What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
Here's the ones I know.

1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
wild-caught salmon because the farm salmon lacks omega 3 fatty acids,
which are important for many human physiological functions, including
the creation of more serotonin, which helps fight depression.

2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a coffee
shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since then,
Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
(However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
for it)

3. Meat - Americans used to eat a lot of wild meat 100 or more years
ago. Once again, it had omega 3 fatty acids, which farm raised meats
lack. (By the way, I take fish oil pills which have the omega 3 acids).

wrote:

> 1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
> wild-caught salmon because the farm salmon lacks omega 3 fatty acids,
> which are important for many human physiological functions, including
> the creation of more serotonin, which helps fight depression.
>
> 2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
> used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a coffee
> shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since then,
> Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
> (However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
> for it)
>
> 3. Meat - Americans used to eat a lot of wild meat 100 or more years
> ago. Once again, it had omega 3 fatty acids, which farm raised meats
> lack. (By the way, I take fish oil pills which have the omega 3 acids).


Chicken: ALL chicken used to be free-range. And they were slaughtered
older, so they had more flavor.

Eggs: Fewer people keep chickens nowadays, so fewer people have access to
fresh eggs from chickens with a "normal" diet.

Apples: Many strains have just been ruined.

Corn: It doesn't taste like CORN anymore.

Pork: Leaner pigs mean less taste.


Bob

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
> Here's the ones I know.
>
> 1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
> wild-caught salmon because the farm salmon lacks omega 3 fatty acids,
> which are important for many human physiological functions, including
> the creation of more serotonin, which helps fight depression.
>
> 2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
> used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a coffee
> shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since then,
> Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
> (However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
> for it)
>
> 3. Meat - Americans used to eat a lot of wild meat 100 or more years
> ago. Once again, it had omega 3 fatty acids, which farm raised meats
> lack. (By the way, I take fish oil pills which have the omega 3 acids).
>

When you're 70? Just about every gol' danged thing you can think of!
Dee Dee

wrote:

> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
> Here's the ones I know.
>
> 1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
> wild-caught salmon because the farm salmon lacks omega 3 fatty acids,
> which are important for many human physiological functions, including
> the creation of more serotonin, which helps fight depression.
>
> 2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
> used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a coffee
> shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since then,
> Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
> (However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
> for it)
>
> 3. Meat - Americans used to eat a lot of wild meat 100 or more years
> ago. Once again, it had omega 3 fatty acids, which farm raised meats
> lack. (By the way, I take fish oil pills which have the omega 3 acids).

Green Beans. I used to like green beans. We grew them in our back yard and
they were great. My mother would freeze the excess and we had enough frozen
green beans to get us through the winter, and they were good even after
freezing. We buy beans from local vegetable stands in season, but even
those are not as good as the beans I remember from years gone by. And the
beans in the grocery store... forget it... they are crap.

Bob wrote:

> Chicken: ALL chicken used to be free-range. And they were slaughtered
> older, so they had more flavor.

Maybe I am getting better at cooking chicken, I find it pretty tasty, but
have to admit that the free range chickens I have had have been pretty good.

> Eggs: Fewer people keep chickens nowadays, so fewer people have access to
> fresh eggs from chickens with a "normal" diet.

We get free range chickens locally. I do prefer them to the supermarket
eggs.

> Apples: Many strains have just been ruined.

I was never a big fan of apples, but I do like a nice apple pie and find it
hard to get really good cooking apples, and I live in an apple growing area.

> Corn: It doesn't taste like CORN anymore.

Personally, I prefer the newer varieties of corn.

> Pork: Leaner pigs mean less taste.

I used to love roast pork. I rarely buy it anymore because it has been so
disappointing.

> wrote in message
oups.com...
| What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
| Here's the ones I know.
|
| 1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
| wild-caught salmon because the farm salmon lacks omega 3 fatty acids,
| which are important for many human physiological functions, including
| the creation of more serotonin, which helps fight depression.
|
| 2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
| used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a coffee
| shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since then,
| Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
| (However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
| for it)
|
| 3. Meat - Americans used to eat a lot of wild meat 100 or more years
| ago. Once again, it had omega 3 fatty acids, which farm raised meats
| lack. (By the way, I take fish oil pills which have the omega 3 acids).
|

4. Vegetables that have been "improved". ie. tomatoes/corn

5. Fruit same as above.. we just had a thread about Delicious Apples.

6. Bread that has been "wonderized"

And of course we now have all the convenience foods that have been canned to
make prep faster. Not to mention food combinations that just need 1 thing
added to complete the meal.

Debbie

Mi e' parso che Dave Smith abbia scritto:

>> Pork: Leaner pigs mean less taste.

