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

[21TonyK]

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)

[21TonyK]

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

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)

[21TonyK]

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.

Winter months are also spawning season.

[21TonyK]

RC1807 said:

Not reheating rice.

Also bks.

Just don’t leave it for days.

It’s what fried rice is made from, of course.

Not complete bks, just a bit more to it...

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/home-food-f...

[21TonyK]

Silvanus said:

21TonyK said:

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.

Winter months are also spawning season.

Mussels spawn in summer, not winter, the issue with eating mussels in the summer is also down to algae and bacterial blooms, which could be a problem, if wild gathered. Shellfish farms sterilise mussels and oysters using ultra violet disinfection, meaning they can be sold year round.

Don;t know where I got that from I would blame the wine... but I gave that up

Farmed mussels local to me are pretty good, Exe, Brixham etc but I still see people collecting them off the rocks which is a bit silly given they onky cost a few quid if you really want them.

[21TonyK]

RC1807 said:

21TonyK said:

RC1807 said:

Not reheating rice.

Also bks.

Just don’t leave it for days.

It’s what fried rice is made from, of course.

Not complete bks, just a bit more to it...

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/home-food-f...

I wasn’t wrong, but (UK) Govt food hygiene guidelines will ALWAYS err on the side of caution.
Look at the level of UK food waste.
(I know your background, Tony.)

If waste is the issue, cook less. Rice prepared and stored correctly is fine for most. If not then it can be lethal... the figures don't lie, especially in China.

I've seen the results of B.Cereus first hand and sacked the chefs responsible.

[21TonyK]

DickyC said:

Cotty said:

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

Or holding a piece of bread between your teeth. Both designed to make breathe through your mouth. Your mouth is less sensitive to the onion fumes but your instinct is to breathe through your nose.

Or grow old and have your olfactory organs give up on you. That also works well.

Its the fumes but not so much the breathing them in thats the biggest problem. Combined with the water in your eyes the gas emitted creates an acid that makes you cry.

Simple answer, chop onions in a well ventilated area or under your kitchen extractor.

[21TonyK]

oddman said:

CypSIdders said:

Douglas Quaid said:

I’ve never heard of washing chicken. Does anyone do that?

No!

It's a West Indian thing. Kinda makes sense when the chicken you're about to cook was scratching around in the yard yesterday. Even if you do a good job of plucking and gutting, giving it a rinse to wash away excess blood and st isn't a bad idea.

Its also perpetuated in the USA (where it used to be almost normal) by the use of antimicrobial washes in poultry production. Some people wash the chicken to "get rid" of he chemicals, others are trying to "get rid" of salmonella which was/is more common in US poultry.

Its an old practice that at one point had some logic but is now just a way of spraying your kitchen with raw chicken.

[21TonyK]

One to separate the pack...

Organic is healthier.