Fred Basset by Alex Graham for September 18, 2021

And yet you choked it down…good boy Fred!

Eat a little slower Fred. Don’t just inhale your food your missing the taste of it.

And that’s why it’s called ‘subtle’. It’s a code word. Just like in real estate ads. ‘Cozy fixer upper’ means tiny dump. ‘Subtle chicken flavor’ meant last ingredient on the list and you may or, in your case, may not, detect the flavor. At least you aren’t going hungry.

Quick! Urp it up, and they’ll never serve it to you again.

Commercial filler Fred :-(

Bought some Kale/Cheddar pasta sauce, once. Should have checked the ingredient list. Kale was fourth from last and cheddar cheese was after ‘salt’.

Be better if it were chicken chunks with a subtle taste of vegetables

Being a taste tester for dog/cat food would be one gross job. Lots of seniors might fancy the job but their taste buds are long gone.

Finally, something that DOESN’T taste like chicken.

Nothing tastes like chicken these days, not even chicken. The only decent chicken I can get is from a Chinese take out that does fried chicken wings and legs that are amazing.

Same for tomatoes: when I was a kid, summer meant fresh tomato and cucumber sandwiches. Now neither has any taste.

At least it’s not “hints of rose and oak” like the wine snobs, er, critics like to throw around (couldn’t figure how to do “strike”).

As a wine snob, I hope I never detect subtle chicken undertones