My list of 10 guilty kitchen secrets that mean I will never be a chef!

[Barbara L]

I think how one defines "foodie" is important also. According to the dictionary I just checked, it is someone who enjoys good food, someone who takes an enthusiastic interest in eating or cooking good food.

To me that means that it doesn't matter if I cut everything perfectly, if it looks like it is ready for a magazine layout, etc., but that I had fun preparing it and that it tastes good and doesn't kill either of us. lol

So I guess the definition of "foodie" isn't what is really important, but rather the definitions of "enjoy" and "good food." We each enjoy different levels of cooking and eating.

Barbara

 

[Maverick2272]

I think how one defines "foodie" is important also. According to the dictionary I just checked, it is someone who enjoys good food, someone who takes an enthusiastic interest in eating or cooking good food.

To me that means that it doesn't matter if I cut everything perfectly, if it looks like it is ready for a magazine layout, etc., but that I had fun preparing it and that it tastes good and doesn't kill either of us. lol

So I guess the definition of "foodie" isn't what is really important, but rather the definitions of "enjoy" and "good food." We each enjoy different levels of cooking and eating.

Barbara

I couldn't agree more!

 

[kadesma]

My DH is always telling people what a great cook I am..I am always telling others about everyone here at DC..I'd never be a chef, my knife skills would send a real chef into spasms! While I try to always use fresh, for the life of me I'm awful with making a good brown sauce and in a hurry will use Knorr to make it..Speaking of knives you could ride to the next town and back on mine..Sharpen them sure. I keep yelling about taking them to be sharpened but it always slips my mind, til I see DH cutting with a brand new knife on the counter top not the board...I make pretty darn good bread, but when it comes to making a cake or pie, well that is a huge challenge for me, I HATE to follow a recipe..Food snob, heck no, a food snob, would laugh me out of town, but,me, I'd have a meal with anyone one here, serve me something from a box, that's just fine, you took the time to do it, that's all that counts to me..
kadesma

 

[Maverick2272]

I think people get a little too obsessed with the way the food looks, sometimes this whole plating thing really annoys me. I am far more concerned with how the food tastes, not that I don't want to present it in an appetizing way, I just don't feel the need to make something you want to hang on the wall. I much rather make something you want to come back for more of instead.
But don't get me wrong, I know there are people out there that are blessed with this kind of talent, and if it makes them happy, then more power to them!
Same goes for pots, pans, and utensils. I am more interested in something that works well and lasts a long time then something that looks 'neat' or 'trendy'. Of course, if you can have both, then by all means go for it!
Moderation is key in cooking I think (Emeril forgive me LOL), for me a balanced approach works out best. I just want to cook really good food on a consistent basis.
The smiles are my reward.

 

[kitchenelf]

(kinda like box wines...)

Hey!!

 

[Maverick2272]

Learning basic knife skills is kinda like learning to drive a car. You wouldn't get behind the wheel without having learned properly, would you?

Yea I did, and you are right it was a way bad idea

 

[Chopstix]

We eat first with our eyes.

At the very least, an attractive spread may enhance taste perception while the opposite will probably diminish it. Since it's important to me that other people enjoy the food I prepared, I care about how my food looks. But this is just me.

The food doesn't have to be precariously architectural nor each pea carefully arranged like by a food stylist. In fact I don't do that as it feels pretentious and I'm no professional chef. I actually prefer rustic-style food that looks casually thrown together, with nice color accents or garnish to make the dish look appetizing.

 

[Barbara L]

I like my food to look nice, as well as taste good, but it is just the two of us, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time decorating the plate with food. I do try to balance flavors, textures, and colors. My personal order of food preferences is taste, texture, and finally how it looks. I believe how the food looks can affect how we like a food (at least to a certain point). I remember once when I was about 12, my mom decided to do something different, just for fun. She colored the salt green. Everyone, including her, decided that the food (especially mashed potatoes) looked a little too freaky with green salt and she never did it again! (It was a fun experience though!).

Barbara

 

[Maverick2272]

We eat first with our eyes.

I agree with most of what you said, I like my food to look nice as well. But I think we eat with our nose first. Well that sounds gross, so say sense of smell.
When I cook (assuming I am not busy messing something up) I first get "that smells delicious", then "that looks delicious", and finally "that tastes delicious"
I don't worry about making things look pretty or fabulous, just look delicious and mouth watering.
We are pretty salt of the earth as are our friends, so for us and our friends looking appetizing is more important than looking artistic.
But if I go to a 5 start restaurant, I do expect that. For me it is part of the whole 'experience', its not just about eating gourmet food but about the experience as a whole.
For the kids sometimes I will make the food look fun just for them, and if it is just me and the wife I will go for something artistic to help create the 'experience' i want. But I only get to practice that about twice a year, and am not that great at it. For now I am content to just work on making the food even better, healthier, and more diverse.
Bottom line is around here with three kids you are lucky if you get a set table let alone anything artistic.
Just my take on things

 

[Barbara L]

...I think we eat with our nose first. Well that sounds gross, so say sense of smell.

