Lol these are always funny. Look up people complaining about a “leaf” in their food when the recipe uses Bay Leaf. It’s like complaining someone put leaves in your tea.
Leaves obviously don’t belong into tea. Everyone knows tea grows when you hang those little paper bags on a tree. And depending on the kind of tree, you get a different type of tea.
Right and chocolate milk comes from brown cows.
This is actually a common misconception. The truth is any cow can produce chocolate milk. The misconception comes from brown cows featured on the majority of chocolate milk cartons.
I will say though, I’ve had curry where the bay leaf is chopped up which makes it rather obnoxious.
Sure that wasn’t a curry leaf? Either way I’d agree they’re beat removed before serving.
Aren’t bay leaves supposed to be removed after cooking?
Big pot of something and hope you find all the bay leaves. You might pull some out, think you’ve got them all but they like to hide.
I’ve always tied them or used a little net bag to keep them together and easy to remove.
Hell yeah, I bought tea infusers specifically for spices
They’re supposed to bc they’re easy to remove. I’d feel better they remain in there bc it’s easy to remove and means they’re using better quality ingredients more likely. It’s no big deal to take them out
I always leave them in because pulling them out is more trouble than it’s worth. I’m lazy as hell, but I’m also cooking for just my wife and I.
Literally worst case nobody’s going to crack a tooth or something. They get a spoonful of soup with a big leaf in it and they just put the leaf aside.
Yes but for whatever reason I’ve often seen it left in and the person eating simply removes them.
I fucking hate bay leaf, if you don’t have a plan for getting it all out at the end don’t put it in the food because it’s gross.
Why do you think it is gross?
The taste.
You aren’t supposed to eat it.
…jyummy leafe
If it’s not edible it shouldn’t be in the plate. Bay leaf, cinnamon sticks. Etc shouldn’t end up in the plate. They’re used just for flavor.
What a weird hill to die on!
So I assume you eat the bones of chicken wings, legs, thighs, etc? You eat the stems of apples and other such fruit? And you eat the cores or pits?
Or were you one of those children brought up by parents who cut off the crusts of the Wonder Bread sandwiches to make sure you never encountered any iota of challenge or even the most trivial work while eating?
Cores pits and stems are removed from cooking, and honestly I do like to nosh on the marrow from bones
This is just a difference in food cultures. If you can remove something like a core or a pit before you mix it in, great. With what I’m assuming is Indian food, you need to physically leave the cinnamon in there a while so the flavor can leach out. You can’t really do a bouquet garnis because this is a sauce that is stirred a lot over direct heat, not like a soup that is just simmered.
In those food cultures, you just know to eat around it. It’s no more a choking hazard than a bone in meat, so people will notice it.
We were at a very authentic Chinese restaurant and and a family showed up and asked waiter for recommendations they said the roast duck is very good which is very true. The roast duck shows up to their table and the guy takes a bite and bites straight into bone and he starts loudly complaining how there’s bones in it and why isn’t there meat and that chicken has a lot more meat and why doesn’t the duck have more meat and that this is a rip off and then it’s all bones and he’s mad that they sold him this. The restaurant ended up taking back the dish and giving them a refund simply because of the customers ignorance it was so cringe.
Never let that guy try frog’s legs.
I bet he’d like eating boners
They’re practically all meat
Well, the human ones anyway…
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This is exactly why some Chinese restaurants have a special Chinese menu that you need to ask for.
To be fair, not every Chinese restaurant knows how to slice duck properly. The proper way slices the meat and skin off of the bones, so that each piece has a bit of meat and skin, and presents the flesh separately from the bones.
Some places though just hack into the carcass so that every piece has bone. They say it’s ‘fun.’ I as an ethnic Chinese say it’s ridiculous. I have had it done right and I have had it done poorly and surprisingly the price point is the same! Some places really skimp on the seasoning too, at the same price point.
Other dishes tend to be fairly similar across different restaurants but it seems like with duck you can really tell who gives a shit / was trained properly as a chef.
