4 ms·

>what is wrong with this person? Two common kinds of foolishness are: 1. There is no right way to do a thing 2. You must never deviate from the right way of

>what is wrong with this person? Two common kinds of foolishness are: 1. There is no right way to do a thing 2. You must never deviate from the right way of doing the thing Many foodies derive a misplaced pride from preaching #2.

joezydeco 3y ago
Some desserts need to be ordered ahead of the meal. The best chocolate soufflé in Chicago was served at La Sardine (now closed), but needed 45 minutes to prepare.
- omginternets 3y ago
  I suppose, then, that it really should be ordered ahead of the meal. Sounds like that would be the right way to do it.
butlike 3y ago
To the #2 point, if the goal is to do a "fresh take on something," by all means, experiment. But if the diner expects exactly what's on the menu, say, traditional chicken pot pie, then I'd say yes; there's only one right way to do it. Again, the whole issue can be avoided if the menu item reads: "Chef's take on traditional Chicken Pot Pie" Then you can add cumin or whatever.
- mhink 3y ago
  I'm not so sure I agree with that. Even with chicken pot pie, there are absolutely a few different variations that (in my opinion) are equally valid- most notably, there's the question of whether it needs to have a crust underneath the filling or not. How thick should the filling be? I've had chicken pot pies where the filling is almost a soup, and ones where it's almost firm enough to pick up and eat a slice. Do you use traditional pie crust or a layer of puff pastry on top- or maybe nestle biscuits on top? Should I use potatoes or not, because that'll affect how hearty and filling it is? How about peas? I'll grant that if I use turkey I should call it "turkey pot pie", but what about Cornish game hen? What if I use parsnips instead of carrots? Then there are different forms- what if I didn't make it in a pie tin, but folded the dough into a half-circle like a hand pie? Or perhaps a rectangle? It might be more accurate to call this a "chicken hand pie" but then you have the ironic problem that a diner might be more willing to order it if they understand that it's really a chicken pot pie in a different shape. --- I know I'm being a bit pedantic here, but here's the thing- you're not wrong in spirit. But I think it's overly reductive to say "yes; there's only one right way to do it". IMO, it's sort of more like the difference between a cover of a song vs. a remix of a song. In the same way, there's a sliding scale here- a cover of a song might be an attempt to perfectly duplicate the original, or it might be similar but a different artist's take, or it might be a completely different genre (but preserving the song's structure). A remix is a different song entirely that borrows elements of the original.
  - Smoosh 3y ago
    > a half-circle like a hand pie Interesting term "hand pie". Is that like a pastie[1]? Here in Australia, a single-person pie is typically considered a hand pie because they are frequently eaten that way (holding the pie and taking bites out of it) for casual dining. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastie [2] https://westsidetoday-enki-v2.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/case.jpg https://westsidetoday-enki-v2.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/up...
tomjakubowski 3y ago
this isn't a "foodie" making some judgment of when you should order dessert, it's a restaurant worker dreading having to do the performance of the flambé for the nth time this week (or evening)

joezydeco 3y ago

Some desserts need to be ordered ahead of the meal. The best chocolate soufflé in Chicago was served at La Sardine (now closed), but needed 45 minutes to prepare.

omginternets 3y ago
I suppose, then, that it really should be ordered ahead of the meal. Sounds like that would be the right way to do it.

butlike 3y ago

To the #2 point, if the goal is to do a "fresh take on something," by all means, experiment. But if the diner expects exactly what's on the menu, say, traditional chicken pot pie, then I'd say yes; there's only one right way to do it. Again, the whole issue can be avoided if the menu item reads: "Chef's take on traditional Chicken Pot Pie" Then you can add cumin or whatever.

mhink 3y ago
I'm not so sure I agree with that. Even with chicken pot pie, there are absolutely a few different variations that (in my opinion) are equally valid- most notably, there's the question of whether it needs to have a crust underneath the filling or not. How thick should the filling be? I've had chicken pot pies where the filling is almost a soup, and ones where it's almost firm enough to pick up and eat a slice. Do you use traditional pie crust or a layer of puff pastry on top- or maybe nestle biscuits on top? Should I use potatoes or not, because that'll affect how hearty and filling it is? How about peas? I'll grant that if I use turkey I should call it "turkey pot pie", but what about Cornish game hen? What if I use parsnips instead of carrots? Then there are different forms- what if I didn't make it in a pie tin, but folded the dough into a half-circle like a hand pie? Or perhaps a rectangle? It might be more accurate to call this a "chicken hand pie" but then you have the ironic problem that a diner might be more willing to order it if they understand that it's really a chicken pot pie in a different shape. --- I know I'm being a bit pedantic here, but here's the thing- you're not wrong in spirit. But I think it's overly reductive to say "yes; there's only one right way to do it". IMO, it's sort of more like the difference between a cover of a song vs. a remix of a song. In the same way, there's a sliding scale here- a cover of a song might be an attempt to perfectly duplicate the original, or it might be similar but a different artist's take, or it might be a completely different genre (but preserving the song's structure). A remix is a different song entirely that borrows elements of the original.
- Smoosh 3y ago
  > a half-circle like a hand pie Interesting term "hand pie". Is that like a pastie[1]? Here in Australia, a single-person pie is typically considered a hand pie because they are frequently eaten that way (holding the pie and taking bites out of it) for casual dining. [2] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastie [2] https://westsidetoday-enki-v2.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/case.jpg https://westsidetoday-enki-v2.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/up...

tomjakubowski 3y ago

this isn't a "foodie" making some judgment of when you should order dessert, it's a restaurant worker dreading having to do the performance of the flambé for the nth time this week (or evening)