A Hot Dog Is a Sandwich - Why Do Picky Eaters Exist? ft. Link Neal

Episode Date: August 18, 2021

Today, we're joined by the king of preferential eating himself, Link Neal of Good Mythical Morning, to discuss: why do picky eaters exist? To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This, this, this, this is Mythical. What possesses a man who famously eats food on the internet to be a picky eater? Today, we find out, because this is A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. Ketchup is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense. A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich.

What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich, the show to our podcast of Hot Dog is a Sandwich The show where we break down the world's biggest food debates I'm your host Josh Ayer And I'm your host Nicole Handizadeh And today we're honored to be joined by someone with great taste and distaste Former sushi doubter and the prince of peculiar preferences Mr. Link Neal

Link, welcome to the show Did you just call me a sushi dadder? I tried to say sushi doubter I was like, what? Oh, a sushi doubter Is sushi doubter even like the proper thing to say because are you still a sushi anti-sushi

no I'm not are you a democratic sushi list no I'm not I'm very picky when it comes to sushi but I'm not opposed to it as an entire category of food. Do you go out to sushi and enjoy it with people?

Have you found things that you... Christy loves it. Lily really likes it. Lincoln loves sushi. So every week he's asking for it. To be ordered. I mean, usually to order it nowadays. Which to me makes it not as good.

If you're getting the raw stuff. Yeah, I feel. Yeah, I totally agree. I'm pretty anti takeout sushi, despite that being like 80% of my diet throughout quarantine. I eat a lot of sushi too. So I feel you. Sushi is a growth area for me. I am open to input.

You're very brave. Thank you for speaking your truth. There's more where that came from. What's your move as a picky eater? I've gone out to sushi with picky eater friends, and there are different categories of picky sushi eaters. I'm curious what your order is. Like, what are you eating?

I don't like soy paper. I mean, no, soy paper is the only thing I do like. I don't like the, what's the scary black paper? Nori. Nori. Nori is a scary black paper. Like, it stinks. Well, it smells like seaweed, you know.

And so I've gotten to where I can, once I pinpointed that that was the first thing that I was smelling when I was trying to eat sushi. Once I discovered there was soy paper, then I was like, okay, I want to be a part of my family into the future. That's great. I don't want sushi to be the reason that I get kicked out. That would be hilarious if you were just like, you know, I don't intend on staying a part of my family, and this was the podcast that you chose to reveal. I'm glad that you're committed.

So I was like, I'll try something with some soy paper. I like crab. I like avocado. Wonderful. I like crab. I like avocado. Wonderful. I like rice. And then spicy tuna. I've gotten to a point where I can eat that and not hate it. I can almost like it.

I can incorporate it into the role. That is genuinely big. That's very, very big. I've been out to sushi with the picky eaters, and there's the type like you, which is there's no good or bad type eating it's a series of preferences it is neither moral nor immoral but the fact that you like want to be a part of people because i know people that just do the chicken teriyaki and gyoza yeah you know but then they're kind of like separate from your group and you're like oh do you want to try this they're like no no but i'm like

yo but i want one of your dumplings and I'm trying to trade, you know. I mean, so much of this conversation came to light as we started eating more food on the show. And then we started, people wanted to start talking to us about the food we ate on the show. And I think that's when we started. I don't know that I consider myself a picky eater until the show, but then it turns out Rhett had considered me a picky eater for years before the show, and that he was, he's the type that would get frustrated when I wouldn't share a food experience with him, or I wouldn't like something he liked, because he likes to like something in your face.

Like, I love this, don't you? Yeah, he likes hard. It's like bonding. your face. Like, I love this. Don't you? Yeah. He likes hard. It's like bonding. Yeah. And I get that. It's the same feeling of showing somebody a YouTube video and thinking that they'll love it and then they don't.

And you're like, what do you mean? It's a 12 year old Dutch kid dancing to hard style because those are the videos. Yeah. Oh, the beatboxing videos. To me, it's a perfect example. It's something that's kind of vulnerable. It's like this is something that I love, and I want you to love it too,

and when you don't share in that, then you feel like you lost part of a bond. And beatboxing is awesome. It is. Thank you. But the floppy, totally uncooked thing of fish that's just like over the top of a sushi roll or just sitting on its own?

Like, that is just, I mean, that's wild. That's extreme for someone who didn't eat a burrito until they were in college. That is fair. I'm fascinated by the fact that you didn't know you were a picky eater until the show. So like growing up, were you just not faced with any of these foods and it was after that?

Yeah, like I said, I mean, in college, it was like, let's go to this burrito place. And then it was like, well, you know, I guess at that point I was kind of aware that if I say I've never eaten one of these, that's probably going to be weird. Yeah. Like, a little bit. I get what you're saying, yeah. And I didn't, you know, and I didn't understand that, like, I could specify what was going to be in it.

So once I could pick what was in the burrito, I liked it. Now this is getting into some amateur psychological territory. It was that feeling of control. I'm excited. Yeah, Nicole wanted to be a therapist before she wanted to do this. I also wanted to be a perfumer. And a perfumer. But this is, you've got to find the smelliest person in the office and invite them on.

