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?

Why is that disgusting? If the veg were the uneaten ones from the serving dishes and not scraped off people’s plates then making soup is a great way of using them up and reducing food waste. I do that all the time at home.

Yeah, it would be things like the red cabbage, carrots or spring greens that would be in silver dishes in the middle of people’s tables during service to accompany their roast dinner. Always seasonal veg so soup du jour would vary.
I suppose people had been talking over those dishes though, passing them around, potentially using their own cutlery and not the serving spoons etc so I can see why some wouldn’t find it very palatable if they knew how the soup was made 🤷🏻‍♀️
fair play to that restaurant though they didn’t waste much. Bones boiled for broth or gravy, stale bread reserved for breadcrumbs, over ripe fruit for compote or puddings, fish bones for bouillabaisse, wilted spinach blitzed up for fresh pesto. I really learnt a lot from working there and use lots of those tips for leftovers in my own kitchen.

Well KFC isn’t a restaurant and I’ve never stayed in a hotel where the eggs were made from powder either🤷‍♂️

I agree with PPs that it's so sad what passes for a roast potato in most places nowadays.

I get it if somebody orders a roast dinner off the general menu on a Thursday night, that they simply don't have a spare hour and a half to prepare and roast potatoes freshly; but on a Sunday when that's what 80% or more of the customers are having, genuine actual non-packet roast potatoes would be so much better.

I still chuckle every time I remember about KFC's TwiX account.

For those who don't know, in homage to their special blend of 11 herbs and spices, they (longstanding) follow exactly 11 other accounts: those of six well-known men named Herb and the five Spice Girls

Would you like to hear Corsican folk music? Here is a classic tune to get the tips rolling in on the old coach tours. Obviously we didn't have the visuals, so to speak but here's a nostalgic pop vidéo of the 90's for all of us: (I'm going to get banned now.)

I got totally put off going out for food

After a year of shielding, went out for Indian food at Christmas because everyone was saying it would be fine. Lovely food. Got Covid, ended up on antivirals and the covid at home ward

Got persuaded out again last year. Got campylobacter and spent 10 days shitting myself, ended up in a&e and lost about a third of my hair

Dad "shall we go for a meal?"
Me "coffee. Only. And no, I don't even want cake thanks"

It's all over now and Corsica is a completely safe place for tourists and we devote ourselves to sheep farming and stinksome cheese.

I worked in a few supermarkets and the cafe poached eggs came pre-done in a soft plastic box sat in liquid. During COVID when the cafes were shut they'd sometimes end up on the shelves to buy. They looked a bit grim.

That wouldn’t surprise me about the Grand which is anything but in my opinion. Served me almost raw fish and chips when I was pregnant. Vile place.

When I worked in a hotel the eggs were from the shell not powdered but I think still quite rubbery - they are cooked in large batches and can't be even a little bit runny (because people will complain) so tend to be over cooked. Then they are served in a warm tray thing for people to help themselves so sit around at a medium temperature (not long enough to be a health hazard or anything. But eggs kept warm for 30 minutes is different to freshly scrambled).

For KFC the chicken drumsticks etc are coated in the batter onsite and fried but the popcorn chicken etc come preprepared but raw and are cooked from frozen. Larger pieces of chicken would not frie well from frozen. Preparing the drumsticks etc is done in batches so a bag of the chicken pieces mixed with one bag of the coating etc etc so its quite automated and consistent. And then the whole lot fried at once in the oil baths. It makes sense to cook onsite because its the smell that draws people in.

i am a nurse and have looked after several people hospitalised with salmonella for iv fluids , it definitely is still a thing

Why is KFC not a restaurant and how do you know the hotels you’ve stayed in don’t serve powdered egg?

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Of course it's a restaurant.

I don’t think they’re the uneaten ones from serving dishes?
Anyway, they’ve been lying out for Gawd knows how long with people breathing, coughing etc all over them.
what is fine to do at home is not fine in a restaurant.

food gets breathed on in the kitchens too

This is how I make Saray sauce. I learnt it from Cook Well For Less! I sometimes add lime juice and chilli sauce.

Food is generally not left lying out in a kitchen.
Don’t tell me, you work in a restaurant and you do this.

no I don't work in a restaurant but I've been in enough kitchens to know many items are left out ready to use and that the chefs breathe

The hotel I stayed in Malta had chefs making the various egg styles, including scrambled, just behind the hot food section and were using real eggs. Plus could make an omelette to order.

I still think it’s gross to use vegetables that have been sitting out for God knows how long. How do you know that people haven’t used their own cutlery to serve themselves with?
It’s really unhygienic and if knew a hotel or restaurant were doing this, I’d report them to environmental health.

And I am quite happy to leave food out (but NOT uncovered) and eat it a couple of days later.
I wouldn’t serve it to the general public because y’know, there are good food hygiene practices.

In an old Come Dine With Me, someone made a dish that she served with a poached egg. She cooked these in advance, put them in ice water to reheat later to serve. Happily assured audience this was fine, her son - cook in a hotel - did this every day, common practice. Every guest had an 'upset stomach' overnight. I haven't eaten an egg that I've not cooked myself since.

Wow, chefs breathe. Who knew? Guess if they didn’t breathe, they’ll be dead, which is not much use to anyone.

Lol at the penguin biscuit, did you think it contained penguin? 😄