 9:34 PM UTC

dataflow wrote: post #282

antonvs wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t think of many places in the US where “mushroom burger” doesn’t mean a beef burger with mushrooms. Maybe in a vegetation or vegan restaurant. Now if you asked for a mushroom veggie burger, that would be different.

Perhaps you should visit more of the US, or visit different types of restaurants? Neither meaning is as dominant as you make it sound. You see both within five minute walks of each other. Heck, the top result I get for "what is a mushroom burger" on Google right now is a meatless one: https://www.recipetineats.com/swiss-mushroom-burger/ And the top AI result is similarly about another non-veg restaurant's meatless bu…

Haha I guess we discovered the mysterious country you were referring to when you said, "Elsewhere in the same country." I wonder why you didn't want to reveal it? Could it be because you knew you were wrong, ahead of time?

I'm talking about restaurants, not SEO'd slop recipe sites on google.

> You see both within five minute walks of each other.

Provide an example, then.

Here are some real-world examples:

Red Robin's "Sauteed 'Shroom" burger: https://www.redrobin.com/menu/burgers/sauteed-shroom

Chili's mushroom swiss burger: https://www.chilis.com/menu/big-mouth-burgers/mushroom-swiss... - notice how this one doesn't say anything about a meat patty, except for the picture. That's because without some kind of qualifer, by default "burger" means a sandwich with a beef patty, everywhere in the US.

Buffalo Wild Wings mushroom swiss burger: https://www.buffalowildwings.com/menu/categories/burgers/mus... - also no mention of beef.

Those are chain restaurants which can be found throughout the US, so you can't claim this is something regional. I defy you to find a single counterexample at a restaurant like this. Certainly, this is going to be what you get at any airport restaurant.

Here's an example of how vegeterian mushroom burgers are typically listed, at https://www.barhygge.com/menus : "Mushroom-Barley Veggie Burger". Notice the "veggie". That's what will typically be specified unless you're at a vegan or vegetarian place where it's assumed.

Re: Decades-old fish sauce at abandoned factory in Canada finally being removed

#293

Post by dataflow » Tue, Aug 04, 2026, 10:56 PM UTC

antonvs wrote: post #292

dataflow wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps you should visit more of the US, or visit different types of restaurants? Neither meaning is as dominant as you make it sound. You see both within five minute walks of each other. Heck, the top result I get for "what is a mushroom burger" on Google right now is a meatless one: https://www.recipetineats.com/swiss-mushroom-burger/ And the top AI result is similarly about another non-veg restaurant's meatless bu…

Haha I guess we discovered the mysterious country you were referring to when you said, "Elsewhere in the same country." I wonder why you didn't want to reveal it? Could it be because you knew you were wrong, ahead of time? I'm talking about restaurants, not SEO'd slop recipe sites on google. > You see both within five minute walks of each other. Provide an example, then. Here are some real-world examples: Red Robin's…

> Haha I guess we discovered the mysterious country you were referring to when you said, "Elsewhere in the same country." I wonder why you didn't want to reveal it?

Reveal what? The country of the airport and my travel was irrelevant. You wanted to talk about the US and I talked about the US.

> Could it be because you knew you were wrong, ahead of time?

Wow, you totally caught me.

> notice how this one doesn't say anything about a meat patty, except for the picture.

Except the picture? Why the heck would I ignore the picture? Do you understand the fundamental issue here, or do you think it was that I was too stupid to look for a picture when I looked at the menu at the airport?

Since it's so difficult to comprehend: the whole problem is over whether information is communicated adequately enough that people can confidently understand what they're buying. The format of said communication, whether typewritten on a menu, imaged digitally, drawn by hand, handwritten on papyrus, engraved into a rock, or verbal from the waiter... is so clearly not the point.

> also no mention of beef.

It's literally in the photo. You seem to be really struggling to find examples where this information is actually missing. I wonder why.

> Provide an example, then.

Have you heard of Shake Shack? https://www.google.com/search?q=give+me+an+example+of+a+mush...

Re: Decades-old fish sauce at abandoned factory in Canada finally being removed

#294

Post by ferfumarma » Wed, Aug 05, 2026, 8:39 AM UTC

t0mpr1c3 wrote: post #230

Where I grew up farmers "muckspreading" would occasionally foul the locality. It was gross but after a day or two it would be back to normal. I've been to Phu Quoc. One or two of the villages had that amine smell. It was like chemical munitions. Reading between the lines, perhaps the factory owner blamed the shutdown on locals complaining to regulators and decided to stiff them on the way out.

your intuition is correct: in the Eatery link from the article that's explicitly stated. And honestly I don't blame him. He got screwed.

> Ngo feels that he ran a good business, and the government unfairly barred him from operating. In his view, if the government wouldn’t allow him to sell the product, they could handle the disposal. Ngo paid off his debts before leaving, and feels the matter is settled. Although prior coverage of the factory closure portrayed Ngo as a ghost who absconded his duties, he doesn’t feel that way. To this day he spends half of the year in Canada, though not often in St. Mary’s. “The community is still very good to me,” he says. “When I go there I see my failure; that’s the reason I don’t want to go there.”

Re: Decades-old fish sauce at abandoned factory in Canada finally being removed

#295

Post by elzbardico » Thu, Aug 06, 2026, 11:28 AM UTC

roncesvalles wrote: post #137

dataflow wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not being from Toronto, never in a million years would I even think of that as a visitor.

Sorry, but you're just uncultured if you don't know what Jamaican patties are. This is like saying "never in a million years would I think 'butter chicken' is a red, spicy Indian curry instead of chicken roasted in butter".

I lived in São Paulo. A giant metropolis that is home for countless international diasporas. I’ve eaten in Vietnamese, Sirian, Thailandese, Russia, Polish restaurants, never ever found a Jamaican one.