People associate food not only with flavor, but with the experiences that also accompany it.
I may not be a connoisseur of fine dining, but my palate knows enough when something is absolutely delicious.
When food nails it, it can be a major aphrodisiac.
If you take me on a date to the Cheesecake Factory and feed me a whole Dulce De Leche Caramel Cheesecake, I'm all yours.
While desserts are my inherent weakness, I must admit that there is something else that tops even the sweetest baked good I've ever had. It was salmon.
A few years ago, I went to a salmon bake on an isolated location near Juneau, Alaska, where I had the best salmon ever. Hands down.
My friends and I gathered at a lodge where we all gorged on all the fixings along with the main event – a melt-in-your-mouth glazed piece of salmon – that was prepared on their massive backyard grill with a view of the majestic Taku Glacier as a backdrop.
It was so good, grizzly bears were known to gather at the grill long after the guests have started feasting indoors.
The salmon was exceptional, but the experience of being immersed in nature with a very limited amount of people somehow made the feast more delectable.
Now that my mouth is watering again, let's turn to you.
Redditor sungoldd wanted to know about other people's experience with food and asked:
"What was THE MOST delicious food you've eaten in your life?"
Roadside BBQ
"Pulled pork sandwiches from these 2 old dudes who would park their smoker on the side of the road. They were retired and cooked for fun so they didn't have a set schedule. They'd just get bored some days and start cooking. I've yet to find any better bbq."
– dustinator
Nothing Beats "Grandpa's"
"I only eat barbeque from old black dudes. Grew up in Tennessee and learned very quickly that old black men are master chefs for barbeque."
"It's not even close."
"One place, called Grandpa's, would even do barbeque turkey sandwiches. Jesus Christ I've looked my whole life for something that good ever since."
– K1nd4Weird
Iberico Ham
"This particular version of Iberico Ham when I was in Spain. Straight up just melted in my mouth without chewing."
Thailand Dream
"Once in Thailand (Koh tao) with some friends, we asked some fisherman to join their boat, they let us. Even had rods and everything."
"They said we could have the fish we'd catch."
"After some red and yellow snappers and 2 eels, we got a biggggg fish (about 1 meter long,groundtype, don't know the name unfortunately). After a whole day we got back into the harbor, we said that they could keep all the fish except for the big one. (We also left cash for their effort that day)"
"So we walked extremely excited to the city center to ask if anyone could prepare us that fish.
Almost the 1st restaurant we asked said it was no problem.
We said: Prepare it as you would like to eat this fish.
We sat down and the fish came in 3 different styles.
Im not a big fish eater but boy o boy that was the best damn fish I ever had in my life."
"We left a lot of cash at the restaurant for their effort as well."
"That was my most impressive meal ever, not only the taste but that whole day was glorious, and the best island experience I've had."
– RandstadRidder
No Other Frybread Comes Close
"I'm Native and I have to say hands down my great grandmas frybread. To this day almost 30 years after her death I have found no frybread that even comes close."
"Thanks for all the up votes. I know my great grandmother is beaming right now. She was 108 when she passed away so she had many many years to perfect her frybread."
– kingofridell
The Freshest Catch
"I was camping on the Cabot Trail, a long long time ago."
"We saw this out of nowhere seafood 'shack.' So I ordered a lobster roll, guy comes back and tells me 'I can't believe it, we actually don't have anything fresh, if you're not in a hurry you can wait we should have some in a bit.'"
"We weren't in a hurry, we just sat and had a few drinks and some appetizers."
"I don't know if he actually went out and collected some from traps, or if there was just a truck coming in or something with it."
"But what I had was this glorious meal with the juiciest lobster literally spilling out of the bun onto the plate that melted in my mouth."
– billbapapa
And Speaking Of Lobster
"The first real date with Kay, we had a picnic where I made gazpacho, lobster salad on a roll, and champagne. That clinched the deal. We were married for nearly 25 years before she died."
"Edit: After the picnic, we were driving back to work and she asked if I had a toothpick. I gave her the one from my Swiss Army knife. She picked the lobster flesh from her teeth, then tossed the toothpick out the car window. I married her anyway."
Thanksgiving Sandwich
"I lived in Orlando, Florida and there's a place near downtown called Pom Poms. They mostly make specialty sandwiches which are all made from super fresh ingredients."
"They have a sandwich called the 'Mama Ling Lings Thanksgiving.' It's: Turkey, Gouda, Stuffing, Ginger Cranberry Chutney, Mashed Potatoes, Cream Cheese with a side of Gravy."
"It is the best sandwich I have ever eaten. It tastes like the best Thanksgiving dinner you've ever eaten."
"Check the place out if you're ever in Orlando: http://pompomsteahouse.com/menu/pressed-sandwiches/"
– midgitsuu
Peachy Keen
"A peach. Picked off a tree at a friend's house, still warm from the sun. I have never tasted something so gloriously delicious before or since. Juice running down my hands, the epitome of peachness."
– NellyBlyNV
Peach Satisfying GIF
Giphy
Nothing Can ComPEAR
"Went on a Baltic cruise a couple years ago - and on a stop in St. Petersburg, we went to this restaurant/live Russian folk music spot."
"For dessert, we were served a baked pear. I'm not even sure I'd eaten any pear in my life let alone a baked one. I can't remember what was on the pear if anything. Everyone at the table was just in awe at how delicious they were. Will never forget."
– masu94
First Meal With Dad
"4 years ago I was in Florida with my family. It was my 1st time meeting my father. I was 40 at the time. I got a bowl of seafood mac and cheese with crab, scallops, shrimp and some kind of fish in it. The restaurant was on a river with manatees in it. Eating a meal with your dad for the 1st time is delicious on a whole new level. But the meal itself...still totally killer."
