What foods you don't ever want to see on your plate?

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Alix and Timothy, I'd love to dine with either of you. I'm somewhat unused to discussing cooking with real, enthusiastic chefs. That's one of the best things that I got out of this forum, being able to discuss cooking with fellow enthusiasts. At present I have only one friend who is an ardent chef, and all the rest of the people I know are either foodies, non-foodies, and none of them but one are chefs at all. I sometimes think that I'm the only chef/cook out there, just thankful that many of my friends are foodies even though they are not interested in cooking.

People who enjoy cooking are rare in life if my experience is any indication. Barring professional chefs most people divide into either foodies or gourmands, and few if any of them have any interest at the stove. Me and thee excepted of course! :)

Thank you Greg. I would love to make sushi for you. I can make any type of recipe. I follow recipes very well and know how to perform the various tasks needed to be a competent cook. I've had only a very few of my meals turn out badly.

I love to cook and quite often dedicate an entire day on one meal, between marketing for it, preparing and cooking it and of course the eating of it.

I find it to be one of the most relaxing things in the world to do. Time passes so quickly for me when I'm making something that has a high degree of difficulty.

I can't wait for my new kitchen to be built. That part of my renovations is scheduled to happen towards the end of next summer.

I certainly hope so. I'm sick of cooking in 4 square feet of space and having no real oven.
 
Do I love cooking? My wife gave up on cooking early in our marriage as I was always pestering her to try this, and change that, and add a bit of this, to her already good recipes. She threw up her hands one day and said, "That's it. I quit. The kitchen is yours." I've been the chef in my house ever since (chef means chief of the kitchen, and in my house, that's me.).

I retired my wife from cooking as a matter of self-preservation. I dared not suggest recipes to her. The ones she had "mastered" were quite enough. I threw up my hands one day and said, "That's it. You're out. The kitchen is mine." I'm the chief in the kitchen, and there are no Indians.
 
i was talking to my wife the other day about how good her dinner was and how good of a cook she's become, and she made a comment about always having been a good cook.

so i reminded her that i taught her how to cook many things, including meatballs, steaks, roast chicken, stir fry, and so on.

she rebutted with the fact that she taught me how to drive stick in her old prelude, and that i almost destroyed it's manual transmission before i finally got it. i quickly remembered the battle over it. :(

lol, i should have just left her alone with her original thoughts about cooking.
 
I first entered the world of cooking at the tender age of 4 years...

My story is somewhat like yours, although not as complex. I used to like watching my mother cook when I was a child. At about 15 I saw the cover of Sunset's Favorite Recipes showing a beef pot pie (family size). I already knew how to make pie crusts because I'd make cinnamon cookies the same way, so I got permission and made the beef pot pie, and it came out fine. I've been cooking ever since. I've almost never had a bad outcome.

I find it to be one of the most relaxing things in the world to do. Time passes so quickly for me when I'm making something that has a high degree of difficulty.

That's why I like to cook, because it relaxes me. Secondary motivation is that I can customize what I cook to my liking, that I can be much more comfortable eating at home than a restaurant, and it's all around less hassle to just cook my favorite stuff and eat at my own dining table. I really enjoy learning new things, finding new recipes, and developing my own original recipes. Cooking can be very creative and gives a lot of satisfaction of achievement.
 
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I don't know why it took me this long to come up with this, maybe we already discussed this.

I don't want to find dog on my plate. (ew! yech!!!) :sick:
 
When I lived in Hawaii It was common knowledge to not let your dog run loose. 'Nuf said!:ohmy:
One of the many reasons I don't buy products manufactured in China--a newspaper story I was sent years ago about how St. Bernards reported they were "fattened up" for slaughtered. And because of their "fast" growth rate, Saints were considered an ideal breed for eating. The breed was developed to have a strong sense of smell and the ability to find people. The breed was also developed to be man's friend. Being involved with St. Bernard rescue, it made me sick (physically) and broke my heart. The first Saint rescued had heartworm. He cried like a baby following his treatments if s/one was not sitting with him and holding his head. He died in my arms on February 15, 2007. I miss him still. He was such a clown.
 
