Ice cream has gotten pretty inventive over the years. Especially when it's beautiful to look at and made "Instagram worthy."
Trends from the past year have been incorporating savory flavors into the traditionally sweet treat.
However, not all flavors should be made into an ice cream dish. We went to Reddit to find out which ones were the absolute worst.
Redditor BringInTheBunz asked:
"What would you say is the most disgusting ice cream flavor?"
Some of these will really make you wonder what they were thinking.
Mac and Cheese flavored ice cream.
"I did NOT enjoy mac&cheese ice cream."
- UConnUser92
"That sounds gross! Did it have macaroni in it or was it just artificial cheese flavored ice cream?"
- SpecterCody
"I assume they're talking about Van Leeuwen Kraft Mac and Cheese Ice Cream which has been talked about quite a bit lately and also was featured on Stephen Colbert's show."
"It's... confusing. It's not bad. It's just confusing."
- HalflingMelody
Flavor of the week: Old Bay.
"White corn and old bay. It was a flavor of the week at a local creamery."
"It failed."
- Harvard-23
"I had sweet corn ice cream once in Mystic CT."
"It didn't suck."
- TecumsehSherman
"Corn flavored desserts can be delicious! There's a popular corn shaped/flavored Korean ice cream (찰옥수수) and its my favorite. Not sure about the spicy corn flavor though.."
- MsAndooftheWoods
This just sounds painful.
"Wasabi. Yes it exists."
"The cold and nose-spicy combo is so disorienting and odd."
"I'll take Rocky Road, thanks."
- T98i
"If people think bubblegum, mint, and cotton candy are disgusting flavors, wasabi is going to wreck their worlds. Just awful."
- Optimal_Towel
A Norwegian kind of treat.
"I raise you herring icecream, with onions."
- RubnDubn
"Bro. Report that to police as a crime against humanity."
- Rbfam8191
Okay, what's with the fish in ice cream?
"Smoked salmon ice cream."
- livingcool22
"New variant of lockjaw has been discovered. Scientists say it comes from tasting something so disgusting, your face just stays in the vomit position. They call it loxjaw."
- yourlocalwaluigistan
"Ceviche."
- nofacenofood
"Wait…..:was it sea urchin ceviche from dorsia?"
- jjfriedd
"No, it was random fish ceviche from a little wooden cart."
- nofacenofood
It's over at that point.
"Refrozen vanilla."
- BandOne77
"It's when it melts too much and goes just the teeniest bit sour and you refreeze it."
- DogsBeerCheeseNerd
"The reason it tastes so bad is because a huge part of what makes ice cream taste the way it does is the amount of air in the ice cream. I think it's somewhere around 40% air usually."
"So when it melts, all of the air pockets melt, allowing the ice cream to 'go flat.'"
- skoomd1
"To add on to this, ice cream can be ruined even before it gets so melted that you lose the air. The ice cream churning process folds in air but also prevents the ice cream from forming large, crunchy crystals while it freezes.
"By keeping it moving churning forms small, smooth crystals with a creamy texture. If the ice cream half-melts, it can keep the air but lose the crystals, and then when it refreezes it will form large crunchy crystals."
- lukebn
Sounds like a New England thing.
"Lobster ice cream."
- livingcool22
"Was looking for this!! I saw it in oak bluffs, Martha's vineyard....they wouldn't give out samples of it either, you had to buy a whole cone."
- PM_ME_PICS_OF_SNOW
"Sounds like a scam to me."
- SpecterCody
"Hipster" flavors.
"Our local creative ice cream shop makes all sorts of hipster flavours... some are good, some are... well... one was something like "Sour cherry with toasted hay," and it tasted like a sweaty horse ran through a cherry orchard."
- kickitkitsune
Liver and onions.
"Liver and onions at some place in Ft Collins Colorado."
"It was foul. But this place specializes in 'unique' flavors. Wish I could remember the name."
- Kuriakon
"...no words can describe how gross that sounds."
- BringInTheBunz
If you think it sounds gross, it probably is. Thankfully, these people tried these ice cream flavors so you didn't have to.
We'll just stick with vanilla and chocolate.
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I'm not a foodie. In fact I find the whole "foodie" culture insufferable.
It's just food, eat it and move on.
