When it comes to food, cooking, and eating, people have some pretty staunch opinions. So Redditor u/jaded_toast asked, "What is the smallest [food] hill you're willing to die on?" I also rounded up some responses from the BuzzFeed community, and here's what people had to say.
1."If grilled cheese contains other ingredients besides bread and cheese, it is a melt. And if mac 'n' cheese contains other toppings, it is a casserole."
2."Slow cookers are wildly overrated and overused. Most meals should not be made in a slow cooker. This gadget is a great way to keep food warm, but it's not the best way to cook many of the dishes that are commonly made in it. For example, chicken and dumplings take 30 minutes on the stove top. If you slow cook it for four hours, it loses all its texture."
3."Rigatoni with spiral ridges are infinitely more delicious than rigatoni with straight ridges. It might seem like an insignificant difference, but it matters."
4."Sandwiches cut on the diagonal taste so much better than those cut into a square. There is no room for argument."
5."'Dry brining' is a silly term that everyone should forget. A brine is a mixture of salt and water. If you remove the water, you have salt. Just call it what it is, and say you’re salting your meat or using a dry rub."
6."There is no such thing as one universal hot sauce. Anyone should keep a variety on hand to go with different foods."
7."It's not always cheaper to cook at home. In fact, as a newly single person, I've noticed it's rough...and expensive!"
8."Vanilla is most definitely a flavor. It is not 'plain.' I believe Alton Brown once said vanilla has more flavor compounds than any other ingredients used in cooking, making it the most complex flavor we eat."
9."A lot of that cast iron care stuff is complete bullshit. Cook on it, wash it, dry it, and move on with your life. It’s one of the oldest cooking methods around, and people act like cleaning that shit is the same as handling plutonium."
10."MSG is not the 'poison' so many folks make it out to be. It’s used a lot in southeast Asian cooking, and honestly, I don’t understand why it’s not used all over, considering it’s so applicable to everything. It’s one of the primary flavorings on Doritos and many other salty snacks, so most Americans are plenty familiar with it already."
11."Spicy does not equate to 'flavorful.' You can have non-spicy dishes that are absolutely delicious and packed with flavor. I think making a dish spicy for no real reason completely ruins it."
12."A good kitchen knife can replace almost any one-use kitchen gadget. In fact, most 'clever' kitchen utensils are just clutter. Invest in a good knife that you know how to use, and there's no need for these gadgets whatsoever."
13."If you don't like vegetables, you've probably just been eating the wrong preparation of them. When they're boiled to hell and not seasoned, veggies are gross. But if you lightly steam or roast and then season them, they taste freaking amazing and are still healthy."
14."Arugula is disgusting. It doesn't taste 'peppery' — it tastes bitter and gross. Anytime I see an otherwise tasty-looking sandwich or salad on a menu with arugula, I'm immediately disappointed. Choose literally any other type of leafy green."
15."Jarred garlic is gross, and there's no excuse for using it. It takes almost no time to smash a clove. All you have to do is remove the skin, mince it, and run a knife through it a few times. There, you’re done. Not to mention that fresh garlic is dirt cheap, too."
16."Forget anything you've heard to the contrary or any cooking faux-pas that forbid it. Cheese and seafood go wonderfully together in a ton of dishes."
17."American cheese doesn't even deserve to be called cheese. It's not the same category. The proper labeling would be yellow plastic."
18."Recipe prep times are usually an understated lie to make you feel more comfortable cooking. They always seem to subtract prep time, which is significant. Chopping, measuring, and prepping for mise en place cooking should be included in the total cook time."
19."There actually is such a thing as too much garlic. Use too much and it overpowers the other flavors and gives me an upset stomach."
20."The best homemade mac 'n' cheese starts with Velveeta. I will not be convinced otherwise. I mix in other cheeses, too, but I always use a good-sized chunk of Velveeta as my base. I bring my mac 'n' cheese to almost every gathering, and it's always a hit."
21."We need to make burgers wider — bigger in circumference — instead of taller. I don't want the ingredients to fall out when I try to take a bite."
22."Jarred pasta sauce is actually totally fine. I never make my own marinara sauce from scratch. I just take a good jar of marinara (Rao's or something like that) and doctor it up a little with herbs, garlic, etc. Sometimes, I’ll even use it as a base for vodka sauce. But let's get one thing very clear: I'll never use jarred Alfredo sauce. 😑"
23."If a dish does not otherwise require the use of hands, there should be no tails on shrimp. I don't want to be fishing around in my pasta because the chef couldn't be bothered to remove the tails."
24."Some foods taste better burnt. Not only that, but some foods actually should be burnt in order to properly prepare them. In Mexican cooking, for example, if you don't char your tortillas or chiles, you didn't make it correctly."
25."Tofu is so misunderstood. The way tofu is treated in Western cuisine is a crime. It's not just a protein for vegetarians. It's a delicious ingredient that, when cooked well, should appeal to everyone. In fact, in many Chinese and Korean dishes, it is cooked with meat. The idea that tofu is a meat replacement is actually totally wrong."
26."Heating up leftover chicken and dumping it into a bowl of instant ramen noodles 100% counts as a proper 'homemade' meal."
27."There's really no use for nonstick cookware. You can't sear anything or get good browning. I’d rather my eggs or pancakes stick a little bit than buy a non-stick pan and subsequently ruin everything else I make."
28."Instant coffee is totally fine. Some brands are particularly delicious, and all you need is a teapot and a coffee mug — maybe some flavored creamer if that's your thing. Coffee snobs can fight me on it."
29."I don’t care what people say: processed cheese is delicious. When I want a cheese sauce, I simply do not have the time (or the patience) to grate a block of cheese, make a roux, and then a bechamel to melt the cheese into. Processed is A-OK and delicious."
30."Truffle oil is vile, it ruins everything, and it tastes nothing like truffles."
31."Oatmeal is so much better as a savory food. I love making it with broccoli and cheese. But any savory ingredients make a bowl of oatmeal so much more delicious than a sweet one with fruit or brown sugar."
32."All salads should be salted, even if they're just leafy greens. A sprinkle of salt and pepper brings out the flavor and makes a world of difference."
33."Frozen vegetables are often superior to fresh ones, and I buy them all the time. The immediate farm to factory flash-freezing process preserves the nutrients that are otherwise naturally lost during the time it takes for raw, fresh produce to travel from farm to factory to distribution center to grocery store."
34."Avocado should never be served hot. I tried that breakfast that calls for cracking an egg into half of an avocado and baking it. Well, it was disgusting. Avocado should be enjoyed cold or room temperature."
35."There's no such thing as 'breakfast food' or 'dinner food.' You can eat a steak in the morning and fry an egg for dinner. It's all just food, and you should eat what makes you feel good."
36."Fifteen-minute recipes are a complete lie. It takes at least 45 minutes to make anything good — including prep time."
37."Presentation barely matters. Flavor should trump appearance every single time. I've had many delicious scoops of slop."
38."Lasagna tastes better the next day after it's been reheated in a microwave."
39."The flavor you gain from adding sliced avocado to a sandwich is not worth how slippery said avocado makes said sandwich."
40."Anything can be paired with either cheese or chocolate. It is the fondue theory, and it always holds up. Prove me wrong."
41."Banana peppers are THE superior pizza topping. There is no other contender."
42."Yes, you should always salt your food, but pepper doesn't belong on everything. It doesn't enhance flavor like salt does. It just makes food taste more peppery."
43."Cooking steak on the stove top in a cast iron pan is superior to cooking it on any outdoor gas or charcoal grill."
So, what's your most resolute food opinion that you're willing to defend until the end? Tell us in the comments below.
