strawberries or strawberry-flavoured?

[Bungo the Mungo]

Aye.

Raspberries are better anyway. By miles.

And raspberry flavoured stuff - oh yes!

[Snarfyguy]

You're definitely right. More food and drink should go back to tasting slightly chemically and having bright colours. I'm entirely serious.

I read somewhere they're re-introducing Tang over here. You probably didn't have it in the U.K. It was a drink mix that was promoted as being somehow connected to the space program, although I'm sure astronauts didn't drink it, because I don't think it had any nutritional value.



I have to admit I drank a fair bit of it as a kid.

[sloopjohnc]

You're definitely right. More food and drink should go back to tasting slightly chemically and having bright colours. I'm entirely serious.

I read somewhere they're re-introducing Tang over here. You probably didn't have it in the U.K. It was a drink mix that was promoted as being somehow connected to the space program, although I'm sure astronauts didn't drink it, because I don't think it had any nutritional value.



I have to admit I drank a fair bit of it as a kid.

I loved the grittiness of Tang.

I was nine or 10 when all the moon landings and walks were going on and was totally into the whole space exploration thing. I had a cardboard lunar module hanging from the ceiling of my room and thought Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were the coolest dudes.

Besides Tang, I somehow got my mom to buy Space Food Sticks. They were terrible, gritty like Tang, but it was about as close as I was getting to go into space (that was long before marijuana entered my life).

[Snarfyguy]

Yeah, we're about the same age, sloop.

God, I loved those space food sticks! Can't see your pic, though.



My mom thought they were healthful so she always got them for me. I'm sure they were total junk.

[sloopjohnc]

I probably had my Major Matt Mason action figure (it's not a doll!) with me at the kitchen table while I was eating that crap too.

[Snarfyguy]

(it's not a doll!)

I used to have that thing too.

[Bungo the Mungo]

healthful

[Xeopac]

The fact that everybody apart from myself prefers real strawberries...

Consider me a sympathiser here. I'm no fan of strawberries. They are bitter, pippy and nowhere near sweet enough for my ridiculously sweet tooth. I'd much rather make them into jam, sauce or ice cream.

[Snarfyguy]

healthful

Odd, 'cause I first wrote healthy, but then went back and changed it.

Inanimate object can't be healthy, can they?

[Nolamike]

The fact that everybody apart from myself prefers real strawberries - which are nasty, acidic things made up mainly of plant cellulose with a red colour that doesn't exist beyond the surface - well, I don't believe them. It's dishonest.

You don't believe strawberries or the people who say they prefer strawberries? Strawberries are dishonest!

If and when you ever visit California you can try some local strawberries. But you have to eat them sprinkled generously with sugar and left until they're properly ripe.

Yeah, Pontchatoula strawberries (a variety grown in Louisiana) are great - they're sweet enough to eat plain, but they go really well with creole cream cheese.

[Loki]

What kind of question is that, John? Are you suggesting there are artificial flavors that are actually preferable to the real thing?

Anyway, in this poll, a bowl of ripe strawberries which have been left to sit with a generous amount of sugar sprinkled on top and then topped with some real whipped cream knocks strawberry flavored anything into a cocked hat.

Yes, this.^^ And yes, I'm quite mad.

[Bungo the Mungo]

healthful

Odd, 'cause I first wrote healthy, but then went back and changed it.

Inanimate object can't be healthy, can they?

I've only ever heard this distinction from Americans - my ex was quite didactic about it. 'Healthful' just sounds daft to me - the word 'healthy' is what I've always used - and heard - when referring to people's health, or the qualities of food.

[Beebsy]

I don't like real strawberries - they're way too tart and acidic. I would be mildly allergic to them.

But strawberry flavoured stuff? YUMMY!!!!

Also, I prefer banana-flavoured things to real bananas. And orange-flavoured things to oranges (not only for the fact that I am hugely allergic to oranges).

I really don't like fresh fruit very much at all.

[Bungo the Mungo]

What kind of question is that, John? Are you suggesting there are artificial flavors that are actually preferable to the real thing?

Anyway, in this poll, a bowl of ripe strawberries which have been left to sit with a generous amount of sugar sprinkled on top and then topped with some real whipped cream knocks strawberry flavored anything into a cocked hat.

Yes. this.^^ And yes, I'm quite mad.

Yes to what?

Banana-flavoured is a better example, maybe. That chemical flavour doesn't taste quite like bananas - it's better!

[Loki]

You're definitely right. More food and drink should go back to tasting slightly chemically and having bright colours. I'm entirely serious.

Why does everything have to be natural all the time? Food in the 70's used to taste like the Ziggy Stardust album -exotic and space age. It's a shame that's all gone.

Lots of foods tasted different in the 60s. Fierce competition seems to have compelled food companies to add more additives, preservatives, and worst of all, sugar. Just from that alone there would probably be a childhood obesity problem, even if kids weren't so sedentary nowadays.

Oreo cookies and peanut butter I really notice a difference. So much better without all the extra sugar.

[Nolamike]

Oreo cookies and peanut butter I really notice a difference. So much better without all the extra sugar.

And the thing is, in most products it isn't even actual "sugar" - it's high fructose corn syrup. Blurgh.

[Snarfyguy]

I've only ever heard this distinction from Americans - my ex was quite didactic about it. 'Healthful' just sounds daft to me - the word 'healthy' is what I've always used - and heard - when referring to people's health, or the qualities of food.

You have a point; it is kind of a fussy word.

[Loki]

What kind of question is that, John? Are you suggesting there are artificial flavors that are actually preferable to the real thing?

Anyway, in this poll, a bowl of ripe strawberries which have been left to sit with a generous amount of sugar sprinkled on top and then topped with some real whipped cream knocks strawberry flavored anything into a cocked hat.

Yes. this.^^ And yes, I'm quite mad.

Yes to what?

Banana-flavoured is a better example, maybe. That chemical flavour doesn't taste quite like bananas - it's better!

I concure with both Billybob's paragraphs I quoted. But after reading some other comments, I guess I can see why some would opt for flavouring - allergies, for example.

The only thing banana-flavoured thing I like is my sister's banana bread, and that's cuz she put a lot of nuts in it. A LOT. Mmmmmmmm

[Beebsy]

But banana bread is flavoured with real bananas. I like bananas that way but I love things that are artificially banana-flavoured.

God, I am such a child of the 70s.

[Snarfyguy]

The ultimate fake berry junk food:





(But what's Griff doing on the cover with the Cap'n? )