And then you can talk to them about perfume. Yeah, that's exciting. But no, you're talking about the sense of control, because you also might be a supertaster. We did that on GMM. I didn't pass that test, right? I don't think you did. And then Science Mike did a thing where he was trying to give it back to me

and say, you know what, maybe you are a supertaster. That was a video he made. I don't know if I'm a supertaster. I know that I have control issues, so maybe it's related, but I feel like it's two things for me. Like I grew up in an environment where I wasn't presented with a lot of options. You know, my mom cooked like five different dishes on a rotation, and it was stuff that I liked and that she liked.

Can you like name the five dishes? Do you remember them? It was in the book of Mythicality, and I didn't reread my own book. Country-style steak. Then there was fried chicken tenders. Wait, is country-style steak, is that like a fried steak?

Like a chicken fried steak or a country fried steak? It is, but it's not it's a darker gravy, like a really dark brown gravy and not, it's not like a bunch of breading and then a white gravy poured over top of it. Gotcha. Okay. But it is a cube steak. Yes. With dark brown gravy on it. I grew up eating that same thing, except we called it Swiss steak. Okay, Swiss. That sounds exotic. I think that's probably where it comes from. We shed anything that could have been exotic.

It's like, hey, we're in the country. I like this style. This is my style. Yeah. So this would work for that. But it's not a country fried steak. It's a country style steak is what we call it. I guess it's Swiss steak.

And then she would make mashed potatoes. And the only green thing that I really liked as a kid were the little garden peas. Mm-mm-mm. And I would mix all that together. I mean, I wasn't so particular. I'm not one that's like, oh, I gotta have everything separated.

I like things mixed together and I like a little chaos if I like everything that's involved in the chaos. If you know the chaos, if you're familiar with the chaos, you're cool with that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I would mix all that together and eat it. And, I mean, again, it was every week. There was a stuffed chicken thing that involved stovetop stuffing and cheese on top of a chicken breast. Wait, the stovetop stuffing was on top of the chicken breast. Wait, the stove top stuffing was

on top of the chicken breast? Yeah. Nice. It was great. Sounds good. If she did it right. If she didn't do it right, I just, you know. Would you tell her she wouldn't do it right? Were you that level of control as like a kid? I probably just wouldn't. If it was a little burnt, I wouldn't eat it.

And then. It sounds like you were a picky eater, though. Like, I know you said you didn't have your, like, picky eating self-awareness until later. I was not presented with options

that I recall being really picky about. Like, if I would go to... I mean, I remember going to Rhett's house as a kid and they were drinking milk with their dinner.

And that was weird. But I don't remember... So weird. I don't remember any anxiety of, what are they gonna serve to eat? I just, you. But I don't remember. So weird. I don't remember any anxiety of what are they going to serve to eat? I just, you know, I didn't think anything of it. I would just eat what I liked and I didn't eat the part I didn't like and nobody made a big deal about it.

That's good. I feel bad now. I feel like guilt and shame. Why? Because Link's just a man who's out there eating what he enjoys. Yeah. You know? And we're out here trying to psychoanalyze him.

I'm not psychoanalyzing. I just want to know what's up, man. No, I do too, because, I mean, to me, it's a bit of a curiosity, because I can't empathize with picky eaters. I can, like, certainly empathize with people who seek out experiences they enjoy and don't with the experiences they don't enjoy. I'm somebody who

I can't stand going on roller coasters, and I would try it all the time to appease friends who are like, Josh, oh my God, it's so fun. You got to ride the one that goes 900 miles an hour and shoots you up 300 feet into the air. And I do it and I would just feel sick and I'd get shaky for the rest of the day. Really? And then I had this conversation with Julia recently where we were like, now that we're old enough to be past peer pressure, we never have to go on a roller coaster again. And that rules. Like that's exciting for me that I don't have to do this thing that I don't want to do. Because there are things that we don't like. There's things we do like.

Yeah. It's just preferences. I'm a preferential eater. Yeah. I think is really what I'm trying to invent my new label as. That's smart. Yeah. I'm not picky as a negative connotation but I'm good at picking

because of preference. I'm a preferential eater. I prefer to eat things that I prefer. You're just like out of the way. You're a man who knows what he wants is what you're trying to tell the people. I just want to know why do you hate tomatoes so much? Yeah, that's one that everyone knows. Why?

What about tomatoes makes you uncomfortable? Because I hate sun-dried tomatoes more than anything else in the world. I'm not a picky eater. I like those. Really? I hate them because

they taste like shoe leather to me. I mean, not that I've had shoe leather, but I imagine... The consistency. Yeah, it doesn't work for me and it's tough. I would probably like shoe leather. Yeah? I mean, not that I've had shoe leather, but I imagine. The consistency. Yeah. It doesn't work for me and it's tough. I would probably like shoe leather. Yeah.

I mean, I like fruit roll-ups and I would take them and I would make them more leathery by folding them on themselves. So it would be more of a jerky experience. Tomatoes are, it's like Satan's ovary. Okay. Extrapolate. Go on. I don't know. Isn't that self-explanatory? Have you ever tasted Satan's ovary?

Yeah, a little bit. It's got a bad taste to it. I go to In-N-Out and I get extra Satan's ovaries on it. It tastes it just tastes bad. Is it the taste or the texture of it? I mean, it's really juicy, but biting into a peach, would you say, what's it close to? Because I love to bite into a peach.

