Subtle insults to your cooking

[VeraBlue]

Is it possible that the comments come from someone who has nothing else to compare with? Perhaps all they know is pre-packaged mixes....and it's not meant to be an insult at all. Rather, they are simply trying to be complimentary.
Hard to say, really, without actually seeing/knowing the people.

 

[lyndalou]

I get mostly good comments on my cooking. I have one friend who will tell me he likes something I've made (a side dish, usually) just not enough to eat it. Mostly, he does like my cooking.

In our 32 years of marriage, my husband only one time told me gently, that I didn't have to make a particular dish again. Not sure what it was, but it had cabbage in it.

 

[Andy M.]

...In our 32 years of marriage, my husband only one time told me gently, that I didn't have to make a particular dish again. Not sure what it was, but it had cabbage in it.

Sometimes, you just don't like a recipe. That's not a reflection on the cook's ability.

 

[Alix]

Been there corazon, and I didn't much care for it either. I put a smile on my face and fumed silently til the offender had gone. They were never invited back needless to say.

My family is pretty good. (But they have seen my temper!) If they don't care for something they just eat everything else and quietly leave what they don't like on their plates.

 

[GrillingFool]

I don't get insulted.... because there are foods that, no matter who prepared
them or how... I will not like.

So I just assume that the complainer is in the same boat.
Or they had a bad day and I'm the dog being kicked...

I guess I get my happiness and sense of self worth out of the cooking, not
the reception by the consumers, LOL! If I like it and I enjoyed cooking it, then
all is well....

If they don't like it.... MORE FOR ME!

For example.. you could make the world's best eggplant anything, and I will not
touch it. Or you could make a superb (to you) pasta sauce, but if it is really sweet,
I won't be impressed. Or or or.... each person's taste buds are their own. Look inward
for happiness!

 

[Andy M.]

Just a thought, Grilling Fool. Don't open a reataurant.

 

[Constance]

My ex couldn't do anything around the house, but he had a cousin who was quite handy, and he often helped us out. In return, I'd cook a meal for him, his wife and their three boys.
His wife was an ignorant, hypocritical woman with a big mouth, and she never approved of me because I drank and smoked, which made me a wicked woman in her eyes.

Anyway, after I started gardening and canning, we had the family over to dinner (cousin had hooked up our clothes dryer), and I made stuffed peppers, green beans with new potatoes, corn and pickled beets. As I was getting supper on the table, she spent the time loudly preaching to me the dangers of home canning. I assured her that I followed all the federally approved instructions, but my assurances seemed to fall on deaf ears.

As she dished up the boys plates, she made sure they got nothing she thought I might have canned. One of the little ones wanted some corn, and she said, "No, you can't have that. It's no good."
I had to smile, though, as she dipped up the new potatoes, as I had canned those, too.

Her husband ignored her rantings (which I suspect is how he managed to stand living with her), ate everything I'd fixed and went back for more.

It comes down to the fact that some people are just plain rude.

 

[GrillingFool]

Just a thought, Grilling Fool. Don't open a reataurant.

Why? Is it a requirement that a restaurant cook/chef has to have an attitude
about their food skills? It often sounds like it around here.

I didn't say that I don't care about the QUALITY of my cooking.....I know
it rocks.

I just don't get my panties in a wad if someone doesn't like something I cook.
As I said, I don't invest my self-worth in stuff like that. I KNOW I can cook and cook well.

I also know that each person's taste is different, and that people complain
for a host of reasons, some accurate and some just venting.
If the complaint is valid (Hey man, you burnt the **** out of that... or hey, too salty...) then I accept and learn from it. But otherwise... to each their own.

Besides, restauranting is too much work, and cooking is too much fun!

 

[Andy M.]

...I guess I get my happiness and sense of self worth out of the cooking, not the reception by the consumers, LOL! If I like it and I enjoyed cooking it, then all is well....

If they don't like it.... MORE FOR ME!...

It is the above portion of your post that prompted my response.

