Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Culinary Terms that Should be Banned!


liuzhou

Recommended Posts

9 minutes ago, Susanwusan said:

 I would expect if they are are on television and supposedly professionals, they ought to know.  Part of what they are doing is teaching about food as well as entertaining. 

 

That is a little naive. Just because they are on television doesn't mean they are linguists or even experts in any paricular field. They are just reading a script to the best of their knowledge.  A lot are just hired for their looks!

People on television; educators; chefs mispronounce words all the time.

Half the restaurateurs in the world can't pronounce restaurateurs.

Television pros, especially in news, get new words thrown at them every day.

Can you pronounce my eGullet name correctly?  I very much doubt it.

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

I have a whole list of this kind of thing.  So-called food "professionals" who mispronounce words (I'm not talking about accents here) and who pass on old advice and rules that have been proven wrong.  Ina Garten STILL says to put oil in your pasta water.  

I put a little in my pasta water. Helps to keep it from boiling over. 

  • Like 2

That's the thing about opposum inerds, they's just as tasty the next day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of my pet peeves only proves that I’m a hypocrite. Last night on a television show, jambalaya was mentioned. One character noted that the shrimp were heads on, and another character said that shows it’s authentic jambalaya. Oh, hell no. I’ve never seen head on shrimp in jambalaya. The hypocrisy is that while I want Cajun and Creole food to be represented authentically, I know that I don’t always cook other cultural/ethnic food authentically. 

  • Like 1
  • Haha 2

Dear Food: I hate myself for loving you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...go ahead and...

Yesterday,  I watched a YouTube video (I know. What was I thinking?) and the 'presenter prefaced every verb with this utterly meaningless phrase.

 

"To start we will go ahead and cook the rice. First, we go ahead and and boil some water, then go ahead and add the rice. Go ahead and add some salt then go ahead and reduce the heat to a simmer. When the rice is ready go ahead and drain it."

 

Apart from the awful rice-making technique, the repetition of that phrase was driving me insane! It means nothing. Remove it and the meaning remains exactly the same.

 

This was a particularly ridiculous overuse of a rendundant phrase (she said it twenty-seven times in an eight minute video), but I have noticed how often people use it. Go ahead and stop it!

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
  • Like 5
  • Haha 2
  • Confused 1
  • Sad 2

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

...go ahead and...

Yesterday,  I watched a YouTube video (I know. What was I thinking?) and the 'presenter prefaced every verb with this utterly meaningless phrase.

 

"To start we will go ahead and cook the rice. First, we go ahead and and boil some water, then go ahead and add the rice. Go ahead and add some salt then go ahead and reduce the heat to a simmer. When the rice is ready go ahead and drain it."

 

Apart from the awful rice-making technique, the repetition of that phrase was driving me insane! It means nothing. Remove it and the meaning remains exactly the same.

 

This was a particularly ridiculous overuse of a rendundant phrase (she said it twenty-seven times in an eight minute video), but I have noticed how often people use it. Go ahead and stop it!

 

I'm with you. Slovenly speech.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/13/2020 at 2:38 PM, liuzhou said:

Not really a word that should be banned, but a pronounciation. I twitch uncontrollably when I hear people who should know better pronounce "restaurateur" with an "n" in the middle. Yes, Mr. Ramsay you are a prime offender!

 

Just out of interest I looked to see usage here on eG.

 

A few minutes ago, there were 1,928 mentions of 'restaurateur' and 957 of 'restauranteur'.  So, it is wrong almost exactly one-third of the time.

Oh dear!

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, gfweb said:

"marscapone" "chipotelay"

 

and the way Giada pronounces everything Italian by exaggerating every syllable

 

Another of the myriad reasons I've stopped watching almost all food TV.

  • Like 1

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had planned to post this in the Pet Peeves thread, but now that it has been combined with Culinary Terms That Should Be Banned, I’m not sure if it fits. Here goes, anyway. 
 

A few years ago, I spied this Louisiana made product in the supermarket. 
 

C7377CE5-4161-4027-93B3-2A04261E20B2.jpeg.b0235138e89f2f154c173caf917a5c13.jpeg

 

Wait, what?! How does something get all the way to market without someone questioning the spelling? I Googled tartar sauce to make sure it was them, and not me, but just like at home, I was right! 😜

 

I eventually went to both their website and Facebook page to see if there was some kind of story behind the spelling, like maybe it was intentional. Nothing.
 

Being the mature consumer that I am, I posted it on Facebook to see what others thought (read: to mock them mercilessly).  Someone suggested that maybe it was a sauce that was tarter than others! My brother took me to task for “seeking out” mistakes. Sorry, bro, I did not seek. It slapped me in the face. 
 

I don’t recall if I messaged them on FB or on their website, or at all, but eventually the labels said “dipping sauce” with no mention of its tartness. 
 

Cut to two years later, and what did I see on the grocery shelves?

 

CFF5418E-7BF0-44CE-BE69-DFBFEB3C4050.jpeg.d7c9b92f22949b1ac822370b9e2891e6.jpeg

 

Yay! Correctly spelled sauce!  It made me happy. 

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 8

Dear Food: I hate myself for loving you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, kayb said:

We treasure our triumphs! Score one for spelling!

 

Actually 'tartar' looks wrong to me, too. Call us strange, but we British and other Commonwealth countries call it 'tartare' sauce - from the French term from which it is derived - sauce tartare.

 

Just one of the many differences which divide us!

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This Commonwealth country uses the "tartar" spelling, though only on the English half of the label of course. The exception that proves the rule, I guess. :)

  • Like 1

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/29/2021 at 7:25 AM, liuzhou said:

Can you pronounce my eGullet name correctly?  I very much doubt it.

Lolol! How many people actually pronounce 'eGullet' correctly?  

 

If it's wrong i don't want to be right 😉

eGoulet

BDA6855C-458B-4A5E-BE3E-6B584BF72401.jpeg

  • Like 1
  • Haha 8
  • Confused 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

He wrote , or dictated a book.

 

I got it out of the library , as I thought it might be interesting.

 

Winery in Italy , etc 

 

almost each line had an Expletive in it.

 

Ive got nothing against Expletives

 

they serve a purpose some times .

 

but Each Line in a book ?

 

I gave up and returned it to the library .

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

He wrote , or dictated a book.

 

I got it out of the library , as I thought it might be interesting.

 

Winery in Italy , etc 

 

almost each line had an Expletive in it.

 

Ive got nothing against Expletives

 

they serve a purpose some times .

 

but Each Line in a book ?

 

I gave up and returned it to the library .

 

Trust me - the few interactions I've had with him, in real life over the years, have been less than pleasant.

 

A gavone indeed. And in his deeds, a real piece of work - consider how he escaped all the accusations.

  • Like 4

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

Tasty Travails - My Blog

My eGullet FoodBog - A Tale of Two Boroughs

Was it you baby...or just a Brilliant Disguise?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...