Europeian Culinary Preferences Poll Results and Analysis
Europeia Bitterly (get it?) Divided on Some Issues and United on Others
Written by Pland Adanna
While it's definitely not the most pressing issue in Europeia, there's a chance that it isn't the least pressing either! In fact, a group named Porch found that, in general, people have stronger feelings about food than politics. You can see the results (and information on other food debates) here: .
The Europeian Broadcasting Center (EBC) conducted its Europeian culinary preferences poll from April 9th to April 13th. The poll received a lot of advertising and a time extension due to a small number of responses. In the end, the poll received 22 responses, which is still fewer than some pretty recent EBC polls. Some potential explanations for the lack of responses include:
- Many Europeians are nonhuman (i.e. robots, martians, squirrels, etc.) so they cannot give input on human food. These people only participate in Europeia to collect information about all of us and report back to their secret headquarters.
- People have been a bit busy recently.
General Tastes
Sweet Takes the Day and Bitter…Doesn’t
When asked for their favorite taste, 50% of respondents chose sweet, compared to 31.8% for salty, 13.6% for sour, 4.5% for umami, and 0% for bitter. Respondents were asked to rank all five tastes. When a first-choice vote translates to 5 points, a second-choice vote gets 4 points, a third-choice vote earns 3 points, a fourth-choice vote gets 2 points, and a fifth-choice vote only gets 1 vote, sweetness carries again with 93 points, followed by 85 for saltiness, 58 for umaminess, 55 for sourness, and 29 for bitterness.
Wtf is umami?
LOVE BITTER
Depends on the food. Sweet and sour together is amazing, too much sweet is a bad thing, etc. Bitter is great in small doses, but give me a hoppy and bitter (high IBU) beer and it's heavenly
Umami includes the taste of cheese so that was a no brainer, plus I love my food to be spicy in general. Not that much of a sweet-tooth
Where in the fuck is 'spicy' on this list so I can put it first?
Sushi is the best, then italian and pizza.
LOVE BITTER
Depends on the food. Sweet and sour together is amazing, too much sweet is a bad thing, etc. Bitter is great in small doses, but give me a hoppy and bitter (high IBU) beer and it's heavenly
Umami includes the taste of cheese so that was a no brainer, plus I love my food to be spicy in general. Not that much of a sweet-tooth
Where in the fuck is 'spicy' on this list so I can put it first?
Sushi is the best, then italian and pizza.
As for the comments, there was a mix of explanations for votes and criticism of the taste options. Interestingly, someone wrote “LOVE BITTER” yet no respondents marked bitter as their favorite. Two people failed to understand why the choices (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami) were how they were, despite having a search engine (and in many cases multiple) at their fingertips. They are the five tastes that a human’s taste buds detect. For the person who decided not to just google it, umami is basically a meaty taste. It’s when taste buds come in contact with glutamic acid or aspartic acid. Sweet, salty, and sour are in response to sugars, sodium/table salts, and acids, respectively. Bitter is caused by a number of different things. Spicy is not a taste that taste buds pick up.
Even though sweetness fared pretty well in general, when compared to respondents’ favorite tastes ten years ago, it seems unimpressive. 18.2% more respondents said sweet was their favorite taste 10 years ago than their favorite taste now. salty appears to have made the biggest gains among Europeians in the last 10 years, jumping from 9.1% to 31.8%.
Which goes best with Sweet: Salty or Sour?
The poll also asked which combinations of the five tastes were people’s favorite. Of the 10 combinations, only three were selected as a first choice: Sweet and salty (45.5%), sweet and sour (36.4%), and salty and umami (18.2%). This was a flip from respondent’s favorite combination 10 years ago, when sweet and sour was their favorite and sweet and salty took second. In total, 20 respondents (90.9%) said sweet and sour was in their top three favorite combinations, while 19 respondents (86.4%) said sweet and salty was in their top three.
Sea salt caramel apples!
Wtf is umami?
Sweet and salty everything
Sweet plus sour is great in desserts! Umami and salty still win, but the sweet and sour combo is awesome too
WHY YOU HATE SPICY?!?
Wtf is umami?
Sweet and salty everything
Sweet plus sour is great in desserts! Umami and salty still win, but the sweet and sour combo is awesome too
WHY YOU HATE SPICY?!?
