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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

People tricking you with cheaper food

236 replies

HuntIdeas · 12/03/2019 17:36

AIBU to get really annoyed with people substituting cheaper alternatives into food and thinking you can’t tell the difference! No dumbass, we’re just too polite to say “your food is a bit crap today” so instead say “that was lovely, thanks”

I went over to a friends yesterday and she served chilli con carne. After the meal she gleefully told us that it was quorn and lentil, as if we didn’t think we could taste the difference! At which point all we said was “I thought it tasted a bit unusual”. I really should have said “no wonder it was almost inedible” but I’m way too British for that!

OP posts:
ScreamingValenta · 12/03/2019 17:40

If someone takes the trouble to cook for me, I don't mind what ingredients they use. If someone was in the habit of serving food that really was inedible, I'd suggest we went out to eat instead in the future.

Hwory · 12/03/2019 17:42

Misery 😑

goldengummybear · 12/03/2019 17:42

Is quorn cheaper than mince? (Not the point but curious)

Barrenfieldoffucks · 12/03/2019 17:44

So the opposite of being British is being terribly rude?

cariadlet · 12/03/2019 17:45

Quorn and lentil chilli sounds lovely to me.

And you can't be that British if you say "dumbass"!

toomuchtooold · 12/03/2019 17:45

My MIL did this with my kids. It was a nice effort - DD1 is a massive fan of Linzertorte (it's a sort of big jam tart with hazelnut pastry - what's not to like?) and the last time she was here she tried making one with them to a recipe that had half as much sugar and spelt flour instead of wheat. "Mm, doesn't that taste just like the real thing?" Err... no? We had a bit but I ended up having to bin it after she left, as the kids wouldn't go near it.

bridgetreilly · 12/03/2019 17:46

I would have asked after you started eating: "This chilli tastes a bit unusual. What have you used to make it with?"

Because, of course you can tell. Why pretend otherwise?

CuriousaboutSamphire · 12/03/2019 17:46

My STBEXSIL was genius at that!

Chilli con carne, bulked out with 2 tins of baked beans. It looked, and tasted, as though someone had already changed their mind about digesting it.

I was told I was a very naughty girl when I first balked and slowly the other diners (about 8 of us) had a taste, turned green and tried their very hardest to backtrack!

I have no idea what she bulked out her meatloaf with (I like using lentils so am not averse to the practice) but it made it all very weird and bitty! Tasted like rubber too!

I couldn't suggest eating out as the family had it in their heads she was a good cook! I did volunteer to be chef, but was rebuked, SIL being a cook and all!

DSis has a nasty habit of using weird stuff too! Anything she has in the cupboard apparently!

DietriotukMN · 12/03/2019 17:47

I hate that. It's totally unacceptable to trick people into eating things. Imagine if it were reversed and you were a vegan and she had tricked you into eating beef. I would be spitting!

Purpleartichoke · 12/03/2019 17:48

Given that I have rare allergies, these people actually fill me with rage. Best case scenario they could make someone sick for days. Worst case scenario, that substitution kills someone.

I can’t even order wheat bread anymore because so many restaurants serve you multigrain instead without telling you. They don’t consider the damage they could be doing.

OneStepSideways · 12/03/2019 17:48

Quorn and lentil sounds awful! I think you should always be upfront with your guests about ingredients, what if someone has an allergy? Lots of people can't eat quorn!

I wouldn't have eaten it to be polite. Did you realise what it was or just think the meat was off?

FissionChip5 · 12/03/2019 17:49

Quorn isn’t very cheap, I can get good quality steak mince for the same weight and price.

anniehm · 12/03/2019 17:50

Quorn isn't cheaper anyway, but is lower in fat

Tomtontom · 12/03/2019 17:50

Imagine if it were reversed and you were a vegan and she had tricked you into eating beef

Useless comparison. A vegan does not eat meat, usually for (to their mind) good reason. A meat eater still eats non meat products, so shouldn't have any objection to being given them.

anniehm · 12/03/2019 17:51

And if you have allergies you should inform your host! Most people don't have allergies so this isn't relevant (taste is though)

Huntress2020 · 12/03/2019 17:52

I don't really mind people offering up cheaper options, that's up to them and their budget. I don't like being tricked or misled about the content of food. That's unfair at best and dangerous at worst if you have allergies.

Original poster
HuntIdeas · 12/03/2019 17:53

To be honest, I couldn’t tell it was quorn. I just thought that she had used really cheap mince and was having an off day with her cooking

OP posts:
DontCallMeShitley · 12/03/2019 17:53

If it is a friend cooking then I would accept it.

I have been to pubs that have been good until one day something was substituted and it was disgusting. One was 'cod' and chips that was grey, sloppy and revolting, probably river cobbler/pangasius fish which is often subbed for cod but is nothing like it, and another that served 'cottage' pie listed on the menu as beef and mashed potato which was some kind of pale slop, which we believed to be turkey mince, possibly pork, it was impossible to tell, with a very thin coating of grease/cheese on top.

We had liked places and been regular customers, until these cons took place. Noticed recently that one had closed, don't know about the other as we stopped going there.

Treacletoots · 12/03/2019 17:54

Your friend cooked you a meal, and you birches about them on mumsnet. Nice friend!

I didn't realise people still existed who couldn't eat a meal without meat - being a vegetarian isn't contagious you know.

ducky21 · 12/03/2019 17:55

yes i think u r being unreasonable this has happened to me before when i have cooked for someone, how ungrateful and disrespectful, do they know the effort and time someone else has gone to to put together a meal, and to not even make it for themselves but for other people, if u don't want to eat someone else's food simply leave, but to eat the food then leave and then slag them off omg how disgusting. the person who did this to me in the past is no longer a friend, i hope your supposed friend finds out your true opinions

thedisorganisedmum · 12/03/2019 17:56

It's only a trick if it's something you are paying for, a restaurant or any eatery.

A friend cooking is using whatever ingredients they want, no trick. It might be disgusting, but there's no trick there.

QuestionableMouse · 12/03/2019 17:57

I'd be on her loo, shitting my brains out if she did that to me. It's not even about the cost of the food but the fact you shouldn't lie to people about what you're feeding them.

GladAllOver · 12/03/2019 17:59

Wait until we have to import food from the USA. Then you'll know what really cheap food is like.

PiebaldHamster · 12/03/2019 17:59

YANBU

Crockof · 12/03/2019 17:59

@treacletoots being veggie isn't the problem it's the fact they are deceptive. My mum does this I don't understand it, I'd eat whatever she cooked so I don't understand why she needs to pretend it's something it's not.