SusieQ

http://truth-out.org...organic-chicken Just found this interview with organizer Saru Jayaraman of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. She makes a lot of sense. The title is rather provocative, but it's a well-written article with lots of information about what this group has been doing to help restaurant workers. At least that's my viewpoint after reading it. I hope I've posted this in the right spot. I see my title was truncated. It should read "Do you give as much thought to restaurant workers as you do to your organic chicken?"

If somebody wants to write bible verses on my check, they can do it once and I will be polite and tolerate it. They better not do it again, or they'll never see me (or my money) again. Hey all you religious people, keep it to yourself! I don't want to hear it. And certainly not in a restaurant. (Or on an airplane.) And don't tell me you're going to pray for me, either. Thank you.

I beg to differ. When something like that happens to me, it raises my blood pressure.

All I can say is, WOW!

"No one goes there anymore, it's too crowded." The Great Yogi Berra Thanks for my laugh of the day!

I would CERTAINLY have the nerve. I would demand that the bartender open a NEW jar of olives and remove one without touching it. Did the bartender conspiculously (and properly) wash his/her hands prior to fishing out the olive? No? Then that's just nasty. "You have been touching money, credit cards, bar rags, and every other damned dirty thing in this bar. And now you're grabbing my olive with your grubby hand? I don't think so!" I need you at my side! OK, at this one place I frequent, there is no jar. Sitting on the bar is a 3-part divided container, one each for olives, maraschino cherries, and lemon slices. The bartender takes a toothpick in one hand and plucks two olives out with the other hand and then stabs the olives and toothpick together. I see all this because I always sit at the bar and have a martini (or two) and then dinner. (I could sit at a table and then I wouldn't see anything LOL, but I hate sitting at tables when I'm alone.) So this is just my neighborhood place. But I've seen this -- sitting at the bar -- at many many places. And no, they don't wash their hands before plunging one hand in the olive dish. OK, maybe I will get up my nerve. If I do, I will report back.

My #1 bar complaint: the bar server sticks his/her fingers in the olives, plucks an olive out and then puts the olive on a toothpick. To me, the whole point of the toothpick is so that fingers don't touch the olive! I have seen this over and over again in more than one establishment. I've never had the nerve to say anything to the bartender. I just hope the alcohol sterilizes everything.

I share the same concerns. I don't want to eat anything sous vided, although I know I probably do if I eat out. I don't use plastic anything in the microwave. I'm sure most of you sous vide people will call me crazy. Oh well.

Wow, this looks delicious! Thanks for the photos.

This is disgusting. The agribiz system that we have in this country is disgusting.

Thank you (and fledflew) for solving this mystery for me! I always just assumed it was a taste thing. But now that I know it's texture that they're warning me off of, I can happily not order it. Rubbery just doesn't appeal to me (mostly because I probably can't chew it ). And unfortunately, with my budget, a $8-$10 soup would be my main dish, so if I don't like it or can't eat it, that's my dinner ruined. I don't want to give the impression of timidness when it comes to taste, though -- I love new tastes. That's why I was always tempted to order it.

Every time (maybe three times) I've asked in a Chinese restaurant about fish maw soup, the servers always tell me I won't like it, so I never order it. Can anybody say what the taste is like? I get that it's a strong taste, but is it bitter or more like liver or more like a strong fishy taste? Thank you for any hints!

I like that this practice has finally come out in the open if only because now my partner doesn't think I'm really nuts (maybe just a little nuts). You see, I opened up a package of ground beef about a year ago and there was quite the strong smell of ammonia from it. I had never come across that before and was alarmed. My partner said it was all in my head. I thought maybe it was all in my head. I went ahead and cooked it because I couldn't justify throwing it out, and as far as I remember, it didn't taste any different. Now I would take it back to the store.

No it doesn't. It's like thinking scraping mold off sour cream makes the rest of the container okay. It's not? Oh dear.

OK, what is it? Guess I'll have to look it up. I'm guessing it's some kind of dumpling. Please excuse my ignorance.

Wow, thank you for this and all the beautiful photos! Very useful.

Sure, but what's the benefit of drying with a towel? It's more work. I only use a towel when something is too large to fit in the dish draining rack or where I'm really worried about appearance; most of the time, I air-dry stuff upside-down in the drying rack, and it looks fine. "I air-dry stuff upside-down in the drying rack," -- My partner and I have a running argument about this. I do the same as you, air-dry stuff upside down in the dish rack, which seems to me the logical thing to do. But he insists on leaving all the dishes, cups, bowls, etc. right-side up because that way they dry better. Drives me crazy!

Vermouth. For cooking.

If the product weren't safe for food contact, I'm sure they'd say something. Boy, you're optimistic!

There is a woman sushi chef at Mashiko's in West Seattle. (Full restaurant name is Mashiko Japanese Restaurant and Fully Sustainable Sushi Bar.) Go to http://sushiwhore.com/home.html for their home page, where you can also read about how Mashiko's is one of the first sushi restaurants in the nation with exclusively all-sustainable seafood. The owner made a commitment to this two years ago and really followed through. Read all about it on his website. He also talks about the myth that women can't be sushi chefs. Something about women making all the sushi 200 years ago.

You are correct that "garnishee" is a real word, a verb, but it does NOT mean the same thing as when a union (or anybody else) deducts money from a wage -- in the U.S., at least. Here it means you have a DEBT, and someone or some entity has gone to court and gotten a legal order of "garnishment" (no 2nd "e") for your wages to repay that debt. For example, the IRS (federal taxing authority) can garnishee your wages for unpaid taxes. States can garnishee your wages for unpaid child support if the custodial parent is on state assistance. In any case, first there must be a debt. Union dues DO NOT COUNT as a debt. Union dues (just like anything else deducted from your paycheck) do not constitute a garnishment. Oh, and in the U.S., you can use either "garnish" or "garnishee" as a verb in this context. SusieQ -- copy editor P.S. Back to the tipping topic, all you really need to know is that if you come to this country and eat out, please tip. It's our custom! Thank you.

And if you have read this thread you will know the reason for this difference, and it has absolutely NOTHING to do with being a tightwad. Zip, nada, niks. The reason is that in Europe employers are required to pay a liveable wage so that the tip is REALLY only for service above the norm (= €5 on a €400 meal may simply reflect iffy food, service, etc. and be perfectly justifiable and transparent). In the USA employers in this industry are allowed by law to pay starvation wages. Is it the 'fault' of the European visitor for not knowing about this medieval practice? If so, let's go out onto the web and inform them to turn their watches back 120 years after crossing the Atlantic. Please do tell them. Foreign visitors to the United States never seem to believe us when we try to tell them. Maybe you will have better luck. Brilliant!

EXACTLY.

No idea, either, as to foodblogger but this is what I say to the photos: YUM! Very much looking forward to this. Thanks.

Then there are the cat people who are totally indifferent to cat hair in the kitchen. For example, I used to work (as a professional housecleaner) for a couple who liked to entertain a lot. They had dinner parties all the time. Also, there were two long-haired cats in the household who had free rein everywhere, including in the kitchen. On top of that, the couple cooked with a lot of grease -- deep-frying a lot, lots of butter. This was a small kitchen. Every single time I was there, I was wiping off cat hair from the stove top, the walls, the cupboard doors, the counters, in the burners, off the greasy hood, etc. etc. -- before I could even start to clean! God I'm so glad I don't have to do that anymore. I never understood how their dinner guests couldn't see the cat hair. I mean, it was stuck on everything!