> I used to love roast pork. I rarely buy it anymore
> because it has been so disappointing.

Quoted! I have been in Bayern (south germany) and I found some
wonderful pork, and I realized I was going to forget how *real*
pork is.
I recently discovered that a very good pork butcher, serving some
very famous restaurants in the north of Italy, works in a town
about 60Km from mine: and I'm gonna give it a try ASAP

BTW - Are there readers of the London Times, here on RFC? I know
a butcher in Cremona (near Milan), Franco Cazzamali, who's now
being celebrated by some Times' journalists who tried his meat in
London.
He works with Fassona, the best cows in Piedmont, and has raised
a consortium between butchers and breeders in the eighties, known
as "La Granda". He also serves some famous restaurants, including
all of the three italian restaurants with 3 michelin stars.
I tried out his meat and still have to recover from the
(positive) shock: a good pair of steps over any other meat I ever
had, any cut I tried, be it a 4 inches tall 3.5 pound T-bone
(with central part of the bone removed due to anti-BSE laws), be
it a cut from the front quarter or a pound of tripe. Magnificent.
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

Dee Randall > wrote:

: "Dave Smith" > wrote in message
:> Green Beans. I used to like green beans. We grew them in our back yard
:> and
:> they were great. My mother would freeze the excess and we had enough
:> frozen
:> green beans to get us through the winter, and they were good even after
:> freezing. We buy beans from local vegetable stands in season, but even
:> those are not as good as the beans I remember from years gone by. And the
:> beans in the grocery store... forget it... they are crap.
:>
:>
: I agree -- Now I only buy the frozen baby (small) ones at Costco or BJ's. I
: bought some expensive fresh ones (baby, all packed up in straight little
: rows) and they were good the first time - bought them 3 times more and they
: were old and awful. So it's only frozen ones for me from now on. No matter
: how good fresh ones look at the market, I don't bother. Even at the chinese
: restaurants, their fresh green beans are tough and stringy and mostly
: tasteless anymore.

A friend gave me a couple of pounds of purple beans
grown by his brother. These are the beans that are purple
when raw but lose the purple during cooking so that they look
like cooked green beans. I thought I was getting one of these
vegetables bred for its looks, which is usually a taste disaster,
but these proved to be the best 'green' beans I've had in years,
crisp, stringless, lively taste: my husband gobbled them up
as soon as I got them out of the wok, saving them from the
overcooking I've had to do to get him to eat green beans
in recent years
--thelma
: Dee Dee

On Mon 05 Sep 2005 07:59:37a, Debbie wrote in rec.food.cooking:


> And of course we now have all the convenience foods that have been
> canned to make prep faster. Not to mention food combinations that just
> need 1 thing added to complete the meal.

Yep, we need to add "food" to make those work! :-)

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.

"Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
...
| On Mon 05 Sep 2005 07:59:37a, Debbie wrote in rec.food.cooking:
|
|
| > And of course we now have all the convenience foods that have been
| > canned to make prep faster. Not to mention food combinations that just
| > need 1 thing added to complete the meal.
|
| Yep, we need to add "food" to make those work! :-)
|
And not even good "food"! :-) There are some though that have the fixings
in the box. I came across them last winter. The box contains a can of
stew.. chicken, beef and a turkey variety too I think. In addition to this
can is a package of biscuit mix. The cost was about twice it would be to
buy a can of stew and the biscuit mix separately (not to mention the biscuit
mix would do for more than 1 can of stew). People were buying them up
making comments about what a good idea they were.

Debbie

Wayne Boatwright wrote:

> On Mon 05 Sep 2005 07:59:37a, Debbie wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>
>> And of course we now have all the convenience foods that have been
>> canned to make prep faster. Not to mention food combinations that
just
>> need 1 thing added to complete the meal.
>
> Yep, we need to add "food" to make those work! :-)


I nominate Nestle's and their Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough in
a tube, for depriving kids of the joy of making the best kitchen magic
ever! Imho.

--
Andy
http://tinyurl.com/dzl7h

On 5 Sep 2005 02:03:15 -0700, wrote:

>What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?


Alas....when I was a lass, Hostess Cupcakes were delish.


I grow my own vegetables, bake my own breads (often grind the wheat,
but have to buy the wheatberries), roast my own coffee, drive around
the country side to find family farm raised goodies...we eat well
here.

Something that should be remembered in this thread....the foods we
used to eat as children were eaten in season, not year 'round, and
likely produced locally, too.

Products are now grown and produced to make them store forever, be
shipped cross county without the advantage of ripeness and be sold to
us as cheaply as possible, often using labor that is paid subsistence
wages. The world of food production has changed. We, ourselves, can
seek out foods that are grown well, prepared well and eaten in a
healthy way. All it takes is time and money. Some folks have neither,
some have one or the other and some have neither. Then are those who
really don't care, or for whom food is not really enjoyable, but just
a necessity. RFC is not the place we'll find too many of the latter.

