Why does so much food suck?

[SoxMunkey]

My sous chef and I were having this conversation not too long ago. She was telling me that sooner or later, I will give into the SYSCO generation and way of doing things. That businesses now a days are more apt to purchase from SYSCO because no one has the time to do any "real" cooking. Basically, everything is about the bottom line. Which, is kinda strange to me since doing some actual prep that involves knife skills and following the guidelines of a recipe would actually save so much more money on that ever so difficult food budget.

I actually think that a lot of restaurants now a days do not have the talent that they need to actually make something that has some real taste. It's a lot cheaper in labor costs to hire someone who has a limited culinary knowledge and just have them do whatever they are told to do. In the long run, the quality of the food suffers and company's like SYSCO become the Wal-Mart of the restaurant business.

[divalasvegas]

So a couple of good friends of mine, a married couple, treated me to one of their favorite restaurants a couple of weeks ago, for bbq spareribs no less. Now, the wife is no slouch and has great taste as well as great kitchen skills and is no fan of sucky food. But....................

The "bbq" spareribs SUCKED BIG TIME, which was a shame since I could tell it was a nice, porky-tasting slab of ribs but left in the hands of a bbq-impaired cook/chef. The ribs had obviously been boiled, then baked in an oven, and THEN turned a few times over a wood-smoked grilled and brushed with bbq sauce. No sweet smokey flavor, no pink smoke ring, no proper pull of the meat from the bone, no crusty goodness on the outside--absolutely NOTHING that makes a good sparerib, just a whole lotta taste of baked/boiled pork with bbq sauce and slight smokiness from a few nanoseconds on the grill. Oh I almost forgot, about the gobs of unmelted fat we had to pull from our mouths every few bites. The coleslaw was served warm and smelled like it had soured. We were also served underwhelming garlic "smashed" potatoes (not a big fan of garlic smashed potatoes actually) that were about as flavor-free and ungarlicky as an item could get. The baked beans and corn bread were okay.

Both of my friends btw said that this was the second worst meal they had ever had at this establishment and were shocked at just how bad it was. The wife said unfortunately that this meal seems to have sparked a downward trend in their dining out in that they haven't had a good meal since that evening. I told her I must be the jinx and offered to remove the curse, but she laughed and said it could just as easily be them.

I really don't know what to say since it was my first meal there. They told me that this was not characteristic of this restaurant and we did show up only a little over an hour before closing. But................. no matter what time of day or night, those ribs would have sucked just as bad from being so mishandled, and there's no good explanation for soured, funky cole slaw. It really tasted like a meal made by someone or several someones who didn't have the most basic understanding of what would make any one of those elements--ribs, potatoes, slaw--delicious.

Oh well.

[Mikeb19]

Interesting article in the NYT today, Top Chef Dreams that talks about how much it costs a cook to enter the field thinking of it and wanting it to be a "profession" rather than a "trade".

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It doesn't have to cost a thing. Heck, you can get paid to learn.

Culinary school isn't worth it. Learn on the job - you'll learn more, and have more money in the end. Besides, half of the techniques they learn in school no one uses anymore, and they don't teach techniques that restaurants actually do use now... (frustrating those of us who have to deal with the culinary school grads...) When you have to show a culinary school grad how to make a mayonnaise or a ganache because they don't know what an emulsion is, theres a fucking problem...(true story)

Anyhow, I really don't know why so much food sucks. I've worked in bars where we did make everything from scratch, made some damn good food for a decent price. Bars make so much from liquor sales they can invest a little in the food. While it's true that liquor makes more money than food, people decide where they want to eat first, then drink there too.

[Carrot Top]

Interesting article in the NYT today, Top Chef Dreams that talks about how much it costs a cook to enter the field thinking of it and wanting it to be a "profession" rather than a "trade".

←

It doesn't have to cost a thing. Heck, you can get paid to learn.

Culinary school isn't worth it. Learn on the job - you'll learn more, and have more money in the end. Besides, half of the techniques they learn in school no one uses anymore, and they don't teach techniques that restaurants actually do use now... (frustrating those of us who have to deal with the culinary school grads...) When you have to show a culinary school grad how to make a mayonnaise or a ganache because they don't know what an emulsion is, theres a fucking problem...(true story)

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Mike, I completely agree with you about culinary school. I became an executive chef with a six-figure salary without it and even without a high school diploma or GED. And the first person that I ever had to "terminate" from his job as cook happened to be a CIA grad.

(Note: We do live in an intensely academically-credentialized society, though, so what you describe may not be for everybody or even for most. There, I've added my cautionary note. )

............................

There's a million reasons why so much food sucks, so I expect this thread will be a very long-lasting one.

divalasvegas, I've tasted that coleslaw before somewhere. It is rank and disgusting and a crime against humanity. I am sorry you had to experience it.

Edited August 11, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[SundaySous]

After reading most of this thread I really miss the supernatant of a roofing company I worked for. Work took us all over the Chicago area almost different place daily.

As he would explain your next job he would also tell you where you could get a good meal. What to order. If you had to call him from a job site he would often ask where you ate, was it good and then tell you about another place.

