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First of all I have a language question. What the hell do you cays call food that's not sweet? Allow me to explain further... down here when we get that "craving for something but don't know what exactly" feeling, the first distinction we make is.. do you feel like something sweet, or something... that's not. A burger or something. We use "salado" which is literally "salty"... but I don't think that applies in English.

So how WOULD you distinguish from the two "main" food... "flavors". I know if I said I craved something sweet you'd all get it, but what's the alternative?

And second of all... I have a huge craving for something that's NOT sweet, and maybe you have a suggestion?

savory?

Sweet/salty/bitter/sour, I believe, are the four main taste groups.

I always thought of spicy as the opposite of sweet.

Gusto said:

Sweet/salty/bitter/sour, I believe, are the four main taste groups.

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^ this

have you heard of umami (or wiki link)?

Gusto said:

Sweet/salty/bitter/sour, I believe, are the four main taste groups.

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There is a fifth taste category, umami, sometimes called savory. *ninjaed!*

But if you're craving meat, potatoes, cheese, etc, I'd call that savory (not necessarily related to the fifth taste category, though they all do stimulate that to some extent). Meat isn't necessarily salty, bitter or sour, so I don't see what bringing them up has to do with the conversation.

Hannibal Lecter said:

Blood/Black Bile/Yellow Bile/Phlegm, I believe, are the four main taste groups.

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Humm.. so maybe this is a thing that's done down here that has no translatable equivalent... I wasn't really asking for what the types of flavors were, my English, I hope you've noticed, is quite above not knowing that. I was asking for a common phrase or slang or equivalent.

Down here, even though we're aware there are lots of different "types" of flavors, we sort of make the distinction for something that's NOT sweet with the equivalent of "salty", which doesn't mean you're talking about beef jerky or something extremely salty... just something that's not SWEET.

So, allow me to try one more time by rephrasing the question. Let's say you're hanging out with someone and that someone blurts out "I have, like, this huge craving for something.. but I don't know what exactly..". What would your first questions be in discerning what this person might feel like? Assuming, of course, you're bored enough to help him figure out a suggestion.

figmentPez said:

Gusto said:

Sweet/salty/bitter/sour, I believe, are the four main taste groups.

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There is a fifth taste category, umami, sometimes called savory. *ninjaed!*

But if you're craving meat, potatoes, cheese, etc, I'd call that savory (not necessarily related to the fifth taste category, though they all do stimulate that to some extent). Meat isn't necessarily salty, bitter or sour, so I don't see what bringing them up has to do with the conversation.

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Someone got the point..thanks

Tinwhistler said:

Someone got the point..thanks

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I'd meant to agree with your post, it did not go unread.

Calleja said:

So, allow me to try one more time by rephrasing the question. Let's say you're hanging out with someone and that someone blurts out "I have, like, this huge craving for something.. but I don't know what exactly..". What would your first questions be in discerning what this person might feel like? Assuming, of course, you're bored enough to help him figure out a suggestion.

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To answer your question, my first question would probably be "Sweet or sour?"

Huh.... "Sour"... interesting. But could he say "neither" to that question? (that wouldn't be the case for the slang we use down here, it's "dulce o salado"(sweet or salty), which is sort of the broad couple of choices, you wouldn't really answer "neither" unless you wanted a slap to the face for being a "literal jerk" or something.)

Calleja said:

Huh.... "Sour"... interesting. But could he say "neither" to that question? (that wouldn't be the case for the slang we use down here, it's "dulce o salado"(sweet or salty), which is sort of the broad couple of choices, you wouldn't really answer "neither" unless you wanted a slap to the face for being a "literal jerk" or something.)

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Yeah, 'neither' would be a legitimate answer. So I guess it's not exactly equivalent.

Savory is generally used as the cooking term for all food that doesn't qualify as "sweet".

Crepe places around here, for example, have a "sweet" and a "savory" menu. Savory is for dinner, and sweet is for dessert.

Savory is more general -- it's not the exact opposite of sweet, it could be salty OR sour or whatever. Fish is savory even if it tastes sweet.

ZenMonkey said:

Crepe places around here, for example, have a "sweet" and a "savory" menu. Savory is for dinner, and sweet is for dessert.

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Wow, that's a great example of what I sort-of meant. The two crepe distinctions. Awesome. Thank you.

Although in common terms, I guess we use the term more broadly. Also good to know. Thanks guys.

Now, food suggestions?

I have been known to ask if someone wanted sweets/dessert or something more like a meal.

ZenMonkey said:

Crepe places around here, for example, have a "sweet" and a "savory" menu. Savory is for dinner, and sweet is for dessert.

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Cheesecake, quiche, pie, biscuits, souffle and fondue are other foods that have both sweet and savory versions. Probably a lot more as well.

