# 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:** 7
**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 13, 2023, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/121 "2023-03-13T20:09:54Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I have recently watched this video, which might give me the courage one day when I’m bored to try: I just watched the video-- looks amazing! Not sure about the added mint and cilantro though. It doesn’t seem to match my past (admittedly limited) experience trying Biryani, and the Madhur Jaffrey recipe does not include it. If and when I make it (perhaps as soon as next weekend) I think I’ll leave out the mint and cilantro, especially since Mrs. solost does not like cilantro at all. ---
**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 13, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/122 "2023-03-13T21:04:26Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Not sure about the added mint and cilantro though. It doesn’t seem to match my past (admittedly limited) experience trying Biryani, and the Madhur Jaffrey recipe does not include it. In my experience, not unusual at all. Look up recipes for Hyderabadi biryani, and you’ll find it’s common. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/123 "2024-02-19T14:47:05Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Hmm, the most complicated single dish I’ve made was chicken biryani, from Madhur Jaffrey’s _an invitation to Indian cooking_. > [@pulykamell](#): > > Biryani is one I haven’t had the guts to try yet. I’ve had so many good (and terrible) versions of it that I just don’t want to risk it not living up to my hopes. I have recently watched this video, which might give me the courage one day when I’m bored to try: So, just a follow-up: I finally got around to trying my hand at making chicken biryani yesterday. Thanks to puzzlegal and pulykamell for the recipe suggestions! I did a combination of Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe and the recipe from the ‘Andy Cooks’ video that pulykamell posted, using what I thought were the best techniques from each one. For example, I added bay leaves and cardamom to the oil that I fried the onions in, and saved the onion oil to drizzle over the biryani before baking in the oven, per the Jaffrey recipe. And per the ‘Andy Cooks’ recipe, I added cumin seeds, cardamom, salt, a cinnamon stick and a chile to the water I pre-cooked the rice in to help add an extra dimension of flavor to the rice. I also added fresh chopped mint per the ‘Andy Cooks’ video, but not cilantro, since Mrs. Solost hates cilantro. The result? I’m not going to lie, I’m…not sure. It was…good. Was it “spend an entire day making it” good? I don’t know. I haven’t had biryani from a restaurant in a very long time, so I didn’t have much of a frame of reference. Part of it may have been that thing where, when you make a complicated dish for the first time, and your expectations are high, it’s extremely difficult to judge your own creation. Know what I mean? Part of it may have been as simple as, despite salting the marinade and the rice water, I may not have salted enough. Adding salt afterward helped, but it wasn’t the same as the flavor of salt being diffused and baked into the meal. But again, it may just be an example of me being my own worst critic. My younger son, for what it’s worth, described it as ‘fabulous’, which is NOT a word he normally uses to describe _ **anything** _. His usual judgements of my meals are ‘it’s good’ (normally his highest praise); ‘it’s ok’; or ‘I don’t like it’. Looking forward to a reevaluation when I have leftovers for lunch today 😋 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/124 "2024-02-19T15:04:30Z")
> [@fordgt100](#): > > 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. > [@solost](#): > > 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. Gumbo involves plenty of prep dicing up the Holy Trinity ingredients, celery, onions, and bell peppers, but also requires a dark brown roux and that takes a good bit of time. I do it in a pan, stirring constantly for 20 minutes or more to get to the full dark richness. I’ve heard about baking it Dutch oven and I tried once long ago and had to finish it on the stove top anyway. When I make gumbo I leave an afternoon open for all the prep work. > [@solost](#): > > But…being a Northerner who’s never been to Louisiana, I’ve always wondered how “authentic” tasting my gumbo actually is. Cajun and Creole cooking is so freestyle it’s hard not to be ‘authentic’. I can’t find decent Andouille sausage around here, I use Italian as a substitute, add some wine and smoked paprika into the dish to get those flavors. I doubt anyone can taste the final product and tell the difference, and I’ve never had anything close to complaint. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/125 "2024-02-19T15:17:33Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I haven’t had biryani from a restaurant in a very long time, so I didn’t have much of a frame of reference. Having one made it myself, I’ve never found a restaurant biriyani that met my expectations. But I’ve only made it twice. So I’m not convinced it’s worth the effort, either. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/126 "2024-02-19T15:27:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > …a dark brown roux and that takes a good bit of time. I do it in a pan, stirring constantly for 20 minutes or more to get to the full dark richness. I’ve heard about baking it Dutch oven and I tried once long ago and had to finish it on the stove top anyway. > [@TriPolar](#): > > Cajun and Creole cooking is so freestyle it’s hard not to be ‘authentic’. I can’t find decent Andouille sausage around here, I use Italian as a substitute, add some wine and smoked paprika into the dish to get those flavors. I doubt anyone can taste the final product and tell the difference, and I’ve never had anything close to complaint. Oh man, I do like talking gumbo. It’s one of my all-time favorite go-tos, and I never make it quite the same. RE: the roux, I’ve had luck getting a rich brown roux quickly by stirring constantly in a small pan on high heat. You have to be very careful to stir frantically so as to not burn it, and even lift the pan off the heat if it seems to be getting too hot, but I can get a rich brown roux in maybe 10 minutes tops. I’ve also heard, but have not tried, a technique where you spread the dry flour in a thin layer onto a cookie sheet or similar and toast it in an oven. Then you add it to your butter or oil at gumbo-making time for instant brown roux. I bet this is how some restaurants make their roux. One of my occasional gumbo secret ingredients is adding allspice. I’ve never seen allspice as an ingredient in any gumbo recipe I’ve ever seen, except from a series of gumbo recipe varieties that @pulykamell shared in another thread. A ‘gumbo with greens’ recipe from that list, which I made, had allspice as an ingredient. Which led me to a realization: some local restaurant gumbo that I really liked, from a chain of higher-end Coney restaurants in our area, of all places, must use allspice. The combo of well-browned roux and allspice makes for a killer gumbo. When I make this version, it’s strictly Cajun-style with no tomatoes. because adding tomatoes seems to overpower or ‘neutralize’ the allspice flavor. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/127 "2024-02-19T15:31:41Z")
> [@solost](#): > > except from a series of gumbo recipe varieties that @pulykamell shared in another thread Chili. I add a little to chili. I don’t think I’ve ever tried it with gumbo, have I? (There’s a little bit of a period of time where my brain was kinda scrambled, so I suppose it’s possible I mentioned it, but being currently of sound mind (I think), I do not recall ever using allspice in gumbo, just chili. That’s the most recent time I mentioned it, in the chili thread from a month or two or so ago.) ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/128 "2024-02-19T15:44:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Chili. I add a little to chili. I don’t think I’ve ever tried it with gumbo, have I? Oh yeah, I can see adding allspice to chili. It works really well with beef dishes. And with generally spicy dishes, as we both know well from making jerk recipes. [Someone posted the first known stroganoff recipe by Elena Molokhovets in another recipe thread once](https://www.tasteatlas.com/beef-stroganoff/recipe/elena-molokhovets-beef-strogonoff). It calls for allspice and mustard, but not the mushrooms which are pretty standard in later recipe versions. I tried making it, and I didn’t think the mustard really worked that well or added much to it, but the allspice was a terrific addition. I since have made stroganoff several times with allspice but not mustard, and adding the mushrooms back. Another great go-to. Makes a good weekday meal with ground beef instead of slow-cooked chuck, which I’d probably use on a weekend version. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/129 "2024-02-19T15:51:05Z")
I don’t use allspice in Stroganoff, but I’m going to try it out. It gives a distinctive flavor to Swedish meatballs that should work as well with Stroganoff. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/130 "2024-02-19T16:04:03Z")
The Indian grocery store here sells thousands of foil packets of prepared Indian food, paneer in spinach and so on. The guy who runs it told me most Indians buy these, eating ‘regular food’ in addition. Jarred sauces are popular, too. Cooking from scratch with all those ingredients is for special occasions. Grandmothers more likely to know how to make authentic dishes. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/131 "2024-02-19T16:21:31Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Oh yeah, I can see adding allspice to chili. Yeah, my suggestion for allspice was from your recent thread on making award-winning chili (where you do say you used it, too): > [@Help me make some award-winning chili!