When working in gourmet cooking, it's important to use the freshest ingredients and best quality in order to ensure a delectable meal. For some restaurants, however, their ingredients are less than ideal and therefore can lead to some interesting situations. Back in 1999, David Whipple bought an ordinary McDonalds hamburger in order to show friends how enzymes work with preserving food. David put the burger - and it's original wrapper - in his coat pocket where he forgot about it.
In 2006, the burger was rediscovered, but by then David was interested to see how long he could keep the burger around. Now, 14 years later, the burger looks the same as it did the day he bought it. It's hardened and is in no way edible, but at first glance you'd think it was new. McDonalds claims their ingredients are fresh and their burgers are made every day. Even so, this burger is looking to stand the test of time.
Originally David had planned to sell the burger, but decided against it. He's grown attached and the infamous hamburger even accompanied him and his family on a recent trip to Disney World.
As a student in Ashowrth's online cooking classes, why do you think the burger has lasted so long? How do you feel about this?
Iam VERY glad I decided to take this course in gourmet&catering. I love to cook and bake regularly on a good day I just never imagined that I would be taking this path so soon.
Iam looking forward in meeting new people,sharing new ideas but most of all having the convenience of doing this online as i never have enough time in my day.This is very convenient!! Now just waiting patiently on my books so that I can get started.....Remember The skys the limit!!!!!! Good luck to everybody.
I did not know this till recently. Save the end from your lettuce and put into a little water (about a half inch). Change out the water every day. The lettuce will grow back incredibly quick too.
But don't feel limited to romaine. This technique can also be used with green onions and celery.
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Every week in the news there seems to be another recall or warning against a certain type of food. This week, tainted peanut butter is cause for concern but before that, arsenic in apple juice, e-coli from cantalope, and listeria from popcorn have all made headlines. Experts say fear of getting ill from food is no reason to limit your food. In fact, there are ways you can prevent the spread of these diseases. Here's a list from CNN.
As a student in online gourmet cooking school, what other food preparation tios do you have?
Witchita, Kansas isn't a place you'd associate with wild game, but that's exactly what has caused a nationwide petition. At one upscale restaurant, an exotic meats dinner was planned so people who wouldn't normally get to dine on wild game could do so. The menu hosted a variety of animals including alpaca, antelope, crocodile, hare, kangaroo,water buffalo, and lion. After seeing the king of the jungle would be nothing more than a main course, an internet petition went up demanding it's removal from the menu.
Although lion is not listed on the endangered animal list, over 2,800 people were shocked enough to add their names to the petition. After much deliberation, the lion was removed from the dinner, but the event itself was not cancelled. "It can be a little shocking and disturbing for some people and in my heart I did felt touched and didn't mean to offend anybody so I decided to make it right and substitute the Lion course," chef Jason Ferbes wrote on his facebook. The man, who works in gourmet cooking careers, did not say what he was subsituting the lion with.
What do you think of this?
Check out our online gourmet cooking and catering career diploma program to learn more.
Trying to decide what makes a restaurant gourmet is complicated and confusing. Does it depend on the food, the quality of the service, the prices, or the location? What about a combination of all of these things? A new report from CNN says that expensive doesn't always mean better and in fact, some of these "gourmet foods" with extravagant pricetags are overrated.
The article says that those in gourmet cooking careers shouldn't add ingredients for the sake of creating "the most expensive" dish. Simply adding a rare herb, a delicate truffle, or a coating of edible gold doesn't matter if the food is already good.
What do you think qualifies something as gourmet?
While it may not have waiters, linen tablecloths, and violinists, but the olympic dining hall boasts world class food from all over the globe ready to feed the world's greatest athletes and keep them in tip-top competing shape. While there is a 24 hour McDonalds and an unlimited supply of soda, many athletes choose to stay away from those.
The athletes also may have some odd eating habits. Michael Phelps reportedly consumes 12,000 calories a day. A runner says he eats 16 bananas every day to keep up his potassium and one Japanese athlete eats 50 pieces of sushi after training. And one weightlifter drinks milk from a pregnant cow because of it's heavy nutrients.
It's a 5,000-capacity, 24-hour facility where organizers expect 25,000 loaves of bread, 232 tons of potatoes, 75,000 liters of milk and more than 330 tons of fruit and vegetables to be consumed by the time the Games finish on August 12. So while the people there may not be working in gourmet cooking careers, they certainly are busy.
What do you think of this?
While Chick-Fil-A claims they didn't invent the chicken - just the chicken sandwich, they did find themselves in the middle of a hot button issue this past week. The company, which is known to be a restaurant founded on Christian beliefs and even closes on Sundays, is now in the middle of a firestorm surrounding gay marriage. Dan Cathy, son of founder Truett Cathy and current COO of the company, spoke out against gay marriage and has acknowledged donating money to other groups that also believe marriage is between a man and a woman.
While Chick-Fil-A may not be considered gourmet cooking and Dan Cathy himself may not be working in gourmet cooking careers, this proclimation has people all riled up on both sides of the debate. The Jim Henson Company, known for the muppets, has severed all professional contact with the food chain and one Chicago alderman wants to prevent the opening of a Chick-Fil-A in his city. On various social media sites, people are calling on gay rights supporters to boycott the fast food chain.
However, other people of the public say Dan Cathy's beliefs aren't consistent with every employee there and they do not represent the views of the entire company. Many people are saying the beliefs of one man shouldn't affect whether or not people decide to dine at a restaurant and even Chick-Fil-A employees think this has gotten out of hand. "The views of Dan Cathy do not represent anyone's views. During the interviewing process my religion never came into question. We also have a few homosexual employees," said one Chick-Fil-A worker.
Does this affect how you see Chick-Fil-A? Will you continue to eat there?
Choosing what kind of meat to cook is just as important to how you cook the meat itself. Steak comes in a variety of types which are all selected from different parts of the cow's body. What you want to cook will undoubtedly reflect how much you want to spend, but if you truly want the best, you'll know how to select it. Show off the knowledge you attained in Ashworth's online cooking school by keeping these tips in mind.
Do you have any other tips?
When you go to a restaurant and have a delicious meal placed in front of you, it's natural to be in awe. Thanks to smartphones and social media, it's not uncommon for people to post photos of their food on the web for all to see. Also when these pictures go up, they're up there forever. Naturally, those in the kitchen of gourmet restaurants have mixed opinions on letting these pictures hit the internet. Several men who work in gourmet cooking careers share their opinions with CNN's Eatocracy blog.
Many of the men questioned were originally not fans of the use of photography in their restaurants. They were concerned with people taking non appetizing photos of their half-eaten food or the food itself getting cold while the patron uses 5 minutes to take a photo. But in the long run, the chefs have found the positives in allowing their diners to shoot pictures.
“It helps document our cuisine. Quite often, we'll cook a meal for someone because they ask for a tasting menu, and we'll come up with a lot of it spontaneously and I won't remember half of it at the end of the night. If someone puts that up on Flickr, then there's like a log — it's documentation,” said Sean Brock, owner of two restaurants in South Carolina. “Also, if you know that a good number of people in your dining room are taking pictures of the food, you tend to make cleaner plates.”
What do you think of this practice?
