pet peeves for cooks - Page 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philosophos 

I've been trained in other things with nasty people who yell and get in your face about things. I'd go home with entire square feet of my body covered in bruises, bloody, my ears ringing for a week after, etc. You know, it was hell, but I learned a ton. I was focused, dedicated, and motivated. Competing and performing on demand seemed like a breeze compared to practice. I thank my brutal trainers for that, and I don't buy into the concept that self-esteem is a great thing.

 

At the same time, I realize that this approach breaks some people. If you're going to run a high pressure business though, shouldn't pressure increase your drive to achieve? I know my best performance has been under the highest levels of stress.

 

Of course I'm not trying to contradict you here to be nasty; just offering another perspective.

I agree to a certain point......

I had pots and pans thrown at me .....called every name in the book..even thrown off the line into the dish pit for a week!

I sucked it up! I was told "those looks arn't going to get you everywhere!" It was a very hard to be in the kitchen 25 years ago as a woman. But it did toughen me up oh boy did it!

 And now.....I think it softened me to be a better chef and work with my employees....cheer them on for their accomplishments...not criticize so much...because I remember what it is like to be there and how I felt.

Maybe my Chefs when I was apprenticing did it for a reason ....make my skin a little thicker...I still wonder

gordon ramsey aside, the school of 'hard knocks', that gives most of us the 'right stuff' to deal with cooking life on a daily basis, is quite a different animal than constantly being physically, mentally and verbally abused in a kitchen..(isn't that reserved for families?). betcha didn't ask many questions and did just what was required for fear of mental flogging, and belittling. you know the germans have a training programs for dogs that is so intense that the dogs pee while they wait for their commands. they get physically ill if they fail. they learn the commands and do the exercises, but, come on, does that sound like a well adjusted dog to you?...same with people. kitchen life is a long life(hopefully) and we need to strive for a better balance...i'm not talking group hugs here- just more communication and compassion....put the fun back in functional...okay, biggest, biggest pet peeve(besides a dishwasher using my chef knife to break down boxes, which i almost had to be hospitalized for and had to count to at least 1000),#1 kitchen peeve is opening Both doors of a double door cooler or freezer at the same time...bending so low their arse is 12 degrees to the sun and just looking, looking, looking! what happened to asking? who's paying the electric bill? i just see dollar bills with wings attached, flying out the now open doors! i contend you can't possibly see whats in both sides, or behind the front containers at the same time nor can your brain process things that fast...maybe the fun is to be found in the dysfunctional! go figure!...geez, and all this before coffee!...good day all

joey

Quote:

Originally Posted by amazingrace 

A few years ago (pre-retirement),  I was waitressing in a very nice restaurant that had "Steak House" in the name.   It ticked everyone off when customers whined because the menu didn't have more vegetarian offerings (there were at least 3 veggie plates,  plus the cooks did try to be accomodating).  Like ... hello...its a steak house... why did you even come in here??? Grrrr...

Yeah, Iguess their first should have been that it was a steak house.  You don't go to a vegan restaurant and order a porterhouse do you?.  ;-)
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisLehrer 

You know, rereading that little rant, I sorta forgot one thing. Am I the only person who hates this whole grill macho thing? What the heck is it with these guys, who can barely make toast in a toaster, that they drop thousands on some gigantic outdoor cremation device and a bunch of overpriced stupid useless tools, drink 8 beers, and think they're grill masters? And they have these theories. You know: "well, you have to get a good char on the outside, see, and that keeps the juice inside." Well, um, sorta, I mean no, but you're not totally out to lunch, but honestly you don't need to do this to a 1" cube of beef tenderloin, it's just going to burn to a lump of coal. And they spend all this money on "rubs" and then mix them together, preferably with some really cheap liquor, to make a "special flavor marinade." You must have seen these dudes over this past weekend, Memorial Day For Animals Who Gave Their Lives To Be Turned Into Charcoal By Drunken Idiots. By the time they eat anything, they're half-blitzed anyway and can't taste it, so they don't even know.

