The Novelty Food Alton Brown Thinks Is Pointless

Novelty foods are, well, novelty. Items such as smoked rattlesnake in a can or pumpkin pie soda (via Taste of Home) are oftentimes a spontaneous, in-the-moment purchase, only to be tried once and then banished to the back of the refrigerator, where they are forgotten about until it's time for the appliance's annual cleaning.

That's not to say that some foods categorized as "novelty" haven't been a success. Cricket flour, for example, is an excellent sustainable ingredient that is also chock-full of protein (via Exo Protein). And when it comes to the one-of-a-kind menu items at fast food restaurants, a number of products, such as Taco Bell's Doritos Locos Taco, have proven to be quite a hit.

If there's anyone out there that can make the case for a novelty food item, it's Alton Brown. The well-loved celebrity chef has spent much of his career sharing recipes and delving into the science and origins behind food and cooking methods they use on his hit Food Network program Good Eats (via Food Network), as well as its two follow-up series, Good Eats: Reloaded and Good Eats: The Return. However, despite being the talented and knowledgeable chef that he is, there is one specific novelty food item that the 58-year-old has written off as pointless.

Alton Brown is no stranger to controversy, often taking to Twitter to share his "culinary truths" with his fans — might we remind you of that assertion he made about hot dogs? Most recently, the former Cutthroat Kitchen host shared his thoughts, or rather, lack of thoughts, on a particular type of maraschino cherry. "Every food exists for a reason. Consider green maraschino cherries, which are...uh...never mind," he tweeted earlier this month.

Brown's opinion on the vibrantly-colored novelty item, which Webstaurant Store describes as having a "crisp, lime flavor", seemed to resonate with many of his 4.4 million followers, one of whom requested, "Return them to hell please" (via Twitter). Another went after the entire rainbow of maraschino cherries, calling them "a crime against fruit" no matter what color they are (via Twitter).

We might have to agree with Brown on this one as well. Despite a few Twitter users arguing that green maraschino cherries were useful in fruit cakes, and user @ChuckB63 offering up a his recipe for "Yoda Sodas," which consist of "Lime sherbert, Sprite, whipped cream, green cherry on top," the best thing to do with them might be what the Houston Press suggested back in 2013: "Stick them in your cupboard and wait for St. Patrick's day."