– Ethandrul
Burnt To Perfection
"The day I first saw Star Wars back in 1977. I was twelve and spent the day with my new step-brothers. After the movie we went to a restaurant on the Tacoma waterfront called Clinkerdagger, Bickerstaff & Petts. It wasn't so much the dinner (it was good) but the dessert was Burnt Custard (Creme Brulee). My God, it was good I still remember it 43 years later. No other Creme Brulee has come close."
Peaches Are Sensual
"Peach bread pudding at Tartine in San Francisco."
"My husband and I were there visiting friends 4 years ago, heard Tartine was good and stopped in to sample some of their pastries. I don't even have much of a sweet tooth but my husband said he'd never had bread pudding, so I ordered us a slice."
"I took one bite, and my eyes rolled back in my head. It was a completely involuntary action. The bread pudding and peaches hit my mouth and my body had never experienced anything that good before. My husband still talks about that bread pudding and how it f'ked his wife right in front of his face."
– OhLizaJane
Authentic Sushi
"I had sushi in Japan at a small but amazing sushi bar. There is a whole art and etiquette involved in making, serving and eating really good sushi that I never appreciated until then. Nothing else has ever compared."
– msmickimac
Nothing Beats Mom's Cooking
"My mom would make these stuff shells with turkey, bread stuffing and cheese and bake them in pan with cream of chicken soup. So f'king delicious but labor intensive so she didn't make them often."
"I wish she was still here."
– olioster
Wanna jump off the bandwagon? Then keep reading!
U/lit3rallyuseless asked: What doesn't deserve the hate it gets?
​Film and media are probably the biggest contender for being hated on randomly. It may seem harmless, but not always deserved.
Actors are people too!
Actors who played characters that people didn't like.
Really if you hated the character then the actor did a good job (assuming that was the role).
The best cartoons.
nice day summer GIF by PBS KIDSGiphyChild cartoons. Some are actually really good, even as an adult.
I feel like watching cartoons aimed at generally a younger audience allows for you to be reminded of some life lessons, I know I forget some things, or didn't realise others, or it at least partially renews my awareness of something I should still like or appreciate
This doesn't deserve awards, it's just my opinion that is apparently shared by many.
This man did nothing wrong.
Guy Fieri, he literally is the nicest person in the world but since he looks like he was electrocuted by mountain dew people want to saw his head off.
Even before that, I was witness to his other charitable work. A few years back, Santa Rosa was hit by some terrible fires and he showed up at a few shelters and personally cooked up and served some killer buffet food. No cameras, no massive team of PR, just a dude with an assistant to keep him on schedule to hit up other shelters in the area. Guy Fieri legit earned a lot of respect in my book for that.
You know who DEFINITELY doesn’t deserve hate? Animals. They’re just living their best lives, and need to be left alone.​
The best cats.
Black cats.
We got a black cat for the first time last year. I've since formulated the theory that black cats might get some of their reputation from the fact that people can't see them well in the dark and so they seemingly appear out of nowhere and they might be instinctually cautious because they know people have a tendency to kick them while walking in the dark. Our black cat is the sweetest cat I've ever known.
They get a bad rep.
Discovery Sharks GIF by Shark WeekGiphySharks. They are beautiful, complex creatures, deserving of respect and, like any wild animal should be left alone in their natural habitat, but they get this reputation as vicious bloodthirsty monsters. This is only because every shark attack is news, and only then because they are so rare. More people are killed EVERY DAY by mosquitoes than sharks kill in a year.
Any apex predator that has remained evolutionarily unchanged for hundreds of millions of years, whose existance predates TREES, is deserving or our respect and admiration. Shine on, you crazy cartlaginous fish, shine on.
So cute too!
Opossums. They're neat little critters. They eat tons of ticks that carry Lyme disease, (mostly) don't carry rabies because their body temp is too low, and they're the only marsupial native to North America! They get a bad rap because their first defense is to hiss and bare teeth, but failing that, they just play dead.
If you don't have the predisposition to hate them, you'll find they're pretty cute too.
E: this is about /opossums/, the north American species.
Kiwis, I feel for you, but this comment isn't about your possums.
​Hating on other people for just living their lives also seems to be a big contender for things that don’t deserve to be hated on.
This is so true.
Unemployed people. A lot of people genuinely are looking for work and did not want to lose their last job/it was beyond their control (like a layoff) but they get so much hate and called lazy by most people. I know too many unemployed people that are actually really trying hard. They definitely aren't lazy. (Not saying lazy unemployed people don't exist, but to be fair, so do lazy employed people too lol)
Leave the weather man alone!
Fox Raining GIF by Family GuyGiphyMeteorologists. They try their best to predict the weather based on patterns, models, and data. They're not perfect because predicting the weather is insanely difficult. When they get it wrong, I think we should go easy on them. It was probably an outlier result almost no one could have foreseen.
I've seen people get angry over the meteorologists for getting it right. Like they control the weather - it is their fault we are having rain, that kind of BS. Never made sense to me, but hey, I have plenty of relatives I clashed with growing up.
Please stop being d*cks to these people.
Customer service associates.
I hate when customers think that I, the minimum wage person forced to sit there and listen to them yell, am personally responsible for every policy they disagree with. Like, ma'am, if I had that much power and influence, I wouldn't be sitting here on a Saturday evening serving you.
Wholesome and necessary.
People don't deserve hate they give themselves when they are not doing too good at the moment.
I'm in a weird place and I didn't know I needed to read this. Thanks buddy.
If you haven't heard it from anyone else today, I'm proud of you.
It seems like people hate on things simply because they think they're meant to hate them. But you can always be the change and make an effort to stop being an a**hole about certain things.
No matter what though, sometimes haters gonna hate