It's interesting because the flesh of a tomato, if you get... Very similar. A quick story. I said I can't empathize with pig eaters, but it turns out I can because there's this one specific moment from my childhood. I was at my aunt's lakehouse up in the Pukanoos, and she was like my aunt's lake house up in the Poconos. And she was like, there was- Poconos.

In the Poconos. That's all you got to say, the Poconos. But anyways, there was this like ice cream parlor that I really loved because they did the dipped cones. But they had a bunch of flavors of the hard shell dip. So they had like, you get like a peanut butter ice cream like dipped in peanut butter flavored magic shell. Wow, what a treat. So I was really excited. But, you know, my aunt was like, you can't go to this ice cream parlor unless you finish your vegetables. The only vegetables on the

plate were just like raw sliced tomatoes. So I guess she's of that era where like you go to a diner and you just get a side of sliced raw tomatoes. And I never had a plain tomato. I didn't really like love, love them in my burgers, but I would still eat them, but I'd never had one plain. It was one of those tomatoes. That's like 80 80 slimy seed pulp but and i took a bite and i i dry heaved because of the texture because that like slimy seedy texture when i was a kid was so foreign to me and it was like the first time i had an oyster which to be fair was like a 48 hour old oyster off an all-you-can-eat sushi bar that my brother gave me that was the first oyster you ever ate was an old oyster not yet from an all-you-can-eat sushi bar at the irvine me. That was the first oyster you ever ate. Not a great experience. It was an old oyster. Yeah, from an all you can eat

sushi bar at the Irvine Spectrum. Shout out to the Irvine Spectrum. Get all your dockers there. They weren't your oyster experience. They weren't it. My sushi experience was weren't. The first time I had it was with an optometrist named

Tony who was like I'm taking you to my favorite sushi restaurant. I was a grown ass man. I was married with at least one child at the time and I had not had sushi. And he's like, I'm gonna introduce you to the world of sushi. And then he proceeded to like,

get me to taste eel and the most extreme stuff because he got a kick out of it and he ruined me. He ruined you? Yeah, it's like, you gotta have a delicate, you know, The most extreme stuff because he got a kick out of it. And he ruined me. He ruined you? Yeah. It's like you got to have a delicate, you know, you got to lead someone into the world of sushi delicately if they're in their mid-20s and they've never experienced it. If you're not a Thomas Chase named Tony leading a new father into his first sushi experience, you have like a fiduciary duty.

Was this in L.A.? Someone was in L.A.? No, this is back in Cary, North Carolina. Okay, okay. Are they known for their sushi? I was like. I mean, they've got sushi, but no. I mean, so for a tomato, it doesn't, it's not about how gushy it is.

Okay. I'm fine with gushy. I think it is just the taste. I don't like the taste of it. I think the other component of my pickiness, if you want to call it that. Your preferentiality. I'm a very analytical person. Like I'm always thinking about optimizing things.

And so for me, you know, we're blessed with having so many different choices with the foods we can eat, you know, where we can, so many choices. Well, that's an opportunity for me to find and optimize what works for me. So it's just, you know, so it's a combination of those two things.

I wasn't exposed to a lot as a kid, but I also wasn't, I wasn't traumatized and forced to try things. And so I just didn't. The things that I liked, I stuck with. And then as I got older and I got, I think, more analytical, I was like, I can add things to my life, but I need to do it in a way that works for me. On your own terms. Yeah. I'm really curious that as someone who is an analytical preferential eater, not a picky eater, mind you, do you look at someone like me who is

just purely indiscriminate? I eat absolutely everything. There's not a single food that I dislike. And I used to say raw celery because people would always ask me, like, is there any food you don't eat? Especially after watching Food Fears and me shoving animal testicles in my gullet. And I used to say raw celery, but I've, like, eaten raw celery since and been like, oh, wow, that's pretty tasty. Look at you. Look at me. That's kind of huge. I'm proud of you.

It was just a thing I said for years. But for me, I'm like truly indiscriminate. But do you look at someone like me? Why are you an indiscriminate eater? And I want to know what you are too, Nicole. I think I'm mostly an indiscriminate eater. It comes, well, I don't really know. I think I've always been a person who loves adventure and loves trying new things.

I've always been the person who's going to do something no matter what anyone else says. So whenever it comes to food, I'm always going to, even if it means doing things by myself. So like if I was going to go to a Korean restaurant with my friends and it ended up, the plans falling through, I would go myself. Or like if I were to try something on the menu, I was like, that doesn't sound very good. I'd be like, I'm going to try it anyways. So I guess adventurous is the word I would use to describe my eating style. Yeah. I mean, I like really relate to that and I just, I want to experience everything that the world has to offer. Like I, I see us as being kind of like put here, who knows what the meaning of

life is. However, there is so much to experience and explore. And I think that is like huge to the human condition. The meaning of life might be on the very next plate. Exactly. No, honestly. And I think food is a great way to empathize with people, right? To like learn about other cultures. So for instance, like sushi, like learning about fish preservation in the Edomai period in Japan can help you like, you know, understand certain things about Japanese culture, you know, ditto and also how that influenced other cultures, right? Why there's a big like Japanese influence in Peru. And to me, like that's just food is the lens through which I viewed the world kind of my entire life,

just because I've always loved it. So for me, like every single thing is about food tangentially one way or another. And I want to experience all the world it has to offer. But that said, I don't think that really drives the point home for me in several other areas like like ditto for adrenaline junkies right yeah they want to just people yeah they want to you wait you are an adrenaline I love roller coasters I love paragliding I love I can't wait to go skydiving oh my god no I love that stuff how interesting I'm all about that lifestyle.

