Redditor CessnaBlackBelt wanted to get some thoughts on the culinary process out of chefs, so they asked for cooks to chat:
"What's your most gatekeeping culinary opinion?"
I've always been told to focus on the cleanliness of the kitchen.
Hope that helps.
Changes
Dan Levy Comedy GIF by CBCGiphy"If you change a recipe when you make it, you’re not allowed to rate it in the reviews without making the original. Nothing worse than someone rambling about the 14 changes they made to a recipe, and then giving it a 3 star."
Slickness81
Big Secret
"Anthony Bourdain was right: butter is the secret ingredient."
Redditforgoit'
"Butter makes it better' is the first rule of cooking, followed closely by 'an ounce of good sauce hides a pound of mistakes."
TheArmchairSkeptic
"My dad was a chef. He taught me earlier on the the secret to tasty food is to use as much butter as possible and never let anyone know. That’s how why it’s a secret."
str4ngerc4t
Safety First
"I think EVERYONE (both food service workers and general public) should take a food safety course."
ADryMuffin
"Yes please! The way my mother treats a fridge as a general purpose container with uncovered raw meat touching the sides of other things and keeping vegetables straight on the shelves with no containers or even some bowls... it hurts."
MapedMod
"100% agree. Worked in food service a lot when I was younger, even if it's boring it's really informative. Learning food safety also helps you recognize quickly when you go to a restaurant and it's not following safety procedures."
"My biggest pet peeve is still glasses and takeout boxes facing the wrong way."
otakuoccultist
Sabra?
"If your middle eastern/Mediterranean place serves bad or bland hummus I’m not even going to bother with the rest of your menu. If you can’t get the basics right don’t waste my time."
Anduinnn
"Love the episode where Gordon Ramsay has the store owner try his hummus and she agrees that it’s better, then he reveals it was just a Sabra brand he bought from the store. Timestamped link to the episode: https://youtu.be/t3WVCKwZry4?t=1952"
homeboi808
Lighten Up
long island smile GIF by Brimstone (The Grindhouse Radio, Hound Comics)Giphy"Burning stuff doesn’t make it Cajun."
HanMaBoogie
"Oh I have another one just because it's spicy doesn't make it Cajun you crap bag chip companies."
tyedrain
Burning isn't a thing. I've tried to pass that off before.
Be Sharp
Animated GIFGiphy"Most people's knives are so dull as to be next to useless."
Nbjaj2576
"I got a sharpening stone a couple of year ago after getting a really good knife for Xmas. It makes a huge difference. There's nothing more tedious and demotivating than trying to cut vegetables and meat with a blunt kitchen knife."
punky67
Too White
"If you don't allow chicken to brown when you're pan frying it, just don't."
TwoLittleNeedleMarks
"I have to take over for my mother when she cooks chicken and I’m around. Granted, she has to make a lot, but she crowds the pan so much that the temperature drops and many pieces aren’t touching the pan, so they all come out milky white."
homeboi808
"My mother in law cooks chicken in the microwave. I have to leave the house."
give_me_two
'calibrate'
"You cannot trust your oven thermometer. Get a separate one and use it to 'calibrate' your oven. Mine will tell me it's hot about 100 degrees before it's actually at temp. Very annoying."
AttackOfTheThumbs
"When my family moved into our new house we didn't know this was a thing."
"We didn't realize what was happening until we baked half a bowl of cookie dough, only for them to need several minutes more than the directions said, then we baked the second half of the bowl for that long and they were nearly burnt by the time we pulled them out."
SconiGrower
Idenity
"I'm of the opinion that you can do whatever the heck you want with food but if you fundamentally change a dish you have to change its name."
"It's all about expectations."
"If I go into a restaurant and order a carbonara, then when it arrives they say 'oh we make it with pepperoni snack sausages and cream cheese', then it's no longer a freaking carbonara... it's not necessarily gatekeeping but things are called things for a reason. Imagine the chaos if we just abandon this... come on people."
broom-handle
Opposites
So Good Julia GIF by HBO MaxGiphy"LEMON and LIME have two very different flavors. My entire family seems to think that they taste the same and will substitute one for another."
Hack-A-Byte
Well now I feel ready to get into the kitchen.
The world of cooking techniques and secret recipes no longer looks like it once did. Just a few decades ago, obtaining a secret recipe was a monumental act.
You had to get in touch with your parents or a relative, look at a 60-year-old index card covered in your great-grandmother's illegible script, and make blind guesses at the measurements--which were noticeably absent.
Then, after two or three attempts, you finally work the dish out perfectly. After all that work, it's a fat chance that you'd ever pass an earned heirloom like that along to even your closest friend.
Now, you click around for about 10 minutes until you find a very well explained recipe on a website that's hidden just enough to ensure not everyone at the upcoming potluck read it. Boom, secret recipe.
