Reminds me of this:
I have never eaten a pot noodle in my life, are they really that nice?
I didnât have one for years and bought one to re-live the student memories. They sadly were not as tasty as I rememberedâŚ
I am not afraid of anything; I am just saying that (allegedly) they taste âbetterâ than Axaâs pasta i.e. I replied to his post about cooking Fusilli instead of instant noodles. And comparing it with salt is just silly. Where is that groan button when you need it. 
It makes low quality food taste better. And slightly addictive.
It probably can do but it can make good food taste even better. Parmesan is full of natural MSG but a bit grated on a pasta dish (made from good quality ingredients) takes it too the next level.
My guilty pleasure - when the block of parmesan is out I like to take a chunk and eat it with a few swigs of red wine at the same time!
2 Likes
Yeah, but we donât talk about natural MSG here. Instant noodles are just flour, starch, water and salt. You canât compare the nutritional value of Parmesan and noodles.
Guilty?! We used to give both our boys pieces of parmesan when they were toddlers to chew on. I still have and insist on the (admittedly romantic) theory that they never developed much taste for junk food because they had better and tastier sources of umami
2 Likes
I repeat, it wasnât about foods full of natural MSG. And Parmesan is my absolute favourite on top of pasta and other casserole dishes. I can also eat small pieces just like that, OH doesnât get it.
Theyâre interesting but nothing special. You should have one pot and see whatâs all about it, no big deal. Is a studentâs diet staple or other very busy people on a low budget.
Whatâs the difference between ânaturalâ and âunnaturalâ msg? They are, from absolutely every angle, the exact same thing. If youâre referring to foods that dont ânaturallyâ have msg, but have it added separately, well, whats the difference between msg and salt added to a dish that ânaturallyâ doesnt have neither salt nor msg?
1 Like
They are exactly the same thing but a food natural in MSG doesnât need this additive anymore. Chances are it is much better from a nutritional standpoint. You add this additive to usually cover up something.
1 Like
With this I agree. I was challenging the natural vs unnatural. For me, a bag of chips, with or without msg is the same bag of shit.
It was Tom 1234 who brought the natural MSG into discussion; I guess he didnât lose the opportunity.
It is interesting to see how the discussions about junk foods full of this additive get derailed by the usual âyeah but the tomatoes!â etc etc etc.
1 Like
Because people have a fear of msg and think it is a weird chemical solely created to give flavour to bland food - and that isnât the case.
Why was it wrong to bring it into the conversation?
1 Like
I never said that. I donât have a fear of msg, it was your projection. However, I donât think instant noodles are a proper food. It is tasty maybe, easy made, convenient, cheap, but proper food it ainât. If they didnât add msg it wouldnât be so tempting. (that was my point) And like it or not, a lot of processed foods contain this additive so I donât think it is that harmless as you want me to believe. They usually use it in the food industry to replace real ingredients or enhance the flavour of poor quality ingredients. Do you add Aromat in everything you cook at home? I personally donât think it is needed.
Just mentioned the fusilli to highlight that instant noodles are not cheap.
Back to the original article from the FT, I agree rising consumption of instant noodles is a red flag for money issues. What the FT does not mention is that instant noodles are also a red flag for the lack of skills to overcome said money issues.
And yet, precisely because of those qualities, the rising demand for instant noodles can look a lot like a societal and economic red flag â a signal, especially in developed countries, that something has broken or is at least under severe strain. They are an index of the primacy of need over greed in straitened times.
2 Likes
They are not cheap here. Funnily enough, you reminded me of a recipe I have learned from an Italian colleague (and friend) of mine, when we were poor but enthusiastic. We only needed 4 ingredients: fusilli, garlic (finely sliced), zucchini and a pack of cheap shrimps. Oh and a bit of olive oil.
It was the first pasta recipe I have learned from an Italian which was in contrast with my momâs version of the big pasta subject: boil spaghetti till you turn them into a mash, prepare the sauce by mixing homemade tomato sauce with lots of butter and lots of garlic that overpowers everything, mix it with spaghetti, season everything with the forgotten feta cheese that went a bit too hard to eat it alone, and voila - spaghetti. DamnââŚI miss that âabominationâ.
I tend to go instant noodle when I have been working a bit late and cant be bothered to cook something, or a boozy evening with a few buddies in the pub after skipping tea. Or when there nothing else in the fridge.
Just a guilty pleasure now and then.
1 Like
I didnât say you did - I said âpeopleâ.
Even the Yuka app which allows you to see the nutritional content of a food item by scanning the bar code lists MSG as potentially hazardous.
As for not being proper food - I agree with you totally. Most instant noodles have few calories, no protein, no fibre and little else apart from some potentially toxic ingredients which have shown to cause cancer in mice.
They are absolute junk.
I do not eat them and the last packet I had was probably twenty years ago.
I donât touch the stuff. I think we have a small container of it at home which I bought as a joke but has proved useful for Swiss visitors.
Funny thing. I once bought a packet of instant noodles and to my dismay, discovered it was a âdietâ version with 30% fewer calories or something like that.
When I started cooking it, I noticed that packet was lighter. Guess what? There was 30% less noodles by weight in the packet!
3 Likes
And you probably paid premium for the âdietâ part on top of that!
1 Like