Uh…
What you are describing is how, specifically, Beijing Roast Duck is served. China is a huge country with a bewildering variety of cultures within it. There are a million ways to prepare and serve duck here, and many of them do what you describe as “ridiculous” as the normal way to do it.
Instead of parading your ethnicity, thinking it’s a shield, how 'bout you come here and spend a few years and learn?
What’s the secret phrase to say to see the secret Chinese menu?
They would generally know if you are speaking Chinese. Otherwise “I would like to see the secret Chinese menu.” would probably work, if they have one.
I don’t speak Mandarin so the first option wouldn’t work. If I used the second option though they’d be like, “How did our secret get out?!”
They just don’t want people to complain about dishes they’re not used to. If you specifically ask for it then that’s enough to show that you’re specifically seeking it out. Also keep in mind not all Chinese restaurants do this, it’s normally the authentic really big restaurants that would have it. One way to tell is if you see dishes that aren’t on the menu others are eating or in pictures. Also that menu might be in Chinese only.
Reminds me of people complaining their vanilla flavored things having nasty little black dots.
The guy couldn’t just bring it to the staff and ask them what it is?
Sounds like it was a takeaway. You still think you’d call though if you found “a plastic handle” in your food and “had to throw the rest away”.
Delivery apps make it very easy to file a complaint and get a refund. Apps are making us fear human interaction.
Yeah if it was taken out, I’d call them and ask what’s up right when I got home. But the dude would rather take a pic for attention
And interact with another human being? When you could simply complain online and get likes? Do you live in a cave or something?
Dude couldn’t tell the difference between plastic and tree bark!?
The fuck is a tree? You mean those sticks in a car park?
That tree bark shouldn’t be in the plate though.
Perhaps it’s time to broaden your horizons a little.
So I should eat the cinnamon stick?
Yes. That’s exactly the right interpretation for what I said. There is no other possible interpretation that is both more accurate and more sensible. I meant you should eat the cinnamon stick.
Do you understand what the term “intellectual honesty” means? (Hint: no.)
Inedible spices should be picked out and removed
I live in Minnesota, and people here are very sheltered about food. I could tell a lot of stories, but I once ate nearby an elderly woman who refused to eat her enchilada because she assumed the tortilla was paper. I am not joking.
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There are dozens more countries you can add to that list. Cooking with whole spices is incredibly common
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That cinnamon? I always thought it was a piece of a pepper. At least I knew it was food and not a broken utensil.
it’s still fucking weird to me that cinnamon is tree bark.
I seek that shit when I’m spooning biryani onto my plate at events/buffets. The rice stuck in between the bark is the best thing ever.
Dude … no. Thats the worst part wtf. Cinnamon is great, but in that particular case, absolutely not.
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Chefs
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In many, many, many cuisines it is common to leave even the large spice elements in whole. Partially for the aesthetic and partially as proof of ingredients.
When the food is served hot/warm, then the aroma from the whole spices is an important element of the dining experience.
Sometimes it’s also possible to just miss some, especially if you’re pre-making giant portions of bases in a restaurant.
I’ve been served meals with the stick left in there. It depends how strong you want the cinnamon flavour to be.
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Sure*
Sorry it’s driving me nuts.
Maybe they’re a musician. Shure is a brand of AV equipment.
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Yeah it definitely depends. Personally I would cook with it then remove it, I’d do the same with bay leaves like someone else here compared the situation to. But it’s not like that’s the “right way” to do it. Depends on what you’re going for, not to mention cultural differences
It’s a spice. Where else should it be?
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It’s more common to leave it in in indian cooking. I personally would take it out.
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It depends on the culture. In Thai cooking for example it is purposely left in. Generalizing all cultures based on your own limited experience is incredibly ignorant. People are telling you it’s common and instead of just looking it up and confirming it’s true, which it is, you’re digging your heels in to maintain your ignorance.
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As I pointed out above:
- There’s an aesthetic quality to this. Some people (read: cultures) actually like the look of things like cinnamon sticks, etc. in their foods.