It's because of this culture of food obsession we've all tried some meals or restaurants that just don't live up to the hype.
All of these online people running around, taking scads of photos and videos of themselves feeding their faces has gotten out of control and lead others to make questionable dining decisions.
A burger is just a burger. If the meat is fresh, I don't care what you fed the cow.
Is the salmon not discolored? Great, then cook it.
We don't need to be spending tons of cash on meals. Keep it simple, it's the best way.
RedditorYannisAPwanted to discuss what's on the menu, so they asked:
"What food is overrated?"
I have been to too many fancy places and tried their key extravagant meal only to be left disappointed and heading to Wendy's after.
No ice cream is worth one thousand dollars. New Yorkers know where I'm talking about.
Insta-crap
"Those 'instagramable' burgers, burritos, etc, that are all covered in melted cheese. Don't cover things with liquid cheese. Drink it, coward." ~ Biscuitquit
GiphyWhen in France
"It's not quite a rule, but for many restaurants, if it has a view the food is terrible. As an example, cafes near the Eiffel Tower are generally bad, tourist traps."
"Overpriced and unimaginative offerings. French food is so much more than that, but a trip to Paris is so overwhelming."
"Tourists don't always find the truly great meals, and instead go home thinking that little cafe found when your feet were tired from walking back from seeing the sights is somehow representative of the entire cuisine." ~ math-yoo
Jerk
"The little packets in beef Jerky that say do not eat." ~ wallacem21
"I knew a guy once who thought they were flavoring packets. Ripped one open and was about to proceed to dump it into his recently rehydrated meal."
"This was apparently his first dehydrated meal, so I guess I can sorta understand, but still." ~ onetoothless
Gold Loss
"Gold covered anything is a waste of money and the definition of superfluous excess since it doesn't add flavor and wastes the gold." ~ phroggyboiii
"Wastes the gold? In 1000 years when all the gold has been panned out of Alaskan streams, future panners will still have a source of gold in our ancient crap rivers. They'll probably market it as 'rare archeological privy gold' and charge accordingly." ~ Batherick
"The thing is, it's not even pure gold. There has been traces of aluminum, lead, tin, and other such metals in the gold flakes."
"It's not just wasteful, and doesn't taste like anything, it's also sometimes toxic." ~ CursedJade
Purrrrfect
"Meow Mix for sure." ~ Hardinyoung
"Dude! Meow Mix is delicious, even if it doesn't contain cats like on the packaging. Kinda a scam, but still tasty." ~ CursedJade
GiphyWhy are cats so picky?
And why do we indulge them?
They're pets, but we treat them better than kids when it comes to meal time.
Bad Sizzle
"Bacon flavoured/infused anything."
"Don't get me wrong, I love a couple of rashers as much as the next man, but c'mon, bacon fat-washed whiskey?" ~ bumbershootle
GiphyBad Batch
"Those red berries on bushes in parks." ~ Gold_Ad_6543
"We had some Brazilian Peppertrees outside of my old job (actually an invasive species, but they planted them for looks I guess), and some women I worked with used to pick off the berries and smash them into their soups and stuff. They're pretty spicy!" ~ legendariel
"We called them snake berries. No idea if it's multiple different kinds of red berries or one, but they are sour and apparently make you sick if you eat em. But they look really tasty." ~ Sololop
DO NOT EAT!!
"Funny story: My family was living in China a few years back and our parents had bought these moon pie thingies for lunar new year. I saw the moisture absorbing bags in there, didn't read the English words that clearly said DO NOT EAT, and put it on the moon pie."
"I spat mine out because it tasted gritty and awful, but my brother seemed to enjoy it. We ended up calling American poison control because the local poison control didn't have someone who spoke English and they basically said just drink a lot of water and you'll be fine." ~ ryleu
Deactivate...
"Activated charcoal anything." ~ eremophilaalpestris
"The only reason should ever be eating activated charcoal is if you've got gas, or have overdosed on something (IN A MEDICAL ENVIRONMENT). That crap can really mess with your meds and food."
"It is technically a detoxifier... but turns out there's a good reason why chemists don't stock that stuff in the wellness section. This includes toothpaste, but for a different reason - it's like sandpaper for your teeth. Yes it whitens them, but it also strips the enamel off them." ~ Plethora_of_squids
I love weddings!
