The best version of a food should never âruinâ other foods
By Janis McMath, Assistant Editor
Seeing that I spend most of my life watching food vlogs, I often hear âX food will ruin all other similar foods for you!â I dislike this saying because I think it is inherently ungrateful.
It is certainly difficult to not take things for granted when we are so lucky to feel so familiar with many privileges, but we have to push ourselves act and speak in a thankful manner otherwise we fall into the habit of being ungrateful. Saying things like âI can never enjoy X food againâ is embarrassingly entitled and points to a questionable way of thinking.
Approaching life with the philosophy that the very best version of something lessens what you have is a tremendously negative way to look at life. Constantly comparing what you have with what others have is a game with no prizes and no winners. Just because someone has something better than you does not mean the intrinsic value of what you have is minimized. The value is only lessened if you dictate that it has been.
Also, considering that people only say this phrase when they try a new delicacy for the first time, I refuse to believe that foods that their palate have already been developed to appreciate could change so abruptly. I think this phrase is often used to peacock the amazing food experience to other people who havenât had the pleasure. Logically, if all other foods are ruined for the foodie and youâve never had the food theyâre speaking of, theyâre basically saying that everything you eat is garbage to them now.
Why is a different category of food even being compared to âhigh qualityâ food anyways? Many reference wagyu beef, an intensely marbled beef that Japan is known for, as a meat that ruins all other meats for them. My issue with this is that all different tiers of food have different things to offer. For example, wagyu beef can never offer me what a luncheon meat like SPAM can. Sometimes there is nothing I want more than to let my hair down and eat some delicious canned salty lunch meat.
Nothing can stop me from seeing the good in both options, regardless of which is better in quality. I understand that we all exaggerate, but this saying just comes off unmindful.