# Do you just have to accept you're eating the chef's saliva? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598 "2015-02-02T12:42:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/1 "2015-02-02T12:42:45Z")
If you watch any of those cooking competition shows on Food Network, assuming this detail which adds nothing isn’t faked, you quickly notice that despite the fact they are in a competition and have cameras on them the professional chefs double dip all the damn time! The judges comment on it, hell once or twice I’ve seen them dump the food or liquid they just tasted back into the pot. It seems to be a pet peeve of the judges, but it just keeps happening. If they are doing this while on TV, imagine what is going on in their restaurant kitchens. So I’m wondering if this is just something one must accept and move on from, I’m not particularly grossed out by it but kinda surprised. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/2 "2015-02-02T12:52:08Z")
“It’s so beautifully arranged on the plate - you just know someone’s fingers have been all over it.” ― Julia Child ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/3 "2015-02-02T12:59:58Z")
Yes, you must just accept it. Or never, ever eat anything anyone else but you have cooked. It could be an experiment. You can only eat what you’ve cooked. Compare to someone who eats out and see who dies of spit cancer first. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/4 "2015-02-02T13:02:40Z")
Handling food goes part and parcel with its preparation, IMHO. When I cook I’m constantly tasting. When I grill steaks, I constantly touch the meat to determine when I hit medium rare. I’ve been in sushi bars where local regs force the chef to be gloved, and it makes me a little sad. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/5 "2015-02-02T13:19:22Z")
[Shrug] Hasn’t killed me so far. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/6 "2015-02-02T13:23:45Z")
Please note I said I am not grossed out, just surprised. I will say one thing that has surprised me is getting blood in the food and just acting like it didn’t happen(one time someone cut their finger and just kept going until shut down by the judges). ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/7 "2015-02-02T13:36:09Z")
I’d have mentioned all the sweat before going to the blood thing. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/8 "2015-02-02T13:48:06Z")
_Handling_ food is obviously part of cooking, not to mention producing food to be cooked in the first place. I’d like everyone to wash their hands and implements, of course, but otherwise there’s nothing the least bit wrong with handled food. Tasting is also virtually indispensable for anything more advanced than sandwiches, but tasting should not require double-dipping. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/9 "2015-02-02T13:55:13Z")
Were you watching Worse Cooks in America? Because there was that one woman who kept dipping her spoon in, taking a sip and pouring the rest of the spoonful of whatever back in the pot. Which really upset Chef Ann. She did it more than once and kept having to start over when Ann kept catching her. Yeah, that was just a bit skeevy. Although I do taste and I’d never pour the food back into the pot that I just slurped, it never occurred to me to change spoons after a taste. So, yeah, my whole family should come down with spit cancer any minute now. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/10 "2015-02-02T14:40:49Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Were you watching Worse Cooks in America? Because there was that one woman who kept dipping her spoon in, taking a sip and pouring the rest of the spoonful of whatever back in the pot. Which really upset Chef Ann. She did it more than once and kept having to start over when Ann kept catching her. I haven’t seen that one, but my wife watches a lot of the cooking competition shows, and on all the ones she watches it’s stressed that they have a set of tasting spoons, and each spoon can only be use once. If a chef gets caught double dipping (and since there’s a camera on each chef at all times they will get caught) either they have to start over or the judges don’t taste the food and judge it only on presentation. There was a sabotage on Cutthroat Kitchen where the victim wasn’t allowed any tasting spoons and had to cook “blind” so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/11 "2015-02-02T15:13:06Z")
It’s such a little bit of spit, in that great big pot that is simmering/boiling. No worse than peeing in the ocean. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/12 "2015-02-02T15:31:31Z")
I’m more bothered by the lack of hairnets or other head covering than by the chefs tasting the dish. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/13 "2015-02-02T15:36:48Z")
It seems a bit off to be concerned about a spoon touching a chef’s lips when you’re OK with carved up bits of dead animal falling into the pot. Oh no, chef A double dipped the spoon! That’s a mark against him. Let’s go to Chef B who’s working on those Pork Jowls and Beef Tongue, they sound delish. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/14 "2015-02-02T15:52:17Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Pork Jowls and Beef Tongue, they sound delish. Natural sausage casings, yum! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/15 "2015-02-02T15:55:11Z")
On _Chopped_ one time, one of the mystery ingredients revealed in the basket was a weird liqueur, and the judges refused to eat one chef’s dish because the contestant had tasted the liqueur by swigging from the bottle rather than pouring a sample into a glass. ---
**Author:** ![justmeetee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@justmeetee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justmeetee)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/16 "2015-02-02T16:02:51Z")
> [@Sahirrnee](#): > > No worse than peeing in the ocean. Ewwww. You peed in the ocean? That’s it, I’m not going surfing any more. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/17 "2015-02-02T16:22:05Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > It seems a bit off to be concerned about a spoon touching a chef’s lips when you’re OK with carved up bits of dead animal falling into the pot. It’s a matter of what you define as fit for consumption. Some people exclude bits of animal, some the fluids of strangers. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/18 "2015-02-02T16:25:50Z")
Spit, sweat, hair, blood, skin, dirt, clothing fibers. Until androids take over, we’re stuck with it. It’s why I never order steak tartare; I like my incidentals at a minimum of 140F. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/19 "2015-02-02T16:27:09Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > It’s a matter of what you define as fit for consumption. Some people exclude bits of animal, some the fluids of strangers. One difference; the meat is fully cooked by the time it’s served. But the chef is tasting the finished dish, so the saliva is raw (diluted but raw). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598/20 "2015-02-02T17:15:56Z")
I recently took a homemade muffin out of our freezer and put it on the kitchen counter to thaw. I walked into the living room to put on some music, then returned to the kitchen and _the muffin was gone!!_ I quickly realized that one of our dogs had to have taken it. I ran downstairs and there was Ella with the muffin in her mouth and the most guilty look on her face I’d ever seen. I took my muffin back and eventually ate it. If a chef tasting the food bothers you, I guess the muffin thing would really squick you out. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-just-have-to-accept-youre-eating-the-chefs-saliva/711598.md?page=2)