Raisins are good! Bow down and worship the humble raisin! Especially in a curry (and I KNOW I have supporters on this one!). Mixed raisins and nuts mmmmmm!
I'm trying to think of something that gets to me foodywise, but I think I only have mild annoyances rather than serious gripes (mayonnaise in anything, waiters who ask if you'd like black pepper or parmesan before you've even tasted the pasta dish put before you, and the people who say yes, food on my plate that is looking at me, cheese that doesn't melt, 'speciality menus' that are experimental rather than 'special nice')
Aglithophile and conniptionist and spectacular moonbow beholder 16Jul11
"Water with lemon" as often as not is interpreted as "Heineken".
"Tonic and lime" invariably ends up with vodka in it.
Cail, seems pretty obvious to me - they just want to get you drunk.
Phht! I'm easy, you don't need to get me drunk.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
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"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
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"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
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At a family gathering this weekend my sister made potato salad with the skins left on.
It was total chaos.
The police should have been called.
Somehow my sister barely survived my onslaught of verbal cooking abuse.
DukkhaWaynhim wrote:
Cail, seems pretty obvious to me - they just want to get you drunk.
Phht! I'm easy, you don't need to get me drunk.
With waiters???
If they're hot, sure.
"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." - PJ O'Rourke
_____________
"Men and women range themselves into three classes or orders of intelligence; you can tell the lowest class by their habit of always talking about persons; the next by the fact that their habit is always to converse about things; the highest by their preference for the discussion of ideas." - Charles Stewart
_____________
"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations." - James Madison
_____________
aliantha wrote:Why oh why can't restaurants serve bite-size pieces of lettuce in their salads? I *hate* having to take a knife to a salad....
I think I know the answer to this one...
Back in the day, before stainless steel knives, knives used on lettuce tended to turn the edges of the lettuce an unappetizing black. So the tradition of hand tearing the lettuce began. Chef training is full of "traditions." Apparently hand tearing lettuce is one that is living on beyond technical advances that make it obsolete.
I think even if a knife or kitchen shears are used to cut the lettuce, the pieces are left large to give the appearance of having been hand torn.
Any of our classically trained chefs around to confirm if this is the case?
they make plastic knives for cutting lettuce. i have worked in restaurants that use. wish i had taken one from one them.
i never peel potatoes. all the vitamins are in the peel. the leftover is just starch.
i hate mayo and when i do need to use it - i just barely do. but the world seems to need gloppings of it.
Stone wrote:waiters who ask if you'd like black pepper or parmesan before you've even tasted the pasta dish put before you
I'm right with you there! I saw it in Australia the first time. I was shocked. But it was only in the shabby places. The high class joints knew what their dish was supposed to contain before they put it on the table. I think it is some kind of misunderstood form of "service" to make people feel like they are actually getting any; hence increasing the likelihood of tips.
"I would have gone to the thesaurus for a more erudite word."
-Hashi Lebwohl
sgt.null wrote:they make plastic knives for cutting lettuce. i have worked in restaurants that use. wish i had taken one from one them.
I've seen those for sale at Safeway, Sarge.
I know that there's a time factor involved in meal prep in a restaurant kitchen, but I can't believe it would make all *that* much difference to the bottom line to let the prep person take another whack or two at a lettuce head....
EZ Board Survivor
"Dreaming isn't good for you unless you do the things it tells you to." -- Three Dog Night (via the GI)
But see, these plastic knives are unneccesary. Stainless steel knives will not discolor lettuce, as far as I know. It was the steels before stainless that turned the edges of the leaf color.
...right???
...where's Av when I need him...
I mean, when I go to a Mexican place that uses shredded lettuce, the lettuce is almost always shredded with a stainless steel blade on a slicer. And the edges don't turn brown...
Actually, according to Alton Brown, when you cut lettuce (with anything) the cellular membrane is opened and this begins the oxidation process, turning your lettuce brown. (Some say that it has to do with releasing ascorbic acid oxidase which destroys vitamin C.) On the other hand, tearing the lettuce allows the pieces to break along the cellular walls (think of tearing a sheet of bubble wrap), which delays any oxidation.
Practice:
If I am making a salad with a dark-colored green and I intend to serve it within 15 or so minutes, I will happily chop away with my stainless steel santoku knife. Otherwise, I buy field greens which do not need chopping at all. I find iceberg lettuce as tasteless (and as void in nutrition) as cardboard.
Actually, according to Alton Brown, when you cut lettuce (with anything) the cellular membrane is opened and this begins the oxidation process, turning your lettuce brown. (Some say that it has to do with releasing ascorbic acid oxidase which destroys vitamin C.) On the other hand, tearing the lettuce allows the pieces to break along the cellular walls (think of tearing a sheet of bubble wrap), which delays any oxidation.
Ah...that is good to know.
Thanks, ~Lyr.
Wyldewode wrote:Practice:
If I am making a salad with a dark-colored green and I intend to serve it within 15 or so minutes, I will happily chop away with my stainless steel santoku knife. Otherwise, I buy field greens which do not need chopping at all. I find iceberg lettuce as tasteless (and as void in nutrition) as cardboard.
I mostly agree with this. However, I haven't found another lettuce, even most heart of romain, that gives the same crunch as iceberg. And I find I really do miss that crunch when iceberg is completely left out of most salads.
High Lord Tolkien wrote:Popcorn usually pisses me off.
I love it.
Buttery salty goodness.
But it never fails that I get a piece of shell jammed between two teeth so that it feels like I broke a tooth or a piece lodged into the roof of my mouth which I can feel for the next hour or so.
I agree! I can't do popcorn. The fact that I worked in a movie theatre for a year may have something to do with this, but still, I can't stand the taste. I love the way it smells, but can't stomach it, and hate it when a piece of shell gets stuck!
Also: Why is it that all the veggie burgers on the market are made to taste like real meat? I don't eat red meat mostly because I don't like the taste. Why is it necessary to make the burgers made out of veggies taste like that nasty meat?! Why can't we make veggie burgers taste like veggies? Why ruin perfectly good veggies?
I live in my own little world...but its okay, they know me here!
Magickmaker, I think that there is a kind of popcorn that is called "Japanese Hull-less." It purports to have a very soft outer skin of the kernel (the part that always get stuck in your teeth). My parents used to grow it in their garden, and it was cool, because we would pop the corn right on the cob.
And Menolly, I will eat iceberg on things, but when I'm making a salad I like romaine. The pale part of the leaf base is pretty crunchy and adds to texture of the salad. The field greens are very tender, but I like that I don't have to put forth any more effort than to put a handful in my bowl.
I hate popcorn because it smells so good you have to eat it and then you eat it and then you say "that sucked." But when you smell it the next time ...
wayfriend wrote:I hate popcorn because it smells so good you have to eat it and then you eat it and then you say "that sucked." But when you smell it the next time ...
I used to work with a guy who said popcorn was the only snack food that advertised itself.
I like it, but I don't eat it as much as I used to. Too much fat in most of the microwave stuff. You can get the 94% fat-free packs, but you don't get a crapload in the box like you do with the regular kind, and they cost more. (Imagine that! )
EZ Board Survivor
"Dreaming isn't good for you unless you do the things it tells you to." -- Three Dog Night (via the GI)
ali, do you have an air popper?
As long as you're not doing low-carb, it's supposed to be a wonderful snack food.
And caramel corn, l-rd...I haven't made home made caramel corn in ages...
)