No, I totally get it. Are you an adrenaline junkie, or does that trigger your lack of control? I'm an entertainer, so I would only do things if it were being done. Nice. Content. How many likes on this podcast to get you to vlog skydiving? Do you like our podcast? On your show? How many do we usually get?

Probably nothing on your show. How many likes on your tweet that's linking back to this exact show? No, but have you skydovened? No. No. I mean, I guess I'm pretty cautious, but I don't know. I just don't. To me, it doesn't relate to that.

To me, it's just about optimizing my experience. Yeah. So, I mean, I made a decision to step out of my comfort zone and eat things that scare me. But it really took hold in the context of the show, where it was, that's what put me over the edge, really. I mean, with optometrist Tony, we were eating sushi.

Are you still friends, by the way? No. Oh, sorry, Tony. Nice. Oh, he's not listening because we're not friends. I don't know. Why would you be friends with someone

that was enjoying you struggle to eat things? Dude, I don't know. For their own enjoyment. But that no was too clear. That's not the reason why I'm friends. What the hell happened to Tony? Did he dive into the Tony story? Oh, God.

Oh, God. Oh, God. I wish I would have brought that up. Okay, we won't talk about it. But what was my point? Optimizing your experience. No, on the show, I would start, you know, it was entertaining to have that visceral reaction to things I didn't like.

So I did it not to make myself like it or for the adventure. I did it for the entertainment value. And then that made it a good experience for me. Whoa. I mean, I'm not going to eat the world's hottest pepper or any of the lesser ones. Again, I've been there, done that, and moved on. Good. But I'm glad I did it when I did it.

Yeah. I mean, it was scary and it wasn't enjoyable, but it was worth it. And so I use that as a motivation to expand my palate. But I just don't see any reason why I can't optimize my experience. You know, there's a list on Reddit that I did see. I'm looking at it right now. Oh, you have it. Oh, yeah, we printed it.

We printed it out. Okay. Do you want to run down the list real quick? You might want to pick just one letter. I haven't done a lot of my vocal exercises. Let me just run through. Let me do one of each. We got arugula, blue cheese, caviar, duck.

Oh, you're picking one from each. Yes. Oh, dirty martinis, which is weird because I love dirty martinis. It's the only way to drink a martini. Yeah. Eggnog, fruit punch, ginger, hot dogs. Hold on, fruit punch? Hot dogs with the twisty thing at the top, ones that turn at the end.

Also does not prefer thick dogs. Key lime pie, doesn't love it. Licorice, marshmallow except in a s'more. Nuts in his chocolate stuffs. Oysters, pretzels, too bready, rum, seaweed nori, thick burgers, or tomatoes

we already know. See, a lot of these are How long is that list? It might be 300 things. I'm almost done, though. We got uni and Worcestershire sauce. Oh, there's no Z? No. Not in this list. Just like Little Debbie zebra cakes? Or did they put that under L?

But I know there's, the list does grow because I keep saying things that I prefer or that I don't prefer. But it's not that I won't eat it or that if it's the only thing there. Yeah.

It's like, you know, nuts in my brownie. If I really want a dessert, I'll eat the brownie with nuts, but I don't prefer it. It's not optimized for me. Interesting. So it's not that I don't like nuts. I don't like nuts in my brownie.

It must be interesting, though, the way that you communicate that, especially someone who has established themselves as a picky eater, whether it was for, you know, let's say content in the show or it was a thing from your... Because I know what you mean. It becomes like a bit of a state. All of these are true. I'm not lying about anything in this list, but I think that... I didn't mean to imply Well, all of these are true. I'm not lying about anything in this list.

I didn't mean to imply. A lot of these are just, they're optimizations. Yeah. But yeah, I have notes on why things, I just analyze things to a depth of what really works for me. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it seems like as an indiscriminate eater or an adventurous eater, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong,

but you're not always saying you love everything equally. No, it's honestly, and I think occasionally my happiness is taken away from how indiscriminate of an eater. I'm not even an indiscriminate eater because what I will do if I go to a restaurant and I know I like something, not even that, if I know I love a dish there, but haven't had another dish I will always choose the dish that I haven't had I'm the same way I know we're playing

why am I like that why can't we optimize our life more I don't know it's just I just want to try and chase the high of a new favorite dish maybe possibly because what if it's the best thing

you've ever had that's true but how often is it not as often as I'd like then you're playing the calculus of like how much does the thing how much pleasure does the thing I know give me

versus how much pleasure, you know, is there in the unknown, the potential of pleasure, right? It's like, it's the same thing as like a gambler's, you know, addiction. Like I know the odds are stacked against me. However, I got to put it all on green, which I don't think is a good thing.

I think it's black or red. No, green. This is actually how I- I don't gamble. Me neither. The only time I've gambled, I played blackjack did not know what i was doing i spent i won a hundred dollars and i immediately put it on black

and then i got two hundred dollars and i took that to all you can eat sushi in reno nevada baby and had some fantastic reno sushi congrats you didn't have to order anything no commitment there wasn't but i i treated my friend who uh who taught me how to put my chips down on the blackjack table i lost 70 the first time I gambled and I'm never gambling again. I'm the same way. Never ever again. I don't like it. The anxiety does not, that is not a rush for me.

