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I was in a restaurant in Toronto the one and only time I ate snails. Of course, they were identified on the menu as "escargot". Can anything be more pretentious?!?
Anyway, they were awash with melted butter and garlic, so that was the taste. As far as the morsel itself, it was rather like chewing the eraser on a pencil. So I don't eat them but I also don't consider them mainstream - at least not in the U.S. of A.
You'll enjoy this explanation of what makes escargot escargot.
Anyway, to answer your question "Can anything be more pretentious?", the definition of the word is "something that's promoted with unjustified or exaggerated claims", which doesn't really apply to escargot as it is what it is, a recipe for snails (hopefully cleaned as per the link above).
IMO, pretentious more often is found in restaurants that make unjustified and exaggerated claims about "homemade", "organic", "authentic", "fresh", etc. when the food is anything but.
Just because something may seem to have snobbish appeal doesn't make it "pretentious" when it is what it is and doesn't overpromise anything beyond being tasty.
Blood pudding aka black pudding is wonderful. I ate it frequently growing up. But not mainstream in the US.
LOL @ eating snails like eating garlic-flavored pencil erasers! I have eaten (and gathered for eating) snails, in France yet, and they are pretty rubbery and tasteless; redeemed only by copious amounts of garlic butter.
Same goes for frog's legs. Which, like squirrel, are too unnervingly mini-human-looking for me to enjoy, plus neither tasted that good to me.
Calling snails "escargot" isn't any more pretentious than calling crushed chick peas "hummus" or pasta by any of its Italian names, or Greek goat cheese Feta or lattes or cappuccino....it's just using the name of the food using the native country of origin terminology.
If you go to other countries, they often call American staples by their US names. Hamburger, hot dog, Big Mac. Really.
LOL @ eating snails like eating garlic-flavored pencil erasers! I have eaten
(and gathered for eating) snails, in France yet, and they are pretty rubbery and
tasteless; redeemed only by copious amounts of garlic butter. Same goes for frog's legs. Which, like squirrel, are too unnervingly
mini-human-looking for me to enjoy, plus neither tasted that good to me.
I don't eat frogs' legs. I can't bear the thought of those poor little froggies in wheelchairs.
I agree with another poster I hate any kind of egg dish where the yolk is runny it just completely turns me off.
On a side note about nasty food I have a friend who takes road trips all the time and tries to convince me how great potted meat with crackers is UGH lol I've seen her open the can and the fact that the "meat" is pink and smells like garbage puts me off.
I thought this was the thread where I had mentioned taking canned bacon into the field as a research student in New Mexico but I can't see any replies by me.
I read through most of the replies and, although I see several things I would not go out of my way to stock in my refrigerator or pantry, I didn't see anything I wouldn't try at least once. We also once tried a cute spit-roasted kangaroo rat in the field but I'm pretty sure roasted rodents are not mainstream in most parts of America, at least not yet.
I won't put cheese on eggs. When I go to a 'breakfast joint', I order a ham/mushroom omelette, well done, with no cheese of any kind.
You wouldn't believe how difficult that can be.
I don't like it on salad either. I mean, what's the point of that?
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Really.