Boron

On 5 Sep 2005 02:03:15 -0700, connected the dots
and wrote:

~What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to
be?
~Here's the ones I know.
~
~1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
~wild-caught salmon because the farm salmon lacks omega 3 fatty acids,
~which are important for many human physiological functions, including
~the creation of more serotonin, which helps fight depression.
~
~2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
~used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a
coffee
~shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since
then,
~Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
~(However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
~for it)
~
~3. Meat - Americans used to eat a lot of wild meat 100 or more years
~ago. Once again, it had omega 3 fatty acids, which farm raised meats
~lack. (By the way, I take fish oil pills which have the omega 3
acids).

Tomatoes.

Grapes. (Just checked the concords at my Mom's house--no sugar yet,
but bluing up nicely.)

Chicken.


maxine in ri

"Debbie" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
> ...
> | On Mon 05 Sep 2005 07:59:37a, Debbie wrote in rec.food.cooking:
> |
> |
> | > And of course we now have all the convenience foods that have been
> | > canned to make prep faster. Not to mention food combinations that
> just
> | > need 1 thing added to complete the meal.
> |
> | Yep, we need to add "food" to make those work! :-)
> |
> And not even good "food"! :-) There are some though that have the fixings
> in the box. I came across them last winter. The box contains a can of
> stew.. chicken, beef and a turkey variety too I think. In addition to
> this
> can is a package of biscuit mix. The cost was about twice it would be to
> buy a can of stew and the biscuit mix separately (not to mention the
> biscuit
> mix would do for more than 1 can of stew). People were buying them up
> making comments about what a good idea they were.
>
> Debbie
>
I'm convinced there must be something for everyone. These ad men are
genius'.
Dee Dee

maxine in ri > wrote:
: On 5 Sep 2005 02:03:15 -0700, connected the dots
: and wrote:

: ~What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to
: be?
<snip>
: Tomatoes.

I've been saying that for several years now, but this year
it's as if all those wonderful tomatoes of memory are back
[in the farmers' markets and my neighbor's backyard]
They must be extremely sensitive to growing weather.


: Chicken.

The local free range chicken is good right down to the inside
of the cracked bones.

--thelma, eating well

: maxine in ri
:
:

On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 12:30:07 -0400, Boron Elgar
> wrote:

>Products are now grown and produced to make them store forever, be
>shipped cross county without the advantage of ripeness and be sold to
>us as cheaply as possible, often using labor that is paid subsistence
>wages. The world of food production has changed. We, ourselves, can
>seek out foods that are grown well, prepared well and eaten in a
>healthy way. All it takes is time and money. Some folks have neither,
>some have one or the other and some have neither. Then are those who
>really don't care, or for whom food is not really enjoyable, but just
>a necessity. RFC is not the place we'll find too many of the latter.
>
>Boron

Well said! There is excellent food to be found, including bread, etc.
for those who can afford it, time- or money-wise.

Mass production of food has kept the price down to a level where more
people can afford it. Say what one will about fluffy enriched white
bread, but then look at the prices for the boutique stuff in the same
grocery store. I'm sure a lot of poor and middle-class people would
love to eat like kings but can't.

Sue(tm)
Lead me not into temptation... I can find it myself!

_.-In rec.food.cooking, wrote the following -._
> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
> Here's the ones I know.

French Frys: I miss beef tallow.
Ground Beef: it used to have flavor.
Dried herbs: a little used to go a long way.
Milk: it used to have flavor, now even the hole milk stuff is laking
substance.
KFC: used to have 11 herbs and spices. Now just salt, water, flower,
msg, peper.
Sausage: has lost almost all flavor and the only ones with kick now
are the "hot" ones.

--
.-')) fauxascii.com ('-. | It's a damn poor mind that
' ..- .:" ) ( ":. -.. ' | can only think of one way to
((,,_;'.;' UIN=66618055 ';. ';_,,)) | spell a word.
((_.YIM=Faux_Pseudo :._)) | - Andrew Jackson

Dave Smith wrote:
> wrote:
>
> > What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
> > Here's the ones I know.
>
> Green Beans. I used to like green beans. We grew them in our back yard and
> they were great. My mother would freeze the excess and we had enough frozen
> green beans to get us through the winter, and they were good even after
> freezing. We buy beans from local vegetable stands in season, but even
> those are not as good as the beans I remember from years gone by. And the
> beans in the grocery store... forget it... they are crap.

Huh? Flash frozen green beans are readily available, far better than
any you can freeze at home. And you can still grow your own for
freshly picked fresh.