It's not for me. That's like I'm being tricked by somebody who has the odds in their favor. I've never once gambled and I've had plenty of opportunities. I just, nothing about it appeals to me. And I'm sure that's related psychologically. So I know that I have these control things, but I totally get what you're saying about, I got to order the new thing.

I'm not going to go to my favorite Italian restaurant and just get that chicken marsala every single time. I have made decisions to say, okay, I am going to try new things. It is fun, that surprise, that discovery. So I'm not like this hardliner, like I only eat seven things now. That's wonderful.

So I do try things, but then I make note. I feel like I'm very in tune with what works or not. So I open up, I eat burritos, and then I discover what exactly I like in my burrito or what I don't, so then I don't order that next time, but I'll still try new stuff. So I'm open, but

I'm still specific. This did not go the way that I thought it would. Hold on. Sidebar with Nicole. What's up? I thought Link was going to come in here and he was going to be like, I'm very picky. I don't like these things. I mean, I heard a bit more of the spiel than I get by that.

But I thought we were going to be like, oh, my God, Link, open yourself up. What's your relationship with your mom? And then he'd be like, oh, my God, you're so right. You two are the ones who figured it out. I think this guy figured it out. I think my whole eating habits are going to probably be altered a little bit through this podcast. I'm dead serious. Like this has actually influenced me to look at my choices in a different way in terms of like, you know, trust yourself to know that this is the thing that

brings you joy and that you want. Yeah. Enjoy the things that bring you joy. I think that's what I'm learning. But I do think like openness is important. You know, I do acknowledge that if you're so limited in what you're gonna eat, that that does impact other people's experience when you're going out or whatever. So, I mean, I do feel that and I've agreed with that. You know what?

I don't wanna be someone who's, everyone's gotta dance around where we can go. And I don't like impacting other people. But once I order my dish, like there's, I haven't experienced anyone besides one particularly tall person that I spent a lot of my life with who is, has the guts to say, I am, I'm annoyed that you don't like what I like.

I respect him for it. But you know, it's like, most people, they're like, hey, his plate and my plate, that's fine, but at least we're at this restaurant and we're enjoying ourselves. And there's some things that you'll try. Trying it and not liking it, like, is different than refusing to even try it.

And that's where I try to draw the line. But then I apply that data to my own life. You're just like a supercomputer. You're like a code breaker for World War II. I like to think of myself as vision, but just in the kitchen. Talking to the wrong people. I only know that from David.

Is that like a Marvel reference? Yeah. It's Paul Bettany. Okay. Paul Bettany. He is great in Wimbledon opposite Kirsten Dunst. Oh, the purple guy with the gold on his face. Yeah, he also played Geoffrey Chaucer in A Knight's Tale.

Oh, awesome. I know who that is. I know that guy. Okay, but for my part, one, I mean, it has to be said that a lot of picky eaters, they are influenced by anxiety disorder and OCD. And so that's why I try and never really judge, unless I was kind of joking about giving you crap when you sat down. But from a food person's perspective, whether it's choosing a restaurant or cooking

for somebody if somebody tells me like hey these are my food aversions uh or if it's any sort of dietary choice i love that challenge i remember showing up to a vegan gluten-free super bowl party and everyone's like oh i can't believe i got a man and i just made these great like uh soy riso stuffed potato skins with like you know some, some vegan crema type of thing on it. And it was absolutely delicious. And I love that. And ditto with like, you know, going out to dinner with a really picky friend who, you know, can only eat four things. And I'm like, I know the exact restaurant that serves the best version of one of those four things.

And so I kind of like, you know, having that sort of using my skill set to sort of create that empathy and give somebody else a beneficial experience, even if I can't empathize exactly with what they're going through. But you translated it into an adventure for you as a challenge. Yeah. I'm going to work the challenge of being within the picky eater box. Yeah, exactly. So that's cool that you took one on the chin and then you found a way to be engaged. Yeah.

Versus the person who's limiting their experience. You know, I don't like limiting other people's experience. I go to eat with a lot of my kosher friends and it sucks sometimes because I like to eat cheeseburgers and, you know, whatever. So I've learned to like whenever I got to dinner with them, I always respect their choices as well. Whenever we're at the dinner table, we never get any sort sort of meat it's always like and we love to share as a group of friends so we're always like sharing dishes and stuff so it's always like fish and like vegetables and stuff like that so I've learned to adhere my adventurous eating with certain people in certain groups but for the most part whenever I'm with like my friends or family and

stuff I keep it very conservative yeah yeah oh. Like a runny egg on a burger. That doesn't do it for you? I just can't. I still can't bring myself to that. Like I love cheeseburgers so much. And there's this thing that like happened. I don't know who to blame. I actually, I can give you someone to blame.

Please. Well, it's the Nightlife corporation sbe owner of umami burger i blame umami burger from the runny egg on a burger thing because eggs got their cost well like nine cents a piece you add two bucks to your burger you know order at umami that's a huge margin and they start putting them on because i agree with you i don't think they'll put them on any they'll put them on any burger that's the thing that was like at it yeah oh and i i was about to go after red rob Robin or something, but that's just me being basic.

