I just bought a little beef jerky. Haven’t had any in quite a while. It was supposed to be spicy. What I got was something sweet, rubbery and gummy, with barely a hint of heat. (In the US) W.t.f.
When I was a kid, jerky was dry AF, thin, salty, tooth-rippingly tough sometimes, never sweet unless you specifically got a teryaki flavor or something. If you wanted spicy, it was covered in pepper and your mouth would be on fire after just a couple pieces. It was awesome.
Now it’s sugary and chewy. Why people gotta put sugar on everything? Can’t find that dry, thin, peppery stuff anywhere.
What food of yours has disappeared or been wrecked in order to appeal to more people?
Yep. They’re generically hard and sweet. They’ve lost their distinct flavor. They’re not bad, but they’re not great, either.
We live in an area where there are a lot of different kinds of farms. When fruit is in season, even grapes, they’re incredible. They taste “real”. I miss how fruit used to be good and not bred to maintain looks and survive shipping.
I know what you mean. There’s a street market near me that occassionally gets in the most fantastic produce, it’s a bit hit or miss though, even for seasonal as they rarely have the same stuff in each week.
But I still think about that perfect, sun warmed, juicy af yellow melon I bought there a few summers back. That taste was something else, it was like melon³, like there was just so much more melon to this melon. No yellow melon has even come close since then.