In dutch, it'd be "hartig" - hearty. *shrug*

Beaten to "savory" and "umami" several times over.

Payaya, this question makes me think you are high. Just. Fuckin. High.

No.. haven't gotten high since...uhh.. friday.

-- less than a minute ago --

I swear I thought it was gonna be longer than that when I started thinking back.

Yeah over here the general distinction would be sweet or savoury (note the u in savoury /Nazi ), so savoury would include all of the sour, spicy, bitter, salty etc. that others have been suggesting. To go along your lines, the conversation could be something like...

1) Man I'm hungry
2) What can I get you? Something sweet? We've got gummi bears?
3) Mmm, nah, something savoury I think, got any crisps?
4) No sorry, rice cakes or toast?


And lo you have the most boring conversation ever typed, but it makes my point

I don't think I've ever heard anyone I know use the word "savory" in spoken conversation.

As a matter of fact, the only time I've ever heard anyone ever use savory is when talking about the types of food tastes.

figmentPez said:

Tinwhistler said:

Someone got the point..thanks

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I'd meant to agree with your post, it did not go unread.

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Yes, that's what i meant.."thanks for agreeing!"

doomdragon6 said:

I don't think I've ever heard anyone I know use the word "savory" in spoken conversation.

As a matter of fact, the only time I've ever heard anyone ever use savory is when talking about the types of food tastes.

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Agreed. If presented with the problem "I want to snack on something, but not sweet," I'd probably start suggesting actual foods, not a taste type. Do they want chips? A full meal? Mexican? Italian? It would also depend on the time of day and what meal is closest - in the morning I might suggest bagels and in the evening nachos.

Alex B. said:

doomdragon6 said:

I don't think I've ever heard anyone I know use the word "savory" in spoken conversation.

As a matter of fact, the only time I've ever heard anyone ever use savory is when talking about the types of food tastes.

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Agreed. If presented with the problem "I want to snack on something, but not sweet," I'd probably start suggesting actual foods, not a taste type. Do they want chips? A full meal? Mexican? Italian? It would also depend on the time of day and what meal is closest - in the morning I might suggest bagels and in the evening nachos.

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Yeah, that sounds about right for me too.

Although generally my friends are fairly specific with what they want. If they don't care what they want to eat, they don't care. But if they've gotten to the point that they know they don't want something, say, sweet, they'll already know what they want. Chicken, Nachos, Pizza, whatever.

When someone says they want something to eat but don't know what, my first responce is either what I want, in hopes that we get that, or what I know they hate, to tease.

Usually once the real guessing starts I'll go with cooking styles. Itallian, BBQ, Mexican and so on. Or if we're out already I might just name places to eat.

We don't have a slang word for "not sweet."

Generally you simply say what you are interested in eating, or not.

So, "No, I don't want something sweet" is the closest you're going to get.

I typically choose from sweet, protein (ie, Meat!), or salty in terms of munchies.

-Adam

I'm sure savory is the technically proper term for it, but I've always used salty as a general description for when I'm wanting a filling food rather than a snack/dessert.

Calleja said:

No.. haven't gotten high since...uhh.. -- less than a minute ago --

I swear I thought it was gonna be longer than that when I started thinking back.

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Am I the only one who read this post like this?

now I won't be able to read it as anything else

Savory is what we use in common discussions around my house, with the exact meaning Calleja ascribes to it. It's not slang. It's a real word.

Then again, I'm a bit of a 'foodie', so I expect my food vocabulary to sometimes different from non-foodie folks.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/savory
c : pleasing to the sense of taste especially by reason of effective seasoning d : pungently flavorful without sweetness

Piotyr said:

Calleja said:

No.. haven't gotten high since...uhh.. -- less than a minute ago --

I swear I thought it was gonna be longer than that when I started thinking back.

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Am I the only one who read this post like this?

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LMAO

Tinwhistler said:

Savory is what we use in common discussions around my house, with the exact meaning Calleja ascribes to it. It's not slang. It's a real word.

Then again, I'm a bit of a 'foodie', so I expect my food vocabulary to sometimes different from non-foodie folks.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/savory
c : pleasing to the sense of taste especially by reason of effective seasoning d : pungently flavorful without sweetness

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+1

I grew up with the exact same use of savory.

I'm a bit off a foodie too so maybe that that's where we get it.

And I grew up with a lot of Mexicans so I completely understood the question. Maybe I get it from there.

And of course now I want food.

See ... I've heard (and very occasionally used) the word "savory" as described. But here in Newfoundland, "savory" refers specifically to summer savory, an herb which is fairly widely used. So if someone here were to talk about wanting something savory, they might very well be talking about their grandmother's turkey stuffing.

language is weird

Calleja said:

language is weird

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Isn't it great? Some of the greatest times I've had bonding with human beings surround my/their efforts to learn their/my language or slang.