I still remember with horror the time a young teenager announced that he couldn’t eat spaghetti with my mom’s homemade pasta sauce. Oh I could allow for differences in taste, but his stated reason threw me. It wasn’t Ragù (and by ragu, I do not mean simply a ragù, but rather Ragù, as in the label). It seems that Ragù is what his mom always served, and he just couldn’t enjoy eating anything else. So, this kid was rejecting a home-made meal for a can of pre-made pasta sauce, and at the time that was something I just couldn’t wrap my mind around.
There but for a crock-pot go I, or at least that’s what I told myself, feeling a bit sorry for this poor gyu who had grown so used to pasta made on the fly that he couldn’t even enjoy the real thing, or at least the Wall family variation thereof. Mom didn’t make everything from scratch (or near-scratch, as the case may be), but when it came to pasta, she put in the effort. On that day I was REALLY thankful, because I really didn’t want to go through life with Ragù as my idea of pasta sauce. Even still, I had to admit to myself, I wasn’t entire without similar quirks.
Betty Crocker brownies would be exhibit A here. To this day I do not think I have ever enjoyed a brownie that was not a Betty Crocker brownie. Oh I’ve eaten them, dammit anyhow. I have forced other brownies down my throat and sometimes even managed not to cringe or gag while doing so. I can hardly imagine why these other things share the same name as the brownie you can make with Betty Crocker and a couple of eggs. If I had the chance to choose between any other brownie in the known universe, but without Betty Crocker as an option, well I would rather go without dessert entirely. The only brownies I have ever loved are Betty Crocker brownies.
I have no delusions about this. Betty Crocker brownies aren’t culinary genius. They aren’t God’s gift to tongues everywhere. But to me they are most certainly the paradigm case of what a brownie should be. Show me a better brownie and I will only taste one that’s worse.
Which makes me kinda hopeless, I know.
It’s an odd thing when some manufactured food stuff becomes the standard by which home-made meals are judged complete failures, but it happens. And when it happens, it’s kind of hard to explain to people. It’s one thing to insist on high standards, but when your standard is a package label, you can feel awfully silly telling someone who worked damned hard to cook something from scratch that the result just isn’t good enough for your finicky self. Sill, taste in food is certainly one of the habits we acquire from the world around us. So, it shouldn’t be too surprising to see capitalism leave its mark on our taste buds. And yet, I think the weirdness remains. We aren’t really supposed to prefer some of these things by common reckoning. We’re supposed to eat them, because we can, because it’s easier. Most times, folks assume you’d go for the real thing if it was available.
Sometimes that just ain’t so.
Also my idea of a strawberry shortcake begins with Pillsbury biscuits squashed flat. It’s otherwise normal, but don’t even try to put the strawberries and whipped cream on a spongy cake, homemade or otherwise, because I’d rather just eat the strawberries. When it comes to strawberry shortcake, Mom used biscuits. So, that’s what I want.
Damned silly of me!
I am curious though? Is this just me and that kid? Or does anyone else out there have similarly ironic preferences?
northierthanthou 
I have to say I understand your brownie preference. I love homemade brownies too, but the Betty Crocker easy-peasy ones are so damn good!
Aww, love the story.
Oddly enough, I know how to make brownies from scratch and I’ve been told they’re delicious. I’ve never tried them because I don’t like them.
But I do prefer Duncan Hines over Betty Crocker for a ready to bake mix for any cake 🙂
Also, you have got to try the ready to make flan. 🙂
Three words: Heinz Tomato Soup. Sad, but true.
Ah, you may now join the club.
yes yes yes I agree on the brownies but as for other food I find myself buying Campbell’s chicken and star soup when I am sick…. I like it better then home made when the stomach flu sets in and will not eat any thing that looks like it has big noodles. I want Korger peanut Butter and will make a trip to the store just for their generic brand rather then getting the name brand of peanut butter. How funny we are when we just love something and cant really say why other then the memories
Maybe it’s the power of a mother’s love as the main ingredient that get’s us addicted to something.
I have a sister in law that prefers Aunt Jemima to the real thing. I came so damned close to disowning her!!
It is not what is the best / worst tasting.
It is what you know.
If you only know RAGU…..then it must be RAGU! Nothing else will do.
