Gourmet Cooking-Catering Group

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?

this course has really help me learn a lot about cooking that i had never knowed about. If anybody that read's this i would like advise about college in-rolled in (ccp),community college of philadelphia.

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.

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.

1. If someone says one type of food is "safer" for you, be aware they may have a hidden agenda.
2. Germs can be spread in many ways at the grocery store so wash your hands and wipe down the handles of the baskets.
3. Keep and store your food seperately at home.  This prevents cross contamination.
4. Store foods the way they were meant to be stored.  This means keeping your hot foods hot and your cold foods cold.
5. Always wash your produce and be sure to cook your meat all the way through.
6. Before going out to eat, always check the health codes on the restaurant.

As a student in online gourmet cooking school, what other food preparation tios do you have?

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?