I think this is a stupid "rule". Am I right or wrong?

[Margaret Pilgrim]

14 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

That's fantastic - I've bookmarked it!  Thank you for linking it.

 

BTW - my broken in half spaghetti twirls just fine.  😉

 

Whatever you enjoy and however you enjoy it is fine with you, me, us.   I remember walking into my first apartment, looking at the refrigerator, cupboards and stove and thinking, "Wow!  I can buy anything I want, cook anything I want, eat anything I want!"   A freedom I had never realized before.   And it's still true.  

 

No food Nazis in my house, nor should there be in yours!   

[andiesenji]

I break a lot of food "rules" because who cares!  It's MY kitchen, MY food and MY rules - which are No rules.

 

I break spaghetti, linguini, etc., into lengths that I like and I use a "Pasta Boat" to cook pasta in the microwave.  

I've been cooking and baking for 70 years because I started when I was ten and many, many years ago I learned that some of the classic "rules" are simply BS.  

[jmacnaughtan]

10 hours ago, Katie Meadow said:

A quick survey of various sources yields the following: Most sources attribute the invention of the fork as a dinner utensil to 4th century Byzantium. Supposedly it morphed from Greek and Roman two-pronged tools that migrated to the tables of Byzantine nobles. It is also the most common theory that the fork then traveled to Italy before the rest of Europe during the Middle Ages. Apparently the Medici's were early adopters. I'm sure they found them to be very useful for stabbing each other. With the pointy end, of course.

 

Oh, and my vote goes to fork twirling as the main reason to avoid breaking long pasta. You break it for kids who haven't acquired that dexterity yet. It was invented by the Phillistines.

 

 

Interesting.  I read that it came into Europe through the Ottoman Empire and Muslim North Africa, and was for a long time held to be heretical by the Church.  This is how we get the image of the devil with a fork.

[Dante]

On 6/26/2019 at 8:03 AM, mgaretz said:

One of the “rules” you see constantly is sear the meat to seal in the juices. It does no such thing. 

 

and yet the same people who say that never make the connection when they see the rested cut of meat sitting in the pool of liquid after...

[Bernie]

And only turn a steak once.

But no one can give you a valid reason why.

[jmacnaughtan]

4 hours ago, Bernie said:

And only turn a steak once.

But no one can give you a valid reason why.

 

I find the colour is far better if you just leave it alone on each side, compared to flipping.

 

And it's less effort.

[andiesenji]

5 hours ago, Bernie said:

And only turn a steak once.

But no one can give you a valid reason why.

But I have watched a real French chef - I took a cooking class from Chef Gregoire - turn a chateaubriand several times until each side had reached the perfect color and had the perfect "give" that he wanted.  Different steaks were treated differently, depending on the amount of marbling in the meat because some surfaces shrink at different rates and achieving an even heat transfer requires turning more often so the the steak won't bow and then not be in even contact with the surface of the skillet or grill. He instructed us to turn as soon as the steak or chop "released" and after the first two turns repeat so the heat penetrates evenly.    

 

[Kim Shook]

4 hours ago, andiesenji said:

But I have watched a real French chef - I took a cooking class from Chef Gregoire - turn a chateaubriand several times until each side had reached the perfect color and had the perfect "give" that he wanted.  Different steaks were treated differently, depending on the amount of marbling in the meat because some surfaces shrink at different rates and achieving an even heat transfer requires turning more often so the the steak won't bow and then not be in even contact with the surface of the skillet or grill. He instructed us to turn as soon as the steak or chop "released" and after the first two turns repeat so the heat penetrates evenly.    

 

I think this makes perfect sense.  Fish is, of course, different.  I think it really benefits from leaving it alone - especially if you want a nice crust on it.  If you turn it too often you risk it breaking apart and every time you turn it the 'cool' side has to heat up again.  That's my theory anyway.

[andiesenji]

4 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

I think this makes perfect sense.  Fish is, of course, different.  I think it really benefits from leaving it alone - especially if you want a nice crust on it.  If you turn it too often you risk it breaking apart and every time you turn it the 'cool' side has to heat up again.  That's my theory anyway.

Exactly!   Chef used clarified butter and carbon steel skillets that were reserved for steaks and chops and appeared to have a seasoning coat that looked like black glass.  He would place the steak, just as the butter began to shimmer and turned it every minute.  Of course the thicker steaks took many more turns but each was perfection with the color even from edge to edge and plated on a WARM plate, he showed us how the interior temperature would continue to rise so that when delivered to table, it was at the perfect temperature.  There were no really accurate probe thermometers in the '60s so we had to guess until I found a photographic thermometer that I used at home when "practicing."  Chef could tell just by touching but it took me a while to learn the "feel" of meat that has reached the optimal degree of cooking.

 

[suzilightning]

Well, I have to break John's long pasta into at least 4 parts when cooking.  He then takes his spoon and chops the finished product up even further.  Yes, his choice of eating tool at all meals is a large spoon.

 

In @Kim Shook vein, although it is in the manners department, I was taught to cut off only what I was going to eat.  I have watched most of John's family chop up everything and mix it all together.  🤐

[Darienne]

1 hour ago, suzilightning said:

Well, I have to break John's long pasta into at least 4 parts when cooking.  He then takes his spoon and chops the finished product up even further.  Yes, his choice of eating tool at all meals is a large spoon.