No matter who you are or how different a life , we all reach for something we know.
OR at least think we know!
Our teenager doesn’t like any other pizza than Domino’s, our once every fortnight take-away indulgence….. and both boys say any version of any dish I cook is the best version, brownies included. Not sure whether that means I raised them well or whether they will fail in life due to their constraint view of food 🙂 I grew up on some packet soups and tinned Ravioli. Still the best comfort food for me if I don’t feel like cooking myself. Food’s all about memories. So you’re not alone 🙂
I, being from Vermont, am always very upset when anyone prefers Aunt Jemima or some other thick, nasty version of “Maple Syrup” over true, pure, real maple that comes from a sugar maple tree. How can anyone taste this miracle nectar from nature and say “Ewwww!”? It happens, and often. Makes me so mad.
Jarred Ragu? Blech! Who wants spaghetti sauce that has more carrots than the stuff that BELONGS in spaghetti sauce? That would be tomatoes (sauce & diced), onion, bell peppers, garlic, basil, oregano and whatever other herbs one’s mama uses! NOT carrots– which don’t even have any “sneak more veggies to the kids” value, b/c carrots just add vitamin A. The tomatoes already have plenty of vitamin A, one of only 2 vitamins humans can store up (hence the infamous polar bear liver toxicity.)
In addition to the above ingredients to genyoowine pasta sauce, my sainted late mother would also add a can of Campbell’s tomato soup. But now that stuff’s too expensive to use as anything but tomato soup. — I agree with Rebbeca above that Campbell’s being the only tomato soup, when made w/ half milk, half water — though I add more basil, oregano & garlic. Sadly, that means my sons won’t eat it any other way at anyone else’s table. I also can’t bring myself to buy other brands of vegetable beef soup, though I’ll beatify any good soul who wants to serve me homemade!
I have no problems with homemade brownies, but agree that they’re not worth the extra work when there’s a boxed variety that’s SO good! In my case, that’s not Duncan Hines, not Betty Crocker, but I’ll buy whichever is on sale– and add a little extra baking cocoa and vanilla to boost the chocolate flavor. But I seem to have rambled… Thanks for helping me discover your blog via Twitter! I dream of being able to afford a return visit to Alaska before I become too old to enjoy it and/or the glaciers all melt.
P.S. I heartily agree with you that strawberries & whip cream on sponge or angel food cake [ESP. storebought- beurk!] do NOT = strawberry shortcake and that’s a fact, not an opinion. My mama done raised me right and her mama before her! However, tubed biscuits won’t do chez moi either. A homemade shortcake is similar to scratch biscuits, and far easier to make– only 3 or 4 ingredients, mixed very slightly and patted into a cake pan, baked ~20 minutes & le voilà!
Hey man, I tuned out of the internet for pretty much a year now. Don’t know if you will remember me, I was the crazy bear farmer from south west Michigan. Used to live in Alaska, and still dream of returning there. Just looked up your blog here and figured I would chime in on this one.
To me, no other macaroni and cheese is edible hardly at all except Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner classic. Nothing else is mac & cheese, nothing else works.
hormel chili ‘hot’ with beans is my emergency quick meal over rice. i have tried other brands and of course i usually make my chili with ingredients. only Hormel will do the trick of satisfying my taste in hunger mode.
I agree with the Betty Crocker brownies. I continue to try brownies from different bakeries, but the box has been coming out on top each time!
I am somewhat odd in that I have anosmia, which is no sense of smell. Cooking for me is not totally boring, but definitely not exciting, nor really of interest even at my 50 plus years of age. But I must admit that ‘taste’ for me definitely comes from fresh food. My ‘to go’ quick meal is still from scratch, and it’s a Sri Lankan spicy dish.. haha! Since moving to North America, I find the recipes using ‘canned soup’ a bit of an oddity. I think it’s how you grew up, and then how you grew out 🙂
I’m still getting over people who eat fish soaked in lye when they have refrigeration available to them.
Further, we have been told that 8 foot tall ballplayers are due to the Great American Diet, which doesn’t seem to bear out so well these days. A whole lot of people are tipping over prematurely.
Perhaps being tortured with the likes of lutefisk is better for the life span, even if one enjoys said life a little less.