What’s the best thing you’ve eaten that wasn’t a real meal?

[BlueberryGreenTea]

Mine is a can of Coke and an American Milky Way Bar(Like a Mars Bars) and a mini can of plain Pringles when we were on holiday in the Dominican Republic and the malaria tablets made us extremely ill. We couldn’t keep anything down but that worked and it tasted incredible after days of barely eating.

Another would be vending machine oxtail soup after swimming.

What’s yours?

A hot black coffee after a full day out in the wet and cold with the army cadets when I was 16. I didn't even like coffee then but I remember how hot and amazing it was!

The inevitable tea and toast after giving birth.

A bowl of minestrone soup with fresh bread in Amsterdam after being horrendously ill with S&D for 48 hours. Nothing has even beaten it!

Snap! I craved it all through my second pregnancy and can still remember the first glorious taste after the c-section!

So graphic, I could taste that chicken. ‘Like a badger’ 😂😂😂

The lump of cheese and salted crisps I had yesterday after having a migraine - amazing! Stood in the kitchen and ate it like a savage 😬 but it was exactly what I needed!

(mine are not good triggered!)

A lemon ice lolly immediately after being brought round from a general anaesthetic. Nothing has ever tasted so good. In my drugged state I banged on and on to the nurses about how amazing it was 😂

I was ill for about a week when I was a teen, some sort of bug where I couldn't keep anything down properly and had no appetite at all. But one day I craved a sharp, crisp green apple and oh my god it was the best thing I'd ever eaten.

In fact during both my pregnancies as well, sharp apples have always been a saviour for when I feel sick or can't stomach the thought of most foods. The biggest disappointment is when the apple turns out to be a mushy one.

Anything from the vending machine as a young teen after swimming.

Too many things coming to mind! One long-time favourite is very fresh French bread with olive oil, salt & pepper. You have to pour a puddle of oil on your plate, season the puddle, then smoosh each bite of bread in it.

Also papayas. They don't travel all that well. A freshly picked papaya, sliced open and eaten straight from the skin, makes the word "fruit" take on an almost magical significance 😋

Another holiday one

I was in a Marrakesh market and was starving. One stall smelled amazing but it wasn’t the best looking in terms of hygiene but I took a punt on a merguez Sausage sandwich. Watched the guy make it had about 10 different ingredients on it. When I bit into it my eyes rolled round in my head the single best £1 I’ve ever spent 😋

Deep fried mussels and garlic sauce from a street vendor in Turkey.

Seafood from the street? Sounds dodgy, right? I literally couldn't have cared less. Man was a genius.

I’ve never had a GA - is this a ‘thing’? Sounds amazing !

@mushmashmush He is an odd man by anyones reckoning. He doesn't do gifts at all really. He'd popped to Tesco to buy himself a paper to read whilst waiting to see me and when he saw the chickens going round and round he said he thought "That'll set her right" - he is a stock farmer and so understands animals, livestock and breeding. He was right, it was amazing.

@CantFindTheBeat literally the second they removed the placenta I was ravenous. In a deeply animalistic way. I couldn't stop eating. I remember nearly crying when people arrived with flowers and begging people to bring me food 😂

After both of my c-sections when I was finally allowed to eat, they brought me white toast and a glass of fresh orange. I had gestational diabetes in both pregnancies and had been craving orange juice so badly. I downed it all in one go and asked them if I could have more. I have never felt more satisfied from having a drink 🤣 the toast was also amazing after not eating bread for about 3 months.

Tea and thick, white, buttery toast made by the midwife after ds was born.

Also "soca" chickpea flatbread, straight out of the pan from the street vendors in Nice.

Human bodies are amazing - gosh, after being starving for 9 months, that must have been an incredible moment!

Cheesy garlic bread. At any time... but in particular last night. We went out to lunch so didn't want a proper meal.

Chips and burger van tangy red sauce after swimming

A bowl of beans after having my tonsils removed (was 4)

A cheese sandwich and cheese and onion crisps after a cold day kayaking

After an operation that had been much more complicated than expected, I finally came round in the very early hours of the next morning. The lovely nurse who was doing my obs brought me toast with raspberry jam and a mug of tea.
She had cut the toast into triangles! It was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten.

A box of breadsticks, dipped in cathedral city spreadable extra mature cheese, wrapped with a piece of peppered German salami, with half a piccolo tomato balanced on top. The poshest alternative to Dairylea dunkers my brain could conceive about a month after having DD2 and it remains a strong favourite

French baguettes are amazing - we had one from baguette vending machine in France once and even that was awesome.

These caramelised almonds are absolutely gorgeous - you used to be able to get them in branches of Oxfam but I haven't seem them there for ages. Should probably just order these online https://www.animalaidshop.org.uk/zaytoun-caramelised-almonds

I've been mainlining home made muhamara with tortilla chips all afternoon. Nom nom nom.

A waffle from a cart in Belgium - beautiful. No comparison with the waffles you get in the UK.

We went interailing as young adults and arrived in a resort town during early evening, starving after a long journey.

The first food offering we spotted was a tiny shop front with a load of crispy golden rotisserie chickens going round on a spit, right by the beach. We bought one between us, sat on the beach wall with our feet in the sand, and ripped it apart with our fingers, swilled down with ice cold lager from the vending machine.

I've never forgotten the taste of that crispy chicken skin. One of the best things I've ever eaten.