Erm...well I found out the hard way how wrong I was.
So I have recently moved in with a friend about an hour and ten minutes away from my parents in order to take a French teaching job. I'm in charge of groceries and food, so when I went grocery shopping I made sure to get things that I could cook from scratch but also some canned/boxed foods that are easy to make. Personally, I stuck with brands that I knew, because I knew that if I ate it then my roommate would as well.
So I purchased an item such as this:
Pasta and red sauce, a nostalgic favorite for anyone who grew up in the 90s, and a reputable brand. Even at 21, this for a meal every once in a while (I certainly wouldn't be able to eat it more than that) is acceptable to the pallet. It tastes like it's supposed to, and you could add cheese, sour cream, crackers, ground beef, whatever strikes your fancy to "kick it up a notch". But just straight from can to microwave to bowl to mouth, it's decent.
Now I take responsibility for procrastinating grocery shopping this week (long day, finally Friday, really wasn't in the mood to tackle a grocery store today). So not in the mood to spend time on making something, I look in the cabinet and find this:
Now, it's a store brand, but the concept is pretty similar. AND they already added a cheese sauce to the tomato sauce, so I thought that would be one step less for me! I had always been told that the majority of store brands of products were the EXACT SAME as the name brand, only the store bought the items in bigger bulk so it's cheaper so they can sell their product cheaper.
Umm...yeah not in this case.
Again, I understand that it's not 100% the same, so it's like I'm comparing a granny smith apple with a yellow delicious, but the majority of it is the same.
Well, let me tell you, this product was ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING.
1) It was so unbelievably bland. First, I put garlic salt in it. Then I put season salt in it, then I put more of both in. THEN I put regular salt in. I could not believe how much seasoning it took just to get some sort of flavor into it.
2) The pasta was slimy. AS IN It had a residual film on it that would stick to my fork, stick to my mouth, and just make the entire thing completely unappealing.
I actually ended up throwing a good amount of the can away because I couldn't justify finishing it. Yes, it was THAT bad! I don't know if I've ever been so disappointed by a food before!
I am now 100% determined to only buy brands that I know will by what I want. Granted, I didn't buy that can or the rest that you can see in the shelf, but I have been telling my roommate for months now that what he feeds himself with can barely constitute as "food". It's about time I give him some...perspective :)
Mustafa: [taking Ego's order] Do you know what you'd like this evening, sir?
Anton Ego: Yes, I think I do. After reading a lot of overheated puffery about your new cook, you know what I'm craving? A little perspective. That's it. I'd like some fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective. Can you suggest a good wine to go with that?
Mustafa: With what, sir?
Anton Ego: Perspective. Fresh out, I take it?
Mustafa: I am, uh...
Anton Ego: Very well. Since you're all out of perspective and no one else seems to have it in this BLOODY TOWN, I'll make you a deal. You provide the food, I'll provide the perspective, which would go nicely with a bottle of Cheval Blanc 1947.
Mustafa: I'm afraid... your dinner selection?
Anton Ego: [stands up angrily] Tell your chef Linguini that I want whatever he dares to serve me. Tell him to hit me with his best SHOT.
[Ratatouille, 2007 IMDB]
:)
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