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Odd/weird requests!

chef_mico

By chef_mico
in Food Traditions & Culture

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Mayhaw Man

Mayhaw Man

Posted
Posted
I was carving beef in a banquet one time. One guy wanted nothing but the fat we were trimming from everybody elses' cuts. We obliged...

I don't see any reason at all that you need to tell everyone about it. I happen to like fat.

Like you were planning on making some soap or something. Sheesh.

Everybody in the kitchen staff and a few of the other diners had a good laugh thanks to him. We all like maybe a little fat with our meat, not the other way around.

It takes all kinds. I kinda look at meat as a conveniently designed vehicle for the delicious fat portions. Of course, this won't be so funny when you guys are reading my obit and it says that he kicked off due to horribly clogged arteries. :shock::shock::biggrin:

Brooks Hamaker, aka "Mayhaw Man"

There's a train everyday, leaving either way...

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johnsmith45678

johnsmith45678

Posted
Posted
i always find it odd that people in service industries take such exception to giving people what they want without feeling the need to critique and berate them, sometimes even to their faces.  if the guy wants filet mignon well-done, who is the server to suggest otherwise? you have to be kidding me.

Riiight...I guess whenever a novice thinks they know better than a professional...

:laugh:

yeah, a server knows more about food or my tastes than i do. :laugh:

Yes they do if you think it's okay to cook filet mignons well-done. :rolleyes:

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johnsmith45678

johnsmith45678

Posted
Posted
I was carving beef in a banquet one time. One guy wanted nothing but the fat we were trimming from everybody elses' cuts. We obliged...

I don't see any reason at all that you need to tell everyone about it. I happen to like fat.

Like you were planning on making some soap or something. Sheesh.

Everybody in the kitchen staff and a few of the other diners had a good laugh thanks to him. We all like maybe a little fat with our meat, not the other way around.

It takes all kinds. I kinda look at meat as a conveniently designed vehicle for the delicious fat portions. Of course, this won't be so funny when you guys are reading my obit and it says that he kicked off due to horribly clogged arteries. :shock::shock::biggrin:

Ever drink grease straight from the deep fat fryer? :raz:

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equality5271

equality5271

Posted
Posted
At a table next to ours in a Paris restaurant, a man loudly requested, "French Dressing" for his salad.  "What do you mean, no French dressing!  Where the !@#$! are we, anyway?  Italy?"

A guy I worked with at a pizza place used to drain canned anchovies and drink the oil.

when i was younger, i used to drink the "juice" leftover from the black olives...straight from the can of course!

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McDermitt

McDermitt

Posted
Posted

Once an elderly woman ordered a strip steak. Her request was medium, no pink.

After a prolonged "huh?", my only comfort was in thinking she had gone to many places and ordered well done only to given a burnt steak. To get the order out my only comfort was to believe she ment well done, not burned.

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Junior

Junior

Posted
Posted

Now see here in beef country we try and convince people not to order their steaks well done. Makes me want to cry. But... alas when someone sends back a well done steak, not well done enough, you have to wonder, when they send it back two more times, there are some very serious issues here. We finally had to microwave it. The guest was happy in the end.

Dan Walker

Chef/Owner

Weczeria Restaurant

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chef_mico

chef_mico

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
I was carving beef in a banquet one time. One guy wanted nothing but the fat we were trimming from everybody elses' cuts. We obliged...

Hmmm, juicy fat, clog arteries...yummy!!! :laugh:

Cooking is like a blank piece of paper, anything can happen.
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Pat Churchill

Pat Churchill

Posted
Posted

Talking about fat consumption - I was out at dinner the other night and we were reminiscing how every pantry used to have a dripping container where the leftover fat from the Sunday roast was deposited. That fat would be spread over the next Sunday's roast.

Dad used to make bread and dripping - a doorstep of bread slathered with dripping and bits of the dark jelly from the bottom of the tin. A good sprinkling of salt and pepper on top. They also used to feed us that at boarding school for afternoon tea some days. I couldn't look at it now but in those days it tasted pretty good.

Website: http://cookingdownunder.com

Blog: http://cookingdownunder.com/blog

Twitter: @patinoz

The floggings will continue until morale improves

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adegiulio

adegiulio

Posted
Posted

:laugh:

yeah, a server knows more about food or my tastes than i do.   :laugh:

Yes they do if you think it's okay to cook filet mignons well-done. :rolleyes:

Q.E.D.

Geez Tommy, I had to look that one up! :biggrin:

"It's better to burn out than to fade away"-Neil Young

"I think I hear a dingo eating your baby"-Bart Simpson

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MissAmy

MissAmy

Posted
Posted

There was this steak house my grandparents great aunts used to LOVE to go to. On the menu, in bold letters, was a note: "If you must order your steak well-done, we can not guarantee the quality of the meat."

I love that place.

-Sounds awfully rich!

-It is! That's why I serve it with ice cream to cut the sweetness!

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hosinmigs

hosinmigs

Posted
Posted

This is an interesting thread and a discussion that I'm sure has been taken up before. Who knows more about what we like? Ourselves or the cook?

