Saturday, May 02, 2009

Pâté or Dog Food?

You want to know why I stay away from the wine? Because if you drink very much of the stuff, confusion sets in.

Here a hint: If you are wondering if the stuff on the serving board is pâté or dog food, give it a pass!

But no, some people are not willing to leave well enough alone, and so research has to be done.

And it was.

Robin Goldstein of the American Association of Wine Economists and colleague researchers provided 18 volunteers five food samples to try in a blind taste test. Only three were able to identify the dog food.

As The Los Angeles Times food blog notes:


[...] The five samples came from a wide price range and were processed to have a similar consistency. The foods were duck liver mousse, pork liver pâté, two imitation pâtés — pureed liverwurst and Spam — and Newman’s Own dog food.

Eight participants believed the liverwurst was the dog food, and four thought the Spam was the culprit.

Two people identified the high-end pâté as dog food, and one identified the duck liver mousse as dog food.

On the upside: 72% rated the dog food as the worst-tasting pâté.
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5 comments:

Heather Houlahan said...

Newman's is a pretty good brand, and probably puts a premium on taste.

I should claim that I'd eat Newman's before I'd eat Spam, but I have eaten Spam, and will probably go forth and sin again.

Fried with potatoes and onions, preferably over a campfire, though.

I would probably eat Newman's before I'd eat pureed liverwurst.

How did they get 18 volunteers who *knew* they were going to be eating dog food?

Viatecio said...

I've tried a few varieties of canned dog food and at least one of them was good enough to eat on a regular basis if only it was a balanced diet for humans. Unfortunately, pâté is one thing I've never had, so I can't compare. If it's really that much like canned dog food, there shouldn't be an issue :P

/agreed on the wine point!

aficat said...

Hey, have you seen this yet? Michael Vick = Peta spokesman...

Rocambole said...

Mmmmmmmmmm, liverwurst! :-D

It's the PA Dutch in me. When visiting the in-laws, we always stop on the way home at the Mennonite grocery store for pantry staples and one of the few places we'll actually buy lunch meat.

Amish liverwurst, red onion and tomato with honey mustard on rye bread -- it doesn't get much better than that!

Dorene

zron said...

Thanks a lot Patrick! I'll never again be able to appreciate pate without thinking it tastes like dog food. Or maybe the restaurant was cutting costs . . .