"Wedding cakes for sure."
"I work weddings; I've been to something like 150 of them so far, and have tried the cake at literally all of them."
"The vast majority of them are simply awful."
Giphy"I have only actually enjoyed eating the cake twice the entire time I've worked this job: once with some sort of specialty Korean cake, and one that was made by the Bride's mom. And what's worse is that these cakes cost an exorbitant amount of money! We're talking like $500 3-tier art pieces that look nice, but taste like a sponge with shaving cream on it."
"Just not something I can get behind. So, with that being said, word to the wise: don't buy a crazy-expensive wedding cake, I promise you it is not that good." ~ HDNHD
I love wedding cakes.
How could you not?
And bacon?
Yeah, we've gone overboard with the bacon. It doesn't need to be on everything.
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Pizza was introduced into the American zeitgeist when 4 million Italian immigrants came across the Atlantic and brought their cooking skills and traditions with them.
However, it's actually much more Greek than Italian.
Britannicasays:
"Shortly after its introduction stateside, pizza became more popular in the U.S. than it was in Italy."
"This is partly because pizza's not exactly Italian to begin with."
"Naples was originally founded by Greek settlers around 600 BCE, and pizza is known to have existed there before the city was unified with the rest of Italy in 1861."
"The cheesy, tomatoey delight wasn't introduced into greater Italian cuisine until the 1940s."
"So, at least for a while, pizza was much more American than Italian."
"Traditional" toppings are actually not that traditional at all. That's why we see all sorts of variations on the theme of pizza and why there's much debate on which toppings are the best.
Redditor TheMulefromMoscow asked:
"What's the most underrated pizza topping?"
The debate was taken to Ask Reddit, so we made a list of the best of the best.
That's a lot of garlic.
"Roasted whole garlic."
"[Pizza My Heart] makes a pizza with 40 cloves of roasted garlic on it. It's flipping delicious."
"I love garlic a lot but that's way too much garlic."
"Cries in thin blood."
"Cries in vampire but also mildly interested in your thin blood."
Salty and heat.
"Jalapeños. When I worked at Domino's someone ordered a thin crust pepperoni/jalapeño and called back later to cancel. So my manager and I said f*ck it and ate it. Despite thinking it wouldn't be good. Holy sh*t was it good. If you don't mind the heat, I highly recommend it. Doesn't matter if it's thin crust or not, but just pepperoni and jalapeño."
"So close to my favorite which is =pepperoni, jalapeños and bacon. So good!!"
"Hear me out: pepperoni, jalapeño, and pineapple."
"Salt, heat, sweetness and acidity. It's a goddamn revelation the first time you try it."
"This is the holy trinity of pizza combos. Every time I have friends over I order this pizza and even if they don't normally like those ingredients they just work so perfectly off each other everyone loves the combination."
"Try that combo with chicken instead of pepperoni. Got it by mistake one time, and it's fantastic."
More of a good thing.
"Extra cheese."
"Sometimes all ya need is cheese pizza."
"Simple, slightly greasy, delicious cheese."
"A few months ago I had the messiest night ever, and as a 27 year old my hangover resistance is starting to fade."
"I had ordered an absolutely filthy triple cheese and pepperoni pizza from a trashy takeout and it saved my life I'm sure. That amount of cheese and grease just resonated within my soul. Hot and cold it was simply beautiful."
"I remember this one pizza joint that was open late. Always hit it up after a night on the town. Massive amount of cheese (and grease) that was the best while drunk and barely tolerable while sober. It was just that perfect combo that resonates with alcohol and seems to help with hangovers."
A better substitute for pepperoni.
"Sausage and onions. Everybody wants pepperoni but they are sleeping on the sausage and onions."
"Chorizo's a good alternative to pep. Chorizo and chicken. With fresh herbs on top after it comes out."
"I live in a place that I should see this, but I never even thought of chorizo on a pizza. that sounds so bomb, cilantro, fresh onion and a squeeze of lime, that would be it."
Flavorful peppers.
"Banana peppers. So much flavor!"
- jcpmojo
"Banana peppers or pepperoncini? There's a substantial difference and having worked at a Chicagoland pizza place - the amount of complaints from people who order one but want the other was massive."
