Heated Chefs Are Admitting Their Most Controversial Culinary Opinions, And They're So Passionate That IDK If I Should Call Them 'Chef' Or 'Daddy'
People can have really hot takes about food that seriously piss off other home cooks, as I learned when I recently wrote about controversial cooking opinions. Here are even more strong opinions from the original thread, as well as a few of your own, that were searing hot:
1."If you can’t adjust a recipe to make it vegan or vegetarian in 2022, you shouldn’t be a chef."
"Unless it is a genuinely huge ask, like vegan bacon, egg, and cheese."
2."Those pricks who pour crap cheese sauce all over the top of a burger? F*ck those people."
3."Life is too short for bad bread. I refuse to buy it in those Wonder Bread-type sleeves in the durable baked goods aisle. I always go for the naturally-leavened loaves in the bakery. They don’t last as long, but you can keep them frozen and thaw slices as needed."
4."Mixing by hand beats using a machine. If the recipe is calling for things to be mixed by hand, there’s usually a reason for it. Especially working with any kind of dough, you can go from under-mixed to over-mixed in literal seconds. I always get a much better feel for what the dough needs (water, flour, egg) when I can actually touch it."
"The same with any kind of meat or veggie burger mixture, though I do use gloves for that. I get a much better idea how the whole thing is gonna hold together when I can touch it."
5."Tilapia is gross. It's basically a giant goldfish. There. I said it."
6."Too many people cook mushrooms so they look like boiled flesh. But brown is the key to mushrooms! Don't crowd the pan, just let it sit and brown a while."
"I sprinkle just a pinch of flour on top while they’re cooking in the pan, it helps dry up the moisture."
7."Homemade whipped cream is and always will be better than the fake store-bought stuff."
"It's so easy to make, too. I never realized it until my wife and I had our first Thanksgiving together over COVID. She poured a cup of heavy cream into a bowl with some sugar, mixed it, and five minutes later, we had amazing whipped cream."
8."People eat the 'fast' versions of food for different reasons than the authentic versions of food. People don't eat Kraft mac and cheese and expect it to be the best they've ever had. They eat it because it's easier to make than actual homemade mac and cheese. Sometimes, your brain just craves the weird powdered cheese flavor from Kraft, and sometimes, it wants the real cheese flavors that come from homemade mac and cheese. Both can be good in their own categories, but shaming people for eating 'non-authentic' versions of food is just weird and elitist."
9."I think everyone, both food service workers and the general public, should take a food safety course."
10."Freshly ground black pepper is so much better than pre-ground."
"That was one of the weirder takeaways from the Franklin Barbecue cookbook; he actually prefers pepper that has lost some of it's edge from being aged after grinding."
11."Anthony Bourdain was right: Butter is the secret ingredient."
Tirol / Via giphy.com
12."You cannot trust your oven's built-in thermometer. Get a separate one, and use it to 'calibrate' your oven. Mine will tell me it's hot about 100 degrees before it's actually at temperature. Very annoying."
13."I've done many barbecue contests back home in Texas, and the best wood to use in my opinion is pecan."
14."Mixed greens are not an acceptable substitute for lettuce (iceberg, romaine, green leaf, butter) on a hamburger. The point of the lettuce is for texture, so you want a mild flavor and high crispiness. Mixed green misses the mark on both points."
15."Expensive, high-grade tomatoes are always worth it."
16."There is no shame in using a meat thermometer to get the temp you want."
17."Grilled cheese must be buttery."
18."Learn the five mother sauces: béchamel, espagnole, tomato, velouté, and hollandaise. People will start to think you’re a gourmet chef."
"Bechamel is milk thickened with a light roux — the base for most cheese sauces. Espagnole is brown broth (made with roasted bones or vegetables) thickened with dark roux — your beef gravy, your poutine sauce, pan sauces. Tomato is self-explanatory. Velouté is clear broth (non-roasted bones or vegetables) thickened with light roux. And hollandaise is made of egg yolk, butter, and a cooking acid."
19."Celery is not 'just as good' when used as a replacement for onion."
20.And finally: "Propane will never be as good as charcoal."
FOX / Via giphy.com
What are your own controversial cooking opinions? Drop your hot takes in the comments.
Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
