I can’t recall a time where I’ve ever cooked a meal that I did not enjoy… Maybe it’s a psychological effect or something of that nature. I’m not sure. So I wonder if this is just me or is it common…
Do you ever cook meals (assuming it wasn’t something you’ve never eaten) and later find that they weren’t suitable for your tastebuds? If not, what did you do about it?
My SO is a cookbook fanatic, plus we get cooking magazines.
He likes to try everything that looks good in the picture.
Sometimes, the picture looks a lot better than the food tastes.
I would guess about 60% are “keepers” and we will make again, but the other 40% are not so great.
As far as family recipes, they almost always turn out great, unless I am in a rush or do something stupid.
Yeah, I’ve had a few memorable failures, and a few that I simply didn’t care for. I tend to experiment, and sometimes the dish doesn’t turn out like I thought it would.
I’m an experimentor too. So yeah, they can’t all be masterpieces.
When I was younger, like 12yo or so, I spent a lot of lonely nights at home. (Dad worked the late shift; Mom was always out of town on bussiness.)
Well, one night I got it in my head that I was going to make a “layered casserole” (A name I thought I made up myself. btw)
In a casserole dish I put a layer of cooked white rice. Then I put a layer of cooked taco meat, covered that with cheese, then another layer of rice and finally I topped it off with a can of Spaghetti-O’s (with franks).
I threw it in the oven for about a half hour then attempted to eat said dish.
I took two bties and threw the rest in the fridge. (I was not pleased)
The next day my Dad asked “Hey did you make that casserole thing I found in the fridge?”
Not really sure if I wanted to claim resposibility for that mess, I hesitantly said: “Um, Yeah.”
You can imagine my surprize when he said “Hey, that was some pretty tasty stuff! I ate damn near half the dish all by myself!”
I usually manage to make decent food - I like experimenting, but I always work off a recipe and I never stray far - but I have been dissatisfied with stuff I’ve baked. In my experience it’s much easier to screw up baked goods beyond all hope. Most of my screw ups involve overdoing something, whether it’s baking, whipping, stirring, or whatnot.
I usually find a way to eat it anyway (smothered in ice cream perhaps) and just try again later.
I once cooked a Thai Green Curry for my family and guests that we had coming around. For whatever reason when it came time to serve it up I simply couldn’t stomach the idea of eating it. I picked at the other stuff on the table and when people noticed I had eaten none of the curry they started telling me how good it was and tried to entice me into tasting it. I assured them that if I did I would probably make them appreciate it less.
What was most weird was that I had tasted it a few times while cooking and it did taste really good. Just the smell of it on the table repulsed me. Never happened again with anything.
I do a lot of experimenting, and the results are occasionally mixed.
I’m my own harshest critic, and get peeved when what I cook is substandard. Though I do acknowledge that each failure helps me to improve in the future.
On the flipside, when I do produce something I think is superb, I’m an insufferable arrogant prick about it.
Similar thing happened to me many years ago. Dad was away for a few days, so it was just mom and I. She was busy so I did most of the cooking. Mostly it turned out well, but then one day I cooked a chicken dish and didn’t like how it turned out. So I put it in the fridge and forgot about it.
Next day my parents arrived and they ate everything. When I got back home (I was at school), dad told me he really liked my dish and that he even thought I had cooked it solely for him (as an arrival present). Eh, yea sure, dad. At least that thing was gone.
I collect recipes that I find interesting. I never have trouble with the desserts, but sometimes I’ve mangled up some veggie recipes, or I don’t find them as tasty as they looked. It seems I’m picky about the veggie dishes.
My homemade inventions usually taste better and I have less failures with them.
Sure, pretty often. I am a mediocre cook at best. Recently I’m getting the hang of some things - now that I work from home I do most of my own cooking. I do some things very well, and others are hit or miss.
I was right with you until you got to the can of Spaghetti-Os. Since you were so young at the time, I guess I can forgive you. And I’m glad somebody enjoyed it.
I try new recipes frequently. Most are good enough, some are great, a few are bad.
My worst dissatisfactions have always come with timing issues-- as in either undercooked or burnt food.
On a few occassions I’ve had things which the review in the magazine made sound wonderful that just weren’t as great when I fixed them. Sometimes the reason was obvious–like the time I ate Tomato Bisque at Panera’s and was disappointed–I don’t like tomato-flavored soup, so why should this one be different? And sometimes it has been more subtle–a memorable casserole that made enough for a crowd, and just wasn’t that great. Not horrid, but if we’d had no leftovers, everyone would have been happier.
I’m with jjim. Whenever I make a new recipe, there’s always something just not right about it. To me. Even if everyone else likes it, I’m thinking of ways to do better next time. But if I’ve done a great job, there’s no hiding how pleased I am. Like the other night when my five year old (who barely even looks at green veggies) asked for seconds on her broccoli, I danced. My homemade pizzas are never good though.
pocket bread. Dang, I try and try and it’s hard to come up with pockets that work every time. I’m close now but man oh man have I had failures. Including last weekend when my pockets all puffed up nicely but I forgot to add salt.
I’ma pretty good cook. But when I’m in a hurry I sometimes end up producing something pretty grim. All good ingredients, but just half-ass workmanship.
I’ll skip the spicing tonight, then slightly overcook the meat, undercook the veg, and use this just-a-little-too-old lettuce for the salad. Net effect: Edible, but a chore to eat. Might be nourishing, but no enjoyment in it at all. The fact the outcome took 95% as much effort as doing it right for about 1% of the benefit makes it sting all the more.
I, too, am like jjim; if everything is not exactly to spec, I suffer the rest of the day. I once made a cheesecake that didn’t have the texture I wanted (I was going for dense and creamy, and it came out a little more on the puddingy side) and everybody raved about it. But I just couldn’t enjoy it.
I’ve definitely been dissatisfied with things I cook, but I have pretty high standards. There’s always something that I think I could have done better.
That said, the only thing I’ve made that I flat out wouldn’t eat that I can remember is a pureed cauliflower soup. It just tasted like ass to me. Mr. Athena ate it, though. I don’t remember him asking me to make it again, but he liked it enough that he ate both my portion and his. I thought he was nuts; it was really bad.
Even though I experiment a lot, and am a quite good cook, I get bored with my own cooking sometimes. This really doesn’t make sense, because I try new recipes from various culinary regions all the time and have a zillion different spices and really just don’t make boring food, but I just get tired occasionally of my own food. Can’t put my finger on it.
But yeah, I’d say about one out of every 20 meals I make just doesn’t sing. Usually everyone else likes it, but my standards for cooking are pretty high, quite a bit higher than most restaurants we go to. Usually I won’t try a recipe a second time if it isn’t pretty fantastic the first.