# What's the most complicated meal you've ever prepared? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [March 2, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588 "2023-03-02T14:20:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/61 "2023-03-03T15:52:26Z")
> [@solost](#): > > (this is actually from 2002; let us know if there’s a newer improved 2004 version): Here is the 2004 version. I think they are the same. [Recipes you invented! - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recipes-you-invented/273348) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/62 "2023-03-03T18:03:08Z")
Lasagna with homemade noodles, and sauce that started with raw tomatoes. Likewise pierogis started with flour, eggs and potatoes. Also, oddly, homemade tomato soup. Gut tomatoes and seed them is how it starts. Puree it with cream I think and plenty of herbs. I liked it quite a bit but my wife is not a tomato soup fan so that’s on the shelf for a while. Lots of work, but of course grilled cheese finishes it off. Another one is chili (poblano mostly…) cheese chowder. SO many ingredients. Tons of chopping and peeling. Don’t have the recipe handy or I would post it. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/63 "2023-03-03T18:27:22Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Lasagna with homemade noodles, and sauce that started with raw tomatoes. Wow, talk about making lasagna from scratch. Did you make and age your own cheese as well? 😉 I’ve made pasta sauce from scratch several times in the past when I grew my own Roma tomatoes. It is quite a bit of work: blanching the tomatoes in boiling water to easily remove the skins, quartering them and removing the ‘jelly’, dicing them up further, wrapping in cheesecloth, tying the cheesecloth on a wooden spoon or something and twisting to squeeze out the excess moisture, running some or most of the diced tomatoes through a blender, depending on how chunky you want the sauce to be, and that’s all before the cooking step. The cooking goes pretty quickly though- sauteeing minced garlic in olive oil, adding salt and pepper to taste, adding the sauce and fresh basil and simmering for just a few minutes. No hours of simmering for fresh tomatoes- you want the bright fresh tomato taste to come through. and it is totally worth it. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/64 "2023-03-03T18:36:25Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Wow, talk about making lasagna from scratch. Did you make and age your own cheese as well? 😉 Nah, because “Blessed are the cheesemakers” I wish I could grow my own veggies. But just can’t do it at this elevation. I also really like my own home made spaghetti. It’s a bit of work, but my wife doesn’t care one way or another. So I save that for me when she has to take a trip. I’ve asked in a restaurant many a time if the noodles are home made. The waiter thinks that because it did not come out of a can and they boiled some dry noodles that they are home made. Ummm… No. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/65 "2023-03-03T18:41:09Z")
Years and years ago there was a shop where I used to live. Fresh noodles cut to order. Many flavors. Lemon pepper was great if I recall. They also had all the sauces and cheeses. Went out of business. And was replaced by a… bird seed store. ---
**Author:** ![fordgt100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@fordgt100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fordgt100)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/66 "2023-03-03T19:16:13Z")
Gumbo. This only qualifies because I have never been able to make it right. My old girlfriend, who was actually a cook, couldn’t either. Apparently you need someone to make it correctly for you so you can watch. The recipe don’t cut it. It’s a lot more complicated that it looks, it ain’t soup, and the distance between “almost right”, “real good” and “makes you want to slap your mama” is as wide as an ocean. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/67 "2023-03-03T19:50:34Z")
Heh, interesting. I make gumbo all the time, in many different varieties, and have followed many recipes, as well as just ‘winging it’, and getting creative. I brown my roux carefully until it’s the color of an old penny. I get compliments, and my whole family likes it. But…being a Northerner who’s never been to Louisiana, I’ve always wondered how “authentic” tasting my gumbo actually is. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/68 "2023-03-03T19:56:44Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > The only thing I really wasn’t prepared for was being scored on the plating. I easily won the taste but finished 11th on the presentation. IMHO you won on what really matters. In a basic sense, what food looks like is important, but a lot of the “presentation” stuff as practiced in pretentious restaurants is just gimmickry. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/69 "2023-03-03T20:28:29Z")
There really are fewer things in life better than fresh noodles, especially egg noodles. I need to remember to make some soon, as it’s been too long. I tend to be lazy so paparadelle is my usual cut, served with a bolognese. I don’t have a pasta maker, so it involves getting the pastry board out and rolling those suckers out by hand. It’s actually not as bad as it sounds, and it makes me feel old school. The biggest pain in the ass is clean-up, as it’s impossible for me to completely confine the bench flour. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/70 "2023-03-03T21:31:43Z")