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-some-award-winning-chili/996739/15): > > I also like to add a light “accent” spice, which in my case is a little bit of allspice. > [@Help me make some award-winning chili!](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-make-some-award-winning-chili/996739/35): > > So here’s how I made my chili: > > I started out toasting whole cumin seed, allspice berries (thanks for that idea @pulykamell - allspice was a fantastic addition), I checked around, and I don’t see myself suggesting using it for gumbo. It feels a little odd to me, but a subtle spicing wouldn’t hurt, I don’t think. Polish soups and stews (and sausage) often use a bit of allspice in them, and it’s not really noticeable. Then again, my mom would put like 3-5 whole allspice berries for an enire gallon of soup, so it’s not going to be forward in the palate. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/132 "2024-02-19T16:36:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, my suggestion for allspice was from your recent thread on making award-winning chili (where you do say you used it, too): Ah yes, so I did. That was the day of the NFC Championship game the Lions lost, so _my_ memory of that day was a bit scrambled from the awful loss (and a beverage or two) 😊 > [@pulykamell](#): > > I checked around, and I don’t see myself suggesting using it for gumbo. I just searched around a bit and couldn’t find it either, but you did post several gumbo recipes in a thread awhile back. One of them was a ‘gumbo with greens’ recipe that had allspice as an ingredient. I found a reference I also made to it in this thread from Sept. '22, so it predates this: > [@Advice on BBQing an 8 lb ribeye roast?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-on-bbqing-an-8-lb-ribeye-roast/971724/18): > > It’s good in beef stews. Interesting. In another food thread here, someone (may even have been you) posted a link to an older Beef Stroganoff recipe that didn’t use mushrooms but did include allspice and mustard. I tried making it and I found that allspice (mustard too, but not as much) works very well with beef & sauce type dishes. A gumbo with greens recipe you gave me included allspice, and now I add allspice to my gumbos routinely. It pairs really nicely with the flavor of a well-browned… Anyway, I will have to do some more searching, because that gumbo with greens recipe was _ **good** _. ETA: found it! > [@Jambalaya recipe](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jambalaya-recipe/848318/16): > > BTW, [here’s a nice Cajun brown jambalaya recipe](https://www.gumbopages.com/food/jambalaya-gautreau.html). Have a nice stroll through that website. It has served me well for … oh … at least a decade. I want to say closer to twenty years, though. (ETA: Yeah, it looks like the domain has existed since 1997, and I’m pretty sure I’ve been cooking from it since c. 2000/2001.) Donald Link’s book “Real Cajun: Rustic Home Cooking from Donald Link’s Louisiana” is also a nice resource. He writes: “In my opinion, there are two types of jambalaya – Cajun and Cre… [Here’s the ‘gumbo with greens’ recipe leading from that link](https://www.gumbopages.com/food/soups/gumboz.html) (actually called GUMBO Z’HERBES). It only calls for a grand total of a mere 2 allspice berries, yet it was my inspiration to experiment with allspice in gumbo. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/133 "2024-02-19T16:50:33Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I just searched around a bit and couldn’t find it either, but you did post several gumbo recipes in a thread awhile back. One of them was a ‘gumbo with greens’ recipe that had allspice as an ingredient. Ah, yes! How funny. I literally have the book that it’s from sitting on my desk – it’s from The New Orleans Restaurant Cookbook by Deirdre Stanfoth. I forget what I was researching that I took out of the bookshelf, but there it is. It does list “2 allspice” in the recipe (in addition to “2 cloves”) for enough gumbo z’herbes to serve 10-12 people. I didn’t think of it when you said “gumbo” as it’s mostly like a Southern greens recipe on steroids rather than what I think of as “gumbo,” but that is what it’s called. This particular book has recipes from various old school New Orleans restaurants (the book is copyrighted 1967), and the gumbo z’herbes recipe is from a place called “Dunbar’s”) I’m not sure if it’s related to the current Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine, as that one says it was established in 1986. Oh, wow, I just starterd Googling “Dunbars louisiana 1967” and this popped up, with reference to the aforementioned cookbook: > **[Food: Blasts From the Past](https://www.myneworleans.com/food-blasts-from-the-past/)** > > Rediscovering two classic recipes ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2024, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/134 "2024-02-19T17:41:58Z")