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One of the many reasons I don't buy products manufactured in China--a newspaper story I was sent years ago about how St. Bernards reported they were "fattened up" for slaughtered. And because of their "fast" growth rate, Saints were considered an ideal breed for eating. The breed was developed to have a strong sense of smell and the ability to find people. The breed was also developed to be man's friend. Being involved with St. Bernard rescue, it made me sick (physically) and broke my heart. The first Saint rescued had heartworm. He cried like a baby following his treatments if s/one was not sitting with him and holding his head. He died in my arms on February 15, 2007. I miss him still. He was such a clown.

Dog meat is a common food throughout Asia. You will see dogs kept in cages in marketplaces. :(
 
Dog meat is a common food throughout Asia. You will see dogs kept in cages in marketplaces. :(
Before we all go off on a "OMG, they eat dogs in Asia" thing, lets remember that as disgusting as that is to us, the cow is held sacred to the Hindus. I don't mean that they give "lip service" to holding the cow as a sacred animal, they really do. To murder and eat a cow is just as disgusting to all 900 Million of the Hindus in our world.

Yet, in the Hindus eyes, we murder 13,670,000 TONS of beef cattle each year in just the USA.

Who are we to look down upon anyone for eating dogs or anything else?

It's literally the perspective from which you view the world.
 
Before we all go off on a "OMG, they eat dogs in Asia" thing, lets remember that as disgusting as that is to us, the cow is held sacred to the Hindus. I don't mean that they give "lip service" to holding the cow as a sacred animal, they really do. To murder and eat a cow is just as disgusting to all 900 Million of the Hindus in our world.

Yet, in the Hindus eyes, we murder 13,670,000 TONS of beef cattle each year in just the USA.

Who are we to look down upon anyone for eating dogs or anything else?

It's literally the perspective from which you view the world.

I have to agree with you Tim. I got used to the idea when I lived in Hawaii. It wasn't for my palate, but then neither are ants or grasshoppers. :)
 
Dog is eaten in Hawaii? I hadn't heard that before.

Lots of mysterious dog disappearances occurred here years ago after an influx of immigrants...took them a while to learn that Americans don't eat their dogs. Their first Generation born are now pet owners instead of food handlers.
 
Lots of mysterious dog disappearances occurred here years ago after an influx of immigrants...took them a while to learn that Americans don't eat their dogs. Their first Generation born are now pet owners instead of food handlers.

The same thing happened at the last Army Posting I had. The dogs on the base started disappearing and the Post Commander had to put out a notice about the issue. I had lots of Korean friends on base and I was told once that I had shared a meal with a family that was dog in a type of stew. I have no idea which meal or family it was, but I must have enjoyed it. The women in the Korean families I shared meals with were all great cooks. It's where I got addicted to kimchi. The wife of my best friend at the time "Sookie", made awesome kimchi. Spicy enough to remove paint, but incredibly tasty! I think it might have been their home where I must have eaten the dog.
 
Food taboos are pretty interesting. Some religious taboos aren't much of a burden. Jews and Muslims can't eat bats. Today, at least, few in Europe and near east would want to, but some minority non-Muslim in Indonesia prize them as food.

Some African cultures avoid fish. It may be that they were herders and institutionalized a fish taboo to prevent the major change in culture that would result from adopting fishing, a fixed occupation.

It's no more true that "they eat dogs in Asia" than "they eat squirrels in America." Dogs as food are limited to a few regions and not really seen much outside of China, Vietnam, and Korea. Most Asian cultures reject it on various grounds, some religious, as do Hindi, Muslims, and Jews. I think it's possible that the taboos arose where dogs were developed form wolves as extremely valuable to hunting and protecting crops where large herbivores were numerous. Too much value to eat. If a people gave up hunting very early, they weren't so valuable any more. The beef taboo in some places is on account of the opinion that it's ungrateful to eat such an otherwise helpful and productive animal.

