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About

Tastes Like Chicken is a common phrase heavily used to describe food (and in some cases any consumable) with the taste of poultry. ^{[1] [2]}Since poultry is a popular dish around the world, it is commonly used by many to make an undesirable or appalling food item sound better than it really tastes.

Origin

While the origin to the phrase is unclear, one of the earliest references and uses of the phrase was on Christopher Columbus's ship log, where he wrote that he killed and ate a serpent, and described it:
The people eat them and the meat is white and tastes like chicken. ^[3]
The phrase had then entered the media stream sometime in the twentieth-century, where many films, television shows, and plays used the phrase in its current definition today.

Spread

Many times in modern media, the phrase has been used to describe an unsavory or unsatisfying food to appeal to an individual. Early references in media also use the phrase frequently, adding a humorous effect to the phrase. One of the first uses of the phrase in media appeared in Stargate SG-1, where the characters Daniel and Alice discuss the flavor of a meal.
Daniel: This tastes like chicken
Alice: So what's wrong with it?
Daniel: It's macaroni and cheese. ^[3]

The phrase had also made an appearance in the film The Lion King, where the two characters Timon and Pumbaa try to persuade a young Simba to eat grubs. When he refuses to at first, Timon states that the grubs "taste like chicken", to which Simba then tries the grubs.

The phrase has also been used as a running gag in other forms of media. For example, in World of Warcraft, the achievement Tastes Like Chicken is obtained when the player samples 50 different kinds of Azeroth's delectable dishes. ^[4]

Another reference to the phrase was used in Dead Rising 2. The phrase is used in this case for the name of a mission, Tastes Like Chicken, in which the protagonist, Chuck Greene, must rescue a survivor from the clutches of a psychotic chef who plans to serve him as a meal. ^[5]

The phrase has also been used in the game Tomb Raider as an achievement, yet agian titled Tastes Like Chicken, earned when the protagonist, Lara Croft, kills and loots ten small animals in the game. ^[6]

Derivatives

Many different derivatives have also accumulated from the phrase as well, usually meant to represent the opposite of the delicious taste of poultry. Such phrases include "tastes like feet", "tastes like ass", "tastes like piss", and many others. These phrases are used in contrast to "tastes like chicken" and are used after trying the dish. They are usually effect of the reaction to the disgusting flavor of the food item in question.

These poor souls found out that not everything tastes like chicken.

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Wikipedia: Tastes Like Chicken Entry
^[2] Urban Dictionary: Tastes Like Chicken Definition
^[3] TvTropes: Tastes Like Chicken History
^[4] World of Warcraft Wiki: Tastes Like Chicken Achievement
^[5] Dead Rising Wiki: Tastes Like Chicken Mission
^[6] Xbox 360 Achievements: Tomb Raider: Tastes Like Chicken