You're right, the sense of smell is definitely important. When I have a bad cold and my nose is stuffed up, my food doesn't taste right. Years ago my dad was really sick and lost his sense of smell almost completely for several weeks. He told his doctor that chocolate tasted like dirt, and the doctor laughed at him. Not sure which box of Cracker Jack he got his diploma from, but he told my dad that losing your sense of smell wouldn't have any effect on how foods taste.

Interesting side note--I read, years ago, that scent/smell memory is the strongest. It makes sense. I know that certain smells bring back very strong memories from my past. The weakest sense of memory that we have is color. For instance, we think we can go to a store and buy a red belt to match a pair of red shoes that we have at home, only to find out they are several shades off.

Barbara

 

[Chopstix]

Thanks Mav. But without quibbling over which sense (sight or smell) takes precedence, I think most of the time we see the food first, before we get close enough to actually smell it.

 

[Maverick2272]

Viewer Advisory: Graphic nose hair warning

OK, what the heck if you can't laugh at yourself:

 

[Maverick2272]

Quick note: Ever walked by a restaurant and smelled the delicious food? Or walked into your home as the spouse/significant other was cooking supper? Great smells, but haven't actually seen the food yet... I guess it just depends on the circumstances, in our case it is smelled throughout the house long before it is ever seen presented on the table to be seen.

 

[Barbara L]

OK, what the heck if you can't laugh at yourself:

Hey, I'll laugh along with you! Thanks for the visual!

Barbara

 

[DrThunder88]

I rarely keep common ingredients (especially those with short shelf lives) on hand.
If a dish doesn't have an allium in it, I probably didn't make it.
I can recite a half dozen dessert recipes off the top of my head but not a single entree.
I've got pans with all sorts of high-tech coatings and made from space age materials, but 90% of my cooking is done in cast iron.
I make rash, "lowbrow" substitutions (usually by necessity). Chalk this one up as "poor planning" in most cases.
I work from midnight to eight AM, so I'm only ever cooking for one.
I usually wear soccer sandals in the kitchen.
I have patience enough to whisk a curd or sauce to completion but have a tendency to push faster procedures too fast.

But you know what they say, "If you can't wok the wok, don't toque the toque."

 

[che'mark]

Uh oh, food snob here, my knives are razor sharp, I keep a good steel in the drawer and a few strokes every few days keeps them sharp. My Vegetables are cut like a machine did it and food plated carefully as though each course is a work of art. I cook with the same wine I drink. When I serve guests I try to always have five courses and a properly set table, I use linen napkins. I have three sets of dishes so the color of the food doesn't clash with the color of the china. I don't have a television and have never watched a 'cooking show' so at least that hasn't influenced me to be more ridiculous than I already am about food. Presentation isn't everything but it's important.

 

[buckytom]

tossing in my 2 cents: not all dishes require symmetrically cut veggies, nor do they require oddly angled cuts. lots of different dishes, lots of different techniques.
the reason for making thing evenly sized is so that they finish cooking at the same time. but as far as shape goes, well that's up to the dish at hand.

you wouldn't want to put big, chunky, angular veggies inside a fish to roast, because the fish will be dry by the time the veggies are done. conversely, if you put thinly sliced veggies into a stew, they'll disintegrate into it.
the latter isn't as bad as the former, but you get my point.

as far as snobbery goes: i am a "food snob" when i go out to eat, and i prefer family/home style at home. that is, i like to eat fancy stuff presented well in a restaurant, but a "serve yourself from the pots on the stove" at home kinda meal suits me just as well.

 

[QSis]

I have three sets of dishes so the color of the food doesn't clash with the color of the china.

Wow.

Lee

 

[Wart]

We eat first with our eyes?

Yes, we do.

When I wrote how 'it's all going the same place anyway' I didn't mean I didn't / don't care if the food I prepare looks like or is presented as barf.

I think food cooked well presents itself. And it's not like I slop food on the plate.

For me it's form following function. My cupboard has Pyrex, Coral, some Jadite, other stuff. China is kept in the hutch.

I don't have a television and have never watched a 'cooking show' so at least that hasn't influenced me to be more ridiculous than I already am about food.

No TV? Lucky you, (story left out).

 

[Dave Hutchins]

I cooked professionally for 45 years and I am now widowed and If I can get it on my plate good enough. I do not dislike fancy food ""Gourmet"" etc.but simple foods please me more now.