[Sca-cooks] Cooking steaks was Re: lethal drinks

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius adamantius1 at verizon.net
Fri Jul 25 04:46:09 PDT 2008


On Jul 25, 2008, at 12:43 AM, Ian Kusz wrote:

> On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 8:54 PM, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius <
> adamantius1 at verizon.net> wrote:
>
>>
>> On Jul 24, 2008, at 11:08 PM, Ian Kusz wrote:
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 6:29 AM, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius <
>>> adamantius1 at verizon.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> I disagree, based on personal experience.
>>>
>>> I worked on a fishing boat, and there were a good number (about 15)
>>> Japanese
>>> advisors; one of whom was an excellent cook (all the Japanese  
>>> guys, and
>>> some
>>> of the Polish guys who had been guests, raved about his cooking).   
>>> The
>>> Japanese guys put soy sauce on EVERYTHING.  I mean, I never saw  
>>> them eat
>>> cereal, or anything sweet, but everything I DID see them eat, they  
>>> put soy
>>> sauce on....rice, soup, noodles, eggs, vegetable dishes, meat,  
>>> bread,
>>> whatever.
>>>
>>> Now, these were "blue collar" guys, I think (I mean, they worked  
>>> in a
>>> factory), but they used it EXACTLY like some people use ketchup.
>>>
>>
>>
>> I wouldn't dream of arguing your personal experience; you were  
>> there. I can
>> only go by my own (including my own family by marriage) and a fair  
>> amount of
>> written material on Chinese, Japanese, and Southeast Asian  
>> gastronomy.
>>
>> And I'm also not discounting the possibility that this is a  
>> personal peeve
>> of mine.
>>
>> But on the other hand, I'm not making this up...
>>
>>
>> Adamantius
>>
>> Maybe it's a "class" thing?  These guys being "blue collar" might  
>> have
> different practices than a more urban socialite class?  Or maybe
> urban/rural?  I'm thinking it might be a case of different practices  
> in
> different places; the question is, is there a clear division from  
> criteria,
> though?  Maybe people in Tokyo do it differently?


It could be anything. It could also have to do with working at  
something that makes you perspire a lot, and crave salt. I'm sure in  
the case of both our experiences, there's a pretty small sample size.

I was just voicing an opinion based on my own experience. It's not to  
the same extent as the problem a guy I know has, whose dislike of  
chicken is so intense he can't sit in a restaurant across from someone  
who orders chicken without glaring balefully across the table for an  
hour or two, punctuating his remarks with the occasional negative  
comment. (Of course, when he's your host, has other, occasionally  
mitigating qualities, and you're at what has been the best steakhouse  
in New York -- and probably in a 200-mile radius -- for going on 200  
years, some might argue he has a point on your choice, but still, it  
can be a little off-putting... at least when you order the lamb chops  
he merely shakes his head and looks confused, which is a big part of  
why I like the lamb chops so much there ;-)  ).

Oh, and I also don't care for the habits of another guy I know who,  
among other annoying attributes, once put a healthy dollop of soy  
sauce in his tea, and when I was stupid enough to make a joke about  
home-made lapsang-souchong, he then thought it was what all the cool  
people do, and made a regular habit of it...

Adamantius








"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter



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