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I've worked in a bunch of restaurants and I would love to work for one that has a great menu that offers absolutely no substitutions or condiments. If it was created a certain way, eat it as is and if you don't like it, go somewhere else. Anyone whose been a line cook would presumably share this sentiment.
It would also be a good loss prevention strategy if the food is actually good enough.
If I'm going to spend on something upscale for dinner, I opt for the chef-run/no substitutions places. The food is more interesting, the tastes and textures compliment each other in ways I've never experienced. The combinations the chefs put together have to stand on their own - and they almost always do.
There's a place for ketchup. But it doesn't need to be everywhere. And generally, people who demand ketchup wouldn't go to a place like that anyway. Everyone wins.
Being a chef is about feeding people, not your ego. If someone wants ketchup, salt or pepper they should be served it, denying it to stroke one's over inflated sense of self worth is ridiculous.
It is simple. You don't have ketchup in your restaurant if it does not go with the food. Do people here think sushi restaurants have ketchup on hand in case someone wants to slather their sushi with it?
I do enjoy ketchup on a handful of things, but if someone cooks something for me and says, this is meant to be eaten like so, I go for it.
I don't expect an Indian restaurant to serve me a beef steak and I don't expect a fine dining restaurant to serve me chocolate milk and chicken fingers.If you absolutely must have ketchup on your food, there are plenty of American, family-style restaurants with children's menus.
I guess you could say that about any condiment, though.
I don't eat ketchup, but that's just because, in almost every application for it, there's some other condiment that I happen to like better within the same context. I don't think it has anything to do with "untrained palates."
Don't get me wrong. I treat ketchup as an ingredient as opposed to a condiment. I use it in sauces, dips, etc. There is only one instance where ketchup is a condiment for me.
It was even forced on me as a child with hot dogs, eggs, burgers, rice, etc. I believe the main reason is I am American and American ketchup is sweet. I grew up and realized that I didn't even like sweet foods as a child. Ketchup was the first to go with me.
I learned something long ago that works.
My stomach did not take well to potatoes especially fries ,even beans did not settle well.
One day we were invited to diner and they had a big bowl of beans with lots of tomato catsup , and to be thankful.
I ate with them , after all, All I got was gas usually. top side and bottom side.
This time though no gas.
I discover the vinegar in the catsup dealt with the problem, further more the reason catsup does not go bad being left unrefrigerated is directly because the vinegar in it kills the bacteria that causes the problem.
In my studies, I found that the old timers carried vinegar with them as a protection from botulism, poorly stored food.
So as a matter of practice, when eating some where I am unfamiliar with, I use the catsup because I know it has vinegar in it.
Poo poo if you like, I know for a fact it works ,Ive not gotten sick, when others got sick eating the same food, and I didn't because I used the catsup.
Some times I simply add vinegar if I have it, and be done with it, or when I have forgotten and begin to feel a little woozy in the stomach, first I evacuate it ASAP , then I drink a good healthy shot of vinegar, and wash it after with water. don't dilute it and then try drinking it down, that's just slow torture.
When I have acted quickly enough, I beat the symptoms ,if I fail to act diligently I pay for it, but I'm better off than if I did nothing.
You'll be happy to know that mustard also has vinegar and is equally effective.
But that is why I use catsup, eating some where new especially.
And when did going to a restaurant to spend my hard earned cash on a meal become a personal visit to see the chef.
When did not insulting the chef's feelings (by eating my food that I paid for, the way it tastes good to me) become something to be careful not to do?
What is going on here?
Should I not drink coffee, because little old ladies pick the beans in Columbia, but they can't wear glasses? (I made that up)
Should I stop wearing red, because the bulls in Ecuador are tormented by the color? (I made that up too)
Should I stop wearing shoes because the cotton pickers in Mexico don't have sun visors? (I made that up too)
I am not gonna NOT eat Ketchup because I may offend some crazy, neurotic chef...my best friend in her home (I will eat what she offers me, not to offend her) But in a restaurant, where I am paying for my meal...I don't owe the chef that courtesy or anything even remotely close to it.
And if enough people protest this foolishness by going someplace else to spend their money...I assure you the chef would soon see the error of his thought processes.
It would work fine for me. I don't even keep ketchup on-hand. This always provokes disbelief when we have people over to grill out, because we have a zillion bizarre condiments but no ketchup. I just never think to get it, because we don't use it.
It is simple. You don't have ketchup in your restaurant if it does not go with the food. Do people here think sushi restaurants have ketchup on hand in case someone wants to slather their sushi with it?
I wouldn't be surprised. I worked at a Mexican restaurant and when it first opened we didn't carry ketchup. People were always asking for it and making complaints about the fact that we didn't have ketchup, so the kitchen manager finally started to put in orders for it.
Working in restaurants, I've learned that people do some pretty bizarre things with their food. I learned not to question it. If they wanted ketchup on their tacos and burritos, then whatever.
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