271–280 of 336 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't mind steamed sprouts today, but I remember how utterly repulsed I was by them as a kid. The preparation doesn't make a ton of difference, in my opinion.
[flagged]
Also, homemade food in Europe (especially the Southern) has a much better quality than any industry-processed food.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Less spicy is actually good. I prefer more flavorful chiles, with less spice. Mark Miller's conversation with Tyler Cowen is good on this subject: https://conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/mark-miller/ . Chiles are actually fruits and, combined judiciously, create a lot of complex flavors. Excess spiciness overwhelms the flavor. And people who want absurdly spicy peppers, can get them: ghost chiles, carolina reaper…
I really wish we could have a habanero that is 1/4 as spicy. I LOVE the flavor of habaneros but their spiciness prevents me from putting too much. That said on the flavor/spiciness scale a lot of the Chinese varieties are excellent. The chili peppers used in Sichuanese cuisine are actually not that spicy compared to habaneros or Thai chilis, which allows it to be possible to dump a bag full into a dish and it gives i…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't mind steamed sprouts today, but I remember how utterly repulsed I was by them as a kid. The preparation doesn't make a ton of difference, in my opinion.
[flagged]
At one time, yes, women did most cooking, to a point and dependent on where one lived. Kitchens were dangerous for not only you, but your neighbor too - if you lived in a city. Which meant that if you lived in a city, you bought bread because you were very unlikely to have a place to bake it. You might not have a kitchen at all - most folks living in Roman cities just didn't and purchased food elsewhere.
You might not even know how to make bread, being a woman in the past. Professional cooks and bakers were often men.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mushroom sauce?? What's wrong with you ?! ;-)
Hehe. I should have specified it's wild mushrooms, we have a lot of funnel chanterelle[1] (do not confuse it with deadly webcap[2] which can grow alongside) and regular chanterelle by our cabin, so usually that's what we use. Makes for a quite delicious sauce. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craterellus_tubaeformis [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortinarius_rubellus
The reason I took away from this: large agricultural producers of peppers bred towards a "low heat, low variance" standard, away from a "high variance" standard that produced frequent hot jalapenos. Low-heat-low-variance is better for mass food production, because producers can just dose the capsaicin directly, which is something they can't do easily when every pepper is a wildcard. There are second-order effects, li…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's "wrong with people" is they don't like eating poison. You can train yourself to like anything, but the bitter alkaloids that give brussel sprouts and such their nasty bitter taste are indeed a toxin. There isn't enough to be dangerous in modern varieties, but there was in their wild ancestors.
There's a saying, The bitter the better Many bitter foods are highly nutritious. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bitter-foods
The reason I took away from this: large agricultural producers of peppers bred towards a "low heat, low variance" standard, away from a "high variance" standard that produced frequent hot jalapenos. Low-heat-low-variance is better for mass food production, because producers can just dose the capsaicin directly, which is something they can't do easily when every pepper is a wildcard. There are second-order effects, li…
> Have you noticed that you're way more into brussels sprouts now than you were when you were a kid? If you're a GenX-er or a Millenial, that's because today's (delicious) sprouts aren't the same plant as the (gross) sprouts of yore. This is an oft-quoted fact, and it’s true that modern brussels sprouts are less bitter, but that’s far from the whole story. The popular preparation used to be boiling or steaming, and m…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the best unique beers I've ever had was a Jalapeno ale. The yeast had metabolized all the capsaicin, so there was zero spice. The Jalapeno flavor was crisp and clean, and you could taste a depth of flavor that was normally overshadowed by the heat. It made me appreciate peppers more now that I knew what to taste for. I've been meaning to try and recreate it and then work my way through various peppers/chilies.
Wait, does yeast break down capsaicin? That doesn’t make sense to me since I make a lot of extremely spicy fermented, hot sauces, and they don’t lose their heat.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think anybody wants highly-variable jalapenos though? Industrial processors want reliably mild, chileheads want reliably spicy.
Replying to a peer respondent: Chile lovers definitely want reliably spicy. Quite a few in my family and friends.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't mind steamed sprouts today, but I remember how utterly repulsed I was by them as a kid. The preparation doesn't make a ton of difference, in my opinion.
Overcooking will increase the bitterness, the preparation makes a ton of difference. I don't really recall how my mom might have cooked broccoli and such, but I certainly identified things she did cooking that were not ideal as far as outcomes (and I would say she was a reasonably good cook).
What changed is the marketing around home cooking. Now everyone aspires to be their own private chef. It's understandable for people living in the mid-20th century western world to see all this as a bit pretentious.
The goal back then was just to get a decent healthy meal on the table. Any flourishes such as adding bacon, duck fat, or whatever else were likely seen as unhealthy, inaccessible, or just plain weird.