The eating of cats in China has some especially odd aspects. It's centered in one region, and Chinese in many other regions object to it. Even where they are popular, it's often referred to by euphemisms, like "roof hare," just as other cultures referred to human meat as "long pig." They are eaten, but not proudly.

Sometimes, it's more a matter of having nothing else. In ancient Mexico, there were no large domesticated animals. Dogs and turkey were about it, so dogs had value as food but not as hunters. It's not always that way. Plains Indians were hunters and gatherers but enjoyed their dog stew. But they were subject to annual periods of near starvation, so the habit kept being reinforced. Jews can't eat camel. But Muslims can, a departure from the cloven hoof rule, maybe because there aren't many sources of meet where they were living.

There are even vegetable taboos, mostly onion type plants. But some taboo root vegetables, because you have to kill the plant to eat them.

Sheep and goats seem to be okay everywhere, except for institutional vegetarians, like Zoroastrians.
 
Dog meat is a common food throughout Asia. You will see dogs kept in cages in marketplaces. :(
For 10 years +, my unpaid job was caring for Saint Bernards that people threw away. I have the urn of ashes of each one that did not make it because of the neglect suffered. I do not wish to discuss cultural differences. I respect that the cow is sacred in India, but do not respect that animals are tortured before slaugther in Asian countries. I've held dogs in my arms that have cried like babies because of pain and suffering. Don't even go there with me.
 
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Chief Longwind Of The North said:
I first entered the world of cooking at the tender age of 4 years. At the time, I stayed with my mother on week-days, and with my father on week-ends. They were divorced and lived on opposite sides of the town (small town). I was at Mom's house and she was baking stuffed acorn squash in the oven. This was back in 1959. I made my way to the stove/range and twisted the oven dial a bit. I increased the oven temperature, innocently of course:angel:. The squash was burned and I got the strap, literally. I still remember how much it stung on my little bare bottom. I never touched the stove again, without close adult supervision until I was about 12. By then, I knew how to make pancakes, fried eggs, and could could heat up a can of beans with hot dogs as well as anyone, not to mention "Chef Boy-Ar-Dee" (sp) pizza kits. But it was the breaded, fried sardines that caught my parents attention. And I've been experimenting ever since.

Now I'm sure that many of my early experiments would be things not wanted on any plate.:LOL: But my rule was, and is - if I make it, I gotta eat it.

How many of you can remember cooking that first, perfect grilled cheese sandwich, or your first perfect beef roast on the charcoal grill, with everything from well done, to rare on the same roast, something for everyone.

I can cook so many more kinds of food than could my parents. But I can't make goulash, Great Lakes style, or pan fried, fresh, Lake Superior Brook Trout as good as my Dad could(of course that may have something to do with the quality of the fish). Nor can I top my Mother's chili, or baked foods (though I can make baked goods as good, and better pasties).

What my parents and grandparents made, they made very, very good. I've just branched out more into the world's cuisines than they did.

Do I love cooking? My wife gave up on cooking early in our marriage as I was always pestering her to try this, and change that, and add a bit of this, to her already good recipes. She threw up her hands one day and said, "That's it. I quit. The kitchen is yours." I've been the chef in my house ever since (chef means chief of the kitchen, and in my house, that's me.).

Here's a challenge for you. My oldest sister and I used to see who could make, and eat the most ridiculous sandwich. One would make it, and the other had to eat it. The challenge is to take a bit of anything available from the fridge and make a sandwich out of it. Then the person you are playing with must eat it, and return the favor. Mooohuahahahaha.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

I also started cooking at a young age- my mom would assign us all jobs, starting with stirring things, and peeling vegetables, and getting more complex as we got older. It was great that she was patient with us and insisted we be in the kitchen to learn and witness how things work. I have a friend whose mother wouldn't let her in the kitchen because she was viewed as a pest, and I am not exaggerating, she can barely cook Mac and cheese.
 