Even as few as fifty years ago produce was mostly old, poor quality,
and of course non-existant except for what was in season very locally,
so availability was very limited. Fifty years ago produce was
purchased from a stand alone green grocer, all you could buy was only
what was produced within fifty miles tops, it was costly because most
folk had their own gardens and swaped with neighbors, so green grocer
produce sat around and withered, mostly it wasn't even iced, and
refrigerators were unheard of, they cost too much for such a small
business. During winter months about all you could buy were storage
root vegetables and some very sad soup greens.

Today's stupidmarket produce is better in every way than it's ever
been. In fact all food is better today, those who bitch are those who
make stupid choices... there's a huge difference between unavailability
and not willing to pay the price. These days most everything is
available all year but if you want out of season produce that's air
freighted in from all corners of the planet you very often gotta pay a
premium.

Sheldon

"Sheldon" > wrote in message

> Even as few as fifty years ago produce was mostly old, poor quality,
> and of course non-existant except for what was in season very locally,
> so availability was very limited. Fifty years ago produce was
> purchased from a stand alone green grocer, all you could buy was only
> what was produced within fifty miles tops,


> Today's stupidmarket produce is better in every way than it's ever
> been. In fact all food is better today, those who bitch are those who
> make stupid choices...

The problem that I see is buying imported veggies in the local "off season"
and expecting them to be as good as fresh picked as the local summer crop.
That just won't happen, but the overall quality is pretty good and the
selection is tremendous compared to the past. Refrigerated trucking and air
freight have done wonders for improving the selection.

Birch beer. I used to love birch beer as a kid growing up in PA. When
I tried it 30 years later as an adult.... GAAACK! It tastes like
Pepto-Bismol!! :-p

Regards -- Terry

As I said in a recent (to me) posting:

Has anyone else noticed a change in Wolfgang Puck's
Spicy Chicken Pizza. I used to really like this
stuff, but the last few times have been really
disappointing. I believe the formulation has changed
in the following respects:

1. instead of chunks of intact chicken meat, now it seems
to be some sort of chopped-and-formed meat product

2. the leeks formerly abundant are now scarce

3. the herbs which were formerly very fragrant are
now hardly noticable

It took several pizzas for me to notice that this
product really has changed. I used to think it was
worth its premium price, but I definitely don't
think so anymore. I resent when a company reformulates
a product in a cheapening way, and exploits the
reputation earned when a higher-quality product
was sold under the same name.

"Mark Thorson" > wrote

> It took several pizzas for me to notice that this
> product really has changed. I used to think it was
> worth its premium price, but I definitely don't
> think so anymore. I resent when a company reformulates
> a product in a cheapening way, and exploits the
> reputation earned when a higher-quality product
> was sold under the same name.

You know, that really makes me mad. I find a food
product I really like, I am the picture of brand loyalty.
All of a sudden, out of the blue, it's different, and you
see the brand was sold. Buy a good product with the
goal in mind, as you said, to count on people still
buying it, except don't bother making it the same
quality. Obviously they think we won't notice.

nancy

wrote:
> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
> Here's the ones I know.
>
> 1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
> wild-caught salmon because the farm salmon lacks omega 3 fatty acids,
> which are important for many human physiological functions, including
> the creation of more serotonin, which helps fight depression.

I'll look at a can when I'm in the market. The omega-3 part of this
doesn't strike a chord with me. But then, salmon is one of my least
favorite fishies unless home-smoked.



> 2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
> used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a coffee
> shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since then,
> Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
> (However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
> for it)

Most of the big brand name producers are using very cheap and very poor
quality robusta (as compared to other not so good robustas) from Viet
Nam. There are excellent coffees available, either from the growers in
green or from local roasting operations. Sometimes you can then together
as with Smith Farms in Hawaii, who grow and roast.



> 3. Meat - Americans used to eat a lot of wild meat 100 or more years
> ago. Once again, it had omega 3 fatty acids, which farm raised meats
> lack. (By the way, I take fish oil pills which have the omega 3 acids).

Pork, that is pointed at elsewhere, has suffered the most. There are
small operations that do bring out superior pork. Neiman Ranch comes to
mind. There are supposedly others that are even better, but they seem to
operate locally or regionally at best. Cannot recall any of those names.

Pork in Mexico is superior to that here - it sure tastes better as does
their beef. So, when I am really Jonesing, I head south. My mother, who
dearly loves pork, literally cries over the poor meat available today.


jim

Any fresh fruit
and
Tomatoes

Even when they're in season,
they're either picked green,
or modified to "travel well".

No wonder modern kids take "eat your fruit" as a punishmnent !


<rj>

I don't like canned vienna sausages nearly as much as I used to.