But then the basic places caught on, because the margins, it's all about the margins. But I just, I mean, what would you tell me if, so we're sitting down, you're excited about a burger, maybe you're excited about the runny egg on the burger. Well, are you, first of all? Would you recommend that? No, no. I think we both disagree, but- Oh, we're both anti-runny egg on the burger are you first of all would you no I think we both disagree

we're both anti runny egg but say we were at father's office they have blue cheese and arugula on their burger and the burger's bloody and the burger's bloody

and they don't take substitutions you cannot substitute anything on the burger we wouldn't go there I would well if I know I'm going with a preferential eater

I would show them the menu and be like does this look like a good place to you are you into this or not? And if they say yes, cool. If no, then we'll find another option. I mean, how do you feel about restaurants that do no substitutions like that?

I think, see, I'm one of those people that believes that the chef's intent is the chef's intent always. But then we live in like a society where we have options. So there's a fine line. I don't know. I think sometimes you got to go the Chipotle way where you can do whatever you want. Then you go down the fine dining way, do whatever they say.

So I think it's just a matter of preference. The nice of the restaurant. Yeah, I don't order something and then change it. That's another place. Again, I don't want to impose on the chef as if I know more than the chef. I know that I don't. So I'm just going as if I know more than the chef. I know that I don't. So I'm just going to order something that everything works for me.

Or maybe I can pick it off afterward. Go ahead. Oh, I was going to say I had a very heartening experience with a friend who they enjoy being adventurous with their food. And we were at a Thai restaurant. However, they have the cilantro aversion, which we talked about on a whole thing that I think you can get rid of it with exposure therapy. However, I will gladly respect it. But they, you know, said to the

server, like, they asked about food allergies and she was like, no, this is merely a choice. If cilantro is just, like, thrown on top of the dish as a garnish, if there's any way we could leave that on the side, that'd be fantastic. If not, totally get it. And it was just kind of like beautiful little cross-section moment, where it was like empathetic to the waiter, to everybody else who was enjoying it,

because they can all just throw cilantro on. But then, you know, they got their little thing. I think it was this great sort of compromise and everyone's finding a harmony where the picky eaters and the indiscriminate eaters can live and unite the air, earth, and fire tribes. Amen. Alright, Nicole and Link, we've heard what you and I have to say. Now it's time to find out what other wacky ideas are rattling out there in the Twitterverse. It's time for a segment we call Opinions I Like Casserole! Beautiful. You are so much nicer than Rhett. Dude, Rhett said that you guys aren't singing, and I'm Beautiful Thank you

You are so much nicer than Rhett Dude Rhett said that You guys aren't singing And I'm like Yeah we are It's called music honey It's called mumble rap Jingle

I have a sound cloud I just I love being here Because This is This is a realization Of a vision You know

A wonderful podcast That I have nothing to do with That is That That is happening at Mythical It's like It's awesome vision, you know? A wonderful podcast that I have nothing to do with that is happening at Mythical. It's like, it's awesome. That's fantastic. Good work, guys. Thank you for the opportunity. Congratulations. Sorry for making you have something to do with it all of a sudden.

We just thought you'd want to, did you have a good time doing it? It's my pleasure to be here to bust your assumptions associated with my pickiness. You sure did. No, I'm glad to be here. But you know the point I'm making. Yeah, no, of course. I don't have to be here for this to be a success.

But we're glad you are. I like you being here. It's nice. It's honestly nice having a third. We know everything about each other. Pretty much. I don't know if you noticed, but when we were talking, it was like all the same things. Like, I also hate roller coasters.

I also eat indiscriminately. I love roller coasters. What are you talking about? Oh, yeah. No, what was the other thing you hate? Guys, this segment is not about us. Thank you so much. It's my fault for making it about you.

This is why you have to be here. Keep us in check. Opinions are like casseroles. Take it away, Josh. You're the first one. At Caitlin Agnes says, plain salted ripple chips can be dipped in anything, literally anything. It's fine. It's good.

They justified it with too many it's fine, It's good. They justified it with too many it's fine, it's goods. Was this a problem? People are coming at her saying, you can't dip that in that. That's a plague, yeah. People in Caitlin's life are coming at her saying, you can't dip that in that, where she is saying, and I quote,

it's fine, it's good. What do you think the craziest thing she was dipping in that caused people to say that? I don't know. Plum sauce. Sounds great. That sounds like a delight. My brain went to soap.

I went to blue Dawn dish soap. What about just soapy bath water? Also, why are they called ripple chips? Aren't they called ruffles? Yeah. I don't know where they're from. I don't know. And that would influence what they're dipping them in. I do agree that you can probably dip chips into more things than you think you could.

Yeah, I love dipping chips into weird things. I don't know what they are, but I enjoy it. Yeah, mystery things. Imagine cookie dough, like edible cookie dough, and you put like a salty chip in there. Honestly, it sounds better than most cookies. Not me. What is your favorite chip dip, though? Like as someone who has optimized their dietary life, where are you going?

That French onion can that my father-in-law keeps in his cabinet. Wait, is it the one that's in, like, a plastic tub? I mean, it is a chip dip. It's specifically to dip chips in. But, like, how does this, because there's, like, the, you know, the can of Ruffles French onion, or not the can, the jar. And then there's the refrigerated, like, grocery store brand that looks like a cool-up container. Yeah, there's also one that has cardboard on the outside, unless that's the queso one. Well, there's the cardboard packet that you mix with the sour cream yourself, which is my preference.