**Pasta con le Sarde** [A recipe](https://www.seriouseats.com/pasta-pasta-con-le-sarde-sicilian-pasta-with-sardines), though when I made it it was a printed one from a relative. It seems a very busy task in making it requiring close monitoring of the cooking process with lots of tweaking. This leaves very little time for preparation “as you go” even though I did do some preliminary preparation, though clearly not enough. Much more doable with two ( or more ) people. I just remember being constantly on my feet and moving about for the better part of two hours. While delicious to the point of being swoon-worthy, I won’t make it again. What a PIA: it made my gun-shy of cooking anything complicated again. It’s a shame because after reading through this whole thread there’s some great stuff I’d like to try. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/135 "2024-02-19T18:04:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > This particular book has recipes from various old school New Orleans restaurants (the book is copyrighted 1967), and the gumbo z’herbes recipe is from a place called “Dunbar’s”) I’m not sure if it’s related to the current Dunbar’s Creole Cuisine, as that one says it was established in 1986. > > Oh, wow, I just starterd Googling “Dunbars louisiana 1967” and this popped up, with reference to the aforementioned cookbook: Nice! I have a copy of [The Picayune Creole Cookbook](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picayune_Creole_Cookbook), originally printed around 1900. Mine is a 13th edition from 1966 in near-mint condition I bought at a garage sale years ago. As much a historical document as a working cookbook. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/136 "2024-02-19T18:08:45Z")
Nice. The one I’ve been meaning to get for awhile now, but keep forgetting to hunt down is _River Road Recipes_, which has been described as the Bible of Southern Louisiana cooking. I have Paul Prudhomme’s _Louisiana Cooking_ and Donald Link’s _Real Cajun_ (I bit more contemporary), and those have served me well. Still, though, my first resource is [gumbopages.com](http://gumbopages.com). It has been largely unperturbed since I started using it in the early 00s. The actual recipe indexes (a click or two in) and recipe pages I swear have not at all changed design since those days, possibly even the 90s. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/137 "2024-02-19T18:14:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Still, though, my first resource is [gumbopages.com](http://gumbopages.com). It has been largely unperturbed since I started using it in the early 00s. The actual index and recipe pages I swear have not at all changed design since those days, possibly even the 90s. Oh yeah, that site definitely brings brings back nostalgia for the simple, carefree days of 90s web design. I can almost hear the modem sounds 😀 Will have to explore that site when I have more time later, thanks! ---
**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 19, 2024, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/138 "2024-02-19T20:01:24Z")
I enjoy cooking and have made many, many multi-course meals for friends and family. I see that this is an old thread that I may have already contributed to but I’m sure it wasn’t my latest dive into complicated food: Julia Child’s signature Beef Bourguignon. It wasn’t _hard_ but it was so, so, soooooooooooooo many steps that dirtied so, so, soooooooooooooooooooo many dishes. And not a few steps seemed superfluous, like boiling the lardons before frying and browning the pearl onion, making a kinda sauce out of it and then getting rid of all the sauce and herbs just to put the browned onions in the stew. The stew was very good but I’ve made beef stew almost as good with one quarter the time, steps and dirty dishes. ---
**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:** [February 19, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/139 "2024-02-19T20:12:31Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Julia Child’s signature Beef Bourguignon. > > […] > > The stew was very good but I’ve made beef stew almost as good with one quarter the time, steps and dirty dishes. Interesting, thanks! I’ve wanted to try Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon just to say I did it, but I’ve suspected what you found out, that it’s not really worth all the extra work. An interesting side-thread to this might be, what time-consuming dishes turned out to actually be _ **worth** _ all the work and time? For example a recipe I mentioned in the OP, [Spicy Beef Rendang](https://www.kitchensanctuary.com/spicy-beef-rendang/). It’s one of my favorite things to make when I have the time, and it takes about 4 hours. There is no shortcut, because it has to be cooked long and slow to evaporate the coconut milk. I tried an Instant Pot shortcut recipe once, and it was terrible. Good BBQ is another example that there’s no shortcut for. ---
**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 19, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588/140 "2024-02-19T20:20:01Z")
Yeup, the reason I made it was to have made Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon and I did it! For that it was worth it. Won’t be doing it again, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-complicated-meal-youve-ever-prepared/980588.md?page=6)