One Reddit thread went so far as to quicken the process even more. It's a helpful forum full of techniques and casual recipes. It's as beneficial as it is existentially threatening to the "secret recipe" altogether.
speakthat asked, "What is your personal and unique quick recipe/food hack?"
Little Touches
"If you can afford actually good balsamic vinegar, just a little drizzle can be amazing."
"People have regularly been like, 'Wow, I don't usually like salad but this is awesome' or, 'Damn, you make the best vegetables.' ... It's literally just a bit of pretty decent balsamic (not the insanely expensive stuff, but not off the shelf of your average grocery store), olive oil, and salt."
"Also works to brush on stuff like roasting carrots for a glaze."
Tabula Rasa
"You can throw nearly anything on pancakes and most times it will taste good." -- Red_Distruction
"Pancakes and burgers is the fun, but ugly, cousin to chicken and waffles." -- johnnycakeAK
Thickening Agents
"When making mac and cheese, blend up some (cooked) carrots and cauliflower with some milk/water so you end up with an orange-y liquid, add cheese and then mix in some cooked macaroni. It makes it creamier, healthier and thicker and you barely taste any difference."
Split and Unite
"If you're making an omelette, separate the yolks and the whites before you cook them. Whisk them both up individually (do the whites until they become frothy), mix the two back together and then cook them as normal. It'll make it super wobbly and fluffy as opposed to a patchy dry mess."
Doctoring Up
"Crack an egg and stir (or not) into the boiling soup of any cheap-a** (or not) instant noodle and you've now got some tasty ghetto fabulous broth to enjoy. Use two eggs if you're feeling naughty."
-- SoulSonick
GiphyFor the Warm Weather Coming
"Sliced cucumber with no fat Italian dressing, salt, pepper, paprika. Its healthy, bright, and has a little kick. A nice, cheap summer time snack."
-- ButtersHound
GiphyStill Thicc
"I substitute unsweetened, plain Greek yogurt for sour cream all the time. On home-made tacos and burritos most often, but even with a bit of ranch seasoning for veggie dip."
"It has more of a bite than the sour cream, which I like, and I feel like I'm getting a better nutrition bang for my buck. I don't like sweetened yogurt, so this has been a nifty way to work it in to my diet still."
A Take on the Flatbread
"Naan bread, any type of sandwich meat, tiny tomatoes, spinach, gouda cheese. Throw in random spices of the day, usually garlic salt, paprika, Italian seasoning, and ground black pepper."
"Throw everything to half a side of the naan bread, fold over bread, throw naan on pan with lid to grill and melt the cheese. Serve with taziki sauce or mayo sriracha. 👌 sounds like a lot of work but it takes me less than 10 minutes to have a easy semi healthy dinner."
The Open-Faced 1970s
"A can of tuna mixed with a can of cream of mushroom soup. Scoop it onto halves of hamburger buns. Sprinkle it with cheddar cheese. Bake open faced in oven at 350 until cheese is melted. My mom learned this in Home-Ec in junior high in the 70's!"
A Premium Extra Layer
"When I bake banana bread, I always butter the loaf pan, then throw in a tbsp or two of sugar to coat all of the butter. Gives the bread a really nice sweet finish on the outside without the use of a glaze."
"I tried this with dark brown sugar once and ended up with a loaf soaked in molasses, which was disgusting so definitely stick with normal granulated sugar for this one lol."
Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "
Yum.
Black beans, rice, and one topping of choice. Always delicious.
I do salsa and maybe some cheese. Eat it with corn chips.
The best meal.
GiphyTake a standard sized tumbler, add a splash of whiskey, then fill it the rest of the way up with whiskey. I call it "a big glass of whiskey".
Unless you consume the tumbler you're going to need a third ingredient.
Sorry, never mind. More whiskey.
Hey, that's cheating.
I can make a fantastic pizza by combining just cheese, tomatoes, and a fully prepared pizza.
Tortilla, sauce, mozz cheese. It won't be great because theres no seasoning but it'll be pretty solid.
Nice.
Buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, basil.
I just learned that buffalo mozzarella is from buffalos.
Wait 'till you hear about their wings.
There's a lot you can do with eggs.
Eggs, salt, and pepper.
Fried egg, white rice, and soy sauce is pretty great.
A universal favorite.
GiphyPoutine!
I'm in the US and poutine is on my bucket list of foods to try! I feel like it wouldn't be the same if I just made it myself...
Love a good Spam.
Rice, Spam, eggs.
Yeah Filipinos know: rice, sunny side egg, (any salty protein).
Spam, bacon, sausage, dried fish, hot dog even.
That sounds so good.
Cacio e pepe. Trust me man. Super easy and absolutely delicious. You only need spaghetti, pecorino (you can use parmesan) and black pepper. Thank me later!
Sriracha is good on everything.
GiphyToast, poached egg and a drizzle of sriracha mayo.
If you're allowed to branch out, add some sliced avo and some crumbled Danish feta.
Pure magic.