 

In @Kim Shook vein, although it is in the manners department, I was taught to cut off only what I was going to eat.  I have watched most of John's family chop up everything and mix it all together.  🤐

You have the mixers and the non-mixers.  Ed is a mixer and I am not.   Still we've managed together almost 60 years.  Not saying there haven't been words on the subject from time to time. 

[lemniscate]

I no longer have any anxiety about how to eat long thin noodles after visiting Japan.  I watched elegantly clad women and men slurp their noodles with abandon and my A-Ha moment was achieved.  I twirl, slurp, bite any and all noodles and enjoy them, out at restaurants or home cooked.  My personal fave shape is radiattore, which I feel is the most civilized shape since it grabs the most sauce and can be fork-stabbed or spooned into the bouche equally.  

 

I also cook pasta in my Instant Pot and feel like a rebel, cause it works and cause it violates the previous status quo.

[lindag]

I don't know if this is one of the 'rules' but I leave my butter out all the time, 24/7 regardless of the temperature.

I keep it in a china covered butter dish.  It has never gone rancid and never melted.  I use quality butter from Costco or the nearby grocer or the imported Kerrygold.  Never had a problem and have been doing this for many, many years.

 

ETA:  I remember a young woman I worked with some years ago who lived with her boyfriend in a trailer.  She left the butter out on a dish on the counter overnight and when she went into the kitchen in the morning the butter dish was empty and surround by a circle of mouse turds.

Edited June 29, 2019 by lindag (log)

[andiesenji]

2 hours ago, lindag said:

I don't know if this is one of the 'rules' but I leave my butter out all the time, 24/7 regardless of the temperature.

I keep it in a china covered butter dish.  It has never gone rancid and never melted.  I use quality butter from Costco or the nearby grocer or the imported Kerrygold.  Never had a problem and have been doing this for many, many years.

 

ETA:  I remember a young woman I worked with some years ago who lived with her boyfriend in a trailer.  She left the butter out on a dish on the counter overnight and when she went into the kitchen in the morning the butter dish was empty and surround by a circle of mouse turds.

 

I have an extra small fridge that I originally got when I was making cheese. It is set at 50°F. and I use it for produce, hard cheeses, butter and things that should be kept cool and dry but not necessarily chilled.

Recently I saw one of the "new" undercounter fridge "twin drawer" units, priced at $2785. specifically for "cool but not chilled" foods.  My little fridge was $259. when I bought it in 1999.  Still works fine.  Pro-rate that out for 20 years.

 

[TdeV]

I use this pot to keep butter on the counter; you put a little water in the bottom, so the enclosed space (and water) keeps the butter cool. (I have noticed that if one doesn't make bread for 2-3 weeks and thus doesn't use any butter in the pot, then the butter might develop blue or orange streaks and have to be jettisoned. How long does unrefrigerated butter last?)

 

The only downside to this pot is that the butter doesn't have that great taste of really cold butter.

Edited June 30, 2019 by TdeV
Correcting punctuation (log)

[Bernie]

We have a "wet season" (well we used to have). During the month or so before the atmosphere gets very humid and hot (~30C).

I also keep the butter in a porcelain dish in the cupboard and it gets pretty soft but I put up with it.

BUT it grows a little black "mold" during this month. It generally grows on the contact between the dish & butter. Its really bad if I use unsalted butter.

I put in in the fridge overnight and its enough to keep it at bay.

Edited June 30, 2019 by Bernie
spelling (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

😵

 

That's the way around the bad luck!

[Kim Shook]

2 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

...because it is so difficult to break spaghetti in half.  LOL

[JoNorvelleWalker]

5 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

...because it is so difficult to break spaghetti in half.  LOL

 

I thought typical grocery store pasta in the US was already cut in half.  I remember grocery store spaghetti being much longer than it is now, sold folded in half.  Quite seriously.

 

[Kim Shook]

11 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

I thought typical grocery store pasta in the US was already cut in half.  I remember grocery store spaghetti being much longer than it is now, sold folded in half.  Quite seriously.

 

You are probably right.  I don't ever remember US brands being longer, but when I buy imported pasta, it is often folded in half.  Honestly, that stuff is always going to be broken in my house.  One twirl of that is enough to fill an entire fork!  😉

[Martin Fisher]

On 6/25/2019 at 8:15 PM, Kim Shook said:

"Never, ever break your spaghetti in half!"

 

C'mon folks!!!

I thought the everyone was aware that box length is the perfect length for spaghetti!?  <sarc>

[Bernie]

As a kid growing up the only pasta you could buy was in a box (as apposed to plastic). I seem to remember all was long and doubled over. About a quarter was already broken in the box, I think from rough handling in the distribution and retailing.

It was always a great game to try and find a full length that survived the cooking and serving.

As a kid the joy of "sucking in" (the preferred method for us horrible children) a full length, with the attendant smearing all over the face of the sauce was a constant vexation to our mother.

[stephen129]

Personally I think cooking pasta in water 'as salty as the sea' is far too salty. Have these people actually tasted sea water? It's disgustingly salty.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I'd be interested to learn who first came up with the idea.  Probably someone living far from open water.  Different seas have different degrees of salinity.*  The Mediterranean Sea is 38 g/kg.  The Baltic Sea is 10 g/kg.  The Dead Sea is 337 g/kg.  The rule is stupid.  Not to be taken littorally.

 

It simply means salt your pasta water.

 

 

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bodies_of_water_by_salinity