The same goes for Spaghettios.

-Bob

> wrote:

> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?

Veal. "Modern" veal bears no resemblance to veal of yesteryear. Here
is what I posted a few years ago:

In Western Europe at least, good veal is very nearly extinct - and if
you don't believe me, go ask Joël Robuchon or Fredy Girardet (who has
since died, I regret to report). If these legends in their lifetime
couldn't procure good-quality veal, who can? I tasted veal at both of
their restaurants and it was as bland and innocuous as anywhere else.
Actually, it wouldn't surprise me at all if most people, at least those
under a certain age, have never once tasted good veal. Good veal is not
white - it is a lively shade of pink. It has a *very* distinctive, even
fairly strong taste - it is not at all like a more delicately-tasting
and tender beef, as it's so often made out to be - it has a taste all of
its own. 'Modern' veal is blandness itself - you can't simply roast,
fry, or grill it - you will be chewing on a moist piece of cardboard.
You will have to stew or braise it, making, for example, tendrons or
blanquette de veau, where the wine, spices, herbs and vegetables added
to the pot will provide the flavour. Ditto with osso buco. Such dishes
can still be good.

Victor

at Mon, 05 Sep 2005 09:03:15 GMT in <1125910995.495845.102080
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>, wrote :

>What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
>Here's the ones I know.

Many people have brought up the points about seasonal, local foods still
being pretty good - that much of the problem is that peoples' expectations
have changed so that they don't stop to consider what might be in season
and hence end up paying more for worse foods shipped from who-knows-where.
This is certainly a big part of the problem.

But there is a difference between things that are seasonally available and
that can be had with only a little discrimination, and things one must
pursue with almost fanatical obsession in order to find something even
halfway decent even when it is in season. It's this second group, typically
victims either of industry standardisation and consolidation or of
overzealous regulation, that are the genuine gastronomic losses.

Ironically, the 3 you mention here are readily available at high quality
where I am, in Washington State, due to regional demand and markets.

>
>1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
>wild-caught salmon...

Yeah, living in Seattle one is almost oblivious to the nationwide takeover
of the farmed stuff. Most of the salmon in Seattle is wild-caught, most of
it very good, and some of the better runs are superb. Sure, you can buy
farmed salmon here if you really don't care, but even the local
supermarkets have a lot of the wild salmon.

>2. Coffee. ...
>(However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
>for it)

Of course in Seattle there's no issue with coffee...

Just don't buy it from Starbucks (which used to be good, aeons ago).

>3. Meat...

In Seattle again, we are fortunate for a couple of first-rate farms: Skagit
River Ranch (for beef, chicken, and pork) and Sara-Joe's (for good, old-
fashioned fatty pork and sausages). There are also some other good farms
available. You don't have to be obsessed, but it's not quite as simple as
walking into your local supermarket. So here is a borderline case.

However, there is one meat that isn't what it used to be, not here, not
AFAIK anywhe lamb. You can't get good, fresh lamb here in Seattle, nor
for that matter in most parts of the US. Butchers claim low demand - many
more people supposedly dislike lamb than other meats, but I suspect they
only dislike it because the only lamb that's available is terrible - old,
very red meat from half-grown sheep, usually by now somewhat tough, and
generally much leaner, too. If people had the opportunity to try a truly
great lamb they might realise they'd been missing something.

Local farmers encounter regulatory frustrations with meat raising. New
slaughter regulations generally involve so much red tape and have so many
restrictions that it's prohibitive for local farmers to be able to
slaughter. The regulations are geared towards very large, centralised meat-
packing operations and haven't given any thought towards smaller
facilities. Meanwhile, a smaller producer can't get his meat specially
processed through a large-scale packer because in the first place they have
commitments to larger farms and in the second place their line isn't geared
towards that kind of separation and identification.

However, IMHO there are other losses perhaps even more lamentable.

Milk. Definitely #1. Today's homogenised, low-fat "whole" milk (3.2% fat
even for whole milk) is tasteless. Making matters worse, the best you can
do is buy pasteurised - most states now ban raw milk sales - and there you
have to read labels carefully. A lot of milk these days is ultra-
pasteurised - essentially cooked until it's thoroughly killed. Even the
pasteurised milk is usually HTST (high-temperature short time) treated,
which gives it a cooked taste. LTLT (low-temperature long time) is an
improvement, not perhaps like raw milk but at least tolerable, and this is
virtually impossible to find. And whatever happened to 4% whole milk?
That's at least worth drinking or using with cereal.