 

I still remember the time I tried to explain about resting meat to a neighbor who's a Grill Warrior. He said it wasn't true, swore up and down. OK, I said, and grabbed two thick steaks. Grilled 'em both good and hot, then said watch this and put one under a bowl, right next to the grill where it was passably hot, and cut the other one immediately. What happens? You know perfectly well: the immediately-cut meat was raw in the center and dry-gray around the outside. After 10 minutes' resting, I cut the other, and it was beautifully pink throughout. What about that, I said? Answer: (a) you didn't cook them the same, see, because this part of the grill is hotter than that one, and (b) you didn't cook them right, because the first one should have been gray all the way through, that's how you know it's done, and otherwise you die of e coli, and (c) I don't like meat pink, that's disgusting, what do you do, drink blood like a vampire?

 

Gah!!!!! Grills!!!!!

For me I wouldn't say it's so much a grill macho thing.  I have an offset smoker that I frquently use.  It's hard to beat a slowly smoked Boston Butt, or brisket.  I do like the "Memorial Day For Animals Who Gave Their Lives To Be Turned Into Charcoal By Drunken Idiots."  remark though.  :-)
 

My pet peeves? Wow, there are so many, where should I start?

~When someone eats all the leftovers, but leaves the container in the fridge with just a spoonful of food left in it, just to avoid having to wash the container.

~When someone spills something, anything, in the fridge and doesn't wipe it up.

~When someone refuses to reseal the packages of cold cuts, cheeses, veggies, and they dry out because of being left open.....they're in ziploc bags for a reason!!

~When people make a sandwich and leave the knife or spoon in the mayo jar, or just leave the jar wide open on the counter overnight. This has happened one too many times in my house, and not by a kid!

~When someone eats anything and just gets up from the table without at least putting their plate in the sink.

~When someone drops food on the floor and doesn't have the common sense to pick it up & throw it away.

Do you see where I'm going here? Y'all are gonna read about me in the newspapers one of these days. (c:

AWSOME!!-SSSSooooooooooooooo true!!! I salute you!
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by durangojo 

on the siders! everything on the side,cuz they don't want the sauces to touch their food...it must just drive them nuts to think about what actually happens in their stomachs, with everything touching!... subbing sauces meant for a specific dish...ex: we have a grilled rib eye topped with roasted onions and balsamic redux...then we have a grilled beef filet with a cranberry port sauce and melted gorgonzola on top...cranberry port sauce doesn't really seem to fit the rib eye, but they want both sauces and toppings, which really doesn't seem to fit...i spend alot of time and energy matching foods, and i feel its not snobbery on my part..its my design. would you go buy a dress because you liked it so much, then start ripping the sleeves off? do they have a right to complain if they don't like it?... making specials and having guests try to deconstruct it(again,on the siders!) if i have a habanaro glazed organic salmon with a bluberry mint relish..i want everything to be tasted together...not glaze on the side, relish on the side, no seaweed in the yakisoba noodles etc..... waitstaff that giggle and talk about the most inane things(boyfriends, getting drunk etc.) in the kitchen while i'm trying to plate..... waitstaff in general..especially when they start to complain about how they're not going to make any money that night..and thats at the begining of a shift...how do they know who's going to walk in? how many covers we'll do. they seem to do less work and jabber more when its slow, instead of perhaps picking up a rag and actually cleaning something...i get pissed just thinking bout how lazy some can be...they don't last long with me, but everyone you spend your time training only to realize they are not going to get any better or change, still takes it out of you, little by little, chunk by chunk..and over the years it adds up....been thinking of opening a mobile food truck, just so i don't have to deal with employees anymore....aah, it feels good to vent! good day all...

joey

biggest pet peeve ever!!!....customers who love, love, loved everything..then double tipped cuz they were tipsy, then call  the next day and want their tip back...you would think they would just chalk it up, but they don't...we actually 'blacklist' those people...you'd be surprised to know how often it happens though....

Wimpy stoves, dull knives.

Waitstaff walking into your kitchen when you are in the middle of doing a thousand things and calling out their ticket. Especially when there is a table of twelve having two courses and they expect you to listen to every word AAARRRGGGHHHH

No no, I'm not talking about someone like you who's actually serious about using a grill or smoker or whatever. Don't you know the guys I mean? The ones who would never, ever cook anything at home except in the microwave, but somehow are Grill Masters who spend a fortune on fancy equipment and then incinerate the meat? Seems like half my male neighbors are like this. Their wives put up with it because at least that way they have a few evenings when they don't have to cook.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberdoc 

For me I wouldn't say it's so much a grill macho thing.  I have an offset smoker that I frquently use.  It's hard to beat a slowly smoked Boston Butt, or brisket.  I do like the "Memorial Day For Animals Who Gave Their Lives To Be Turned Into Charcoal By Drunken Idiots."  remark though.  :-)
 

Oh, here's another peeve of mine: expert authentic knowledge that is total raving BS.

