Nerd Pride Radio

I'll name a food. Everyone will rate it on a scale of 0 to 100. 0 is the worst, 100 is the best. Rate the food based on whatever criteria you want, and hopefully we can discuss.

After a bit, we add a new food and repeat the process. There's no other structure, so if you come in late, rate everything you've missed... or don't. If we move on, but you still have more to say about pineapple on pizza... then keep that one going. Whatever.

First food... Raisins!

Raisins: 76

I like raisins. I never did as a kid, but they've grown on me. I like snacking raisins, but also, if I encounter raisins with other stuff, it's usually something I like. Raisins in cookies? Hell yeah. My trail mix? Of course! Cinnamon bread. Breakfast cereal. Heck, I even like it in savory stuff once in a while. Very rarely am I disgusted or disappointed by an encounter with raisins.

RAISINS: A CAUTIOUS 64!

I like raisins, especially in things. However, they have to be the right raisins. Those generic, store brand boxed raisins that are just a little bit stale and small and wrinkly? Those are a hard 12. I'll eat 'em, but probably not for a snack. In something where they re-hydrate a little bit? Okay. But sun-maid raisins in the better packaging? Oh yes. They are slightly larger, plumper and more enjoyable to eat. Those I will eat way too many of!

52
I like them ok but don't seek them out. I avoid most cold cereals with them though because they tend to be hard and chewy in that scenario (raisin nut bran is a notable exception as they do something do them that I probably don't want to know).

77. Solid, nutritious, tasty treat. I enjoy them in raisin bran. I even like oatmeal raisin cookies. The minus 23 points is because they can be dangerous or deadly to dogs, and 22 is probably the number of times I have lost my entire mind finding raisins in stray places in the house where they weren't supposed to be, after the 1 time my dog ate raisins and vomited and we spent a panicked night in a medical facility.

Raisins: 57

Green Peppers: 21

Green bell peppers: 78
Can be added to lots of things, can be roasted, can be stuffed. Not as good as red bell peppers.

Green Bell Peppers - 23

Oh how does the color make a difference. They are my least favorite kind of pepper. If I have a choice of ANY OTHER pepper, I will choose that pepper instead of the Green Bell. Now, I'm not going to throw a habanero into fajitas, but a red pepper, with that hint of sweetness? Then the flavor profile shoots up a ton. I suppose sometimes you need the bitterness of the green bell to off set some other flavors, but if I can do it another way, I will.

That's where I am. I was going to say 31. There's nothing seriously wrong with a green bell pepper except that virtually any other pepper is a better choice. Even if it's just the extra splash of color you get from other bell peppers.

Raisin: 70. Helped me poop on one oversea trip. That's a huge asset. But on own? Boring. Trail mix? Excellent.

Green Bell Peppers? It's too bitter. So it gets 15.

Raisins: 50. I can take them or leave them on their own. I generally don't care for them in cookies.Fine in cereal. Occasionally will use them in meat-based red sauces, particularly with rolled steak.

Green Bell Peppers: 98. They are crisp and delicious. They can be eaten like an apple. You can slice them up and use them as salad toppers. Make them smaller, and put them in your marinara sauce. Or chili. Or salsa. Or salads. Or Chinese food (pepper steak). Or steak sandwiches. Or tunafish. Or take one, hollow it out, and take another chop it up, and put it in your salad. Or cook it with rice and hamburger inside of it. Truly versatile.

Begin with the baseline:
I will eat (have eaten) most things except liver. Not fussy, but I'll be happy to play

raisins...portable grapes
not amazing for flavor, but a little natural sugar and fiber, not tremendous flavor, but refreshing and sustaining
added to something, especially as a surprise can ramp up the recipe as much as adding " Lieutenant" in front of your name.
bad raisins are like bad anything, taste like tiny stones. So I'm judging from at least nominal quality
78

Green bell peppers.
Quality spectrum very wide, had some that basically were juicy styrofoam, others (home grown) that were complex and melt in the mouth
So, farmstand quality:
snappy texture, largely neutral ingredient as far as imparting (or imposing) itself, but there is something about them that shifts flavor profiles
not pretending to be spicy, but goo texture addition, and a decent starter for kids if you plan to introduce onions and other, bolder things later
62

Green bell pepper is a tough one! They're so nutritious and ubiquitous and easy to grow, but they taste like such crap compared to every other pepper. I give them a baseline 25 for being a solid healthy food full of vitamins, but every single time I want a yellow or red pepper or an Anaheim chili or a poblano or... instead.

Time for a 2'fer!

Rate: horseradish

And then...

Rate: white chocolate

Horseradish: 4. Ugh. I do not like horseradish. Just no. I would go with zero, but recently we found a recipe for loose meat sandwiches that calls for 1 tablespoon of creamed horseradish for five pounds of meat. And it's pretty good. But I imagine it would be just as good without it. But it gets 4 points for not being totally worthless.

Horseradish: 85

A pleasant zing, I wouldn't eat it on its own, though if its anything like fresh Wasabi, it's probably milder than it would be after it enters its more prepared form. I like it especially when it is made into a sauce, usually for dipping something fatty into. French fries, falafel, that sort of thing. Also Google chrome does not recognize falafel as a word and the red line appears. I think Google is demonstrating some underlying racism here.

White Chocolate: 32

While I don't heap hate upon it the way, say, Alton Brown might, I DO agree that it's a misnomer to actually call it chocolate. It wouldn't even work for me if it WERE chocolate, because I prefer it the darker the better. That said, I don't really use it and can't imagine a time where I would want that particular flavor profile. I guess, for that reason, I should give it a N/A, but I'm being judgy.

White chocolate: 95. It's cocoa butter and sugar. What else do you need? And I know it gets a bad rap for not being "real" chocolate, and I think ,"fine, then change the name and let it be it's own thing". I like chocolate well enough, but I like white chocolate even better. I know it's not a majority opinion, but I yam what I yam.

Horseradish: 85. Nothing like a good sinus clearing to destroy any sinus issues. Horseradish cheddar so good.

White chocolate: 40. Meh, but don't hate it.

Horseradish...the good kind, of course, The kind my sister prepares at home. Never actually nibbled on the root raw, but it's now on my list.
Hugely utilitarian for spice with foods from places that didn't have sunshine. deeper, more substantial spice than most peppers, maybe it's the fiber, maybe the bitters, but adds heat and texture to carnivorous palate.
88

White chocolate. As a garnish, not as a real thing one eats.
Why? Because bad white chocolate might as well be a sweetened candle.
There are some smooth vanilla tones that make vodka better, for example, or blend well with other things, but for me, this really classes with herbs or spices as far as how much I would like to have at one sitting. Can't imagine a white chocolate candy bar (heaven forfend, I have seen white chocolate bunnies at easter, eew).
20