Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 73 posts

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#51

Post by bobf »

wdewind wrote: post #39
elptacek wrote: post #27

We don't cook because our parents didn't. Prepackaged convenience foods have always been something of a status item. This whole "return to cooking" is something of an amusing rebellion to me, since it was something of a stigma in my childhood. If your parents had money, your lunch was filled with tasty items sealed in plastic from a factory. I used to bake bread in my dorm kitchen. My floormates thought it astounding…

The last thing you said is what I came in here to write. Everything in the NYTimes article is correct (about how easy it is to cook those 3 basic meals etc), but it misses one thing: there is no way that someone goes from eating burgers and prepackaged foods to salads and lentils instantly, and it's not because it's difficult or time consuming to cook (it's not really for most things). Restaurant food has a major con…

In the same vein.. if you want a delicious salad, try making this: an over-easy egg served on top of chunks of crispy bacon over baby spinach greens, with a dressing of a mixture of a decent balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#52

Post by tptacek »

michaelchisari wrote: post #50
tptacek wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Big Night: also a great startup movie. I might take issue with the (implied) assertion that Chicago lacks a food culture, or that the average citizen of (say) Rome is necessarily steeped in one.

Chicago has a restaurant culture, a particularly fantastic one (in my opinion the best in the U.S.), but I don't know if I consider that the same as a food culture. While there are some pretty good open markets, it's nothing like you'd get in Rome or Paris, and the idea of taking a three hours for lunch would get you laughed out of the workplace.

We also have the Green Market and a smattering of farmer's markets, Paulina Meat Market, next week we'll have Rob & Allie's Butcher & Larder for traceably farm-to-table meat, sometime next year we'll have Paul Kahan's butcher project, and we have Fox & Obel for stuff like duck legs and hanger steaks. Lots of great bakeries, too. And that's before you get into the Mexican and Asian groceries.

I'm watching Big Night again tonight thanks to you. Thanks!

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#53

Post by jules »

araneae wrote: post #12
jvdongen wrote: post #2

I frequently read this kind of articles on the web, and every time I'm amazed by it. Preparing food yourself is the rule in my corner of the world (the Netherlands) - going out for dinner an exception. And up until a few years ago you'd be hard pressed to find a public place that actually served breakfast. Of course, not every Dutchmen is a great cook (to say the least ;-) but I think you'd have a hard time to find a…

I guess it's partially ignorance. For years I was making "instant" pudding, which was a packet combined with milk. It turns out that you can make homemade chocolate pudding with only one extra ingredient; cocoa powder, cornstarch, and milk. (A pinch of salt usually improves it, though.) I still buy rice pudding, though. I've tried making it and it always turns out awfully.

Ah, that reminds me that nowadays "homemade fries" are frozen fries put into your own fryer ;)

> I still buy rice pudding, though. I've tried making it and it always turns out awfully.

Here's grandma's recipe how to make rice pudding.

Ingredients: 1 liter of milk, 1 or 2 eggs, about half a cup of dessert rice, half to a whole cup of sugar, cinnamon, salt.

Bring the milk to a boil. Put in rice and sugar and a pinch of salt and cook with a lid for about 20 minutes (or whatever the package says). Make sure it doesn't char. In the meantime split the egg yolks from the egg white. Add some sugar to the egg white and whip until creamy with a fork or with a mixer. Add some sugar to the egg yolks and stir until white and creamy. When the rice is ready put out the stove, and add some of the milk to the egg yolks and stir. Then slowly add the egg yolks to the pan while stirring. You need to stir really well otherwise you get bits of solidified egg yolk in your pudding. Next add the egg white and stir. Put in a bowl, cover it with cinnamon and then sugar. Let it cool down for a couple of hours.

My grandma used to say it tastes as if an angel is peeing on your tongue. I can guarantee that it tastes so much better than rice pudding from the supermarket.

Many dishes have a kernel, the essential thing that makes that dish that dish. For puddings it's stirred egg yolk and whipped egg white. Next time you make instant pudding use a little bit less of the instant pudding powder, and add egg yolk stirred with sugar and egg white whipped with sugar in the same way as for the rice pudding. This will improve the flavor and change the texture from a gelatiny pudding to something more like a real custard.

Like chocolate pudding, caramel pudding is just a small variation. Put sugar and a little bit of water in a pan, and heat until brown (not black!). Then add milk or water and dissolve the caramel, and add this to the pudding. Nice with whipped cream.

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#54

Post by michaelchisari »

tptacek wrote: post #52
michaelchisari wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicago has a restaurant culture, a particularly fantastic one (in my opinion the best in the U.S.), but I don't know if I consider that the same as a food culture. While there are some pretty good open markets, it's nothing like you'd get in Rome or Paris, and the idea of taking a three hours for lunch would get you laughed out of the workplace.

We also have the Green Market and a smattering of farmer's markets, Paulina Meat Market, next week we'll have Rob & Allie's Butcher & Larder for traceably farm-to-table meat, sometime next year we'll have Paul Kahan's butcher project, and we have Fox & Obel for stuff like duck legs and hanger steaks. Lots of great bakeries, too. And that's before you get into the Mexican and Asian groceries. I'm watching Big Night ag…

I mean, I don't mean to disparage Chicago, I love this city (and hell yeah to Paulina Meat Market, that place is one of my favorites). I just don't think generally that Chicago has the kind of culinary culture that European cities do, and most of it comes from it's recent immigrants, although it's streets ahead of anywhere in the U.S., no doubt.

BTW, I've been trying to find an actual Timpano recipe for years, but as far as I can tell, it's either a creation for the movie, or it's such an obscure regional food that it's hard to find any authentic recipes, although there are plenty of really good approximations.

