Your most disliked trend in the food industry.

[PSmith]

Just updated my blog today with some food trends that I find irritating, such as serving food up on a roof tile (aka slate) and the designer "tower burger"

What trend is your pet hate?

[Honkman]

Just updated my blog today with some food trends that I find irritating, such as serving food up on a roof tile (aka slate) and the designer "tower burger"

What trend is your pet hate?

Just read your list and I hope you are not serious about "pink in the middle" burgers - why would anybody eat a burger which is cooked beyond medium/medium rare ? Do you eat your steak also well done ?

[PSmith]

Do you eat your steak also well done ?

No I don't. But I wouldn't pour scorn on anyone who did - it is personal choice - there is no right or wrong. A lot of people in the UK don't like their meat pink - especially after the BSE issues.

Unless you are eating ground steak, a lot of burgers in the UK contain offal meat. Only this week we had a chef ordered to remove undercooked meat from his menu

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/nov/13/raymond-blanc-lambs-liver-food-poisoning

[Honkman]

Do you eat your steak also well done ?

No I don't. But I wouldn't pour scorn on anyone who did - it is personal choice - there is no right or wrong. A lot of people in the UK don't like their meat pink - especially after the BSE issues.

Unless you are eating ground steak, a lot of burgers in the UK contain offal meat. Only this week we had a chef ordered to remove undercooked meat from his menu

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/nov/13/raymond-blanc-lambs-liver-food-poisoning

It's of course a personal choice but a burger well done tends to taste very much like a McD one - like sawdust. Do you have a link to any articles that show that burgers in restaurants in UK contain offal meat ? The link you provided is about a liver dish but has little to do with burgers

[quantumcloud509]

I like my steaks bleeding and mooing if possible, but for personal reasons, unless I ground the burger myself, I also prefer it well done. This is actually one topic that I don't get when people get offended about if a well done burger is requested. A well done burger tastes nothing like Mcds, it tastes like backyard bbq at the Budweiser soaked uncles house.

Now, to unhijack the OPs thread - I really don't like the trend and idea of organic grains such as wheat, which tend to harm the soils rather than build them up.

[minas6907]

I've eaten my burgers rare and with a fork and knife my whole life.

I feel sort of bad saying this, especially because of how much people around here seem to like sous-vide, but it really not something that has ever appealed to me. Granted, I've never had anything that was cooked that way, but to me having a system at home that keeps water at a perfect temperature and just leave you food floating around in bags seems kind of weird. I learned to cook in an old school kitchen, so its just not something I ever picked up or had a desire to learn.

[jsmeeker]

is sous vide any more weird than having thermostats in ovens?

[gfweb]

yes it is weirder than that.

Edited November 25, 2012 by gfweb (log)

[Merkinz]

Although it is a trend that has been around for a while now I find "Organic" to be the most irritating. If I am thinking about going out for dinner and I look at the menu and see anything along the lines of "Organic, grass fed beef" or "made from hand picked organic produce" I probably won't end up going there. When I go out for a meal I want to get the most flavor and the best experience for my money - and if that is actually organic produce then so be it. But I don't want to pay of an ideal where in some cases the chef or owners think it is better to eat organic than it is to eat the best tasting food.

I guess it irritates me so much because I see many people buy into it

Edited November 25, 2012 by Merkinz (log)

[Lisa Shock]

Telling me that small plates are for sharing. When has it ever made sense to give someone less food, and then tell them to give almost all of it away???

Big platters are for sharing. That two bite appetizer is mine, and I'll have no trouble finishing it, thank you very much!

[liuzhou]

I wouldn't pour scorn on anyone who did - it is personal choice - there is no right or wrong.

horror of horrors – pink in the middle.

It's not wrong, it's just horror of horrors? Make your mind up.

[PSmith]

It's not wrong, it's just horror of horrors? Make your mind up.

It is not wrong if someone wants steak rare or if someone prefers it well done. It is personal choice and I detest the snobbery that dictates that steak must be pink in the middle. Burgers on the other hand, I personally always want fully cooked, but if someone wants a rare one, then I wont be telling them they are wrong.

Unless labelled "Steak mince" (mince is our UK word for ground), then it will contain connective tissue, blood vessels and a whole load of other parts of the cow.

