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The seemingly terminal decline of Tim Hortons

Admiral Beez said:
Milk shakes are a top breakfast item in the US market.
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To be fair my mother was asked if she wanted caramel and marshmallows on her steak in Pennsylvania.

I am curious who would actually eat caramel or marshmallows on their steak and why it is big enough business for the staff to suggest it.
 
I remember the first time I had American-style sweet potato casserole (mashed sweet potato with copious brown sugar and marshmallows). It was at a university friendsgiving dinner. I personally find sweet potatoes a bit sweet for my taste naturally, my preferred preparation is to counterbalance with savoury flavours like butter, cumin and chili powder.
 
afransen said:
I remember the first time I had American-style sweet potato casserole (mashed sweet potato with copious brown sugar and marshmallows). It was at a university friendsgiving dinner. I personally find sweet potatoes a bit sweet for my taste naturally, my preferred preparation is to counterbalance with savoury flavours like butter, cumin and chili powder.
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To me they're ok, but not worth the price. I have a bit of an issue with marshmallows used as an ingredient or condiment in . . . well . . . anything; but, then again, I understand some places in Europe put mayo on fries and think we're weird for adding vinegar.

This could also spark an off-topic discussion on 'Jell-o salads' as a main course serving, containing fruits and/or vegetables and seemingly no end of variations. The US claims it comes from the Pennsylvania area, but I grew up with it via one aunt who, beside being the chef and host extraordinaire of the family, was a big fan of them. Our son-in-law if from the Ottawa Valley and it seems they are still fairly popular down there. I find them a curiosity - he is somewhat triggered.
 
lenaitch said:
To me they're ok, but not worth the price. I have a bit of an issue with marshmallows used as an ingredient or condiment in . . . well . . . anything; but, then again, I understand some places in Europe put mayo on fries and think we're weird for adding vinegar.

This could also spark an off-topic discussion on 'Jell-o salads' as a main course serving, containing fruits and/or vegetables and seemingly no end of variations. The US claims it comes from the Pennsylvania area, but I grew up with it via one aunt who, beside being the chef and host extraordinaire of the family, was a big fan of them. Our son-in-law if from the Ottawa Valley and it seems they are still fairly popular down there. I find them a curiosity - he is somewhat triggered.
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Long history of Jello salads - https://www.seriouseats.com/history-of-jell-o-salad

Don't forget ambrosia salad. 🤢

AoD
 
lenaitch said:
To me they're ok, but not worth the price. I have a bit of an issue with marshmallows used as an ingredient or condiment in . . . well . . . anything;
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Yes
lenaitch said:
but, then again, I understand some places in Europe put mayo on fries and think we're weird for adding vinegar.
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You can't find vinegar for your fries in much of the U.S. who are absolutely obsessed with ketchup on fries or in the alternative gravy.

Vinegar is far superior!

***

As to mayo, if you add garlic we call it aioli and that's an increasingly big thing for fries here too, as you can then add further flavours Chioptle Aioli w/Sweet Potato fries has become quite the thing.

Its not vinegar......but its better than ketchup!

lenaitch said:
This could also spark an off-topic discussion
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I think this thread is doomed be the fast food is so awful thread....

lenaitch said:
on 'Jell-o salads' as a main course serving, containing fruits and/or vegetables and seemingly no end of variations.
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Aspic; my maternal grandmother was the chefy one in the extended family. Sunday dinners at her house were 8-12 people and aside from roast whatever (beef/turkey etc.) and traditional sides, there was often an aspic on the table.

I didn't understand them or eat them at age 6, and in this one respect, I haven't changed at all in 4 decades...........
 
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Northern Light said:
You can't find vinegar for your fries in much of the U.S. who absolutely obsessed with ketchup on fries or in the alternative gravy.
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[/QUOTE]
Yup, forgot about that.
Northern Light said:
Aspic; my maternal grandmother was chefy one in the extended family. Sunday dinners at her house were 8-12 people and aside from roast whatever (beef/turkey etc.) and traditional sides, there was often an aspic on the table.

I didn't understand them or eat them at age 6, and in this one respect, I haven't changed at all in 4 decades...........
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Ah yes, tomato aspic was one of my aunt's regulars. I just lump them in with everything else that was jelled and moulded. When I was a kid, I ate them - at least a small portion - because I was a guest and that's how I was raised (and also, there's not a whole lot I don't eat, especially as a kid). Besides, to a kid, jello + fruit was kinda cool and it got you off the hook for some vegetables that might have been just tolerated. Full plates to clean plates was a family expectation.
 
lenaitch said:
Good article. "Olive Relish" (olives, pickles, celery, and vinegar in lime Jell-O)" - - I rest my case.
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The thought of salad being encased in sweet/tart jello in their fluorescent colours is just so off-putting. Aspic would have been "better" (though gelatin is something I'd rather not think too much about given what it came from). I prefer the texture of agar over jello in any case - firmer, chewier.

lenaitch said:
Ah yes, tomato aspic was one of my aunt's regulars. I just lump them in with everything else that was jelled and moulded. When I was a kid, I ate them - at least a small portion - because I was a guest and that's how I was raised (and also, there's not a whole lot I don't eat, especially as a kid). Besides, to a kid, jello + fruit was kinda cool and it got you off the hook for some vegetables that might have been just tolerated. Full plates to clean plates was a family expectation.
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Use V8 (or Clamato) - with a shot of vodka? Cut it up in little cubes and serve it on a plate with a pile of salt.

AoD
 
lenaitch said:
I understand some places in Europe put mayo on fries and think we're weird for adding vinegar.
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"Mayo" in Europe is usually much different than what is often sold as mayonnaise here (at least in continental Europe, I don't know about the UK); it is made by hand with a whisk and has much more mustard in it (which also contains vinegar) plus other flvourings, and it has a more runny consistency.

There's a lot of traditional cuisine and food combinations that get lost in cross-Atlantic translation. Don't get me started on mixing cheese and seafood, which friends in Italy comment on how North Americans' idea that Italians believe you cannot ever mix those at any time is "bizarre" as it's something they know Italians have always done, but with the right cheese, in the right amount, for the right moment. There is a deep rabbit hole you can go down online and in books that explains the history of how and why that myth came about (early 20th century immigration patterns, trade economics, and restaurant vs. home cooking practices) and why there are some reasons it is perpetuated to this day, even by some celebrity chefs on TV when they simultaneously have cheese and seafood entrees on their own restaurant menus (authenticity is in the eye of the beholder), but that's a bit too far off topic for Tim Hortons.
 
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