Food that sounds great in books but is disappointing in real life

[BlowDryRat]

As a child I was very into reading the Famous Five and begged my mum to buy me ginger beer. It was a disappointing experience. It tasted horrible!

Ditto cakes made with chestnut flour (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase) and the butterbeer at the Harry Potter studio tour.

We bought DDs some ginger beer last summer. DH ended up drinking it with whisky (blended, not single malt before he gets accused of heathen behaviour).

Youngest DD has got it into her head she wants to try frogs legs.

Agree with the butter beer, very strange concoction.

I always thought the black beetle brought by the squirrels to Old Mr Brown in Squirrel Nutkin would be delicious and taste like blackcurrants!

Chocolate Oliver biscuits.

People raved about them in magazines and books. As a student they were way out of my budget.

Finally (sic) I had saved enough and goodness, what a disappointment. Basically a water biscuit covered quite thinly in dark chocolate.

Pretzels

Avocado toast. Looks lovely in pictures but doesn’t actually taste of anything.

Tootsie rolls. Mentioned in various Judy Blume/Paula Danziger type books I read as a kid. Sounded so exotic. Turns out it's just a bit grim. Ditto Twinkies.

Potted shrimps. Can't remember which book.

Bread and milk, sprinkled with sugar, eaten by children in Mallory towers etc when ill.

My mother in law made it cos she remembered it as a child, I didn’t think it would be nice but it was DISGUSTING.

I love avocado toast, but needs lime and salt.

I'd read about various characters in American Literature eating Baby Ruth's.
I was disappointed to find they are basically a snickers.

I expected this thread to be 30 people saying 'Turkish Delight' after the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Roast chestnuts, not what I imagined

In an Enid Blyton short story water and sugar made lemonade. It doesn't.

Love avocado toast yum. Oh and hershey bars what? Yuk give me a dairy milk any day of the week

Pork pie (Danny the Champion of the World), horrible.

I love avocado toast with salt and pepper and my teen much prefers ginger beer to any other fizzy soft drink, the more fiery the better!

American chocolate is vile. It genuinely does taste of baby sick.

That's Pobbies @partyatthepalace my mum used to make me them if I was ill when I was very little,they were just Meh🤣,I remember when we were on holiday abroad as children ,my sister decided she wanted a rainbow trout ,when it came it wasent as she imagined and still had its eyes !

Not from a book, or food - but the Cosmopolitan cocktail from Sex and The City.
Ditto Mojitos.
And Oreos.
But ginger beer - now you’re talking !

I think the Turkish Delight was a symbol for something more moreish!😂😂😂 What a bad boy CS Lewis must have been.

Almost any popular snack food mentioned in American films - Hershey bars, Twinkies, Cheetos, Oreos - really disappointed me when I tried it in real life. There are lots of lovely things about American cooking (succotash, key lime pie, collard greens, homemade Mac and cheese)- but sadly the snack food just doesn’t measure up!

I remember dad going off to some exotic holiday and saying that there was people climbing trees to pick coconuts, clambering down, chopping the tops off and giving them to thirsty buyers.

He had always read about how delicious it was, how satisfying...then realised it tastes 🤢

Yeah, Hershey bars. Rectangular vomit.

But I read a lot of American books as a Teen ,and everything sounded so exotic ,I was very disappointed that peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were actually peanut butter and jam .

Quinoa. Just never liked it and books always make it sound great

I love ginger beer and avocado toast

Has anyone ever tried hush puppies? Always sound like they should be a treat in books set in the southern states but look disappointing when I look up what they are.

Grits (also often pop up in the same books) I have tried and don't get!