I have a pasta crank/maker. For me more a pain in the ass than it’s worth. I roll it out (with a pin that my mom got in France in the '50’s) then dust it with flour and roll the flat pasta up. Then cut with a sharp knife across the roll. Walla. Noodles. It’s a bit uneven, but I don’t care at all. That is the best part. And you are correct it tends to get messy. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2023, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/71 "2023-03-03T21:34:29Z")
It’s not “uneven.” It’s “artisanal” and “handmade”! Charge double. ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/72 "2023-03-03T21:40:10Z")
> [@solost](#): > > But…being a Northerner who’s never been to Louisiana, I’ve always wondered how “authentic” tasting my gumbo actually is. Being from Louisiana, I can say there are as many different “authentic” gumbos out there as there are people making them. Like many dishes, folks put their own twist on it. I know I certainly do, but my Yankee wife and daughter ask for it frequently 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/73 "2023-03-03T22:37:04Z")
Without a doubt it was Julia Child’s [Coulibac](http://thevoluptuoustable.blogspot.com/2012/10/salmon-coulibiac-with-foaming.html). This recipe tells you to make it over two days, but not us! Our team of five began prep at 5:30, and ended up eating at 10:00. It was as beautiful as the photo and well worth the effort. Would I attempt it again? No way! _[Choulibac](http://thevoluptuoustable.blogspot.com/2012/10/salmon-coulibiac-with-foaming.html)_ ---
**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:** [March 3, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/74 "2023-03-03T23:16:17Z")
IME, gumbo is all about getting the roux right and including okra. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/75 "2023-03-04T02:48:14Z")
For me it’s probably the Christmas Eve feast of the seven fishes, which usually involves a seafood lasagna, a salad of some sort with tuna, sardines or anchovies, and fiddly little hors d’oeuvres or small plates, though there are lots of directions this can go in. I like it much better than doing Thanksgiving dinner. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/76 "2023-03-04T05:33:15Z")
Mole for me. I tried to make it once. After about seven hours of chopping, roasting, grinding and stirring, I was left with an unrecognizable mess. Luckily the pork was nicely roasted and I put a pat of butter and some orange marmalade on it. Then I went and cried myself to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/77 "2023-03-04T07:46:16Z")
I made cassoulet once to celebrate paying off a debt I’d had hanging over my head for several years, starting with a chicken confit that I made from scratch. It took a whole day to make the confit, another day to let it mature in the fridge, and most of another day to prep, assemble, and bake the dish. I thought it was OK. I could probably have done better if I’d had a bigger casserole and some better quality ingredients. Second most complicated was [seolleongtang](https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/seolleongtang), a Korean soup of shredded steak, kimchi, and rice in beef bone broth. The bone broth took about 12 hours of holding the bones at a rolling boil in a huge pot, pouring off the water into a big bowl every few hours and adding more until everything but the calcium itself had been boiled out of the bones. _That_ came out delicious, but I wasn’t able to use it all up before I had to throw it out. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/78 "2023-03-04T12:42:16Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Without a doubt it was Julia Child’s [Coulibac](http://thevoluptuoustable.blogspot.com/2012/10/salmon-coulibiac-with-foaming.html) > [@Smapti](#): > > Second most complicated was [seolleongtang](https://www.maangchi.com/recipe/seolleongtang) My favorite thing about starting this thread is learning about dishes I wasn’t familiar with. I especially want to try making seolleontang now. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/79 "2023-03-04T14:20:52Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > Would you be willing to share your gf’s recipe? > > We’ve been texting back and forth about this. She doesn’t really have a recipe. She starts out with Cook’s Illustrated Braised Oxtails as a starting point, then goes from there using her own intuition and remembering things that have worked well in the past. The part where I am charged with (sherry?) flambe, is from one recipe. The part where everything goes outside (in the winter) and excess fat is skimmed off periodically is something she added. Thanks for the reply. This was another post I weirdly missed the first time around, and just now noticed while skimming back through the thread, This would be a good day to stay indoors, get a fire going, and make a big batch of oxtail soup or something similar, after getting 10” of snow dumped on us last night. But we have plans to go out to dinner and a comedy show tonight, if we manage to dig ourselves out. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2023, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/80 "2023-03-05T10:06:18Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I especially want to try making seolleontang now. If you use the recipe I provided, I highly recommend the spicy variant she mentions at the end. The broth, while rich, is very lightly seasoned and takes almost all of its flavor from the bones, and seasoning the beef is what really brings it to the next level. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588.md?page=5)