Culinary and Kitchen-Related Pet Peeves

[Ricky]

- "What beers do you have on tap?" (I rattle off 14 tap beers) "I'll take a bud light."

That seems like an opportunity to ask, "14 different ones, so what do you like?" Bump 'em up to something better (and pricier) with a targeted suggestion, and cut down on the annoyance at the same time.

Yes. The names of 14 unfamiliar beers is intimidating and offers little to help guide a choice, especially to someone who is willing to settle for Bud Light in the first place (unlikely to be well-versed in beer).

Both very valid points. I wish we had unfamiliar beers to introduce to people, but we don't really. The most obscure beer we carry is probably XX amber or Pear Cider. Usually the upsell comes in offering a large beer instead of a "pint" (14 oz. glass). The guy that won't order Stella or New Castle over bud light isn't going to want me to offer him "something better", but he'll probably want a little more.

I'd like to clarify too that all pet peeves aside, bartending is easily the best job in the world. After all the problems that we might encounter, we can still be whatever we want behind the bar. A teacher, a listener, an entertainer, and it's still just hanging out with new friends every night, mixing up some cocktails.

[Ricky]

"when you have minute" sounds more like "I see you standing there with your thumb up your ass, so when you have a minute, I'll take my tab..." I know that's what she meant.

I am pretty level headed, and don't get angry too often. I'm very tolerant when the occasion arises, and understanding when people need me to be. But the condescending "when you have a minute..." really gets to me sometimes.

[brinza]

- "Can I get a Grey Goose and vodka?" (seriously this happens ALL THE TIME!!)

Following Chris's lead, I'd say this is an opportunity to say, "So, do you want Grey Goose, or do you want vodka.?"

[brinza]

A recent article in the Philadelphia Weekly entitled The Bartender Hates You covers a lot of this ground, at least here in my fish bowl. But I suspect the complaints are fairly universal. And before any of you jump down my dear friend Phoebe's throat, if you read it carefully, her bitch was about the last guy in the bar saying "when you have a minute" sounding snarky, not anyone else. Think about it. If the bartender is standing around waiting for you to finish then saying "when you have minute" sounds more like "I see you standing there with your thumb up your ass, so when you have a minute, I'll take my tab..." I know that's what she meant.

Wow, some of those comments following that article! Those people are nasty. If those are the kind of people you have to deal with, I wouldn't blame you if you poisoned their drinks. Geez. Too many people can't get that it's a two-way human interaction. Good service deserves an appreciative customer; a polite and patient customer should be able to expect good service. Pretty simple, really.

[Porthos]

I use a lot of frozen veggies. I use both individual and mixed veggies. A trend that has made it harder to find mixed veggies to buy is the insidious addition of red peppers to the mixes. My DW doesn't do red peppers because they "don't like" her. Very real issue.

 

I have been buying Italian Style Mixed Veggies for decades. I grabbed a bag while picking up a few different bags of veggies. I went to use them last week and found that even this variety of mixed veggies has suffered from the unneeded addition of red peppers.

 

What food items have you found to have been needlessly polluted by food trends?

[weedy]

the food trend I avoid is frozen vegetables.

[Maison Rustique]

14 hours ago, Porthos said:

I use a lot of frozen veggies. I use both individual and mixed veggies. A trend that has made it harder to find mixed veggies to buy is the insidious addition of red peppers to the mixes. My DW doesn't do red peppers because they "don't like" her. Very real issue.

 

I have been buying Italian Style Mixed Veggies for decades. I grabbed a bag while picking up a few different bags of veggies. I went to use them last week and found that even this variety of mixed veggies has suffered from the unneeded addition of red peppers.

 

What food items have you found to have been needlessly polluted by food trends?

 

I completely agree on the red peppers, but will add green in there as well, plus say it isn't just frozen veggies, but also in restaurant meals. We had 2 meals out last week and both entrees I ordered had so many peppers in them that they completely over-powered everything else. I felt like I had pasta primaredpeppers--very few other veggies in it. The other was a stir-fried shrimp and veggie thing that also was mostly red and green peppers--in that one, the green peppers flavored the entire dish.

[cakewalk]

I see red peppers and green peppers as two completely different animals. Green peppers are vile, and they will bite you hard if you let them. Feh. But red peppers are much more docile. I like them, but I agree that they can overwhelm a dish. Green peppers simply ruin whatever they touch, and I will stay away from just about anything that has green peppers in the ingredients list.  

[ElsieD]

I agree with @cakewalk.  Green peppers are vile, but I do love roasted red peppers.  However, all things in moderation unless it's chocolate.

[Porthos]

I like green, yellow, orange and red peppers. I enjoy them raw and cooked. I just choose WHEN I want them.

 

My DW likes their taste, but they cause her gastric distress.

 

There is one application I will agree is vile. Bell peppers stuffed with ground meat. That was the dinner I disliked having to cook for the family dinner when I was in high school. Graduated and left home in 1971 and have never made them again.

[gfweb]

Red peppers are OK w me.

Green peppers diced fine in a stir fry or with sausage and peppers are OK.  Otherwise....

Edited January 24, 2017 by gfweb (log)

[GlorifiedRice]

Im tired of seeing green peppers in Cheesesteaks!

No one I knew or know orders peppers on their Cheesesteaks.