Grapes. No grapes today are worth even looking at. The invention of
seedless grapes is the worst violence ever inflicted upon an innocent
fruit. And they've shoved out of even local farmers' markets the really
good grapes. Everything you find are large, insipid waterbags. And
Washington is a big grape state - there's no excuse for that here, as there
might be for, say, Minnesota. The move to Zante grapes for currants and to
Thompson grapes for raisins has had disastrous effects on the qualities of
these baking staples.

Speaking of Minnesota - wild rice. There *are* sources, but you generally
have to mail order. Real *wild* rice is unobtainable not only in
supermarkets, but even in specialty stores. Paddy "wild" rice is a
completely different thing, so much worse than the real deal that the
still-high price you pay for it is a total ripoff. The paddy stuff is
invariably tough and tasteless.

And what about ordinary rice? Am I the only one who finds that most rices
these days are starchier and stickier as well as blander than they used to
be? You have to buy Indian Basmati in order to get anything decent. Good
Basmati is also becoming harder to come by. It's irksome to me, too, that
you pretty much have to buy the unwieldy 10-lb sacks in order to get the
good stuff. Plenty of places sell bulk Basmati, but it's inevitably the
bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. And as for the other varieties of rice they
might sell, forget about it.

Apples. When, even in Washington State, you need to look hard to find good
apples, well, enough said.

A very recent victim: raspberries. A few years ago, some diabolical
hybridiser developed the "Tulameen". This has almost completely monopolised
the fresh raspberry market in a couple of years. Growers like it because
the bushes are thornless and produce massive berries. This makes picking
much more efficient. And it has the "wow" factor for consumers at the
market. But the older thorny, smaller-fruiting varieties were a lot better
tasting. The Tulameen doesn't taste awful, but the relative drop in flavour
is very noticeable.

I will also agree with another poster that broadly, green beans have gotten
worse, although a couple of farms around here have some good ones. As a
result of where I am, furthermore, truly great strawberries are still
available in June, along with truly great peas, but I get the sense that
this is not true in most of the USA.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)

On 5 Sep 2005 02:03:15 -0700, wrote:

>What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
>Here's the ones I know.
>
>1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
>wild-caught salmon

I'm fortunate on this score--we don't get much farm raised salmon in
the Seattle area. (and what there is, I sure don't buy)

>2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
>used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a coffee
>shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since then,
>Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
>(However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
>for it)

Again, I live in the Seattle area. Need I say more? (not that I'm
much of a coffee drinker)

Watermelon. It's very hard to find a 'real' one anymore. Seedless?
pfaugh. The only decent seedless ones are the little ones--Pureheart
type. Those can be almost as good as a well-ripened seeded one.

--
-denny-

"I don't like it when a whole state starts
acting like a marital aid."
"John R. Campbell" in a Usenet post.

On Mon 05 Sep 2005 09:24:55p, Craig Welch wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> On Mon, 05 Sep 2005 17:44:21 GMT, Faux_Pseudo
> > wrote:
>
>>French Frys: I miss beef tallow.
>
> The chips I buy are cooked in beef tallow.
>
>>Ground Beef: it used to have flavor.
>
> Still does. My butcher takes regular beef, the kind I would
> ordinarily buy, and minces (grinds) it for me.
>
>>Dried herbs: a little used to go a long way.
>
> Much more availability of fresh herbs in the supermarket now.
>
>>Milk: it used to have flavor, now even the hole milk stuff is laking
>>substance.
>
> I've never tasted milk as good as the full fat milk I buy now from
> Maleny Dairies. Not homogenised. Have to fight my wife to see who
> gets their finger in the top of the bottle first to lick a dollop of
> cream.
>
>>KFC: used to have 11 herbs and spices. Now just salt, water, flower,
>>msg, peper.
>
> Couldn't comment. Don't eat that kind of junk food.
>
>>Sausage: has lost almost all flavor and the only ones with kick now
>>are the "hot" ones.
>
> See my comment above regarding ground beef. It applies equally to my
> butcher's sausages.
>

The fact that you're half a world away from where I live accounts for a
lot. I live in the desert SW of the US, and I think foods in the US in
general have degraded over the years.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.

wrote:
> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?


Campbell's chicken noodle soup: When I was growing up in the early 70's
you HAD TO add water to it because it was so thick. I bought a can
recently it was nothing but juice with a few noodles and I think a
piece of chicken floating around in it.

Doritos, both the nacho and taco flavors: Frito Lay added sour cream
flavoring to their taco flavored Doritos several years ago. I haven't
bought a bag since. They've also recently changed the formula for
their nacho flavored Doritos, and not for the better despite what the
label on the bag says.

On Mon 05 Sep 2005 10:28:49p, djs0302 wrote in rec.food.cooking:

>
> wrote:
>> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
>
> Campbell's chicken noodle soup: When I was growing up in the early 70's
> you HAD TO add water to it because it was so thick. I bought a can
> recently it was nothing but juice with a few noodles and I think a
> piece of chicken floating around in it.

