Portland Oregon Food and Drink
Throwing Ourselves On The Grenade of Bad Food to Save You
Via Leo Laporte, If you were traveling through a strange and foreign land, like maybe Petaluma, you might want one of these with you…
On the other hand, it would probably be an easy way to get thrown out of a restaurant. Can you imagine the chefs face? “hmm… a little tumeric, some fenugreek… FoodieSurvivalKit has them in different sizes for different cuisines.
"I have a wide-range of food experience - working in the restaurant industry on both sides of the house, later in the wine industry, and finally traveling/tasting my way around the world. Whether you agree or disagree, you can always count on my unbiased opinion. I don't take free meals, and the restaurants don't know when, or if, I am coming."
I grew up in Petaluma. Not a bad food scene there!
I’ve spent quite a bit of time there myself. I just love the name.
That’s completely obnoxious. If I was with someone that pulled that out at a restaurant I’d kick them out myself.
Were they really suggesting that people drag one of these things into restaurants with them? I thought it might be a clever idea for someone moving into a new apartment, or maybe a culinarily-oriented kid going off to college in the sticks. I would personally love one of these, but that’s mostly because I’m enchanted by the pretty colors (it looks like a paint set), as well as the nifty carrying case. It’s unfortunate about the word ‘foodie’ though… we definitely need a better term. snarkies, perhaps?
I’ve always hated the word “foodie”. Anyway, I can’t imagine bringing these to a restaurant – but airline food… that’s a different story.
Well said
A bottle of hot sauce is the only cure you need for mediocre food. And much easier to sneak in.
How past there prime and flavorless are those spices, reminds me of a bad white elephant gift that you would receive at a party. Thomas, couldnt agree with you more about the term foodie. People who label themselves that always make me laugh.
Hi! I’m the designer and distributor of these kits. It’s always interesting reading feedback about them–I appreciate it all, good and bad. And since you mentioned the issue of freshness, you might be interested to know that because of frequent ordering and ongoing assembly of the kits, no kit has ever gone out filled with spices over a few months (6 months max) old. We don’t make thousands of them ahead of time and let them sit in a warehouse for ages.
And they come fresh from organic suppliers in the US, and stay inside their dark box, so they’re still in good shape by the time they get to a customer’s hands. Just wanted to clarify that!
Cheers,
Holly McWhorter
PS – And we use the term “foodie” with the intent of humor, for what it’s worth! :)
Leo Laporte talked about this? I’m surprised.
Thomas Fleming – I also hate the term “foodie”. To my ear, it
sounds infantile. I also can’t stand listening to young children
sing on television – I cringe.
Yup, that’s where I heard about it – Leo
I made a kit similar to this when I was traveling through New Zealand in a camper van cooking most of our meals. The containers have a magnet on the back and stay put while moving. I keep them with my camping stuff now. Bet mine cost a lot less than this one!
Clearly nobody was intrigued enough by this thing to actually click on link (needs fixing, FD).
No way anyone takes that into a restaurant, and it seems dubious they would market it that way (despite inclusion of wasabi, soy, Tabasco). Would be great for vacation rental kitchens though. But, yes, as also noted, probable freshness issue, and overpriced. Also, no cumin! (which I would want to toast myself anyway).
People have certainly been known to carry around their own sea salt or fresh pepper grinder for use in restaurants though.
Seems like most of those ingredients are something you’d want to use while cooking a dish, not sprinkle dry on top of a finished one at a restaurant. Actually, it would be pretty hilarious to see a self proclaimed ‘foodie’ pretending that some stale dried basil was going to improve anything.
very good point. i still have a hard time believe that this was touted as something to bring into a restaurant….! ;)
These are absurd. Completely absurd.
Hmmm… i really don’t get the hate for these? The site doesn’t indicate at all that these should be taken to restaraurnts, but rather as starter kits for home cooks or for the travelling cook. Yes, “foodie” is pretentious, but not sure it is vitriol-worthy.
Well, original site Food Dude meant to link to (http://www.uncommongoods.com/item/item.jsp?itemId=17825) *did* indicate that:
For foodies, nothing is more scary than being in a strange place and having to experience sub-par food. Oh the horror! With this handy Mobile Foodie Survival Kit, you can doctor up even the most repulsive meal.
But that did not come from the makers of the product.
well that’s just funny. i guess i don’t take that descriptor seriously, just as i assumed food dude’s description was tongue in cheek.
we need a term to replace ‘foodie’…that term may be played, but the people/movement it represents aren’t going anywhere – we just need a word that isn’t so over-used…. something that evokes culinary passion with just a touch of the requisite snarkiness….
How about “insufferable prig”? That would probably cover a lot of bases.
well, if the shoe fits….