Food, old wives tales and general b*ll*cks

Food, old wives tales and general b*ll*cks

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Discussion

21TonyK

Original Poster:

11,958 posts

217 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
I'll kick it off...

Mussels that are closed after cooking shouldn't be eaten or they'll make you ill / die depending on how important the person telling you wants you to think they are.

It's cr*p, Jane Grigson made it up but it was published and became a repeated "fact".

(Mrs21 often finds me shouting at chefs on the telly who repeat this and other made up stuff)

silentbrown

9,381 posts

124 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
21TonyK said:
Mussels that are closed after cooking shouldn't be eaten or they'll make you ill / die depending on how important the person telling you wants you to think they are.
I didn't know that was balls! After one bad experience with mussels I now just avoid them - The risk/reward ratio doesn't work for me frown

Soloman Dodd

338 posts

50 months

Sunday 24th November
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Salting aubergine slices to draw the bitter juices out.


Just lick one - what bitter juices?

dickymint

25,944 posts

266 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
The crust on bread does not make your hair go curly nuts

bigandclever

13,956 posts

246 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
21TonyK said:
I'll kick it off...

Mussels that are closed after cooking shouldn't be eaten or they'll make you ill / die depending on how important the person telling you wants you to think they are.

It's cr*p, Jane Grigson made it up but it was published and became a repeated "fact".

(Mrs21 often finds me shouting at chefs on the telly who repeat this and other made up stuff)
It is, but it also took decades for 'science' to get around to it and test the validity. And that was driven by cost of wastage, rather than how many people were (or were not) dying from a duff mussel.

My one is MSG is bad for you.

21TonyK

Original Poster:

11,958 posts

217 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
silentbrown said:
21TonyK said:
Mussels that are closed after cooking shouldn't be eaten or they'll make you ill / die depending on how important the person telling you wants you to think they are.
I didn't know that was balls! After one bad experience with mussels I now just avoid them - The risk/reward ratio doesn't work for me frown
Yeah, just make sure they are closed (or close when tapped) before cooking. But a bad experience will be down to the origin/age/storage before cooking more than anything.

(I also don't eat shellfish or any filter feeder as a rule unless I know exactly where it has come from, again, one very bad experience)

CoupeKid

814 posts

73 months

Sunday 24th November
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Don't get any egg yolk in your whites or you'll never get the whites whisked up.

This might have been true for Victorian cooks doing it by hand but in my experience, as a terrible egg separator, a food mixer will make short work of egg whites with a little bit of yolk in.

dickymint

25,944 posts

266 months

Sunday 24th November
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That red liquid that so many rare steak haters cringe at? It has absolutely no blood in it - it's Myoglobin and water.

WrekinCrew

4,916 posts

158 months

Sunday 24th November
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Sealing meat to "keep the juices in".

I highly recommend On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.

ambuletz

11,009 posts

189 months

Sunday 24th November
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putting oil in the pasta water to stop it sticking.

bringing things to a simmer/boil and then leaving it on high. it's not going to cook something any faster, just evaporate the water quicker.

The Gauge

3,358 posts

21 months

Sunday 24th November
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For the past few years I've been bouncing salt off my elbow, turns out I don't need to.

Super Sonic

7,435 posts

62 months

Sunday 24th November
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The spinach thing and the carrot thing.

Cotty

40,361 posts

292 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
21TonyK said:
Mussels that are closed after cooking shouldn't be eaten or they'll make you ill / die depending on how important the person telling you wants you to think they are.

It's cr*p, Jane Grigson made it up but it was published and became a repeated "fact".
I was aware of that, but as I never cook or eat mussels I never looked into the reason.
Now I have looked it up it appears she wrote that unopened ones after cooking should be thrown away but gave no reason. Without giving a reason its not worth the paper its written on, but then you know that.

number2

4,587 posts

195 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
WrekinCrew said:
Sealing meat to "keep the juices in".

I highly recommend On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.
Yes, that one is so annoying and every chef on TV says it. It seriously makes me doubt their abilities...

(Although they're still better than me and brilliant biggrin).

Cotty

40,361 posts

292 months

Sunday 24th November
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Holding a spoon in your mouth when cutting onions will prevent tears.
I must be immune as I never cry when cutting onions.

number2

4,587 posts

195 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
Needing a 'screaming' hot pan to sear steak.

The terminology makes me grimace, and a pan doesn't need to be as hot as it can be to caramelise meat.

Cotty

40,361 posts

292 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
WrekinCrew said:
Sealing meat to "keep the juices in".

I highly recommend On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen.
Apparently Jamie Oliver always browns his meat to seal it but his wife Jools doesn't. He tried it her way and couldn't tell the difference.

sean ie3

2,412 posts

144 months

Sunday 24th November
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You must only eat mussels when there is an R in the month. Not true, I've eaten mussels many times when there is no R in the month.

Dogwatch

6,275 posts

230 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
sean ie3 said:
You must only eat mussels when there is an R in the month. Not true, I've eaten mussels many times when there is no R in the month.
Those are the winter months which are cooler, so without modern refrigeration eating seafood which isn’t freshly caught could be erm, problematic. vomit

21TonyK

Original Poster:

11,958 posts

217 months

Sunday 24th November
quotequote all
Dogwatch said:
sean ie3 said:
You must only eat mussels when there is an R in the month. Not true, I've eaten mussels many times when there is no R in the month.
Those are the winter months which are cooler, so without modern refrigeration eating seafood which isn’t freshly caught could be erm, problematic. vomit
Winter months are also spawning season.