The question about umami and the complaint about spicy returned in the comments for this question. Two comments expressed support for sweet and salty, while one supported umami and salty and sweet and sour. The two that provided explanations were both dessert-related.
Dishes of Europeia
The next section of the poll asked people which of the listed dishes was their favorite in a certain category. Some questions asked for a top-three and, whenever this article references “total votes” for a top-three question, it is referring to the number of respondents who said that a given option was in their top three.
One Breakfast Food Eggcelled in This Question
This question asked respondents to choose their top three favorite breakfast foods from the options listed. Eggs led the pack, both in the number of respondents and in the total votes. Breakfast burritos, french toast, waffles, and cereal were the only other options to receive votes for people’s “Favorite” breakfast food. Interestingly, the runner-up in total votes was pancakes, despite receiving no “Favorite” votes.
This Question Was For You, Society of Fruit Lovers!
This question included an extensive list of fruits and asked respondents for their top three preferences. Given the long list, it is no surprise that many fruits fared well, with no clear champion. (Does this mean we need a runoff? Or just a juicy debate?) Among first choices, grapes and mangos led, each with 18.2%. They were followed by apples, oranges, strawberries, raspberries, and pineapples, all of which had 9.1%. However, in total votes, oranges led the pack, garnering eight votes, with mangos on their heels, earning seven votes. Pineapples followed with six and grapes and raspberries each got five. This leaves seven favorites: grapes, mangos, apples, oranges, strawberries, raspberries, and pineapples. An extra factor in this question is the fact that many fruits are more sour before they are fully ripe and sweeter when they are fully ripe. This means that a respondent could have voted for a fruit because of its sour version while another could have voted for the same fruit because it was sweet.
Amid the Favorite Vegetables, Impostors Thrive
The EBC decided to place fruits, such as tomatoes and avocados, in this question, which asked for respondent’s top three favorite vegetables. Unfortunately for the vegetable community (and amazingly for the Society of Fruit Lovers), the tomato (which, like most of the fruit victors, can be sweet or sour) received the most first-choice votes, with nearly a fourth (22.7%) of respondents selecting it. It can be safely said that the Society of Fruit Lovers successfully sabotaged this question. (The EBC did not reach out to the Society of Fruit Lovers for comment.) Tomatoes were followed by potatoes at 18.2% and brussel sprouts and avocados at 9.1%. However, the cucumber won in total votes with eight votes, followed by the tomato, onion, and potato with six votes. Another impostor, the pea, didn’t do as well as the tomato. Peas are technically legumes, not vegetables, but there is no Society of Legume Lovers to campaign for the legumes. Sidenote: the same respondent who said they did not eat breakfast or fruit also said they do not eat vegetables.
I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream!
When the EBC asked for respondents’ top three favorite desserts, “Ice Cream/Sherbet/Custard/Frozen Yogurt” blew everything else out of the water, receiving 45.5% of the first-choice votes. Ice cream’s closest competitors were cake and cookies, each of which earned only 13.6% of first-choice votes. Ice cream’s lead remained definitive in the total votes as well, earning 17 out of 22 votes (77.3%). The closest competitors here were donuts (9), cake (8), pie (7), cookies (6), and brownies (6). No respondents do not eat desserts.
Wait, Do We Actually Scream For Ice Cream?
This was the last top-three question in the poll. The EBC decided to use top-three for this question even though there were only seven options because they expected ice cream to destroy the other options. That… didn’t happen. While ice cream eked out a narrow lead in total votes, 16 compared to milk (15) and cheese (14), in first-choice votes, cheese stole the show with 45.5%. Ice cream and milk followed with 22.7% and yogurt earned 9.1%. It should be noted that there was also an error in the question because it didn’t include an “I don’t eat dairy products” option.
Chips and Cookies!
Europeia has no clear favorite chip brand. Pringles received the most votes (22.7%), followed by Doritos at 18.2%, Lays at 18.2%, and SunChips at 9.1%. 13.6% of respondents don’t eat chips. For cookies, the chocolate chip cookie led with 40.9%. Oatmeal raisin received 18.2%, gingerbread received 13.6%, and Oreos and snickerdoodles received 9.1%. 9.1% don’t eat cookies. There isn’t much else to say on this front. Just remember: given the divisive nature of these two questions, no matter which option you side with, you will be met with immense criticism.