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Beef_mince

Clearly the BSE problem in the UK in recent years didn't reach all parts of the world. So far only about 200 people have died of vCJD from eating infected meat - at one point the Government were predicting tens of thousands of people may die. Although it was later found that cooking did not kill the infected meat, it has left many in the UK nervous of eating beef mince that has not been well cooked.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy

I like my steaks bleeding and mooing if possible, but for personal reasons, unless I ground the burger myself, I also prefer it well done. This is actually one topic that I don't get when people get offended about if a well done burger is requested. A well done burger tastes nothing like Mcds, it tastes like backyard bbq at the Budweiser soaked uncles house.

Exactly my views - and restaurants should ask if someone wants their burger "well done" rather than just deliver it rare.

Edited November 25, 2012 by PSmith (log)

[radtek]

Usually burgers are served well done in my area due to local ordinance. Not because of any potential lips and assholes in the meat, which is almost always the standard chuck-sirloin-fat mix but because the grinding process introduces more surface area for bacteria to thrive and must be cooked well to stave off any potential food-borne illnesses.

Some places do offer temps though. I like mine a little pink. Also it would be important to know if the restaurant is grinding to order which would be ideal- this is what I do at home.

I guess there are several trends but the "bottomless soup/salad/bread/pasta" offerings bothers me greatly as well as mammoth plates of food. As Zamir Gotta stated: "I find it hard to believe there is crisis in United States" when presented with such huge portions...

[rotuts]

if you happen to eat BSE beef, your chance of getting the disease has nothing to do with the temperature the beef is cooked at. the agent does not denature at temps we cook at.

[radtek]

if you happen to eat BSE beef, your chance of getting the disease has nothing to do with the temperature the beef is cooked at. the agent does not denature at temps we cook at.

Pretty much irrelevant in the USA.

According to BSE info:

A scientific analysis of seven years of surveillance data found the estimated prevalence of BSE in the United States to be less than one infected animal per 1 million adult cattle.

I can eat beef raw or otherwise pretty much to my heart's content and get on to more important matters like worrying about being struck by lightning.

[rotuts]

then there is yur friend E.coli and its toxins ..... etc etc

[radtek]

Of course. Eating out is like playing Russian Roulette. I tend to take the vast majority of my meals at home or what I've prepared myself.

[gfweb]

Speaking of burgers; I'm tired of Fieri-sized hamburgers. I don't want to wear it; I want to eat it. Comfortably, without a bib.

Damnit.

[ChrisTaylor]

If you can't fit the thing in your mouth and get a bit of each element--without, you know, unhinging your jaw, all python-like--then it's not a burger. It's a tower of food someone has decided to cap with a bread roll.

[Honkman]

Although it is a trend that has been around for a while now I find "Organic" to be the most irritating. If I am thinking about going out for dinner and I look at the menu and see anything along the lines of "Organic, grass fed beef" or "made from hand picked organic produce" I probably won't end up going there. When I go out for a meal I want to get the most flavor and the best experience for my money - and if that is actually organic produce then so be it. But I don't want to pay of an ideal where in some cases the chef or owners think it is better to eat organic than it is to eat the best tasting food.

I guess it irritates me so much because I see many people buy into it

I don't really see what is wrong with organic - the environmental impact of current, conventional agriculture is huge so supporting ways to lessen this impact even in restaurant setting is very positive. If you think organic is only for advertisment you might want to read some articles or books from Nestle, Pollan etc. Same with grassfed beef - are you aware that cows can't digest corn and that the corn-based diet is very painful for them (and often requires medication) ? Grassfed beef not only taste better (beef vs "buttery") but is also a statement against animal cruelty. I prefer that restaurants include their sources of produce, meat etc. so I know who I support with my money. Eating (at home or at the restaurant) should be more than eating the actual food - it is not always possible to make the perfect choices but such "labeling" helps.

[Putty Man]

Can't stand the tendency of inventing non-problems in order to flamboyantly solve them with outré techno-nonsense. Sous-vide meat is an example that springs readily to mind.

Additionally, and not unconnectedly, is the rarely stated but often used premise that a dish is better the more convoluted the cooking process is. This is also nonsense.