I should really look him up and take him out on the town. Think of all the new info he must have?

My girlfriend lives in Portugal. Her mother owned a seaside restaurant. We all agree Portugal is lucky most can't afford to eat out and when they do they demand and get quality.

You know where you get your cabbage in Portugal? Out of your front yard that's where.

Regrettably she thinks Pizza Hut is the best pizza ever.

[MarketStEl]

So a couple of good friends of mine, a married couple, treated me to one of their favorite restaurants a couple of weeks ago, for bbq spareribs no less. Now, the wife is no slouch and has great taste as well as great kitchen skills and is no fan of sucky food.  But....................

The "bbq" spareribs SUCKED BIG TIME, which was a shame since I could tell it was a nice, porky-tasting slab of ribs but left in the hands of a bbq-impaired cook/chef. The ribs had obviously been boiled, then baked in an oven, and THEN turned a few times over a wood-smoked grilled and brushed with bbq sauce. No sweet smokey flavor, no pink smoke ring, no proper pull of the meat from the bone, no crusty goodness on the outside--absolutely NOTHING that makes a good sparerib, just a whole lotta taste of baked/boiled pork with bbq sauce and slight smokiness from a few nanoseconds on the grill.  Oh I almost forgot, about the gobs of unmelted fat we had to pull from our mouths every few bites.  The coleslaw was served warm and smelled like it had soured. We were also served underwhelming garlic "smashed" potatoes (not a big fan of garlic smashed potatoes actually) that were about as flavor-free and ungarlicky as an item could get. The baked beans and corn bread were okay.

Both of my friends btw said that this was the second worst meal they had ever had at this establishment and were shocked at just how bad it was. The wife said unfortunately that this meal seems to have sparked a downward trend in their dining out in that they haven't had a good meal since that evening.  I told her I must be the jinx    and offered to remove the curse, but she laughed and said it could just as easily be them.

I really don't know what to say since it was my first meal there.  They told me that this was not characteristic of this restaurant and we did show up only a little over an hour before closing. But................. no matter what time of day or night, those ribs would have sucked just as bad from being so mishandled, and there's no good explanation for soured, funky cole slaw. It really tasted like a meal made by someone or several someones who didn't have the most basic understanding of what would make any one of those elements--ribs, potatoes, slaw--delicious.

Oh well.

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Can't speak for the sour coleslaw, but I had a similar experience a little over a month ago in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia, where I had gone with a friend to a outdoor jazz festival. (Aside: This event is totally free and gets bigger and better with each passing year. Bookmark the link for next July.)

There's a barbecue restaurant in a strip mall in the block where the main stage is located. We thought that would be a good choice when we both got hungry.

I had a rib platter; my friend (born and raised: Northern Delaware/South Philly; lives in Northern Delaware presently; currently Villanova Law student -- all but that last fact relevant to the tale, as you will soon see) ordered a whole slab.

"Best ribs I've ever eaten," he said.

"I've had much, much better," said I.

I wish I had my camera to document the total absence of a smoke ring or any evidence of smoke flavor aside from that contributed by the barbecue sauce. And it was clear that the ribs had been parcooked then finished in an oven (maybe it was a smoker, but you couldn't prove it by me).

But what made this experience stranger was that this restaurant (a) had a long line of patrons waiting to order from it and (b) had a slew of "Best of" and "Readers' Choice"-type awards from newspapers serving the area hanging on its wall.

I had to chalk all this up to Philadelphians' collective ignorance of what constitutes good barbecue.

Edited to add: BTW, diva, love your .sig.

Edited August 12, 2007 by MarketStEl (log)

[SundaySous]

Can't speak for the sour coleslaw, but I had a similar experience a little over a month ago in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia, where I had gone with a friend to a outdoor jazz festival.  (Aside:  This event is totally free and gets bigger and better with each passing year.  Bookmark the link for next July.)...

...But what made this experience stranger was that this restaurant (a) had a long line of patrons waiting to order from it and (b) had a slew of "Best of" and "Readers' Choice"-type awards from newspapers serving the area hanging on its wall.

I had to chalk all this up to Philadelphians' collective ignorance of what constitutes good barbecue...

It's possible they anticipated increased business due to the jazz fest and had to alter their methods. Then again if your friend thought it was the best ribs ever you could be entirely right.

[CaliPoutine]

We went to a pot luck bbq last night. Omg, there wasnt one thing( except the dish I brought) that I could say was delicious. Everything was either cooked in a crock pot with the same looking/tasting sweet/sour sauce or coated in miraclewhip or bottled salad dressing.

How Effing hard is it to make a viniagrette? Jaysus!! I brought a watermelon/feta/scallion salad( similar to what Torakris made for the Heartland Gathering) and hardly anyone touched it. I heard many comments from people thinking it was tomatoes. I said " Its watermelon feta salad and one guy said " thats just wrong". I said "Whats wrong about it? Holy god. I knew I shouldnt have brought it, but I had half a watermelon to use up. I'm pissed I wasted good feta on those people. Almost all of the salad was leftover.

Why do so many people eat such shit food? I'd rather eat nothing.