"Idk if it's regional but if you want a pickled pepper - like you get with your papa John's (trash) - order pepperoncini. If you want a fresh pepper that's mostly sweet with a mild kick - banana pepper. Hardly anywhere actually has banana peppers though - except for more upscale pizza places. - may be regional. Dunno"
Don't forget your greens.
"Spinach."
"Or arugula at the very end. Delish."
"Spinach and roasted red peppers is my favorite combo when I make a homemade pizza."
The controversial topping.
"I'm about to start a war here....Pineapple."
"Before I tried Hawaiian pizza, I would've argued against it; But after trying it, I will wholly support you."
"Ham and pineapple is okay, but ham is already a sweet meat. I prefer my pineapple with a more savory meat, usually either pepperoni or sausage or bacon. Yeah those are often also made of pork but they're smokier or spiced, so it hits different and I enjoy it more than regular ham. Throw some jalapeños on there and I'll wolf it down."
"This is the best answer. It seems that reddit hates pineapple on pizza for some reason, and yet obviously plenty of people love it since it's offered as a topping by every pizza place that exists."
"It's weird because I'd call pineapple a top 3 topping. Like if I was ordering pizzas for a big group and I was doing 3 types, I put pineapple on a bunch of them."
"It's extremely popular. I had no idea it was even supposed to be controversial."
According to Huffington Post, the top three are pepperoni, mushrooms, and onions.
If none of these are your favorite, not to worry. It's all just pizza anyways.
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Why can't people behave like normal human beings? Why is going out to eat for a simple meal such an arduous issue?
Dining out has always been a fun life pastime, but has quickly turned into an anxiety-inducing circus.
When I'm out to eat, there is so much wrong happening that I witness.
It's just as delicious and easy to microwave leftovers.
I also may just be overly dramatic and picky. A lot of things disturb my dining peace, but I'm not alone.
RedditorDateInterestingwanted to talk about how to act in when eating out, it's time for lessons. They asked:
What really pisses you off inside Restaurants?
Kids. Don't bring your kids out to eat. Unless you've taught them how to be silent. They are my biggest pet peeve. They scream and shout. I can't.
Quiet!
Golden Girls Rose GIF by TV LandGiphy"When they have wicked loud music that you can't hear anyone talking over." ~ Imagenerum
Don't Touch
"When the table is sticky." ~ BronzeGutlet
"I worked in a place where the finish on the tables was starting to really wear off, and on a hot day the humidity would just make every single table soooo sticky, no matter what you did. It so freaking annoying for everyone involved. The day they were refinished was such a relief." ~ Im_Probably_Crazy
Back Up
"Spacing. I get it, if you own an establishment (a good one) you want to get as many seated as possible. I hate having to lean and whisper to have a conversation." ~ m1ster_grumpee
"I worked at a PF Chang's for a couple of years and there was already limited space, but on holidays they would split tables to get more people in at once and I have never witnessed anything like it in a restaurant."
"The customers would have to squeeze in as tight as possible and still be chair to chair with other people and then us servers could not get in between the tables. We would be squeezing, pushing people, and moving tables and chairs all while holding a heavy tray of food and drinks right over these customers heads, every year we would tell management not to, but they didn't care." ~ Tato_creator
"Its this price at the liquor store!"
"Menus without prices. Tables that are too small and too tightly spaced. Tables that are not cleaned well." ~ wanted_to_upvote
"I have so many people at my bar order drinks and complain about the price when it's clearly on the menu. The most common I get is "Its this price at the liquor store!" Well yeah, the liquor store is in a crappy part of town and doesn't have an on-premise license, and doesn't pay people to make your drink or prep your ingredients. If you are on a budget, ask prices or look at a menu!" ~ showMeYourPitties10
Bad Sounds
american idol singing GIFGiphy"I was a cook for 15 years, anytime I am seated too close to an open kitchen and I can hear the demonic buzz of a docket printer, my meal is ruined." ~ quaswhat
I hate sitting near the kitchen. Like, why did you even design this place to have seats near the back of house staff? Of course room is always as issue. Too many places are too cramped.
Yuck!
Basketball Wives Ugh GIF by VH1Giphy"Not properly cleaned utensils, plates and cups/mugs." ~ jay-ar55
Everyone know what they want?
