Stuff I didn't know about restaurants until recently

[samarrange]

I am very old, but I only learned this year that hotel buffet scrambled eggs are usually made from powdered egg. That explains why they are a uniform colour. Scrambled eggs made from scratch have yellow and white bits.

On the plus side, I also learned recently that the chicken (or at least the "Original Recipe" pieces) at KFC is made from scratch in the shop every day from fresh chicken pieces, flour, and herbs'n'spices. I had imagined it was all done in a factory somewhere and then cooked from frozen.

What are some other bits of restaurant knowledge that surprised you?

I can’t believe that all hotel eggs are made that way. My own ones are uniformly yellow because I whisk them a lot! To be honest I rarely have them in hotels because I find they are often overdone and have separated a bit… maybe that’s to do with the powder?

As a rule of thumb the freshest fish will be served simply - grilled or pan fried. Then the older it gets the more likely it is to be doused in rich/creamy sauces. Really puts me off fish in sauce I have to say...

I didn’t know that about hotel buffet scrambled eggs but it makes sense, I always avoid them as they look rubbery and separated from the liquid, dry and overcooked!

I worked in a fair few hotel and we never did that. Sounds pretty minging.

In the UK most eggs are actual eggs, now powder

I worked in McDonald's as a late teen and they havd beeps to wash your hands every 20 minutes or so and would only let food sit out for around ten minutes. The eggs for the breakfast (they don't do it anymore) came out of a carton but it was real egg just ready cracked and whisked and the butter was like melted butter you brushed on the mcmuffin.

My scrambled eggs are uniform in colour
I dint have white bits

Used to work at the grand in Brighton and we used powdered eggs but that was on the 90s with the salmonella and Edwina Curry. Do they still?

Now that is just annoying. I'm a hotelier, no we don't serve powdered eggs, or old fish. Just because some awful places do please don't slate us all. Our food is fresh, local and excellent quality.

Rule of thumb if somewhere looks like 'a bargain' there will be a reason for that.

Places I work have pasteurised yolks or white in cartons.
Helps prevent salmonella.

I’d believe powdered eggs at hotel buffets, but I whisk and whisk and whisk. They are also cooked low and slow. There are never white bits in my scrambled eggs. They should be smooth and luscious with large curds.

There was a TV show maybe last year. I think it was KFC and talking about their franchises, pressure to get more customers and releasing a new, extra gravy burger.

1 woman had the job of making litres of gravy every day. It started with the oily bits at the bottom of a vat which cooked the chicken the previous day, she scraped it out then mixed in gravy mix. I mean, I can understand it, but wrongly just assumed it would all just be water and gravy mix.

One of my relatives saw that, and said it put them off KFC for life !

I work part time for a small hotel and I know they make any egg products with whole fresh eggs. Maybe you are thinking of somewhere like Best Western or Travelodge where the budgets are purposely kept low.

We have eggs. Real ones in shells. Lion marked.

How many members of staff need to be reminded that they should wash their hands after taking rubbish to the outdoor bins... 😬

In the UK lion stamped eggs have been vaccinated against salmonella.

I’ve worked in several ‘luxury’ nursing homes and the eggs and milk were powdered.

And almost every food item was Tesco Value.

The older people who lived there paid ££££.

It really depends on the hotel re. the scrambled eggs. I've worked in a hotel with a buffet and the kitchen there used fresh eggs. Lots will use powdered eggs, though, I'm sure.

However - the lack of white bits in scrambled eggs isn't a giveaway for that. It doesn't tell you whether eggs are powdered. ISome fresh scrambled eggs will also have no white bits - it just tells you that the eggs were beaten very thoroughly before being poured into the pan, rather than lightly scrambled.

I just asked my eldest son who is a head chef, who's worked in a lot of different hotels over the years . He said he's never used powder and wouldn't work anywhere they did and that he doesn't think it's the norm .

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain is a great read if you like this kind of stuff!

I wouldn't be able to tell! My only issue with scrambled eggs is if they are overcooked, hard and rubbery. I love eggs and have had a plate of scrambled, poached and fried all together, nothing else when in a hotel for breakfast. And good brown bread for dipping, oh and real butter and salt. Craving started now....

I used to work at The Grand hotel in the 90’s too! Silver service waitress.

where did you learn this stuff?

That's a shame.