What's your cooking pet peeves?

[LoftyTurtle]

As the title says - what are your pet peeves when it comes to other people's cooking? Meant to be a lighthearted thread, not a bashing one 😉

Personally, amongst my extended family, I witness the following and it makes me die a little inside:

• Slathering absolutely everything in chilli. I like chilli, but not EVERYTHING needs chilli in it!
• Refusal to use any salt whatsoever so all their cooking just tastes a bit sad and bland. By all means have a low salt diet if you need it for personal or health reasons, fine, but a little salt really isn't the end of the world!
• Refusing to cook anything above 150 degrees because it might burn it. Listen, some things are fabulous slow cooked, but some things just need to be bloody cooked at a high temperature. Don't keep your oven permanently set to 150 and then wonder why your roast potatoes are always a bit soggy and crap
• Careless substitution of ingredients when the person cooking doesn't have the skill/knowledge to substitute well. Had a family member very excited to use a new recipe for beetroot brownies once. The recipe called for fresh beetroot, which you grated and incorporated into the brownie mix bit like a carrot cake. She used jarred pickled beetroot because she figured it was "close enough" 🤢 likewise, same person substituted frozen salmon for fresh salmon but didn't thaw it first (or even change the cooking time) and was quite perplexed the fish wasn't entirely cooked through!
• Cremating all their meat just to make sure they don't accidentally get food poisoning. One family member has been known to be so paranoid about food poisoning that she will cook meat well past being done, and then also microwave it just to be "on the safe side"
• Weird toxic hatred of jarred sauces or similar. My preference is going to be cooking from scratch but sometimes I can't be arsed & serving my family spag bol with a jarred sauce occasionally really isn't the culinary crime a "friend" makes it out to be 🤣

Yup - our fridge is 1/3 condiments minimum, plus the cupboard.

"Not a cooking one but table manners one, people who cover their plate in extra salt or worse mayonaise or ketchup <<looking at you ds>> without tasting it first."

You were very much complaining about use of salt and mayo

Yes this is one of my pet peeves too. I am fully expecting to be given this as a substitute for double cream with my Ocado order at the weekend. I need double cream for a desert I am making.

I also hate over salting. You do get used to not having salt in your food.

Portion size - I am not a big eater at all but I have a relative who counts everything out when serving so a typical meal would be 1 sausage, three small pieces of boiled potatoes, 1 spoonful of broccoli and 4 slices of carrot. That's the only meal we will be served during a day long visit and after a fairly long journey.

We also have another relative who, after the meal has been eaten, will question you about whether you would have liked something else served with the meal! e.g. after eating apple crumble she will ask "would you have liked custard with that?" and "would you have liked ice-cream with that?" It drives me mad - I have tried saying "Well, it's too late now" but she still persists . . . . .

Neither of these relatives is short of money so that's not the issue

Cold food, cold plates... this is DH's biggest failing - he seems unable to realise that a) we can use the warming drawer and b) if you cook and drain the veg then plonk the pan on the cold granite worktop without its lid, then it will all be cold by the time he has carved a joint, made the gravy, laid the table etc etc

I also hate people serving up for me - I prefer to choose the volume and type of food myself, as I'm not a toddler!

@donteatthedaisies0 it was a challenge. Although according to DM it was "cooked properly with non of that raw pink inside".

It's a pet peeve of mine and yes, I still think it's not polite to salt your food before you taste it, but where have I suggested people shouldn't use salt or mayo just because I don't like it?

• Being invited to a Sunday roast, yet they don't make enough gravy for everyone (me) to get any!
• Buttering a sandwich with 1inch of butter, right to every edge on both pieces!
• Being told that the ingredient that causes me indigestion and I can't stand the taste of are chopped finely so you won't notice! Well yes, I will! 😡
• Telling me they found an exotic, foreign recipe to try. Oh yum, what is it- Bolognese. 🙄

My DH always laments the "condiments shelf" in the fridge and how we don't need that many condiments (we do). He tried to through away my expensive kewpie mayo once and I nearly divorced him

My DGrandad laments anytime someone tries to serve him "Forrin food" which includes anything from spag bol and pasta to sushi & curries. But of course my dad once tricked him with a butter chicken by calling it a "Traditional Yorkshire Stew" and DGrandad loved it (not condoning the tricking, but you get my point). You'd think DGrandad would be more adventurous given he spent a good amount of time in Trinidad and Malta but I guess they probably just served English meat, potatoes & 2 veg in the military bases lol

Celebrity chefs putting whole packs of butter, bottles of olive oil & fistfuls of salt in absolutely everything. Nobody cooks like this at home, including them, and if they do they deserve the inevitable heart attack.