I never eat Campbell's soup as soup, but I do keep some of their soups on
hand to use in making quickie sauces, etc. Typically, I keep tomato, cream
of chicken, cream of mushroom, and cream of celery in the pantry. Years
ago, you practically had to dig the contents out of the can they were so
thick. In fact, the tomato was so thick I used to open both ends of the
can and push the soup out like jellied cranberry sauce. Now they've all
been thinned down to the point where they readily pour out of the can
leaving little residue behind. I've found that the store brand at WalMart
is thicker and better.

--
Wayne Boatwright *¿*
____________________________________________

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four,
unless there are three other people.

On Mon, 5 Sep 2005 23:43:42 +0200, (Victor Sack)
wrote:
>In Western Europe at least, good veal is very nearly extinct - and if
>you don't believe me, go ask Joël Robuchon or Fredy Girardet (who has
>since died, I regret to report).

Where on earth did you get the idea that Fredy Girardet is dead ? He's
retired, but AFAIK is very much alive!

Nathalie in Switzerland (living 5 km away from the ex-Girardet, now
Rochat restaurant)

"Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon 05 Sep 2005 10:28:49p, djs0302 wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
> >
> > wrote:
> >> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to be?
> >
> > Campbell's chicken noodle soup: When I was growing up in the early 70's
> > you HAD TO add water to it because it was so thick. I bought a can
> > recently it was nothing but juice with a few noodles and I think a
> > piece of chicken floating around in it.
>
> I never eat Campbell's soup as soup, but I do keep some of their soups on
> hand to use in making quickie sauces, etc. Typically, I keep tomato,
cream
> of chicken, cream of mushroom, and cream of celery in the pantry. Years
> ago, you practically had to dig the contents out of the can they were so
> thick. In fact, the tomato was so thick I used to open both ends of the
> can and push the soup out like jellied cranberry sauce. Now they've all
> been thinned down to the point where they readily pour out of the can
> leaving little residue behind. I've found that the store brand at WalMart
> is thicker and better.
>

WalMart's is better, really? I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the
tip!

kili

Mi e' parso che abbia scritto:

> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as
> they used to be?

Boxed tuna salads (with beans, peas, rice...) : once there was a
half box of intact tuna covered by the salad, now there's salad
mixed with tuna crumbs
Just discovered this today.
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

Mi e' parso che Victor Sack abbia scritto:

>> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as
>> they used to be?
>
> Veal. "Modern" veal bears no resemblance to veal of
> yesteryear. Here is what I posted a few years ago:
>
> In Western Europe at least, good veal is very nearly
> extinct - and if you don't believe me, go ask Joël
> Robuchon or Fredy Girardet (who has since died, I regret
> to report). If these legends in their lifetime couldn't
> procure good-quality veal, who can?

Franco Cazzamali
If you ever heard of the "Enoteca Pinchiorri" in Florence or "Le
Calandre" in Padua, you will know who I am talking about, his
meats are incredible.
Is a 16 month male and doctored cow a veal, or is it too old? If
it is a veal, the one from Cazzamali is wonderful even with the
least of the dressing and cooking: with so good raw materials,
you have to cook it and dress it the minimum you can.
I just cook it in a pan over a layer of rough salt and don't
dress it for the most part, maybe a drop or two of EVOO and one
more pinch of salt, that's all. Good part of the meat from
Cazzamali is also good without cooking, in pure Langhe style.
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Mon 05 Sep 2005 10:28:49p, djs0302 wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>>
>> wrote:
>>> What foods do you guys know of that aren't as good as they used to
>>> be?
>>
>> Campbell's chicken noodle soup: When I was growing up in the early
>> 70's you HAD TO add water to it because it was so thick. I bought a
>> can recently it was nothing but juice with a few noodles and I think
>> a
>> piece of chicken floating around in it.
>
> I never eat Campbell's soup as soup, but I do keep some of their
> soups on hand to use in making quickie sauces, etc. Typically, I
> keep tomato, cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and cream of celery
> in the pantry. Years ago, you practically had to dig the contents
> out of the can they were so thick. In fact, the tomato was so thick
> I used to open both ends of the can and push the soup out like
> jellied cranberry sauce. Now they've all been thinned down to the
> point where they readily pour out of the can leaving little residue
> behind. I've found that the store brand at WalMart is thicker and
> better.

The store brands are usually better and the weird thing is they are most
likely sold to the stores as second market by Campbell's or some other known
producer of the canned soup. I find you get a better product at half the
price.

