I had a friend that was at one point working as a world known chef. He would not tell you things about a recipe or would only let you help prep basics like veggies if he was cooking dinner saying "its a secret".
Mother fucker. I am not making money on this ever. I am not posting it online. I am not even going to be able to do it exactly like you because you have been doing it professionally for like 20+ years.
Stop holding out on your "secret" especially if you are no longer a chef. My much younger friend that is a chef and has worked in some of the best restaurants in the world will not just tell you what/how he cooks something he will help you do it and learn. I'll still probably never do it as well as he does but at least he is not hiding something from me so he can get a ego trip on his cooking.
I think im having a day... end rant. For now.
Small pinch of baking soda in your tomato sauce will remove any bitterness and bring out the sweetness, absolutely no reason to add sugar to it.
I hate added sugars when they’re not needed, thanks!
The rationalization is because you can not patent a recipe since it has to do with survival (food). Then yeah, like you said, they're not making a million off of their precious recipe.
It annoyed me the most when I invited them over and I was going to cook but then they are like "ill take over, do this for some prep" then they would not even show me the very basic crap they were doing since "ego". We don't really talk much anymore. My friend that will show/teach you anything are still good and close friends. I do that too, just with tech stuff. Not as many people want to learn tech stuff as cooking stuff but they do get free tech help if they help me with, well.. anything?
The greatest chefs show you exactly what goes in, and even write whole books about it, knowing you could never do it as good as them. And even if you surpass them, you're still promoting their favorite cuisine.
This. 1000X this. They know the "magic" is exactly how they do something. I am damn good at cooking following instructions and after I learn something I make it mine and do my thing. Stop hiding the "secret". Given enough time and thinking ill take it apart and do it anyway. I just dont do it for a living. This is why subs like this and /s/bbq is fun to talk in because I like to cook when I have time to.
There's a local donut shop that's popular and a relative of the donut folks told me the secret ingredient is potato.
Ok, that is a new one. I don't cook/bake sweets unless its a very rare occasion. I guess I could see how potato could work in some cases? Very interesting.
Potato makes such a nice soft dough. Dried potato flakes like you'd make instant mashed potatoes with work great.
Agreed.
I have a secret for great guacamole: Worcestershire sauce.
Another for chicken & dumplings: smaltz.
Here’s one for baking, if using spices like cinnamon, add a smidge of ginger, it’ll make the spice pop and add a nice, subtle sweetness.
Awesome, Thank you. I told my wife about the W-sauce thing and she was thrilled and is going to try it next week. I appreciate it.
We got a recipe here from @DestroyerOfSquirrels for sous-vide asparagus. We modified it a little for our taste but it was awesome. We now do it somewhat regularly. It is awesome. Try it out. Also, thank you yet again @DestroyerOfSquirrels we have cooked this like 10 times since I read your post.
I forgot some really important secrets. Use heavy cream, real butter and bacon grease as much as possible. If you must use oil, use only olive oil from California. Imported is almost always mixed w cheaper oils. I also recommend organic (why poison yourself more than you’re already being poisoned) and non-GMO products. Don’t buy processed foods and try to stay away from sugar, wheat, corn and soy (because of pesticides and what these (((foods))) do to your body). Your food will taste great and you’ll feel better too.
Follow-up.
If its "missing something" Its probably acid of some sort. It's hard to use too much butter/tallow. Salt is your friend, so is MSG. Carbon is also your friend (grill with charcoal, make sure to get a really good coal, not the briquets you get at the store). Texture matters. Taste is awesome but Texture really, really matters. A good salad turns into a great salad if it has some crunch.
I could probably think of more but this is just off the top of my head.
Keep lemons or limes around, a splash of vinegar will work if you don’t have citrus, but I agree, a good recipe has balanced flavors. I like a good acidic marinade, for any meat cooked not in a sauce or casserole, except for good steak. A good steak only needs proper seasoning. One of my favorite winter meals is steak au poivre, often I use filet mignon. My mouth is watering just typing this!
That would annoy me. I wouldn’t call them out but judge the shit out then for it.
![I am so sick of this shit. It is not a "secret" Just share the fucking recipe. [700x594 - 51KB]](https://pic8.co/sh/cRPysg.jpg){kind=link}
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