It wasn't so much that I was encouraged to cook, expecially at my Mom's. Rather, I tended to be very independant. If there was no one else to cook for me, I just did it myself. My Dad taught me to make pancakes, and heat up beans and hot dogs, and a pan-fried steak, but that's about it.

At Mom's house, her favorite saying was "get outside and let the wind blow the stink off of ya." Second to that was "Kids are to be seen and not heard." Maybe that's why I was so fiercely independant. When there's no one to teach you how to do things, or to entertain you, you learn to do everything yourself.


I have always been that guy that had to know how to do everything. And when I was introduced to new foods and flavors, I had to learn how to make them. It's just who I am, and what I do.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
For 10 years +, my unpaid job was caring for Saint Bernards that people threw away. I have the urn of ashes of each one that did not make it because of the neglect suffered. I do not wish to discuss cultural differences. I respect that the cow is sacred in India, but do not respect that animals are tortured before slaughter in Asian countries. I've held dogs in my arms that have cried like babies because of pain and suffering. Don't even go there with me.

You've made me curious CWS. These people keep these animals as food stock. How and why would they "torture" the animals prior to it's intended use? It just makes no sense to me.

Excuse me if this sounds insensitive, but cows are not treated very well prior to slaughter either. They keep them in pens, walking around in feces, over crowded, and then shoot a bolt of steel through their heads to kill them. This is done about 100,000 times a day in just the USA.

I'm very sorry for you having had your terrible experiences, but I don't see any difference between "Humanely" murdering a cow by shooting it in the head, and killing dogs to eat them.

Imagine how you would feel if you really loved cows and rescued a few of them from a slaughterhouse before they got shot in the head.

I'm looking at this realistically, not emotionally. Seriously, if you had to shoot a cow in the head, skin and butcher it and wrap each "still warm" piece of it in freezer paper, how would you feel about eating hamburger?

Surely you don't think a cow enjoys it's treatment prior to being murdered? I watched a clip about Kobe Beef Cows that showed a young cow romping and having so much fun in its field. Standing so still while this Japanese guy brushed it's skin with a soft brush while petting it.

The little thing was obviously having a great time playing while being fattened up for murdering.

All kidding aside; what's the difference? Cows have feelings too!

As do all creatures that we accept the killing of. I think your upset is because of your personal experience with a few of the dogs you've cared for. I understand your feelings, but don't understand how you condone the slaughter of all the billions of other creatures.

We become numb to cruelty in huge numbers. We all think that because we *want* that steak on our plate, cooked rare with taters slid up next to it, that the cow was treated as good as possible prior to slamming a steel bolt into it's head.

I think that's nothing more than selective reasoning and a case of fooling oneself. Mankind has killed creatures for food for millions of years, never caring much about how it must feel for the creatures he murders.

My niece, who is a animal loving person who also works with Great Dane rescue, explained this all to me one day while we were discussing her being a vegan.

I understand her point of view and I understand yours as well, but that part of me is going to remain numb so I can enjoy my steaks.

I'm very sorry if this topic upsets you, but I won't be scolded for thinking the same exact way everyone who eats beef thinks, weather they admit it or not.

In many countries, a dog is thought of exactly as a cow is thought of in the USA... Food. Nothing more, nothing less. It's handlers care no more about it's feelings than someone who works in a cow slaughterhouse cares about a cows feelings.
 
Tim, I think a lot of the emotion comes from how dogs are loved as members of the family in this country. Cows are not.

Think back to the Michael Vick/dog fighting/killing business of a few years ago. He was vilified and received a stiff prison sentence. A much harsher sentence than another pro football player who killed a human while drunk driving. Vick is still hounded by people because of his crimes.

You can't take the emotion out of it.
 
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