But, you also have some people who *refuse* to buy anything that doesn't
have a name-brand label slapped on it. They are the ones religiously
clipping coupons trying to make up for the savings to be had already sitting
there in front of them on the shelf. I'll try the store brands; if I don't
like it, I don't buy it again. No law says you have to buy a case of it,
you know? Just get a can and see how/if you like it.

A couple of weeks ago I was perusing the canned soups. Schnuck's (regional
grocery store) Bean with Bacon caught my eye at 45 cents a can. So I had a
can of it for dinner. Practically had to pry the contents out of the can,
absolutely add water and use a whisk to get it all blended as it heated. It
was delicious! I'll buy it again for those nights when I don't feel like
fussing over dinner.

Jill

On 2005-09-06, djs0302 > wrote:

> Campbell's chicken noodle soup:

> Doritos, both the nacho and taco flavors:

I no longer buy either of these products. Tha amount of salt they
contain make them inedible, for me.

nb

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> On 2005-09-06, djs0302 > wrote:
>
>> Campbell's chicken noodle soup:
>
>> Doritos, both the nacho and taco flavors:
>
> I no longer buy either of these products. Tha amount of salt they
> contain make them inedible, for me.
>
> nb

R. W. Garcia brand is pretty good - not much salt.
Dee Dee

Bob wrote:
> wrote:
>
> > 1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
> > wild-caught salmon because the farm salmon lacks omega 3 fatty acids,
> > which are important for many human physiological functions, including
> > the creation of more serotonin, which helps fight depression.
> >
> > 2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
> > used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a coffee
> > shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since then,
> > Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
> > (However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
> > for it)
> >
> > 3. Meat - Americans used to eat a lot of wild meat 100 or more years
> > ago. Once again, it had omega 3 fatty acids, which farm raised meats
> > lack. (By the way, I take fish oil pills which have the omega 3 acids).
>
>
> Chicken: ALL chicken used to be free-range. And they were slaughtered
> older, so they had more flavor.
>
> Eggs: Fewer people keep chickens nowadays, so fewer people have access to
> fresh eggs from chickens with a "normal" diet.
>
> Apples: Many strains have just been ruined.
>
> Corn: It doesn't taste like CORN anymore.

There is still real sweet corn - you have to find it. That's easier, I
guess, in a corn state than some other places.
>
> Pork: Leaner pigs mean less taste.

True, but also most of the pork in the big supermarket chains is Armour
- injected with stuff to make it tender, and it takes away what little
pork flavor is left.

I'll add:

TOMATOES - unless in season, impossible to buy good-tasting
old-fashioned tomatoes at the supermarket. Farmers' markets, maybe,
but that's iffy, too.

N.
>
>
> Bob

Bob wrote:

> wrote:
>
>
>>1. Salmon. They have farm raised salmon which is inferior to
>>wild-caught salmon because the farm salmon lacks omega 3 fatty acids,
>>which are important for many human physiological functions, including
>>the creation of more serotonin, which helps fight depression.
>>
>>2. Coffee. I heard that the average coffee is lower quality than it
>>used to be, because at some time, maybe in the 70's, there was a coffee
>>shortage, which resulted in lower coffee quality. And ever since then,
>>Americans have become accustomed to drinking lower quality coffee.
>>(However, I'm sure high quality coffee is still available if you look
>>for it)
>>
>>3. Meat - Americans used to eat a lot of wild meat 100 or more years
>>ago. Once again, it had omega 3 fatty acids, which farm raised meats
>>lack. (By the way, I take fish oil pills which have the omega 3 acids).
>
>
>
> Chicken: ALL chicken used to be free-range. And they were slaughtered
> older, so they had more flavor.
>
> Eggs: Fewer people keep chickens nowadays, so fewer people have access to
> fresh eggs from chickens with a "normal" diet.

I can still get free-range chickens and fresh eggs but the price is
slightly higher. Well the eggs are actually cheaper but the whole
chickens are slightly higer in price.
>
> Apples: Many strains have just been ruined.
>

We live close to orchards. For years, DH preferred Delicious apples.
Now he won't eat them! Like the thread of not so long ago, the
Delicious apples have been ruined. I think Granny Smiths are nowhere as
to what they used to be.
> Corn: It doesn't taste like CORN anymore.

I'd love to take that dang peaches and cream corn and stuff it where the
sun doesn't shine! It's all we can get here and it doesn't freeze worth
a crap compared to the old fashioned yellow corn. Forget making corn
relish with it either as the light kernels look odd and the flavour
isn't there. It's not space effective for small home gardeners to grow
corn but I swear next year I'm going to put in another raised and
protected bed just for yellow corn!
>
> Pork: Leaner pigs mean less taste.

I haven't noticed a difference in pork but then we buy it through a
farmer. Where I've noticed a difference is in the bacon
>
>
> Bob
>
>