Carrot Top

Yes, I would agree to this, too. And it also seems that if a person enters into the idea of going to school with a definite idea of what the realities of the field are, and definite goals that they are aiming for at the end (rather than just "get a good job") then the entire experience can take a different shape. My own rather cranky posts have been from remembering too many arrogant pansywaist cooking-school grads that could not cook their way around a table in a real kitchen, mostly due to the fact that they thought they "knew it all" because they had gone to school and therefore they should be indulged in practices or ways of doing things that might have fit the textbook and the student class but that didn't fit the real life kitchen. And I remember not only my own frustration at them, but how their attitudes affected the other people in the kitchen that COULD and did and had been doing just fine. Plus I feel it my duty to remind people that it is, it really is, possible to do well without college if that is their path. It does happen. And when it does, one should not have to be hang-dog apologetic about it, as if one had "done it wrong" somehow. Yeah, I'm cranky today.

It seems to me that the problem with reliance on academic credentialism as a way to find One's Place in the World is that it is so often unreliable. It is unreliable for a number of reasons. The first is that if a person is depending on the name of a school to get them a certain type of position or job offer upon graduation, they may not be assured that this will happen. Why not? The marketplace can change in terms of what it needs or wants. This has happened often in the past. People enter into "going to college" with the idea, and often with high hopes, too. . .and a lot of emotional investment. . . that this will set them up for a job and for a certain life afterwards, and it has happened often enough that graduates end up looking around upon graduation and saying, "What happened? There aren't any jobs of the sorts that I was promised, available now!" This is so very disappointing for people. And it can set a tone that can continue through their lives if they continue to seek promises from institutions. . .for even academic institutions can not forsee the future. And then, styles in terms of "What's In" in education can change in terms of what real-world clients want (or can pay for). In any time-span, the economy can change enough so that companies that originally sought "high-end" type college graduates will change their direction and instead seek potential employees from "lower-end" colleges or even just plain people who show they can do the job, without the academic credentials. (Obviously there are some professions or fields where this would not work.) There is also the fact that the personality of the student/potential job seeker will affect whether or not they will be offered certain types of positions in the first place. There are some people that will succeed without academic credentials, because it has been proved that they can think, they can work, and they can perform at a high level. And there are some people that will not be sought for great positions no matter what college they obtain a degree from. Finally, as a side note, people themselves do change. How often does it happen that a person enters upon a scheme of spending a great deal of money, a great deal of time and effort, a great deal of trying to put oneself in place of being a certain thing that will "become" a certain thing AFTER graduation, after two or four years of focused attention. . .to find that at the end of it, they really do not like the "job" that they have found in it. To my mind, there is only one good reason to undertake any course of study on the level of higher education. Because you are enthralled by the very studies themselves. Because you feel that here and now, this is what you want to do. And that somehow you can afford to do it. This notion of "credentialism" is a mass of sloppy ambiguities in the real world. It can not be counted on.

Well you never know. Great inventions are often made by mistake. Have you thought to taste that stuff that flew onto the bottom of the oven? You may have unwittingly created the next New Thing. Fortunes untold may await you if you just package it up in a bit of shiny paper. . .

Sigh. Schools are wonderful things. Particularly schools with money and good teachers. But finally, what school one goes to (or does not go to) does not guarantee success or failure in the workplace. Success in the real world is up to the real person. And it can happen with a bunch of letters after your name and a T-shirt to wear with an alma mater emblazoned proudly upon it. . .or it can happen without it.

Darn it all. Just when I was thinking to offer you a fine sum to come ghost-write a week of food-blog for me! But adding a cleanup person to the entourage would surely bring me right over my budget. . . sigh.

I never would have imagined that two simple sentences would have been able to pose such a really good question to my own thinking on tipping (which takes its own peculiar and passionate form as everyone else's does ). Good right jibe there, FG. You might find, though, that the people who would fight the most for the situation to remain basically as it has been for years (tipping based on perceived quality of service and check amount, with the bussers being tipped out by the server) would be the very best servers on the block. For they can make out like bandits.