I like that one too. The Lipton. I like that one too. I don't like to cook, and that sounds like cooking. It's mixing. Fair enough, fair enough. Okay, Claire MQQ says, the only acceptable topping on French toast is ketchup.

That's pretty limiting and crazy. I liked French toast until I realized there were eggs in it. I didn't eat eggs until I was in probably high school. Really? What's your favorite way to eat an egg? The only egg I would eat before then, I guess, because I'm backtracking, is my nanny would make this. She'd scramble an egg and then fry it really thin.

And then I wouldn't eat the edges where it would get really crispy and thin, but I would eat the middle part if it had enough salt and pepper on it. I like lacy eggs. You kept saying that you weren't a picky eater. I feel like if we just talked to you about any day in your childhood, I feel like you would give us nine different things. But now, that's different than now.

Now I like all kinds of eggs except for the really runny ones. That makes sense. She's like Guy Fieri. You don't mess with eggs. I didn't know that about him. Yeah, it's a thing. He won't eat them on the show even.

Picks them off. The thing with French toast and ketchup is this created a debate between us because I grew up, my family said, oh, Josh is bringing up the South African French. Yeah, I am, Nicole. So in South Africa,

apparently for them, like eggy bread, or they'll also call it French toast, is just eggs and bread that's been griddled and then they top it with ketchup. And so there's no cinnamon, there's no sugar, so it's like staying in savory town and then you put the ketchup on it and that's how I grew up

eating it, which is really delicious. I have a friend from South Africa what up Grant? Who said that he went to New York and had French toast and maple syrup on it for the first time and it was like this is disgusting, what the hell is going on? Because he's used to ketchup, so I'm into it. It's always butter and maple syrup. If I don't have maple and it was like, this is disgusting. What the hell is going on? Because he used to eat ketchup, so I'm into it. It's always butter and maple syrup. If I don't have maple syrup in the house, it's honey.

Yeah, that totally makes sense, but are you telling me, Josh, that you prefer ketchup on French toast, and you don't like syrup on it? I do like syrup on French toast, if it's like a dedicated sweet French toast.

But like I will still make for myself just straight egg wash, eggy bread with ketchup, salt and pepper on it. And I really enjoy it. I prefer that to sweet French toast. But sometimes I make like a honey ginger syrup for cocktails and I like putting that on sweet French toast. Yeah, aren't you a penicillin? Penicillin, greatest cocktail of all time. All right. She did ask, aren't you a penis at first? Speaking of penis,

add Caroline Jockman. Sour cream is actually devil sperm. We got Satan's ovaries. Yes, it comes out of the tomato. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ovaries do secrete sperm. Maggie, can we get a fact check? Maggie's saying yes,

that is correct. On Satan? You know how Satan's anatomy works? What? Yeah. I just told you. Maggie's saying yes that is correct on Satan you know how Satan's anatomy works what yeah I mean I just told you what is it different yeah no I you know what's funny the goat tattoo on my back I the original design for it not to make this about my back

tattoo but the original design for it I wanted it to be the goat demon Baphomet who is famously gender neutral and is often portrayed with naked breasts. Yes, I know that. Yeah. Not because I'm devil and Satan. I just know that.

I just listen to a lot of weird Finnish metal bands and that's like the cover art for half their albums. Yeah, about sour cream. I decided to like, I don't think I'd think that was funny. Sorry, go ahead, Nicole. Do you know that? Huh? And how? I have like... Like a devil

with boobies? Yeah, it's a goat and it has boobies and then there's like an ups... Is it called a pentagram? Yeah, it's called a pentagram behind it. And sometimes it sits in a chair. Yeah, we probably saw it on a Hot Topic t-shirt. Which like contributed to the satanic panic that I feel like our parents

were always worried about. I hope that's where you saw it, not in some sort of ritual. No, no, no. No, it was like Bam Margella's band's logo. No. The pentagram. Wasn't that a thing? No, it was an upside down heart.

Don't get into it. Whatever. Sour cream is good. I like sour cream. It's good on stuff. Enjoy it. Whatever. I dig it.

Me too. Okay. Cosmic Salmon says, Tostinoinos party pizzas are not pizza but what they are is good I think they're saying Totinos Totinos is the most

mispronounced brand of all time I agree with this though I mean pizza can be so many things of course it is pizza but if you think of it as something else it will get better and if you like it I think it will get even better. Yeah, I agree. It's a perception issue on that.

It's not going to be the best pizza you ever had. It's a tasty, wet, squishy thing in your mouth. Very, very tasty. I really like these, actually. Since I never grew up with them, but I eat them now because of where I work, it's really good. Still a Mama Celeste guy. All right. At Elena Bakes, my brother dips latkes in barbecue sauce.

What's your relationship to latkes? Well, remind me what that is. Crispy potato pancake. Oh. Yeah. Jewish Hanukkah hash browns. I think I like those. Again, with the ketchup.

Is that what you just said? What? Dipping in ketchup? Barbecue sauce. Oh, kind of the same thing. I put mine in ketchup. I could see that working. I don't like it. Why? I don't's barbecue sauce. Oh, kind of the same thing. I put mine in ketchup. I could see that working. I don't like it. Why?

