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Those ribs sound good ! I would say on the whole most ribs I have had cooked for me I have not liked exactly because they were chewy, dried out and basically tasteless. Meat to me should be handled with respect and an understanding of what the cooking process will do to the fibers and so many people seem completely oblivious to it.
I do think a lot of it is cultural. Finnish friends of ours would look actually ill when we went out to eat and I cut into my seared steak and often sent back steaks to the kitchen which to me ( and the chef) were obviously very well done because it was not cooked enough... I had steak tartare a couple of times and they both looked as though they were going to vomit.
And we went to Finland to some supposedly decent restaurants and the chef actually refused to cook my steak blue because and I quote "It cannot be done like this !". I was shocked and my friends were obviously quite smug about it !
Which of course meant I did not order the steak (usually the most expensive item on the menu) shocking both friends and waiters and choosing the cheapest thing off the menu to make a point ! I would have walked out had I not been with friends. It is like going to a restaurant and having to explain what "blue" means. You instantly know the staff has no understanding of food and you should probably steer clear from the place....
In the UK it is now becoming almost impossible to order your burgers blue ( or even rare) because of ridiculous health and safety guidelines about food poisoning. Note the word "guideline".
Yet I am told constantly it is against the law when it is no such thing simply because restaurants either do not understand the policies or are too worried about being sued should I fall ill. It is ridiculous. I actually have to argue with restaurant staff and even carry around a piece of paper with the policy printed from the government website....And still fail to convince many morons that I should be able to order my meat as I want it.
Ah, so now you understand how it feels for those of us who like our meat well done. I don't have a problem with anyone's choice, so long as that choice is just for themselves. But those folks who insist their way is the only proper way for everyone to eat it is just not right.
And for those uber-talented chefs out there, perhaps it says something about your talent that you cannot cook a steak well done without it tasting like shoe leather. You can overcook a well done steak, you know.
Those ribs sound good ! I would say on the whole most ribs I have had cooked for me I have not liked exactly because they were chewy, dried out and basically tasteless. Meat to me should be handled with respect and an understanding of what the cooking process will do to the fibers and so many people seem completely oblivious to it.
I do think a lot of it is cultural. Finnish friends of ours would look actually ill when we went out to eat and I cut into my seared steak and often sent back steaks to the kitchen which to me ( and the chef) were obviously very well done because it was not cooked enough... I had steak tartare a couple of times and they both looked as though they were going to vomit.
And we went to Finland to some supposedly decent restaurants and the chef actually refused to cook my steak blue because and I quote "It cannot be done like this !". I was shocked and my friends were obviously quite smug about it !
Which of course meant I did not order the steak (usually the most expensive item on the menu) shocking both friends and waiters and choosing the cheapest thing off the menu to make a point ! I would have walked out had I not been with friends. It is like going to a restaurant and having to explain what "blue" means. You instantly know the staff has no understanding of food and you should probably steer clear from the place....
In the UK it is now becoming almost impossible to order your burgers blue ( or even rare) because of ridiculous health and safety guidelines about food poisoning. Note the word "guideline".
Yet I am told constantly it is against the law when it is no such thing simply because restaurants either do not understand the policies or are too worried about being sued should I fall ill. It is ridiculous. I actually have to argue with restaurant staff and even carry around a piece of paper with the policy printed from the government website....And still fail to convince many morons that I should be able to order my meat as I want it.
Your story of Finland reminds me of a story I can tell about London (sorry) My son in law was the general manager of a Hard Rock here in the states and my friend & I were going to UK for a vacation. He set up dinner for us at the Hard Rock in London. I ordered the special of the day, yes, beef and the waitress came trying to change my mind: long story, but it turned out she thought I wouldn't like the way the meat was cooked cause it would be rare. She didn't call it rare. Of course I loved it, but for a few minutes I didn't think she was even going to let me order it. I guess she wanted to make sure, these people from the US who had a relative that was a GM enjoyed their meal. We did!! of course we enjoyed the price as well..
That's highly unethical and disturbing. As for not being able to tell the difference between shoe leather and steak - b.s. Well done meat has a lovely char on the outside and beefy flavor inside; without the grossness of tasting blood. Medium isn't an option; even blindfolded I could tell if there is the slightest bit of pink in the meat. It tastes foul.
This.
Well done for me. A well cooked, well done steak is delicious. If it leaks when I cut it, back to the grill it goes.
My late step-mother cooked everything until it was dry and gray. Once, at a wedding, the server asked her how she wanted her beef and she said, "Cook it until it hollers, 'Help!'" When it came, she was quite upset that there was moisture on her plate and she sent it back for more fire. <sigh>
I don't really care how other people eat their food. Raw, rare, charred, whatever. What I do care about are the people who look askance and say, "How can you eat that?!" but expect me to admire their choice of over-doneness. You say to-may-toe, I say to-mah-toe.
Well done for me. A well cooked, well done steak is delicious. If it leaks when I cut it, back to the grill it goes.
A properly cooked Medium Rare or even Blue steak doesn't leak either by the way. You sear it right, cook it right, and yes you let it rest. Eating medium rare and blue done and served properly does not leave a pool of anything leaking onto the plate.
Ah, so now you understand how it feels for those of us who like our meat well done. I don't have a problem with anyone's choice, so long as that choice is just for themselves. But those folks who insist their way is the only proper way for everyone to eat it is just not right.
And for those uber-talented chefs out there, perhaps it says something about your talent that you cannot cook a steak well done without it tasting like shoe leather. You can overcook a well done steak, you know.
People are entitled to their opinion, but objectively a well done steak does not have the flavor that a properly cooked medium rare does. I am not just talking a totally charcoalled piece of crap overcooked by a terrible home chef. Even a "well executed" well done by a quality chef has nowhere near the flavor or quality of a properly done medium rare. You can personally prefer the well done steak, but it objectively has less flavor.
And if you are ordering that in a high end dining establishment there is a good chance you are being given a poorer cut of meat that the chef feels he couldn't get away with serving to someone who orders a less overcooked version of the same dish.
This is akin to a coffee shop refusing to provide sweetener or cream at a customer's request, because both "alter the flavor of the brewed beans." SACRILEGE!!!
Yawn....the customer is NOT always right. In fact, many times the customers are complete dumbasses. When I was in high school, I used to work as a cashier at a grocery store. I had a stupid customer yell in my face PO'ed because she wasn't allowed to buy 10 rolls of paper towels @ a buy 1 get one free rate. The sign on the sale clearly said "limit 4 per customer". Yet somehow this person is right simply because she is the customer?
People can order to their preference all they want, and yes they will absolutely get served. That doesn't mean they are right. Well done meat sucks. Period. Just know that in the back, the chefs are either all laughing at the idiots that order well done meats or are pissed off about it and given them the worst pieces of meat they have in stock. That's the way it is.
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