5 ms·

I routinely sprinkle MSG onto my roast potatoes and into salads. Just a tiny bit and everyone is wondering how I make such amazingly tasty food. MSG won me ove

by ttul 8y ago

I routinely sprinkle MSG onto my roast potatoes and into salads. Just a tiny bit and everyone is wondering how I make such amazingly tasty food. MSG won me over after I read about Nathan Myhrvold using it in his science kitchen.

ramraj07 8y ago
I am totally all for spewing MSG on everything, but it might not be best that you're secretly adding msg to foods you serve a bunch of people without their awareness. Not that I agree with their stupid world views but if someone wants to believe that MSg is bad for them, then it's their choice. I think we should not accidentally or deliberately serve something to someone they might not prefer to eat.
- hueving 8y ago
  What about secretly adding salt or pepper? How about olive oil? If you're cooking food for people it's not common to get pre-approval of the ingredients beyond asking for any dietary restrictions.
  - serf 8y ago
    >If you're cooking food for people it's not common to get pre-approval of the ingredients beyond asking for any dietary restrictions. you're a lucky chef. You'll get a real reality check when cooking for an elderly bunch of diabetics who automatically presume the world is low-sodium. I've found it's just easier to automatically presume that everyone has dietary restrictions, just some much more mild than most (some hate brocolli, and some will die if they are near peanuts, but it's the same scale.).
    - afarrell 8y ago
      > I’ve found it's just easier to automatically presume that everyone has dietary restrictions... Could you explain more how you do this in practice? Do you list out all ingredients in a menu? Or do you have a list of standard dietary restrictions that most people have (pork, shellfish, dairy, beef, coconut, peanuts, horseradish, salt, ...) and just remove all of them?
      - pjc50 8y ago
        Don't presume, ask; something like "do you have any dietary requirements?" along with a dinner invitation. Covers everything from vegetarianism to highly specific allergies. Also puts the ball in the other person's court to be clear upfront before anything is cooked or purchased.
        mlrtime 8y ago
        Nobody will mention MSG in this scenario unless they have a very acute allergy to it.
        hopler 8y ago
        Then everyone gets MSG if the chef wants it. Chef is not telepath.
        SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
        Or they have an irrational fear of it. Same goes for GM etc.
        astura 8y ago
        If they don't want to consume something they need to say so.
        afarrell 8y ago
        That is what I do. I’m curious what serf does.
    - kzzzznot 8y ago
      I wouldn't say that cooking for an elderly bunch of diabetics is the norm, so I'd say you're unlucky rather than the parent being lucky to not cook for people like you described. How exactly do you go about handling this, show them the ingredients while/before cooking?
    - tallanvor 8y ago
      If I'm cooking for you, I'm assuming you're not allergic to anything unless you tell me. Beyond that, I expect people to cook what they think people will enjoy when they invite me over, and I do the same when I invite them over.
    - ninju 8y ago
      >just some much more mild than most (some hate brocolli, and some will die if they are near peanuts, but it's the same scale.) Did you just equate a preference/dislike of a food as being the same as a uncontrollable biological response to an allergen?
- edejong 8y ago
  Should I warn my diners of added glutamate via parmessan, tomatoes, sea weed, fish sauce, cured meats or other foods high in glutamate?
icelancer 8y ago
I ate MSG (Accent bottle) growing up in the 1980's but didn't think much of it. One day it went away and I also didn't notice since I was a kid. At 33 years of age, a Dominican was sprinkling the same damn style of Accent bottle on his tacos. I asked him if that was MSG, and he said yes. I borrowed it, put some on my pasta with sausage, ate it, and I have great hatred towards the last two decades of taste augmentation stolen from me as a result of the MSG myth.

by ttul 8y ago

ramraj07 8y ago

I am totally all for spewing MSG on everything, but it might not be best that you're secretly adding msg to foods you serve a bunch of people without their awareness. Not that I agree with their stupid world views but if someone wants to believe that MSg is bad for them, then it's their choice. I think we should not accidentally or deliberately serve something to someone they might not prefer to eat.

hueving 8y ago
What about secretly adding salt or pepper? How about olive oil? If you're cooking food for people it's not common to get pre-approval of the ingredients beyond asking for any dietary restrictions.
- serf 8y ago
  >If you're cooking food for people it's not common to get pre-approval of the ingredients beyond asking for any dietary restrictions. you're a lucky chef. You'll get a real reality check when cooking for an elderly bunch of diabetics who automatically presume the world is low-sodium. I've found it's just easier to automatically presume that everyone has dietary restrictions, just some much more mild than most (some hate brocolli, and some will die if they are near peanuts, but it's the same scale.).
  - afarrell 8y ago
    > I’ve found it's just easier to automatically presume that everyone has dietary restrictions... Could you explain more how you do this in practice? Do you list out all ingredients in a menu? Or do you have a list of standard dietary restrictions that most people have (pork, shellfish, dairy, beef, coconut, peanuts, horseradish, salt, ...) and just remove all of them?
    - pjc50 8y ago
      Don't presume, ask; something like "do you have any dietary requirements?" along with a dinner invitation. Covers everything from vegetarianism to highly specific allergies. Also puts the ball in the other person's court to be clear upfront before anything is cooked or purchased.
      - mlrtime 8y ago
        Nobody will mention MSG in this scenario unless they have a very acute allergy to it.
        hopler 8y ago
        Then everyone gets MSG if the chef wants it. Chef is not telepath.
        SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
        Or they have an irrational fear of it. Same goes for GM etc.
        astura 8y ago
        If they don't want to consume something they need to say so.
      - afarrell 8y ago
        That is what I do. I’m curious what serf does.
  - kzzzznot 8y ago
    I wouldn't say that cooking for an elderly bunch of diabetics is the norm, so I'd say you're unlucky rather than the parent being lucky to not cook for people like you described. How exactly do you go about handling this, show them the ingredients while/before cooking?
  - tallanvor 8y ago
    If I'm cooking for you, I'm assuming you're not allergic to anything unless you tell me. Beyond that, I expect people to cook what they think people will enjoy when they invite me over, and I do the same when I invite them over.
  - ninju 8y ago
    >just some much more mild than most (some hate brocolli, and some will die if they are near peanuts, but it's the same scale.) Did you just equate a preference/dislike of a food as being the same as a uncontrollable biological response to an allergen?
edejong 8y ago
Should I warn my diners of added glutamate via parmessan, tomatoes, sea weed, fish sauce, cured meats or other foods high in glutamate?

icelancer 8y ago

I ate MSG (Accent bottle) growing up in the 1980's but didn't think much of it. One day it went away and I also didn't notice since I was a kid. At 33 years of age, a Dominican was sprinkling the same damn style of Accent bottle on his tacos. I asked him if that was MSG, and he said yes. I borrowed it, put some on my pasta with sausage, ate it, and I have great hatred towards the last two decades of taste augmentation stolen from me as a result of the MSG myth.