Box of cake mix, 1/2 a cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs. Makes "cake box cookies" that taste just like your favorite cake. My favourite cookies!
My mouth is watering.
GiphySlightly more than 3 ingredients but...
Take some potatoes and cut them into quarters long ways. Then cut then into about 1/4 inch thick slices.
Sautee an onion in oil of your choice with garlic.
Add a little more oil, enough to cover the potatoes but not too much. Add potatoes and turn heat down to just above half.
Cover the shit out of them with salt and pepper, stir every 30 seconds to a minute adding more salt and pepper each time. Make sure to cover the potatoes in the stuff every time you stir them.
After cooking for about 20 minutes, or until desired softness, serve.
It's a family recipe. German fried potatoes. Wonderful side dish for any meal.
Potatoes can be bread, pasta, a snack, a meal - or even an artistic medium and source of energy if you're not in the mood to actually eat the super spud.
Reddit user flacidballoon asked:
Hey Reddit, what's your favorite way to eat potatoes?
The result is an ode to the only root to ever derail a potential presidential campaign; and it is GLORIOUS. If you're low-carb or no-carb, you might want to skip this article. For the rest of us, grab your forks and let's get down.
Butter Butter Butter
It's kind of amazing how much butter you can get into finely mashed potatoes. Fine dining restaurants use about a 3:1 ratio (three pounds potatoes: one pound butter). Ridiculous.
- o_shrub
A famous chef actually used half and half. Apparently it tastes like heaven... Probably because you're considerably closer to going there if you eat it a lot.
If something tastes like heaven at a restaurant you can be quite sure it's because of excessive amounts of cream or butter in the dish.
Flavor Delivery Device
All potatoes are just flavor delivery devices. Potatoes are very bland, hence why nearly every method to prepare them uses tons of salt or other condiments.
Ever had unsalted french fries? Nasty.
Mashed potatoes without butter, salt and milk? Nasty.
Potatoes au-gratin? Tons of cheese, salt and cream.
Pommes dauphinoise? Again with the salt and cream.
Pommes Anna? Salt and butter.
Hasselback potatoes? Salt, butter and herbs.
Potatoes make a very good base to add other flavors to. It's all in how you prepare them. A baked potato is not fully prepared until you slather it with butter and other toppings. Just like mashed potatoes aren't fully prepared till you add the butter, milk and salt.
Source: classically trained chef.
Samwise Style
GiphyI liked them boiled. Or mashed. Maybe stick 'em in a stew.
What's taters, precious??
Hash Browns
Hash brown.
- Mr_Zacek
This. With extra crispiness on the outside
- dlrust
Non-crispy hash browns are a total why bother.
With a runny egg and country gravy on it.
Carne Asada Fries
Carne asada fries.
Someone wanna explain what this is? I know I could google but that doesn't help the next guy, or further the discussion. Carne is meat, what kind of meat? What does asada mean?
- Vranak
Carne Asada is a type of steak often used in Mexican food. Marinated, grilled, and thinly sliced. It's absolutely delicious. Carne Asada fries is just fries, steak, cheese, and then whatever other toppings you want (guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, etc).
Scalloped Does Not Mean Scallops... Or Cheese
Scalloped with lots of sharp cheddar.
I avoided them my whole childhood because I hate scallops, big mistake.
Me too! I never really asked I just heard and declined immediately, with that kind of name I must not like them. I went like 15 years without the deliciousness in my life. Who wouldn't like potatoes with tons of cheese?
- claryn
My grandma made the BEST scalloped potatoes. Thin sliced so all potatoes were tender, lots of cheese plus some (I think) sour cream to make it all creamy. Tissue-thin onions that melted into the cheese sauce.
She's been gone 7 years. My aunt makes them every holiday, but she's a joke of a cook and takes short cuts so it's all crap. I know I could recreate it, so could my mom. But, it's just not the same. You KNOW it's not made by grandma.
I miss my grandma.
- Lo452
Here is my weird hill to die on. Scalloped potatoes do not have cheese! I love cheese so much, BUT scalloped potatoes should be a white sauce. If including cheese you are now making potatoes au gratin. I am the type of cook who will at least double the cheese in any recipe, but we grew up eating scalloped ham and potatoes on special occasions and there was no cheese.
Thank you! I was dumbfounded everyone was agreeing and no one was pointing this out.
Pickled
GiphyNot my favorite way per se, but a way that I just tried recently. Pickled potatoes.
The Mexican restaurant on the corner serves pickled potatoes alongside their pickled jalapenos. I decided to give them a try. Sliced potatoes 1/4" thick and boiled them for about 10 minutes until they were edible but firm. I packed them in a jar with 50/50 vinegar/water and 2 tbsp of salt. Other herbs and spices to taste. I used oregano, thyme and crushed red pepper.
After a week in the fridge, they're a great beer snack. Also add carrots and jalapenos to the same batch for a variety of pickles in a single jar.
- NewRelm