"Great meal, great service, then when we're ready to pay and leave, the server is nowhere to be found." ~ ShrekTheHallz
"We were in a place in Tokyo where the table had a small button on it. Pressing it told the staff you were ready to speak to the server. Everyone know what they want? [Press] Need more water? [Press] Ready to pay? [Press]"
"I had the North American "That's kinda rude, demanding people come to you" feeling but we were told it's more efficient - staff can do other things in the kitchen (like folding napkins or helping with prep) instead of wandering around the floor in case someone needs something." ~ DulceEtBanana
So Krafty!
"As a mac n cheese lover, when they have "side of baked mac n cheese" on the menu and then they bring out Kraft mac n cheese." ~ ham_alamadingdong
"Before I had a kid, I had NO IDEA how prevalent this was. They literally just charged me 5-6 bucks for a 30 cent microwaved bag of pre-cooked kraft. I guess I should know better though, because unless there's mac and cheese in the adult menu somewhere then there's no reason for the place to actually prep and cook it." ~ Lamprophonia
I wanna be deaf...
"The noise level." ~ vieniaida
"So many restaurants just don't give a crap about acoustics. It is such a simple thing to consider, to make the ambience just right: Bustling energetic type of 'foodie' place - buy hard furnishings."
"Makes everything sound loud, echoey, and vibrant. Romantic candle lit spot - lots of soft furnishings. You can have a deep conversation with the person across from you, without hearing everyone shouting from all directions. Bad acoustics ruins so many dining experiences." ~ IllIIIlIllIlIIlIllI
Bow Down
King Yes GIFGiphy"Customers who act like they are a Roman emperor and the wait staff are their slaves. We've all seen these people at restaurants." ~ genghismom71
I may never eat out again. This thread has ruined it for me. Be better people. Whether you're a customer or staff, be better.
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There's nothing quite like enjoying some food you like. It's one of life's pleasures.
It'll always be there for you, right?
Plot twist: Nope! Foods get discontinued all the time. And the heartbreak this leaves behind is real.
People told us all about the foods they miss after Redditor Artistic_Flood asked the online community,
"What's the BEST discontinued food you miss?"
"Remember those?"
"HOSTESS PIES! Remember those? They came in lemon, apple, cherry, and (my personal favorite) blackberry. I've begun craving that sweet packet of nostalgia since I became pregnant only to learn they no longer exist."
I remember them, especially why I didn't eat them, hahaha!
"Remember the old version of the apple pie at Mcdonald's? It was like the hostess pie but deep-fried. It was awesome. "
"Then they changed the recipe to make the crust flaky -- blech. Then I realized the apple empanada at Taco Bell was pretty similar. Then they discontinued them!"
I remember these. They were pretty good, but then again... I was young.
I'm an adult now, with different taste buds. I don't think trying one today would end well.
"Those different types..."
"Those different types of cereal straws. Those things were amazing."
"They changed the recipe..."
"They changed the recipe for Cadbury creme eggs a few years ago. They still exist as a brand, but the new ones are garbage."
This doesn't surprise me. This is why we can't have nice things.
"The stuff..."
"Dunkaroos. The stuff they brought back into the stores is NOT the same as it was."
"The green apple ones..."
"Lime green Skittles. The green apple ones just overpower the rest and don't mesh at all."
"The square pizza..."
"Old Totino's pizza. Like when they were circular? The square pizza they have now is awful compared to the old version."
Probably a change in the quality of ingredients that came with that change. A shame.
"I still think about..."
"I still think about my favorite (now discontinued) Ben & Jerry's flavor, oatmeal cookie chunk. Apparently, it is one of the company's most missed flavors. They discontinued it because the supplier that made the cookies went out of business."
I've never had this, and now I am sad that I haven't! Sounds so, so good.
"Not the ones..."
"Burger King's Italian chicken sandwich. Not the ones they keep experimenting with the last few years but the original one from the '90s."
"Those really crunchy..."
"Those really crunchy potato chips cooked in pure peanut oil were the best. Peanut allergies ruined that. I blame the victims for this one."
Are any of these suggestions sending your taste buds on a trip down memory lane? If you're feeling a little sad and wistful, then we're sorry.
Nothing, certainly not the products we've enjoyed, lasts forever.
Thinking of some food you miss that hasn't been mentioned? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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