[blue_dolphin]

After confessing that I often add some slivered red bell pepper to a dish of broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, etc. to "dress it up" a bit, I will step away from the peppers for a moment.  

 

There are a few (not many) frozen veg that I keep on hand:  spinach, artichoke hearts, corn, pearl onions.  What I've noticed when shopping for them is the grocery store freezer space for plain ole frozen veg has drastically decreased while the significantly more expensive frozen veg side dishes (veg coated with salt-, fat-, and often sugar-laden sauces) have proliferated grandly.

[quiet1]

2 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

 

I completely agree on the red peppers, but will add green in there as well, plus say it isn't just frozen veggies, but also in restaurant meals. We had 2 meals out last week and both entrees I ordered had so many peppers in them that they completely over-powered everything else. I felt like I had pasta primaredpeppers--very few other veggies in it. The other was a stir-fried shrimp and veggie thing that also was mostly red and green peppers--in that one, the green peppers flavored the entire dish.

 

'A while ago we ordered a dish that was described as pork with chilies. It turned out to be pork with a massive pile of green pepper and maybe a few chili flakes.  

[GlorifiedRice]

Now charred poblanos are different thing...

[kayb]

4 hours ago, cakewalk said:

I see red peppers and green peppers as two completely different animals. Green peppers are vile, and they will bite you hard if you let them. Feh. But red peppers are much more docile. I like them, but I agree that they can overwhelm a dish. Green peppers simply ruin whatever they touch, and I will stay away from just about anything that has green peppers in the ingredients list.  

 

Amen. I loathe a green bell pepper, and am not fond of green hot peppers (jalapenos, serranos, anaheims, etc., though Hatch are all right in small quantities). For any Cajun dishes,  I sub sweet yellow banana peppers. Not fond of celery, either, so I often sub green tomatoes, if in season, for that, or just leave it out. Have also used carrots.

[Arey]

3 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

There are a few (not many) frozen veg that I keep on hand:  spinach, artichoke hearts, corn, pearl onions.  What I've noticed when shopping for them is the grocery store freezer space for plain ole frozen veg has drastically decreased while the significantly more expensive frozen veg side dishes (veg coated with salt-, fat-, and often sugar-laden sauces) have proliferated grandly.

I've noticed this too.  The only frozen vegetables I keep are peas, brussel sprouts, and red bell peppers. I clean the peppers , julienne them, and freeze them.  I add small pieces of red pepper to curried rice and if cooking zucchini will throw in some red pepper strips if I feel like it.  I also like roasted red peppers packed in olive oil, but I don't go through them fast enough and always end up throwing some out. 

As Nigella Lawson said on one of her cooking shows "There is no excuse for green peppers".

[jayt90]

20 hours ago, weedy said:

the food trend I avoid is frozen vegetables.

Agree, but I use them in soups and stews, or to start a sauce that will be strained. They are always soggy out of the bag, and I wish they were shrink wrapped.

 

[scubadoo97]

Love peppers in all colors.  Especially love the little mini sweet colorful peppers that are a common find in the grocery store 

[Tri2Cook]

12 minutes ago, scubadoo97 said:

Love peppers in all colors.

Me too.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

So much hate for bell peppers! That's OK though; more for me. 

 

I used to watch them blooming, setting and then growing and ripening with such anticipation. Not as much as the tomatoes, of course, but the first maters usually came in earlier anyways.

 

I love all colors too, and the hotter varieties as well. That said, I don't enjoy frozen veggie mixes and don't buy them, vegetables have different cook times to be optimal, which I can control with separate ones, but not with a premix. Also I can customize exactly what I want in that mix. I do buy frozen veggies all the time but not carrots or broccoli because I think the texture suffers.

 

Pepper haters, please avert your eyes, but fellow pepper lovers, you probably know that peppers deliver more Vitamin C than citrus.

 

Good thing the world is large enough and diverse enough to make it interesting and pleasing to us all.

 

 

[weedy]

3 hours ago, munchymom said:

 Cooked green peppers, however, can take a flying leap.

 

really?

 the cajun "trinity" ?

you're discounting an awful lot of great food based on that.

[Anna N]

3 hours ago, weedy said:

 

really?

 the cajun "trinity" ?

you're discounting an awful lot of great food based on that.

Not great food for me if I despise one of the ingredients. 

[liuzhou]

I'm not in the green bell pepper fan club either. Red, I can eat but wouldn't go looking for. I do buy yellow peppers about twice a year, with good intentions. They usually sit in the fridge till I remember them or, more often, find them when looking for something else only find decomposing sludge and then bin them. Responsibly in the compost.

I do use them occasionally at earlier stages. Most often grilled on sticks with other stuff. But that is summer food. Not now food.

[ElainaA]

I'm glad to see that I am not the only one here that loves all colors of peppers. It was feeling a little lonely for awhile.  I prefer red, yellow or orange peppers cooked - preferably roasted. Green peppers I prefer raw. It is an entirely different taste from red or yellows - much less sweet, more astringent and to, me, very fresh-from-the-garden. I like it a lot. I do use them cooked in many dishes.

One of my nephews can not eat green peppers raw - they make him literally sick. Cooked is fine and other colors are fine raw or cooked. I assume there is some physical explanation for this. I don't know if this is a common issue for other people but it may explain some of the negative reactions. 

I grew purple bell peppers one year - they looked beautiful when raw but turned a nasty grey color when cooked.