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The Dorito Effect

nytimes.com

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Re: The Dorito Effect

#21

Post by bane »

rayiner wrote: post #3

In Bangladesh, we had scrawny little chickens that you'd buy live at the market. When we moved to the U.S. I couldn't eat chicken for 6-9 months because it just tasted so bland and flavorless.

Curiously, in the U.S., chickens are bread for breast meat. Growing up here, I never really got a taste for dark meat until I was in my 20s. My grandmother always preferred it.

My wife, from South Korea, also grew up with non-U.S. chickens and also likes dark meat. She'll pretty much refuse to eat white meat unless there's no other option.

Now that my tastes have grown and become more sophisticated, I have a strong preference for dark meat now and I love to cook with it. I had a chicken breast sandwich recently, for the first time in years, and almost didn't finish it it was so dry and bland.

Re: The Dorito Effect

#22

Post by daurnimator »

pmorici wrote: post #18
ricw wrote: post #5

We have "badges" for all kinds of things, ie free range eggs, organic produce, electricity usage etc. why does something equivalent not exist for flavour? might be a tad subjective, but certainly doable. Might be because a lot of people actually confuse organic produce for a flavour badge?! never been convinced by it though..

It's not straight forward that people will like traditionally produced food products better. In the case of beef for example most people prefer the taste of corn fed beef to grass fed even though corn is horrible for cows and grass is their natural food.

Hmmm, really?

When I moved to the US, I was put off by the taste of beef; I found that corn fed just didn't taste as good. I'm curious if you just prefer what you were brought up on?

Re: The Dorito Effect

#23

Post by JoeAltmaier »

daurnimator wrote: post #22
pmorici wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not straight forward that people will like traditionally produced food products better. In the case of beef for example most people prefer the taste of corn fed beef to grass fed even though corn is horrible for cows and grass is their natural food.

Hmmm, really? When I moved to the US, I was put off by the taste of beef; I found that corn fed just didn't taste as good. I'm curious if you just prefer what you were brought up on?

The 2nd. My dad liked cold corn grits fried in lard for breakfast. Its totally disgusting. Unless its how you got your calories on the farm during the depression - then it was heaven-sent.

Re: The Dorito Effect

#24

Post by minikites »

bane wrote: post #21
rayiner wrote: post #3

In Bangladesh, we had scrawny little chickens that you'd buy live at the market. When we moved to the U.S. I couldn't eat chicken for 6-9 months because it just tasted so bland and flavorless.

Curiously, in the U.S., chickens are bread for breast meat. Growing up here, I never really got a taste for dark meat until I was in my 20s. My grandmother always preferred it. My wife, from South Korea, also grew up with non-U.S. chickens and also likes dark meat. She'll pretty much refuse to eat white meat unless there's no other option. Now that my tastes have grown and become more sophisticated, I have a strong p…

I'm hoping people at large don't figure this out so thigh meat stays cheap.

Re: The Dorito Effect

#25

Post by rayiner »

bane wrote: post #21
rayiner wrote: post #3

In Bangladesh, we had scrawny little chickens that you'd buy live at the market. When we moved to the U.S. I couldn't eat chicken for 6-9 months because it just tasted so bland and flavorless.

Curiously, in the U.S., chickens are bread for breast meat. Growing up here, I never really got a taste for dark meat until I was in my 20s. My grandmother always preferred it. My wife, from South Korea, also grew up with non-U.S. chickens and also likes dark meat. She'll pretty much refuse to eat white meat unless there's no other option. Now that my tastes have grown and become more sophisticated, I have a strong p…

We get dark meat free range chicken thighs from a food delivery service in Baltimore. A bit expensive at $5 per pound, but unbeatably flavorful marinated in curry powder + brown sugar or garlic + red chili paste and grilled (with thai peanut sauce obviously). I don't even get the point of white meat chicken unless it's fried.

Re: The Dorito Effect

#26

Post by JoeAltmaier »

rayiner wrote: post #25
bane wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curiously, in the U.S., chickens are bread for breast meat. Growing up here, I never really got a taste for dark meat until I was in my 20s. My grandmother always preferred it. My wife, from South Korea, also grew up with non-U.S. chickens and also likes dark meat. She'll pretty much refuse to eat white meat unless there's no other option. Now that my tastes have grown and become more sophisticated, I have a strong p…

We get dark meat free range chicken thighs from a food delivery service in Baltimore. A bit expensive at $5 per pound, but unbeatably flavorful marinated in curry powder + brown sugar or garlic + red chili paste and grilled (with thai peanut sauce obviously). I don't even get the point of white meat chicken unless it's fried.

Chicken thighs are definitely the best. Don't know about 'free range $5' - I get them at WalMart and they're yummy.

Re: The Dorito Effect

#27

Post by beloch »

A significant portion of the blandness of some supermarket foods is the result of processing, with "pro-juiciness" treatments being some of the worst offenders. Chicken (even whole chickens for roasting) are injected with water, oil, and water-binding compounds to plump them up. The water mostly evaporates during cooking so the result is usually blander rather than juicier. Most hams sold today are cured by injecting them with brine, as opposed to traditional surface-based dry curing methods that are slower and result in less mass. The result is bigger hams with inferior flavor and a somewhat gelatinous texture. It is still possible to find traditionally cured hams, but you often have to go to a specialized butcher.

So, it's not just breeding that has prioritized factors other than flavor, but also how foods are processed. We pay by the kilogram, so producers have found ways to make the same animals weigh more.

Re: The Dorito Effect

#28

Post by batbomb »

rayiner wrote: post #3

In Bangladesh, we had scrawny little chickens that you'd buy live at the market. When we moved to the U.S. I couldn't eat chicken for 6-9 months because it just tasted so bland and flavorless.

You can find yellow-hair chicken and other breed at some Asian markets. I like the Asian markets, especially because it's trivial to get a variety of breeds and cuts, but it's much harder to get any sort of provenance info about their meat products, which is a little concerning.

Also, if you are willing to try other animals, you can get quite a bit more flavor out of quail and most duck I've gotten is fine. The problem with that is you will rarely, if ever, see these products fresh. I still haven't gotten into rabbit, some day.

For me personally, I've got about 5 different places I get meat from depending, including a CSA meat club.

Re: The Dorito Effect

#29

Post by JoeAltmaier »

beloch wrote: post #27

A significant portion of the blandness of some supermarket foods is the result of processing, with "pro-juiciness" treatments being some of the worst offenders. Chicken (even whole chickens for roasting) are injected with water, oil, and water-binding compounds to plump them up. The water mostly evaporates during cooking so the result is usually blander rather than juicier. Most hams sold today are cured by injecting…

That's at the root of corn-fed beef too! Feeding cows corn the last days of their lives before they get on the truck to be weighed and cut up, raises their weight by far more than the cost of the corn. Its just economics. And the farmers set the beef grades, so beef raised this way is Grade A regardless of how it tastes.

Re: The Dorito Effect

#30

Post by JoeAltmaier »

rectangletangle wrote: post #11
dantheman wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since it costs the same to ship a mediocre product as the best products, it makes sense to ship the nicest stuff since a premium can be charged for it.

Happens in the US too, for the same reasons. Our export avocados tend to be larger an nicer looking than the domestically circulated equivalents. However, they both taste the same.

That explains it! I lived in California, where all the grocery-store avocadoes were marked 'Florida'. And California is a major avocado-growing region! I suppose all their best ones ended up in Florida.
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