Personally, I hate meat past medium. But, who's to say that the guy who likes it well done is wrong? I mean, if that's someone's preference, who are we to tell them it's wrong? This I've never understood. It's sort of the old, who do we cook for? Ourselves or the customers??

Anyway, I think my favorite is seasonal without the autumn. I would hope that's a joke. Sounds like something my step dad would say. Because seriously, what would you do? And the 12 grain without the oats? hmmm....holy bread anyone? Good stuff...

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.”

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johnsmith45678

johnsmith45678

Posted
Posted (edited)
This is an interesting thread and a discussion that I'm sure has been taken up before. Who knows more about what we like? Ourselves or the cook?

Personally, I hate meat past medium. But, who's to say that the guy who likes it well done is wrong? I mean, if that's someone's preference, who are we to tell them it's wrong? This I've never understood. It's sort of the old, who do we cook for? Ourselves or the customers??

Screw the customer -- I cook for myself! :raz: Seriously, there is a general consensus on a great many things -- white wine with chicken; red wine with beef; dessert following the entree, not preceeding; what's more healthy to eat and what's less so; don't put ketchup on steak; etc. etc. etc. But, hell, if the customer wants to deviate from these conventions we can either oblige and take their money, or throw them out like MPW! :wink:

Edited by johnsmith45678 (log)
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Kouign Aman

Kouign Aman

Posted
Posted

foie and grape jelly.

Foie paired with rich, sweet, fruity, tangy..... Im not seeing the problem here unless you guys stocked crappy grape jelly.

"You dont know everything in the world! You just know how to read!" -an ah-hah! moment for 6-yr old Miss O.

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Della

Della

Posted
Posted
I was carving beef in a banquet one time. One guy wanted nothing but the fat we were trimming from everybody elses' cuts. We obliged...

I worked at a Black Angus restaurant years ago and had a guy that used to come in an want just the fat off the prime rib instead of the "meat" part...........I haven't thought about that in a long time! UGH!

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baconburner

baconburner

Posted
Posted

Tommy

I had this discussion with a Sommelier and got the nose in the air treatment. Room temperature in the old Castles was probably closer to 58-65 F . The cellars probably colder.

We were budget challenged ski patrollers and the $5.00 top of the house wine that we could afford tasted better slightly cooled.

Cheers

Baconburner

ill

i always find it odd that people in service industries take such exception to giving people what they want without feeling the need to critique and berate them, sometimes even to their faces.  if the guy wants filet mignon well-done, who is the server to suggest otherwise? you have to be kidding me.

Riiight...I guess whenever a novice thinks they know better than a professional...

:laugh:

yeah, a server knows more about food or my tastes than i do. :laugh:

that reminds me of a time that i asked for a bucket of ice to cool down a bottle of red. the server looked down her nose at me and said "that's red wine. it's not supposed to be cold." :laugh:

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Zach Holmes

Zach Holmes

Posted
Posted

braised lamb cooked rare....

Veal scallopini rare....

as for the lady that ordered the braised lamb rare, i can kinda understand, because there is a local restaurant nearby that describes their grilled beef tenderloin and their seared lamb rack as "braised", but yet, when I ordered it, it was very nicely cooked to medium rare. is this some sort of defenition of "braised" that i didnt learn in culinary school?

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cdh

cdh

Posted
Posted (edited)
foie and grape jelly.

Foie paired with rich, sweet, fruity, tangy..... Im not seeing the problem here unless you guys stocked crappy grape jelly.

Ummmm... yeah. How different is a port wine reduction from a melted grape jelly, flavor wise?? Totally in the same ballpark... one a bit boozier (and hence potentially a bit more bitter), one a bit sweeter... portuguese grapes vs. concord grapes... but you can't tell me you were reducing a 20 year old vintage port, so the argument of massively increased complexity just won't fly. It is a bit rude to second guess the kitchen when the flavors will be so similar, but there may have been a reason (like an AA member at the table or supertaster taste buds that can't handle any bitter whatsoever, or other such).

Edited by cdh (log)

Christopher D. Holst aka "cdh"

Learn to brew beer with my eGCI course

Chris Holst, Attorney-at-Lunch

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BarbaraY

BarbaraY

Posted
Posted
Now see here in beef country we try and convince people not to order their steaks well done.  Makes me want to cry.  But... alas when someone sends back a well done steak, not well done enough, you have to wonder, when they send it back two more times, there are some very serious issues here. We finally had to microwave it.  The guest was happy in the end.

I have seen this more times than I can count. Why does anyone want there food cremated?

I've often had people who are probably inexperienced ask for medium rare and send it back again and again because they really wanted it well done but not dry.

Puzzlement!

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akebono

akebono

Posted
Posted (edited)

concerning beef and 'doneness'...

here in the d.c. area, i have had a consistent problem

in quite a few places where the cooks have a problem with rare.

more often than not, when i order rare, i usually get something that

qualifies as medium rare in my book. it is as if the person firing my steak

is thinking i could not possibly want my cut really 'rare'.

if i send it back i usually clarify my order by telling them

to cook it 'rare, with a cold center'.

anyone else?

Edited by akebono (log)

Nonsense, I have not yet begun to defile myself.

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