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.

@iluvsossiges

Root beer tastes, for me, just like old fashioned Germoline ointment. Anyone remember that?

This

It is absolutely disgusting 🤢

Definitely agree with Turkish delight - I thought Edmund was a total moron for selling out for something that wasn't even nice! Agree with toffee apples as well - I lusted after them for years and when I finally got one at a fair it wasn't very nice, I think they had used apples which were too tart. I do like avocado toast, porridge and ginger beer but when I first tried the latter it went up my nose and made me sneeze

In the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books they drink rooibos tea by the bucketload but I found it a bit meh. DP loves it though.
Also marmalade, and champagne. Both a bit underwhelming!

Taggie's meringue castle in 'Riders' always sounds yummy but meringues in real life are just crumbs and air.

Rivals, not Riders, of course.

@iluvsossiges That was exactly how I described root beer to my family. 😂

Whenever I stop to sup in a late nineteenth century festival marquee on the edge of Casterbridge I am always shocked at the mouth feel you get from furmenty even that laced with rum, and wonder how long it will take for somebody to invent a commercialised noodle snack which can be reconstituted in it's own pot with very hot water and a small pouch of spiced grease, for that will surely be an improvement.

American chocolate
I’m fact quite a
Lot of American food is tasteless- not sure why?
Oysters 🤢

Sorry to my USA Mnetters

Froot Loops always sounded exciting. Disgusting when I tried them.

I used to read the Redwall/Mossflower books, and the mice had the most amazing feasts and they always had candied chestnuts. I was thrilled as an adult to find out it was a real thing! Bought some (very expensive) and they just weren't nice. Too sweet and claggy. I bought some again recently (15 years later) and was able to confirm that they still aren't nice.

Root beer. I’d read it in so many stories and had imagined what it might taste like. I was so excited when I first got the chance to try some.

Then I tasted it and it was absolutely vile 🤮

Jam tarts

Also root beer! Disgusting stuff.

We were given samples of root beer sweets. I pulled a face and the guy handing them out said 'Oh. You're British. Every other British person who's tried them says they taste like TCP'. Exactly right.

Jam tarts - agreed, endlessly disappointing. Not worth the hassle of rolling out the pastry. See also mince pies.

@MrMucker - I'd buy that! well, at least once

All of the food in mid century English children's books, yes crumpets I am looking at you, you circles of disappointment (I am not English)

Seafood chowder in Moby Dick: Oh! sweet friends, hearken to me. It was made of small juicy clams, scarcely bigger than hazel nuts, mixed with pounded ship biscuits, and salted pork cut up into little flakes! the whole enriched with butter, and plentifully seasoned with pepper and salt.

Seafood chowder in real life: hot milk, occasional prawn.

In Scotland the bread and milk dish mentioned is called Saps.

I had a book by an Australian author when I was around 5 years old, (can't remember the title or author now it was that long ago). It mentioned fairy bread but not knowing what it was or how to make it at the time, it was many years later before I actually tried it. It was not as good as it sounds.

Also kedgeree - the breakfast staple for toffs in many a book. Never fancy it for breakfast myself though.

Not literary but after seeing them advertised over and over what the fuck are tofeefee about??

You TRIED eating baby sick?

I thought anyone who’d ever held a baby aloft too soon after it’s feed had eaten baby sick. Repeatedly if they are like me and quickly forgot not to do it ever again till the next time they did.

I'm drinking root beer right now! I love it. It's even better as a root beer float

Cabbage water soup as eaten in Charlie and the chocolate factory - I BEGGED my mum for this until she eventually gave me a cup of water from boiling the cabbage - I don’t know what I thought it was going to be but was distinctly underwhelmed!

@Gensola

I made myself sardines on toast after reading about it in Enid Blyton. It was rank.

omg, that is funny. I did that kind of thing at about 11. Probably aimed to eat them at midnight! I think I realised that 80s food like frey bentos pies, campbell's meatballs and Angel delight was far superior!