I treat my cooking like research. fine dining is “reading the literature” so to speak
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Hey, on “crimes against nutrition”, I’m curious what is the biggest affront you’ve ever seen committed at the dinning table. I’m talking “Ketchup on wagyu steak” kind of atrocities.
Mine is a story relayed to my from the Mrs of a friend of hers. They were both on a Disneyworld trip and managed to eat at the Yachtman Steakhouse. This was back when you could get meal vouchers: not sure if it’s still like that.
My wife wants the full experience, and asks the waiter what he recommends. He suggests the 7-oz Filet Mignon, and when my wife asks what is the preferred temperature, he replied “medium rare”, to which she accepts.
My wife’s friend is on board, and orders the same thing, but says “I’d like it well done. I know it’s a thick cut, so can you butterfly it so it will cook faster?”
My wife was SO afraid that they were going to get thrown out…
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my dad and I went to an upscale buffet
All he had was fried rice. It wasn’t even fancy fried rice, it was some odd pork and pineapple fried rice that was dyed blue for some reason
I made up for it by eating pounds of expensive seafood though
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Previously aforementioned Lieutenant Commander grandfather broke off a friendship over Heinz 57 on a Porterhouse. He had secured some Prime and his guest sullied it with sauce.
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Not exactly food related, but I worked in a place with an open kitchen, so we could overhear the guests closest to us. A man and a woman were seated, presumably on a date. The man ordered 2 glasses of wine, then when they arrived, made a big fuss about how the wine was corked (when the cork rots and makes the wine taste bad, basically), and he wanted it comped. The manager apologized, and offered him a new bottle. He came back with 2 fresh glasses and an unopened bottle of the same wine, then UNSCREWED the cap, poured them each a glass, and asked if he approved of this bottle.
I still wonder if that dude ever got a second date.
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I’m not averse to that.
For my birthday some years ago my sister got a pack of some beautiful lamb chops from a local packing house.
I grilled them, brushed with butter oregano, and black pepper. They were perfect.
However, my niece, maybe 7 years old at the time insisted on ketchup for hers. Unfortunately I didn’t usually keep ketchup or any other sauces on hand at the time.
The positive that came from it though was that she did try her chop. And she did love it. You could even see the brain gears get all spinny as it happened. And she never needed ketchup or anything again, as long is it was cooked like Uncle Skyz does. 
.
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My nephew did this on really good steak that my husband grilled. My husband swore he would never make good meat for him again. Lol.
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I can’t make a lot of nice stuff for my parents, aunt or uncle because they see any form of pinkness as undercooked
I’ve converted my mum to at least accept medium rare steak, but medium rare squab, duck, lamb are a no go
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because they see any form of pinkness as undercooked
This becomes especially frustrating in the world of smoked meats, but in general this seems to be generational and the scars run DEEP.
My mother-in-law is this way, while my mother is the complete opposite: a total barbarian that wants the steak barely warm. Since I grew up with the latter, it’s what I know, and whenever my mother-in-law comes to visit, I have to recruit my father-in-law in the kitchen, because I’ve discovered I just plain don’t have it in me to cook a steak as well as wants it. I’ll cook it until I think it’s done, then turn it over to him to finish it off.
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This is my father-in-law and my father. If you make a burger, they want it to be a hockey puck. If you make a steak, it should have the consistency of leather.
The first ⅔ of my life were spent eating pork chops that had the moisture content and consistency of drywall.
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Until my wife married me, she didn’t know it was possible to eat a steak WITHOUT ketchup.
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Keep spreading the gospel my man. 
.
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I went to my cousin’s wedding when I was about 20. You had the choice of chicken or beef. I ordered the beef. When I cut into to it, it was basically still bleeding. I took a bite and it was like heaven had come down and blessed my taste buds. I never knew that beef could taste that good. Prior to that I’d always had meat that required A1 steak sauce to try to replenish some moisture. I’ve been a medium rare girl ever since.
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We never ate beef growing up - my dad hated it because he said it reminded him of all the water buffalo he ate in Vietnam, but my mom would buy ground beef just for her to make cannibal sandwiches.
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You actually made the EC happy. There’s always a portion or two that aren’t butchered quite right, and now they can use it to turn a profit.
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I HAVE heard that there is a reserve of steaks set aside specifically for well done orders…
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My dad somehow knew how to cook steaks and other meats to different degrees of doneness. He might have been like an OG foodie, influenced by Wolfgang Puck and other cooks from WQED. Or maybe it was his travels to other parts of the world in the Navy.
I dunno. He never talked about it. He just taught me that if its done any more than this:
You owe it an apology.
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Kind of. It’s not nefarious though. If you order a well done filet, I’ll reach for one of the tail portions. It’s the same cut, but at well done there will be no difference between that and a center cut. The opposite is true - a medium rare order from the tail won’t be as good as on from the center. So it’s not giving a lesser product to someone who wants well done steak, just matching products to expectations.
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I trimmed a beef roast, diced and seared the trimmings, and now rending them while the crock heats up and the teriyaki works its magic on roast.
Its smells so caramel delicious.
Thanks @Brant_Drake for that article reminder. Haven’t done this in like 30 years.
Some of that top is butter, but that reduced from 2 cups of water to that.
Decided to chill that fat and use it for making a roux.
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