- As someone else pointed out, the stick left in the food enhances the aroma which is a critical part of the food eating experience.
- Having the whole ingredient right there is proof of what you’re using: it’s a form of chef flex. You can’t hide behind “cinnamon” that is largely artificial with a bit of wood pulp if the stick is staring the customer right in the face.
I’m sorry you’ve had such a narrow upbringing. I wish I could do something to undo that.
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I said before that to Arrange plates that’s a different story, but that in the picture is takeout food.
And takeout food shouldn’t have aesthetics, of course. Who’d want that!?
As someone else pointed out, the stick left in the food enhances the AROMA which is a critical part of the food eating experience
Sorry but you can take the stick out before putting it on the plate, the few minutes more it gets in there won’t change the TASTE …
I highlighted your reading incomprehension so you can learn the difference between “aroma” and “taste”. No need to thank me. It’s all part of the service package.
I have no idea whats your problem, I have grown up in Germany and live here for the most part …
That would be your problem then, yes! We’re at the root of discovering the issue.
… we have Foreign (as in not from neighboring countries) Cuisine mostly From Greece, Turkey, Japan and “China” (Also includes Mongolia and partially Vietnamese here)
Trust me. As one German-born (Hemer) and partially German-raised (Mühlheim/M and Lahr) to another, what you have eaten as “foreign” food is so bowdlerized for German tastes that it is not even remotely similar to the places of origin. And the farther away the source culture, the less like the point of origin it will be.
Your “Chinese” food (whether including “Mongolian” and “Vietnamese” or not) will not even come close to anything I’ve eaten here in the past 20 years. Not a single Chinese-in-China person would look at what’s sold as “Chinese” food in Germany and recognize it as coming from their homeland. Even the basic, most fundamental techniques of cooking will be different to comply with German tastes (and likely laws).
You have a narrow upbringing. It’s not your fault, I want to be clear: most people have extremely narrow upbringings. (It’s the human condition!) What absolutely is your fault, however, is your persistent denial in the face of those with far more experience and knowledge than you.
But that’s the Internet for you I guess. That, too, is the human condition.
I have a Thai uncle and I’ve never heard of this -but to be fair he is only an uncle. I have had his cooking though and never encountered any inedible spices.
Food keeps cooking in the latent heat of the cooking pot even after it’s been taken off the heat and so whole spices are not usually removed from food unless the spices are in a bouquet garni, in which case the spice bundle is removed just before serving.
Leaving the whole spice in also helps people who are allergic/ intolerant to a particular spice to avoid the dish.
I don’t think allergies are a reason cited for leaving them in … but maybe they should be. That’s a brilliant observation.
First, which part of the world do you work?
For me, it’s more of cultural difference. For Indian cuisine catered for Indian people, they will leave the spices in. But I imagine, in the western world, they will pull them out when served to the westerners, because the westerners are not used to them in their dishes.
For context, consider the inclusion (small) bone in dishes, especially fish. If you go to South East Asian countries, they’ll serve fish with bones intact. But generally westerners are not used to that and will get annoyed and encounter difficulties by small fishbones in their meal. One of the quite possible reason is for the fact that the food will be cooked over a long period of time over heat. Without the bones, the flesh will likely got disintegrated into smaller pieces. And local people in SEA like in Malaysia and Indonesia use their hand when eating rice. So, it’s easier to get rid of the bones compared to those using fork and knife. So having bones in their food is no big deal.
So… it depends on culture. The more you get used to them, the more you understand them.
I have to admit the small bones in fish, despite 20 years here, still get to me. Which is why I don’t eat much fish here.
But I don’t take pictures of the fish and try to shame on antisocial media either, so there’s that.
Maybe it differs from dish to dish? Not that I have any experience with cinnamon sticks other than making a candle with them years ago. I wonder if that was ever lit
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Your own experience isn’t the only valid one.
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Get some culture. It’s incredibly common to add whole spices to dishes in many cuisines.
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And it’s also very common to leave them in, especially in eastern cuisine.