I don't like barbecue sauce. Barbecue sauce is ketchup. I know, you say that to me all the time, and I get that, but I don't know, I can't do it. I don't even put applesauce, I don't put sour cream, I just dip it in ketchup. Oh, funny. Sometimes mustard, sometimes hot sauce. I did that when I was a kid because I, you know, first had latkes,

but I had eaten McDonald's hash browns before that. And I was like, oh, Jewish holiday hash browns. And so I dipped them in ketchup. But then now as my like a reclaiming of my Judaic roots, I dip them in applesauce and Knudsen sour cream. Yeah, I can't. And I dig it. That's, you put them both on the same bite. Oh, man.

Big fan. Oh, Elena Bakes also says, honey belongs on grilled cheese. I get it caramelized and sweet and delicious. Oh, that sounds good. I think it depends on the cheese. I've never done that. Yeah, imagine with like a brie,

a brie with honey and then you put a little bit of like flaky salt and then if you really wanted like chili flakes on it. I'd go straight. I'd go motts. I'm going to be not a mott.

It would taste like, it would taste like canafe. Yeah. Like a bootleg canafe grilled cheese. It would taste like, it would taste like kanafe. Yeah. Like a bootleg kanafe grilled cheese. There's this, where's kanafe from? Kanafe's from the Levant area.

From the Levant area. I mostly know Lebanese homies and when I say Lebanese homies, I mean Food Beast guys. Yeah. What up Eli? But yeah,

it's this dish that is like a shredded kind of phyllo-esque dough with a stretchy cheese and then ladled in like a sugar syrup. And it's like this stretchy cheese, crispy pastry, sugary thing. It's delicious.

I got to have some of that. They make it at Trader Joe's, a microwavable version. Have you had it? Yes, and it's good. Oh, man, I got to get it on that. It's not the same as like a big, beautiful dish made by a Lebanese grandma, but it's still really delicious. And it's better when you get it as a sample.

Oh, yeah. And then you bring it home and you're like, oh, what happened? There's so many of those, that one bite is all I needed foods. Yeah. Anything you buy from Costco. True, true, true. We should do one more. It's almost the witching hour, but I'm

curious about Link's take on this. And this is something we've talked about too much. At HeyIt'sJoseph00, scrambled eggs with sugar sprinkled on top. Wild. Right? Why? This is like the eighth time

we've gotten this opinion from different people too. Sweetened scrambled eggs. Yeah. I don't get it. Well, I'm trying to be open. Model. So it's like you got your,

if you got your pancake with the syrup and then the syrup goes up, and then it's going underneath the scrambled eggs. Yeah, he's getting there. Let's go. Then I've got a sweetened, but still maple-y, and it was kind of an accident, so you don't have to explain it to anyone when you start liking it.

Yeah. I could see then the maple syrup going on the eggs. It's a gateway. I mean, the McGriddles. The rooty-tooty fresh and fruity platter is a gateway at IHOP because it all bleeds into itself. Yeah.

And the McGriddles just says, it is going to be stacked and it's all going to be there. Mm-hmm. But just like granular sugar going over it. Well, what if the sweat from the eggs melt the sugar? Does that appeal to you more? That's how I'm imagining it.

I still don't think, there's something different about, you have that viscosity of the syrup that makes it work. Well, I can wet your sugar a little bit. Why are you trying to make this work? I just think this is, to me,

the most batty opinion that I love because I used to do this. So, to me, this is so polar opposite. Like, if I'm going to do anything, I'm going to pepper something. Like experimentally, I would be open to that. Like different peppers you would experiment with different.

No, I'm talking about black pepper. Black pepper on strawberries is really good. Black pepper on lots of things. Oh, I see what you're saying. You're going to black pepper different things as you're sort of like canvas to. Yes, that's the way that I'll go with putting stuff on something. You'd get like a black pepper waffle kind of thing. I would try that.

Yeah, it's exciting. Maybe we can set that up. Like a black pepper strawberry waffle? Black pepper and strawberry. It's a great combo. Black pepper, white chocolate, strawberry waffle. I'm making that for you. And I like what it looks like too.

Yeah, me too. Like it looks dirty, but in an intentional way. Yeah, you know, like that salt and pepper hair. Yeah, I like what it looks like, too. Yeah, me too. Like, it looks dirty, but in an intentional way. Yeah, you know, like that, like, salt and pepper hair, you know, like, yeah, I like that. You know, like, you got that nice hair. All right, and on that note, thank you for listening to A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. That's it.

You'll hear more from us here in the Mythical Kitchen. It's a short show. We've optimized the experience for the listeners. We got new episodes for you every Wednesday. If you want to be featured on Opinions or Like Casseroles, you can hit us up on Twitter at MythicalChef or at HandyZada

with the hashtag OpinionCasserole. For more Mythical Kitchen, check us out on YouTube where we launch new videos every week. And thank you so much to our guest, Link Neal.

Link, tell the listeners where they can find you. Are you on the social media? Theoretically, yes. Yeah. Yeah. At Link Neal. Feel that.

Yeah. Nice. Feel that. And the Instagram's only a couple years old. And then you also have a YouTube show called Good Mythical Morning

right? that's right yeah big fan feel free to you know out every day wherever you get

your YouTube shows and of course if you want to share pictures of your dishes hit us up on Instagram at Mythical Kitchen see you next time thanks Link

my pleasure