 

[B'sgirl]

My Chinese exchange student adds soy sauce and hot chili sauce to EVERYTHING I cook. Spaghetti, Asian stir frys, even pancakes. At first I was insulted, but then I figured if I was in China I'd probably want to remove some of the soy sauce in their food just so I wouldn't have to eat it for every meal.

The real insult is when my husband also reaches for the chili sauce, implying that my cooking was too bland for his Idaho-boy tastes.

 

[Chopstix]

My Chinese exchange student adds soy sauce and hot chili sauce to EVERYTHING I cook. Spaghetti, Asian stir frys, even pancakes.

Pancakes??!!!

 

[Jeekinz]

I'm kinda like this guy. Never any complaints.

 

[jpmcgrew]

I know I pull off good meals but you can't please all the people all the time it may have an ingredient in it someone just doesn't like. It could also be a mood thing if there is a dish I love I might not want it because I just don't feel like it and would rather have something else. I always tell people if I made something you don't like don't feel obligated to eat it you wont hurt my feelings.. I understand when someone doesnt like something I don't like certain things either. What I do hate is when I make a nice dish and someone will come up and ask me if it's any good I tell them " no it sucks that's why I made it" Also some people just don't have educated palates so anything different freaks them out well that's just to bad and it's not my problem. I know when I make something and if it didn't turn out quite the way I was expecting it goes straight into the trash.

 

[CharlieD]

Tell me about it. I hate those snotty remarks. I am famous for my chicken soup. It is really good, even I like it. Most of other things I make, I usually complain about that they are not as good as my grandma's or my mothers'. But soup, soup is always good. So this one time we are having diner with my in laws and sisters in-law. One of the sisters finished her soup and says it is so good; it is almost as good as Swanson’s. I almost exploded. My soup, MY SOUP AND SWANSONS. GRRRRRRRRRRRR. I tell, and this is the person who's never cooked in her life. Her husband cooks. Where do people get of to be so rude to say things like this?

 

[Fisher's Mom]

Tell me about it. I hate those snotty remarks. I am famous for my chicken soup. It is really good, even I like it. Most of other things I make, I usually complain about that they are not as good as my grandma's or my mothers'. But soup, soup is always good. So this one time we are having diner with my in laws and sisters in-law. One of the sisters finished her soup and says it is so good; it is almost as good as Swanson’s. I almost exploded. My soup, MY SOUP AND SWANSONS. GRRRRRRRRRRRR. I tell, and this is the person who's never cooked in her life. Her husband cooks. Where do people get of to be so rude to say things like this?

That was unbelievably rude Charlie! Do you think she was just teasing you or trying to get you to react? Whatever it was, I think you should set a place for her on the porch next time!

 

[corazon]

This is my dh I'm talking about here. I guess after dinner the other night I was just feeling a little unappreciated. He likes beef stroganoff, so I thought I would make it for him and he'd enjoy it. I like that I can go out to a restaurant and find something I really like (or dh really likes) then I go home and make an even better version. I thought this would be one of those times.
I'm happy to get ideas from him about how to make a meal better. I ask him for those ideas every time I make something new. This was a "what's wrong with the stuff in the package?"
I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one this has happened to.

 

[Chopstix]

Jeekinz, I can only assume that's the Soup Nazi. LOL. (I've only seen his TV counterpart.)

CharlieD, what's Swanson's about?

 

[Jeekinz]

If it happens again, tell them to get their lazy butt in the kitchen and cook dinner themselves.

 

[larry_stewart]

I like the people who only eat 1/2 of what you gave them. Then when asked how it was, they reply how great it was, but they just cant finish it becuase they are too full. Then, immediately after dinner, you see them stuffing their face with something else. I guess they are just trying to be polite by not saying they didnt like it. But they can atleastmake it a little less obvious.

 

[Jeekinz]

I like the people who only eat 1/2 of what you gave them. Then when asked how it was, they reply how great it was, but they just cant finish it becuase they are too full. Then, immediately after dinner, you see them stuffing their face with something else. I guess they are just trying to be polite by not saying they didnt like it. But they can atleastmake it a little less obvious.

The DW does that, but she's usually pacing herself for the Molten Chocolate Lava Cake.