# Controversial Culinary Comments **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328 "2018-10-02T18:49:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/121 "2018-10-03T19:26:39Z")
Beef tenderloin is a sucker’s dish. Sure it’s tender but there is a point where tenderness is noticeable but does nothing to add enjoyment to the dish. And tenderloin has very little flavor, every preparation for it seems to need something else to bring any actual flavor, whether it’s pate and mushrooms in Wellington, pepper and brandy in au Poivre, or a million things in Chateaubriand. Give me Ribeye or strip, or even top sirloin if I want beef to taste like beef. And if I want it to taste like something else, why the hell would I pay those prices for filet? Iceberg Lettuce is of no use either, neither are insipid mealy-ass Red Delicious apples. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/122 "2018-10-03T19:36:45Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > I too, don’t see the point of resting meat. Mainly because it keeps getting cold, no matter how much I tent it with foil, **and also because my best beloved loves meat black and blue**. I’ve seen the Alton Brown and Cooks Illustrated videos on how it really helps, but that hasn’t been my experience. You hit a great point. Resting meat may make a difference if cooked to medium but make no difference to mine (hard sear outside, below room-temperature inside) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/123 "2018-10-03T19:47:53Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > You hit a great point. Resting meat may make a difference if cooked to medium but make no difference to mine (hard sear outside, below room-temperature inside) The website Amazing Ribs agrees with you and so do I. Resting a rat or medium rare steak makes it cold and rubbery and doesn’t add to its juiciness. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/124 "2018-10-03T19:55:19Z")
> [@MikeG](#): > > Lifelong Chicagoan and I put ketchup on hot dogs. You bastard! ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/125 "2018-10-03T19:56:25Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The website Amazing Ribs agrees with you and so do I. Resting a rat or medium rare steak makes it cold and rubbery and doesn’t add to its juiciness. Then don’t eat rats. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/126 "2018-10-03T19:56:33Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The website Amazing Ribs agrees with you and so do I. Resting a rat or medium rare steak makes it cold and rubbery and doesn’t add to its juiciness. Great. I was wondering what I was doing wrong all this time. Eventually I just had to trust what my experiences kept telling me, as opposed to what the books said had to be happening. **Pulykamell** , I agree with you on the Asian pear thing. Expensive as hell too, as you note. I just chalk it up to Koreans (the predominant customers at the H-Mart I like buying produce, and some condiments and seafood from) liking different things. More pears for them (and other crazily expensive boxed fruit); more inexpensive leeks, lettuce, and other produce for me. I’ll disagree with iceberg lettuce having no value. I think it’s been mentioned in the thread already, but the steakhouse staple of a ice cold quarter wedge, drizzled with blue cheese dressing, red onions and bacon is absolutely delicious. Mainly for the accompaniments, but still. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/127 "2018-10-03T20:03:52Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Great. I was wondering what I was doing wrong all this time. Eventually I just had to trust what my experiences kept telling me, as opposed to what the books said had to be happening… > [@](#): > > 1. Far more important than resting the meat is cooking it to the right temperature. Once you get beyond 140°F, the moisture from water in any meat drops precipitously. The ultimate folly is the diner who orders a medium steak (140°F) and insists that it rest for 20 minutes. As meat sits around it can easily overcook from carryover. > **[Resting Meat: Why I Think It Is A Mistake, and Why I think Holding Some Meat...](https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/science-of-resting-meat/)** > > Stop worrying about resting meat after it is cooked. Serve it hot. We bust this myth with a review of the scientific research, some tests of our own, some basic meat science, explanations of carryover cooking and what makes meat juicy, a look at... ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/128 "2018-10-03T20:04:24Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > I’ll disagree with iceberg lettuce having no value. I think it’s been mentioned in the thread already, but the steakhouse staple of a ice cold quarter wedge, drizzled with blue cheese dressing, red onions and bacon is absolutely delicious. Mainly for the accompaniments, but still. there is nothing Iceberg can do that Romaine can’t do 100 times better tasting and 1000 times more nutritious. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/129 "2018-10-03T20:07:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > …1) Corn on the cob is no better 12 minutes after it’s been harvested versus 12 hours later. Yeah, there’s a thrill to getting the water boiling before the corn has been picked, but any improvement in taste is placebo. That said, I _love_ corn on the cob. If you haven’t grilled it, try soaking ears (unshucked) then grilling. Outer leaves may burn, but that’s ok… As others have said, in the past couple of decades, corn has been bred to lack the enzyme that turns sugar to starch as soon as you pick it. When I was a kid, the corn picked 12 minues ago was a LOT sweeter than yesterday’s corn. Today it doesn’t make a lot of difference. > [@kayaker](#): > > 1. Eggplant is under appreciated. I bought two nice eggplants from the farm market near us this morning. One I’m going to stuff, the other I’ll slice, salt, rinse, dry then grill. After grilling the rounds I use them, chilled, in salads. The owner of the market told me eggplant isn’t a big seller. What? They were a buck a piece for freaking beautiful eggplants… Eggplant tastes nasty and makes my mouth itch. > [@MrDibble](#): > > Not everything is improved by smoking. > > Bacon is just OK… So true! > [@RealityChuck](#): > > I’ve never seen any improvement by letting meat rest before you eat it, other then the fact it’s not hot. There is no difference in how juicy they are… It makes an enormous difference in roast chicken and turkey. It helps most roasts. > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > You hit a great point. Resting meat may make a difference if cooked to medium but make no difference to mine (hard sear outside, below room-temperature inside) Huh, I’ve never even tried to rest a steak. I do wait until food has cooled a bit to eat it, though. Segueing into my rant: Food shouldn’t be served piping hot or ice cold. Piping hot just burns your mouth. Ice cold kills most flavors. Food is best served warm or cool. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/130 "2018-10-03T20:08:39Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > The website Amazing Ribs agrees with you and so do I. Resting a rat or medium rare steak makes it cold and rubbery and doesn’t add to its juiciness. I dont rest steaks, unless very thick, but I do rest Tri-tip and it helps there. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/131 "2018-10-03T20:12:37Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > 1. . Hot sauce. Hot sauce aplenty, everywhere, chips and candy and every kind of sauce. Ice cream. Sausages. French fries, cheese, pasta. All advertised as ‘spicy’ - no, it’s just mouth-burningly hot. Will the craze for burning up ones throat with hot sauce ever slow down? I know it’s popular and I don’t have to consume it, just I’m amazed what a craze it is, everywhere. Yes! Hotter sauce does not mean more flavorful sauce. I have enough hair on my chest, thank you. My additions: 1. Don’t rub coffee on my steak and tell me it tastes better. It does not (looking at you Gallagher’s) 2. Stop putting huge grains of salt in my dark chocolate. Save them for pretzels. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/132 "2018-10-03T20:15:48Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Explain yourself. I mean, NY style pizza has basically 3 ingredients, and hole in the wall shops manage to crank out competent pizza all day long with little difficulty. How much easier can Midwestern pizza be? > > Edited to add: > Eggplant sucks. It’s terrible food, and no cooking technique can make it edible. NY Pizza needs a good crust. In order to get a good crispy crust the temperature needs to be higher than most places that only have gas ovens can produce. Thus you get alot of places with dough that is not good. Midwestern pizza has a much thinner crust and it is much easier to get right. The sauce is also less complicated. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/133 "2018-10-03T20:23:12Z")
Salads do not need nuts in them. When the hell did this abomination start that every freaking salad has to have nuts in it? Honey mustard also sucks. Why does the standard sauce have to be honey mustard now? ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/134 "2018-10-03T20:23:41Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Iceberg Lettuce is of no use either, neither are insipid mealy-ass Red Delicious apples. I’m told that when they were introduced, Red Delicious were good quality apples, but have since been modified or have mutated or both. Now… They look pretty, and they keep well… but a brand-new cricket ball also looks pretty and keeps well. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/135 "2018-10-03T20:34:32Z")
Iceberg lettuce is delicious on a taco salad especially if you put the salsa directly on it. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/136 "2018-10-03T20:42:51Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Speaking of peaches, what’s up with Asian pears? Let’s take a pear, make it look like an apple, take all the flavor out of it, and sell it for a premium? > > Are they supposed to taste like this? I’m assuming not, but every Asian pear I’ve had tasted like somebody took a weakly flavored pear and crossed it with a jicama to further dilute the taste. Same with white peaches. People in this thread have been complaining about regular peaches not having any flavor, but they’re still a million times more flavorful than this bullshit that are called white peaches. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/137 "2018-10-03T20:46:34Z")
I enjoy iceberg, too, for the crunch and wateriness, but I do agree that romaine works just as well. I don’t agree that it’s 100x as well, though. Romaine and iceberg are all kind of in the same categories of lettuce to eat for texture moreso than flavor. I never was much into iceberg wedge salads, but I do like eating a huge chunk of crispy iceberg lettuce in the summer. It’s like the vegetable version of watermelon to me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/138 "2018-10-03T20:49:32Z")
Oh, yeah, and agree with the bacon comments. Bacon does not make everything better. Now, don’t get me wrong, I do like bacon, but not on everything. I especially do _not_ like it on hamburgers. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/139 "2018-10-03T21:36:18Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Same with white peaches. People in this thread have been complaining about regular peaches not having any flavor, but they’re still a million times more flavorful than this bullshit that are called white peaches. ^ Agree! White peaches, white chocolate, white corn - all suck! I don’t know where or why someone decided to whiten these things - the originals were just fine already. Down With The Whiteness! 😃 Iceberg lettuce IS worthless. Notice it always needs something drizzled over it to make it edible - because it is flavorless by itself. I have had fresh red delicious apples right off the tree and you would swear it is a totally different variety of apple from the mess they sell at the typical grocery store. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328/140 "2018-10-03T21:59:34Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Iceberg lettuce IS worthless. Notice it always needs something drizzled over it to make it edible - because it is flavorless by itself. Sure it is. But it adds crunch and juiciness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversial-culinary-comments/822328.md?page=8)