Cooking Myths

[Peter the eater]

"Don't drink cold water right after eating a spoonful of soup; it will crack the enamel on your teeth."

I'm no dentist, but . . . maybe your enamel could crack if you tried to eat the spoon itself.

I have heard of "old country" soup makers who would drop some ice in to the hot stockpot in order to break the bones and release marrow. I suppose its possible, but I 'd need to see or do it for myself.

[jumanggy]

No man was allowed in the kitchen while cakes were baking.

Oh, f---!

I'm sure there are a lot here in the Philippines, but only one sticks in my mind-- you're not supposed to sing while cooking, or you'll marry someone ugly. Hey, at least you get married, geez.

Peter, maybe we need to get the Mythbusters on that. I'd feel a little witchy trying to crack animal teeth in a pot!

Avumede, that's right about the oxygen. Maybe it has more to do with the hot water pipes or something.

[andiesenji]

I have heard everyone claim that one should make tea starting with cold water. Most of the time they claim it is because of the oxygen content of the water. However, once you heat up the water, you'll lose the oxygen anyway.

←

The idea is that fresh cold water has not yet boiled. Using water that has boiled and left in the tea kettle for awhile will taste flat, mostly because the calcium chloride has precipitated out of it - which also releases some oxygen.

To extract the most flavor from tea, one does need just enough, but not too much of these chemical compounds.

Distilled water tastes flat because these compounds have been removed. Tea made with distilled water lacks the "liveliness" that one gets with fresh water that has just come to the boil. Note that many teas should be brewed with water that has not quite come to a boil, to get the best flavor.

It is easy to test this yourself. Simply boil some water - you can even do it in the microwave, a cup at a time - and leave one cup to set for an hour or so - re-boil it and also boil a fresh cup. Make tea with both and taste them.

Or, just taste the difference between the previously boiled water and fresh water.

[GreekCook]

When I make a cappuccino I always pour the espresso into the cup before the steamed milk. I swear it tastes different if I pour the milk first into the cup and then the espresso. I'm not crazy...honestly.

Nope you're not crazy, I do the same thing and there is definitely a different taste