Has there ever been a food pedanrty thread in here before?

[StNiChaolas]

Inspired by Morrison's claim that vegetarians should spice up their Christmas dinner with a Naice 3 Fish Roast from their Fishminger.

Tomatoes and cucumber arre fruit.

Roobarb is a dog.

Okra is bleurgh.

You must eat a doughnut without lickling your lips.

Aspargus and cutlery are not friends.

Marathons were far superior to Snickers.

shrimp does your FIL say 'I'll have a bowl of Kellogg's' rather than saying he's having cornflakes or Weetabix or Sugar Puffs? That would REALLY annoy me. Like, a massive amount.

Ingredients of Bisto Gravy Granules: Potato Starch, Maltodextrin, Vegetable Oil, Salt, Colour (E150c), Wheat Flour, Sugar, Flavourings, Flavour Enhancers (E621, E635), Emulsifier (E322) (contains Soya), Herb and Spice Extracts, Onion Extract

Aah e numbers Bisto!

Bisto original has a shorter list of ingredients: Potato Starch, Salt, Wheat Starch, Colour (E150c), Dried Yeast, Onion powder.

Have just looked up e150c and it's a caramelising agent.

They say bleu cheese too?

"Useful only if you really want gravy with something that doesn't produce the right sort of juices like sausage and mash."

But you can get a decent onion gravy for sausage and mash without resorting to Bisto - like Nigel Slater's one at the bottom of this link

I just hate the way that the taste of Bisto takes over the whole meal.

I agree about Bisto granules, but the Bisto original powered has very little taste on its own. You couldn't just use it with water on its own - it needs meat stock/juices. It's merely a thickener with some caramel/colouring in, so not so different to flour but with a bit more oomph. I find it easier to blend than flour, and it produces a deeper. glossier finish as well.

When I have made a lovely, crispy, full-of-air yorkshire pudding, it is sacrilege to pour gravy all over it and make it go soggy. Yes, I am looking at you, dh.

I'll amend that to 'useful if you really want gravy and don't have any decent stock and wine available' then

It was clarification for anyone who needed it, LF! School domestic science lesson recipe for beef stew called for 'gravy browning' once - my mum went and said it wasn't necessary, didn't really want me taking the glass bottle in. Everyone else took in Bisto which was evidently what the ignorant southerner teacher meant. Weird.

I like Bisto, though.

Don't like making sausage, mash and gravy any more as it reminds me too much of the bisto proper family meal advert.

And there should never be any need to rinse mince.

'Herbe' is, I believe, French for grass ...

Rinsing mince is just weird. Actually it's rise than weird, because it washes all the flavour out

rise?! Worse, obviously!

Maybe I'm a bit strange but I also don't like people saying veg - I prefer vegetable.

Rinsing mince?! who does that? And why would you do that?

Me too Frankie! Actually I don't mind 'veg' so much but I HATE 'veggies'.

I also really hate roasties, toasties, yorkies, chocs, sarnie, butty, and cuppa.

They make me feel a bit squeamish actually.

There was a whole thread on mince rinsing once I think.

Fellatio: butty is OK if said with a Northern English accent imo. But it sounds weird on Southern lips.

'only available in French' is really making me giggle, for some reason.

Mardy, there was indeed a mince-rinsing thread, and does that sound like a dreadful euphemism or what?

At the end of dinner in a restaurant in New York once I asked the waiter what the cheese in my salad was, as I'd really liked it. Response: 'Blue cheese.' Me (Englishly): 'Yes, but ? sorry ? what sort of blue cheese?'. Waiter (slowly, with a supercilious mini-smile, as if to a simpleton): 'Bl-u-u-ue cheese. It's blue cheese.'

Wanker.

I think the mince rinsing came about from a misunderstanding

If you put cold water into mince, the fat on top will harden and its easier to remove it.

I saw a friend rinse mince with hot water, she said she was getting rid of the fat, I told her she was also getting rid of the flavoursome juices too!

Personally I try to use the best quality mince I can [lean steak mince] and let it cool then pick the fat off once its cold.

Browning liquid is nasty bitter stuff, I can always taste if its in something.

For gravy I use a cornflour paste at the end. My best gravy is made with a mix of vegetable cooking water, meat juices, onion and a bit of 'this and that' [seasonings depending on what Im cooking]

I don't think Americans really understand cheese to be honest.