And to continue in a serious manner for a moment, my own answer to this, (not phrased in the elegance of scientific language). . .is yes, "knowing" how a cut of meat cooks can help in knowing how another will react, without empirical testing. . .in an broad-based sort of way. As long as you know the basic similarities and differences in the meats, as you obviously do. But problems can and do arise sometimes when one depends on this method to be sure-fire. Because the oxtail (for example) (although oxtail is probably less subject to general differences than perhaps other cuts might be) that comes from one vendor, or from one steer, can actually be different than the one from another vendor or another steer. Differences in feed, in breed, in age at butchering time, in handling along the way to the consumer. . .all these things can sometimes make a difference. We don't see that too often for standardization is so across-the-board in general. But it does happen once in a while, to the consternation of the cook. And then of course, the "empirical testing" has to come into play right at the moment in the form of adjustments. You are not "cack-handed" (whatever that means ) in the kitchen at all. Betcha there is not a professional chef in the world that has not had the same thing happen at one time or another. . . Food can be mysterious occasionally, much as one would like to be able to pin it down. Well. . .at least it is to me. . .but I adore the concept of mystery.

Your food has been astonishingly lovely and amazingly tasty-looking, Adam. Quite impressive it is. . .whether the road to it comes from mathematics and biology or "wherever". Quite impressive indeed (said without the least hint of silliness).

The yellow pea soup that I know is quite similar, but the pork is pickled, the quantity of onions greater (adds sweetness), and includes a bit of chopped celery, a generous grind of black pepper, with an good handful of freshly chopped dill added in at the end. Of course my family hails from Gottland. Which I hear is rather the "black sheep" island of Sweden. That could account for the difference. Thinly sliced buttered dark rye bread works great as an accompaniment. A topping of some freshly made croutons works well, too.

Oh, sorry. You, too, Jack. Please, do, the two of you, write a book on How to Cook an Oxtail. Please. "Mathematics and Uncertainty In Meats". Oh! I would not understand a word of it but it would be lovely. . .

Funny you should mention that book, Alex. I just saw it yesterday at the book store. . .it was absolutely adorable (and somewhat shocking, too! ). What photos! There is not much to tell about the avatar, really, dear. But if I can think up a good story for a lark about the whole thing, I'll post it. . .

Why of course it is me, Marlena! Thank you for the compliment. I must admit that I am particularly happy with my new hairstyle! No fuss, no muss, no flyaway hair. . .and whenever I get stressed out I can run my fingernail across it and be covered with a lovely, soothing lime scent. Guys like it, too. . .says it makes them hungry! And it doesn't "remind them of Mom" at all! Your story. . .yes, you should have felt triumphant! Good job! Perfect for an Italian environment, too, your actions. I am sure that you "made their days", both the melon-sellers. . .the Good Guy and the Bad Melon Man! Drama.. . so important.

Ah! But you did not finish the story, Marlena. What happened next?! Did you buy a melon?

"Smart Chicken. . .Dumb Name". It might help if you think of it as a lovely bird that woke up one morning to be grabbed then dressed by bunch of card-sharps in All The Wrong Clothes. Not her fault.

That's exactly how I felt. You've made quite a nice tale of it. . .it was rather like a parable, the whole experience. There was more to it than a big plate of food. It was a way of Being that was being presented at that table. And it made me afraid for more than just myself, for it did say "America". This breakfast topped off a visit to Gettsyburg which also set my head spinning in a similar fashion. It is a huge place. . .one walks around a lot in groups with (excellent) tour guides from the Parks Service. In each group there were about fifty people. And in each group at least one-third of these people were grossly obese, to the point that they were having trouble walking. And about a third of this third were children under the age of 13. It frightened me. I can not assume that they felt "good" for that much weight does not make a body feel good. Yet then when I went to breakfast at one of the places where "America" eats, it was there, the invitation to excess, with almost no-way-to-avoid it. There is a saying about (can't remember the exact words) how you can tell the health of a nation by the way it treats its old people and its children. In this case, it seemed that that saying could be extended to "how well we treat ourselves". If we are aiming towards a general trend towards this. . .well I will use the word "obesity" in large groups. . .and the chain restaurants are helping this along, with subtle little winks of the eye as they total their profits at the end of the day . . what a nightmare, really. Of course, it may be "nothing to worry about". People can do what they want with their bodies. And I even used to (still do somewhat) worry about the fact that as a country, most of us do not speak a second language whereas most people from other countries speak two or three. (It just seems sort of to put one at a disadvantage in a direct way. . .or just seems like a small bit of casual arrogance in an unthinking sort of way. . .) Well. . .enough for now. Sign me, The Worrier, Karen

Marsh????? ← I think he was saying "Much!"