[scubadoo97]

Telling me that small plates are for sharing. When has it ever made sense to give someone less food, and then tell them to give almost all of it away???

Big platters are for sharing. That two bite appetizer is mine, and I'll have no trouble finishing it, thank you very much!

I understand tapas but the small plate crazy by restaurants has a lot to do with higher return on food cost. I rarely walk out from a small plate, meant for sharing, meal with a smaller bill than a conventional meal

[radtek]

Can't stand the tendency of inventing non-problems in order to flamboyantly solve them with outré techno-nonsense. Sous-vide meat is an example that springs readily to mind.

Additionally, and not unconnectedly, is the rarely stated but often used premise that a dish is better the more convoluted the cooking process is. This is also nonsense.

Ha! I'm going to dabble with some SV but agree whole heartedly. Are we so bored and jaded that we need the food to be all foams, and/or deconstructed and abstractedly unrecognizable? I want a meal not smoke and mirrors or food prepared for artistry's sake.

[gfweb]

Can't stand the tendency of inventing non-problems in order to flamboyantly solve them with outré techno-nonsense. Sous-vide meat is an example that springs readily to mind.

Additionally, and not unconnectedly, is the rarely stated but often used premise that a dish is better the more convoluted the cooking process is. This is also nonsense.

Agree with the second point. The first point couldn't be more wrong, as many eG threads, restaurants and chefs can attest. Don't dis what you don't understand. Everything new isn't a bad thing. Progress happens, my friend.

[Merkinz]

Although it is a trend that has been around for a while now I find "Organic" to be the most irritating. If I am thinking about going out for dinner and I look at the menu and see anything along the lines of "Organic, grass fed beef" or "made from hand picked organic produce" I probably won't end up going there. When I go out for a meal I want to get the most flavor and the best experience for my money - and if that is actually organic produce then so be it. But I don't want to pay of an ideal where in some cases the chef or owners think it is better to eat organic than it is to eat the best tasting food.

I guess it irritates me so much because I see many people buy into it

I don't really see what is wrong with organic - the environmental impact of current, conventional agriculture is huge so supporting ways to lessen this impact even in restaurant setting is very positive. If you think organic is only for advertisment you might want to read some articles or books from Nestle, Pollan etc. Same with grassfed beef - are you aware that cows can't digest corn and that the corn-based diet is very painful for them (and often requires medication) ? Grassfed beef not only taste better (beef vs "buttery") but is also a statement against animal cruelty. I prefer that restaurants include their sources of produce, meat etc. so I know who I support with my money. Eating (at home or at the restaurant) should be more than eating the actual food - it is not always possible to make the perfect choices but such "labeling" helps.

I am 100% against animal cruelty and buy certified "happy animal" protein where possible. Organic has nothing to do with this. "Organic" is what I take issue with. Lets turn back to the plants:

I would agree with you if "Organic Produce" was proven to be better for the environment than "non-Organic Produce" ... which is simply not the case.

Organic crops are also susceptible to pests and disease and large scale farmers dump large quantities of "Organic" pesticides (such as nicotine, mineral oil) on crops to fight these issues. In the reading I've done I've seen no evidence that modern day "organic" practices are any better for the environment than those non-organic practices.

Need I quote?:

"A new University of Guelph study reveals some organic pesticides can have a higher environmental impact than conventional pesticides because the organic product may require larger doses."

"The consumer demand for organic products is increasing partly because of a concern for the environment," said Hallett. "But it's too simplistic to say that because it's organic it's better for the environment. Organic growers are permitted to use pesticides that are of natural origin and in some cases these organic pesticides can have higher environmental impacts than synthetic pesticides often because they have to be used in large doses."

"Ultimately, the organic products were much less effective than the novel and conventional pesticides at killing the aphids and they have a potentially higher environmental impact," she said. "In terms of making pest management decisions and trying to do what is best for the environment, it's important to look at every compound and make a selection based on the environmental impact quotient rather than if it's simply natural or synthetic. It's a simplification that just doesn't work when it comes to minimizing environmental impact."

Source: http://www.scienceda...00622175510.htm

Edited November 26, 2012 by Merkinz (log)