For example, my neighbors who honestly believe that if you don't cook a hot dog -- I'm not talking anything unusual, just basic Oscar Meyer weenies -- until it is black, and prick it all over to let all the juice out, and cook it for at least 10-15 minutes, then you will die. Really they do. This is because raw meat will kill you. First, no it won't. Second, those hot dogs are fully cooked. Hello?

At the other end of the economic scale, I have honestly gotten white-knuckled sitting near someone at a sushi bar who's expatiating on authenticity and who clearly hasn't the remotest idea what he's talking about. I particularly felt like belting the guy who went on a long rant about how his date really needed to understand the freshness of the fish, and how you could tell that this particular fish had been caught the same day where another had been caught the day before. She must have been ready to stab him as well, but in my case there was the undeniable fact that the fish in question, like most fish in American sushi restaurants, was previously frozen.

Potholders: Is it just me, or do those mitten things not work? At home I’ve almost completely shifted over to using bar towels, but at my mother’s house, or anyone else’s where I might be cooking, I invariably end up picking up a hot pot using a potholder and burning my hand right through. Honestly, this is a device that has only one use in the world. Can’t it work?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazza 

Waitstaff walking into your kitchen when you are in the middle of doing a thousand things and calling out their ticket. Especially when there is a table of twelve having two courses and they expect you to listen to every word AAARRRGGGHHHH

ditto that!!...other biggie pet waitstaff peeve..... waitstaff or dishwashers who eat off customers plate when they come back to the kitchen to get scraped...truly, just plain gross!!! its like putting your tongue down a perfect strangers' throat to me....only worse....

joey
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by durangojo 

ditto that!!...other biggie pet waitstaff peeve..... waitstaff or dishwashers who eat off customers plate when they come back to the kitchen to get scraped...truly, just plain gross!!! its like putting your tongue down a perfect strangers' throat to me....only worse....

joey
 

OK that is just disgusting! 

I have a good one  today.  We had this "interesting" looking pair ( I suspected they were high)  turn up five minutes to three and dammit the sign says we are open till three so we had to serve the buggers.  They bitched at the server when the cost of a "western sandwich" was $10 and she told them that normally it is served open faced (it is a three egger) omelette with homefries and a side of fruit but we can use the toast that was inculded in the order to make it a sandwich. They ordered that and a grilled cheese with potatoes.  They also ordered orange juice and our OJ is expensive.  I sent out the order and both plates came back.  FML...apparently they wanted white bread (we serve everything on whole wheat unless specified) so I did the remake.  Then the woman came into the pass and flipped out on the server and said our "home fries" were not fries at all and they should be french fries and since I was in the pass she turned to me and said.. here is the Chef, can you take this up with her?.... I explained to her that our home fries are not what one would come across at a cafeteria or a diner but acutally are true home fries, pan fried potatoes with a semi crisp skin and a smooth middle.  I do not have a deep fryer or the capacity to deep fry on my small rangetop so if she'd prefer I'd be happy to give her a fruit or veg salad in place of them and she was still bitching.  Finally the owner stepped in and said... excuse me Chef but let me take care of this... and then to the customer he said... the Chef has been here since 630 this morning and we closed 15 minutes ago and she is still willing to accomodate you so you need to order right now and not give her any more difficulty... they accepted what I gave them and then I finished cleaning the kitchen.   I was doing my final walkover of the kitchen when the owner whispered to me to come over.  Apparently the one who made so much fuss puked all over the washroom and she hadn't eaten one bite of her sandwich. She did clean it up or at least said she did.. the FOH loos are not my concern but that is stil gross.  She paid her bill though  .... I think she was trying to get a freebie and when she said she puked the owner said... I am sorry but it was not what you ate that caused it as our food is very safely stored and I can show you our log books... then she put her head down and left. 

We called the police as they did leave in a car and we gave the police thier lisence number.  Better safe than sorry.