Whoa. Fantastic site, west2100. My omelette weighed in at 792 calories. 612 of those calories came from fat. The cholesterol level was 269% of the daily level. No wonder I felt astounded. And slightly sick. On the other hand, my friend had ordered the Whole Grain and Nut Pancakes. . .in an attempt to "do the right thing". And what did his choice weigh in at? Turns out even worse than the omelet. . .a total of 1037 calories in that "healthy" dish. . .585 of them from fat. . .cholesterol 194% of the daily level. Well. Glad that I haven't missed anything except ruining my health by avoiding IHOP for all these years. . . Oh. . .P.S. No, I didn't eat the whole thing. Could only manage about a third of it.

I have a confession to make. Last week I ate at an IHOP. Well. . .there was literally no place else around to eat breakfast. I ordered an omelette. It said it was a three-egg omelet. It was some variation of a "western" or "spanish" omelet. Within a few short moments, it arrived on the table. It was hard to find space for the plates, because there were four enormous syrup dispensers (on each table) and two coffee pots (empty, waiting to be filled or not) on each table along with the salt, pepper, sugar, and other sweeteners. I looked at it. I didn't recognize it. It was the Omelette to End All Omelettes. Actually it did not look like an omelette at all, but rather some sort of stacked layered egg crepe thing. It was four inches high and about eight inches long. I almost laughed but almost cried, too. My companion said sorry, but that thing looked like a turd from some huge animal. It didn't taste too great. But it WAS eggs and all the other things that it said it was. It was just very strange. I asked the waitress if they had a calorie count on it, and she looked at me as if I was speaking Martian. Even the IHOP website does not say how many calories this thing has. It totally astounded me. Do you have memories of something that was portioned so enormously that it totally astounded you? What was it? Do tell. . .

Oh. So you're saying there is a SERIOUS reason for the name. Sounds good to me. . .

Urgh. The only question here is which is the best come-back to use to this one. "That bar is totally exhausting!" (?) "Go to that bar too often and you'll get a syndrome!" (?) "If you thought you were tired before you walked in, just wait till you walk out!" (?) (Though actually if it's on the Lower East Side. . .who knows? Maybe they specialize in "Energy Drinks" ) Poor Epstein, whoever he is.

I dunno, Soba. Five posts about McDonald's burgers almost right in a row? Sounds a bit to me like you're "jonesing". Aren't the sides of your mouth sort of watering at the thought of having a Double Cheeseburger RIGHT NOW?! ← No, he's a BK addict. ← Yeah . . .You can see how much I can tell the difference between the two places. . . (actually here where I live they are right next to each other on the same street and whenever one of my kids wants one or the other for a "snack" I've been known to often drive into the wrong driveway, mistaking one place for the other, which brings forth loud groans of aggrevation from them). It seems then that I must have McD/BK ADD. . .Oh well. Worse things could happen.

I dunno, Soba. Five posts about McDonald's burgers almost right in a row? Sounds a bit to me like you're "jonesing". Aren't the sides of your mouth sort of watering at the thought of having a Double Cheeseburger RIGHT NOW?!

Somehow the taste of. . .some varieties of Cuban coffees. . .taste naturally sweeter to me even before the addition of the sugar. And there was something I heard once about the desirability (when making Cuban coffee) of forcing more air into the coffee as it was being made (I am not sure how expresso machines work, but certainly the mokas have a good amount of pressure being expended) that would make the final product almost "fluffy". As opposed to a. . .Turkish style coffee. . .which of course is dense. Could or would one say that the typical expresso "texture" and possibly taste, is somewhere inbetween these two. . .Cuban and Turkish?

So, Rogov. . .what categories did the "old vs. young" tend to fall into? Which varieties or types or specifics did the older people like. . .and which did the young prefer? Curious. . .

Mmm. The guys I knew were coffee traders, buying and selling from everywhere on the market exchange in the world "to" the large companies with the warehouses. . .they did do tastings from raw to finished product in the cupping room that sat next to their trading terminals, and this was certainly a large part of their job. . .to judge the capabilites that the green beans could be brought to display as they tried different variants of roasting them in the small roasters in the cupping rooms. . .this would finally, determine the price that would be offered for that bean on the commodities market. Probably the running around to exotic places was just something they enjoyed doing as part of the whole thing . . .though often the trading room was filled with the sound of them jabbering variants of African languages, among others that were needed for possibly the "best" sort of negotiations or information from the field. I do so love Zulu. ................................................................. The five of the most influential women critics/tasters you mentioned. . .would you tell me their names?