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#55

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

elptacek wrote: post #27

We don't cook because our parents didn't. Prepackaged convenience foods have always been something of a status item. This whole "return to cooking" is something of an amusing rebellion to me, since it was something of a stigma in my childhood. If your parents had money, your lunch was filled with tasty items sealed in plastic from a factory. I used to bake bread in my dorm kitchen. My floormates thought it astounding…

As an only child of a single parent, the responsibility for the evening meal fell to me

Same here. Mom couldn't afford much convenience food, so I learned to go to the butcher down the street -- 25 years ago in Brooklyn, NY there were still neighborhood butchers. Wonder if they're still there -- and get chicken/ground beef/etc, season it and either cook it following her instructions or wait until she came home to finish the meal. Learning basic cooking techniques from an early age (I started baking around age 9 and I'm bringing my son up the same way) means they became second nature without me even realizing it. I think it's that automatic response that is most important to learn; "I'm hungry" means I start thinking about what ingredients are on hand that I can cook quickly, not what boxed meal I can microwave.

I still remember being amazed post-college at how helpless my roommate was (Burger King every night or detailed instructions from his gf on how to make cinnamon sugar toast!).

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#56

Post by jules »

tptacek wrote: post #52
michaelchisari wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicago has a restaurant culture, a particularly fantastic one (in my opinion the best in the U.S.), but I don't know if I consider that the same as a food culture. While there are some pretty good open markets, it's nothing like you'd get in Rome or Paris, and the idea of taking a three hours for lunch would get you laughed out of the workplace.

We also have the Green Market and a smattering of farmer's markets, Paulina Meat Market, next week we'll have Rob & Allie's Butcher & Larder for traceably farm-to-table meat, sometime next year we'll have Paul Kahan's butcher project, and we have Fox & Obel for stuff like duck legs and hanger steaks. Lots of great bakeries, too. And that's before you get into the Mexican and Asian groceries. I'm watching Big Night ag…

Have you seen Babette's Feast?

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#57

Post by tptacek »

michaelchisari wrote: post #54
tptacek wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We also have the Green Market and a smattering of farmer's markets, Paulina Meat Market, next week we'll have Rob & Allie's Butcher & Larder for traceably farm-to-table meat, sometime next year we'll have Paul Kahan's butcher project, and we have Fox & Obel for stuff like duck legs and hanger steaks. Lots of great bakeries, too. And that's before you get into the Mexican and Asian groceries. I'm watching Big Night ag…

I mean, I don't mean to disparage Chicago, I love this city (and hell yeah to Paulina Meat Market, that place is one of my favorites). I just don't think generally that Chicago has the kind of culinary culture that European cities do, and most of it comes from it's recent immigrants, although it's streets ahead of anywhere in the U.S., no doubt. BTW, I've been trying to find an actual Timpano recipe for years, but as…

"Streets ahead"? :)

Try: Google [timpano casserole -"big night"]; first result is a credible book reference with a recipe.

We need to figure out a way to do some kind of startup supper club in Chicago.

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#58

Post by elptacek »

wdewind wrote: post #39
elptacek wrote: post #27

We don't cook because our parents didn't. Prepackaged convenience foods have always been something of a status item. This whole "return to cooking" is something of an amusing rebellion to me, since it was something of a stigma in my childhood. If your parents had money, your lunch was filled with tasty items sealed in plastic from a factory. I used to bake bread in my dorm kitchen. My floormates thought it astounding…

The last thing you said is what I came in here to write. Everything in the NYTimes article is correct (about how easy it is to cook those 3 basic meals etc), but it misses one thing: there is no way that someone goes from eating burgers and prepackaged foods to salads and lentils instantly, and it's not because it's difficult or time consuming to cook (it's not really for most things). Restaurant food has a major con…

This is not too far from what I originally intended to reply to the article itself, too, until I read the other comments. My three would probably be soup, pizza and sweet potato fries. This would give you a kick start on sauces (soup base), breads (pizza dough) and deep frying.

I should also point out that we lived in a small organic farm, giving me the advantage of an abundant source of vegetables, fruits, eggs and dairy.

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#59

Post by michaelchisari »

tptacek wrote: post #57
michaelchisari wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I don't mean to disparage Chicago, I love this city (and hell yeah to Paulina Meat Market, that place is one of my favorites). I just don't think generally that Chicago has the kind of culinary culture that European cities do, and most of it comes from it's recent immigrants, although it's streets ahead of anywhere in the U.S., no doubt. BTW, I've been trying to find an actual Timpano recipe for years, but as…

"Streets ahead"? :) Try: Google [timpano casserole -"big night"]; first result is a credible book reference with a recipe. We need to figure out a way to do some kind of startup supper club in Chicago.

We need to figure out a way to do some kind of startup supper club in Chicago.

I'm down.

Re: By becoming a cook, you can leave processed foods behind

#60

Post by tptacek »

elptacek wrote: post #58
wdewind wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last thing you said is what I came in here to write. Everything in the NYTimes article is correct (about how easy it is to cook those 3 basic meals etc), but it misses one thing: there is no way that someone goes from eating burgers and prepackaged foods to salads and lentils instantly, and it's not because it's difficult or time consuming to cook (it's not really for most things). Restaurant food has a major con…

This is not too far from what I originally intended to reply to the article itself, too, until I read the other comments. My three would probably be soup, pizza and sweet potato fries. This would give you a kick start on sauces (soup base), breads (pizza dough) and deep frying. I should also point out that we lived in a small organic farm, giving me the advantage of an abundant source of vegetables, fruits, eggs and…

Sweet potato fries? When do I get sweet potato fries?
Post reply on HN