What do you do with the condiments shelf at Christmas ? We always seem to have to put ours in a plastic box and store outside . Don't say put in another fridge cos that is full too !

I'm fairly certain Jamie Oliver must just drink olive oil straight out the bottle given how much he cooks with it. His piss is probably just a steady stream of olive oil 🤣

We chuck it in the garage, the garage is the same temperature as the fridge that time of year anyway 🤣 I keep all my unopened drinks, root veg, sourdough starter etc in the garage over winter. Obviously don't keep truly temperature sensitive things like meat and dairy on a shelf in the garage though, just stuff that'll be fine being "close enough to fridge temperature"

Ahh I have my bottles outside too as there not enough room in the fridge ! Also thank goodness we've got a garage too 😂

People who handle food while wearing rings - all kinds of germs live under rings. It is especially gross to see TV cooks baking bread/scones, handling raw meat etc while wearing rings!

When I worked with food the only kind rings that were allowed is wedding rings . No other kind of ring is allowed .

Tell me more about these salads please? I love a good salad

😂think sprouts cooked til done, and then ten or twenty minutes extra just in case there’s any texture, nutritional value or taste remaining. Then into a cold serving bowl. Once everything is in serving bowls a quick (slow) wash up. Then check if anyone needs a drink; if you say no to a drink this is checked multiple times so it’s best to just say yes. Drinks poured. Then, and only then, may we sit at the table and eat the now tepid and overcooked sprouts. All offers of help is refused.

I'd like to hear more about these wonderful salads too please

I am your woman. I've been providing a weekly salad recipe to one of my friends for over a year.

what do you want to know?

The basic premise of a decent salad is a mix of textures and flavours, and a good dressing.

So, for example, tomorrow, I'll be doing a big salad for a BBQ (hahaha - in theory, not convinced with the current rain). I'll be using a bag of mixed leaves (soft) and some chopped lettuce for crunchier options - I think DH bought romaine but iceberg could work and it's a good cheap option to bulk things up. I'm also adding some fresh basil leaves (chopped) because I have them lying around. If doing for just me, I might add some chopped mint but DH has an irrational dislike of mint.

then I will add some cucumber - quarter slices - adds crunch and juiciness but not too big. As I have crunchy lettuce, I won't add any peppers but would if I was making a smaller salad and wanted to just use the soft lettuce leaves. Although I do like the almost entirely green of this salad but don't like green peppers so maybe not...

Then some avocado slices - creaminess, and flavour (feta is an excellent option as well or instead. Ditto goats cheese if you prefer).

As it's Easter, I'll chargrill some asparagus to add in as well - makes it more interesting, and seasonal. I note also that chargrilled slices of courgette or even aubergine work well too. Or tender stem broccoli.

then some toasted pine nuts and some thinly sliced spring onion for some alternative strong flavours.

The dressing will most likely be lemon juice, greek yoghurt, some olive oil, mustard, sprinkle of sugar (or a bit of honey), few mixed dried herbs, salt and pepper.

@CheeseSandwichRiskAssessment I always use white pepper in mash potatoes-

Yes. Carrot rounds are wrong. Carrot batons all the way!

I so get this! My DM invites my brothers round for dinner every other week but I have never been invited because she says “You’re such a good cook, it would be too stressful to cook for you”. I once burst into tears and told her I’d be happy with beans on toast if I could just stop being excluded from their family gatherings.

Mine are: crunchy vegetables. I know they’re allegedly supposed to be undercooked, but I don’t want a crunchy salad with my roast dinner so I’ll leave mine cooking long after I’ve served everyone else’s.

Too much chilli. Specifically people who think you’re impressed by their ability to eat hot chillies. I’m not, you just look like a dick. It doesn’t taste good, you’ve just ruined an entire meal that now only has one taste - chilli.

Not enough gravy.