Let’s Get To the Meaty Questions!
The poll asked respondents if they eat meat. 21 out of 22 (95.5%) said they do, while one respondent said they were vegetarian. Those who eat meat were asked whether they like meat or seafood more (or whether they don’t eat seafood) and what their favorite kind of meat is. A majority of meat-consumers (57.1%) prefer meat to seafood, while 38.1% feel the opposite. As for favorite types of meat, a third said they like chicken and a third said they preferred beef. The remaining third was split between pork (19%) and mutton (14.3%).
General Disputes
The final section of the poll asked respondents to weigh in on some popular food-related disputes. Some disputes have been resolved and some are still contested.
Resolved Disputes
The first three resolved disputes are about combining foods. Respondents resoundingly disapprove of salt of watermelon (72.7%) and ranch on pizza (81.8%) but they approve of ketchup on hotdogs (63.6%). Interestingly, salt on watermelon would produce a sweet and salty taste, which happens to be the most popular combination, while ketchup on hotdogs is sweet and umami, a less popular combination. Ranch and pizza is harder to put into taste categories so all we can say is “sorry Ranch Girl fans!”
Meanwhile, Europeia has also determined that burritos are not ravioli (72.7%) and cereal is not a soup (63.6%). Proponents of burritos being classified as ravioli argue that burritos have a filling with some sort of dough surrounding it. Opponents argue that the filling needs to be sealed inside pasta not just dough. Europeia seems to have subscribed to this idea. Some say that cereal is a soup because it is a liquid dish (assuming there is milk with it). However, many people disagree and say that the point of soup is to have a liquid dish, while the point of cereal with milk is to eat cereal. Here, Europeia also chose to deny cereal the status as a soup. It should be noted that there are other arguments on this subject as well, which may or may not be debated in the replies to this thread.
The final resolved argument is whether one should each mac and cheese with a fork or a spoon. 72.7% of respondents said one should eat it with a fork, while 13.6% said one should eat it with a spoon. 13.6% of respondents have never had mac and cheese. Fork proponents argue forks are necessary to stab the noodles but folks on Team Spoon say that you need the spoon to pick up all the sauce. The EBC’s findings are similar to the results that mac and cheese brands, such as Annie’s and Kraft, have obtained in their own investigations. This proves that the EBC is just as good at conducting polls as mac and cheese brands, a very impressive feat.
The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For… The Debates That Remain Contested
While a stance in each of these debates did reach majority support, the majorities are so narrow that even a little change could flip the results.
First, 54.5% of respondents said that they would dip french fries in a milkshake. Interestingly, this is also a sweet and salty combination, which respondents rejected when they denied putting salt on watermelon. The most likely explanation for this phenomenon is that people like to eat food that is less good for them (french fries and milkshake vs. salt and watermelon). 54.5% of respondents also said that they split an Oreo before they eat it, while 40.9% said they bite right in. Biters say that biting is easier and less messy but splitters argue that splitting brings out the taste of the cream, among other arguments. A third still-contested debate is whether a hotdog is a sandwich, with 54.5% saying it isn’t. As seen with the burritos are ravioli and cereal is soup questions, Europeia is generally pretty strict about food categories. Those who say hotdogs are sandwiches argue that the hotdog (the “inside”) is in between two pieces of bread (in the form of buns). People who believe hotdogs are not sandwiches usually make the argument that the two sides of the bun are connected, therefore it is one piece of bread and not a sandwich.
Finally, it’s time to reveal the results for the issue that, as Foreign Affairs Minister Monkey put in July 2020, “could rip euro apart”. 54.5% of respondents said they would put pineapple on pizza, while 45.5% said they wouldn’t. It seems Europeia remains sharply divided on this issue, with no clear path to resolution. It is yet to be seen whether this article will cause tensions on the subject to rise by resurrecting and bringing more attention to the argument or whether it will finish everything by declaring pineapple acceptable on pizza. After all, democracies usually pride the idea of “majority rules” but, as stated at the beginning, people generally have stronger opinions about food than politics.
