# When did food get so fancy ?



## sags (May 15, 2010)

Anyone else notice that many restaurants are offering some weird food these days ?

I ordered a roast beef sandwich the other day, and it came on a heart shaped bun, with some black gooey stuff in it.

I sent it back.......it was awful. The waitress said they were portobello mushrooms. I didn't care.

It also had "lettuce" on it........that looked like four leaf clovers with the thin stocks still on them.

Since when is THAT...........lettuce ?

I looked at the whole menu (in chalk on wall boards of course) and they didn't have a single thing I had ever eaten before. It was all avocado this and sweet potato that. I remember when we called them "yams" and they more closely resemble squash than "fries." 

And of course they had the crowd favorite.........deep fried dill pickles.

And I do mean crowd favorite. The place was packed. We had to sit at the only empty table that hadn't been cleared of dishes yet.

Everyone was having a wonderful time........munching away.

Did I miss something. Are young people eating different food these days ?

And all I wanted was a roast beef sandwich with a little horseradish or hot sauce..........or maybe a grilled cheese sandwich.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

I think the quality and variety of food has changed a lot, especially over the past 20 years or so...

Some of it for the good, some not so much.

Personally, I still take my kids out to the woods to show them wild strawberries, wild raspberries and other foods that have some real flavour...

What I don't understand is why you'd want to go out and pay, probably close to $10, for a grilled cheese you can make at home.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Retired...........home all the time.

My wife is a really good cook.........a German/Polish farm girl.

But, sometimes you have to make an excuse to get out and about.........


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

I'm a food snob, and a good cook. I don't like to eat out unless they can cook better than I can...which is tough, especially when you have kids.

Then again, I seem to have produced the next generation of food snobs in the process...but they are all turning out to be good cooks.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

That is a really good skill to teach them. Congratulations on putting in the effort. They will really appreciate it later in life.

My wife taught my son to cook and bake .......and now she is teaching our 6 year old grandson........to make his own cookies and pancakes.

Our son had a long list of pretty girlfriends, but he says has only had one who knew how to cook. 

One Sunday he came over with a girl for breakfast and a visit. He said to me "watch this.......you won't believe it".

And then he took 2 pieces of bread, put them into the toaster and said to the girl......"now you just press this down".......

I kid you not...........

His current girlfriend grew up in England, and their family ate in the pub across the street everyday.

Apparently that is pretty common over there..........as the food is cheap and they are going to have a beer or two anyways.

She never learned how to cook........but she is trying to learn now, so I give her credit for that.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

My kids have always been involved in cooking since they could stand up.

For school, in grade 7, they are required to cook a meal for the family. Most of their classmates made things like spaghetti with canned sauce, or tacos.

My son made tenderloin steaks, garlic prawns, cheese biscuits from scratch, steamed broccoli, pan seard mushrooms and a cake from scratch for desert, no help. We had to take pictures to prove it to the teacher. Funny thing is, he got a lower mark than some of his peers because he didn't do the dishes, which was part of the mark.

My daughter is planning her meal for this year. Not sure if she's going to cook Korean food, or go for something like king crab...whatever she makes, I can't lose. 

They both regularly cook a meal or two each week, with the younger ones getting closer to their own cooking each day.

From what I've seen, they will all have their choice of people to marry...if you're a good cook, you're in demand.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

I walk a strange line on this topic. I've been a restaurant professional all my life, and do like interesting restaurants. However I really view food as fuel for the most part and eat extremely simply at home. Everyone I know in my industry is always seeking the new, latest 'must-try' food trend and while I do admire the skill and knowledge of chefs when it comes to flavour profiles and ingredients, and on a professional level I need to stay somewhat abreast of things, at the same I don't really care. I feel fortunate to have ample, healthy nourishment and clean water. I rarely eat out but when I do I am adventurous.

Sometimes I think it get a bit out of hand- like everything else, (mainly because of the internet...) everybody thinks they are entitled to have the best and newest all the time. Can't say I'm not somewhat guilty of that; tonight I installed some hand-wound boutique pickups in one of my guitars. But that's a treat, not a lifestyle thing like where to eat every day. I eat almost the exact same things every day for breakfast and lunch, with a variation between two or three items for dinner. I do love trying food from around the world though. But the race to be so trendy and different all the time in restaurants, to me, gets tiresome.


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

indexxx said:


> I really view food as fuel for the most part and eat extremely simply at home............................................//......................I eat almost the exact same things every day for breakfast and lunch, with a variation between two or three items for dinner.


Basically..that's us.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

I really love food and lve trying different cuisines. I think the changes to food have come with an availability of different ingredients, but also the internet to help figure out what to do with them. In the early 90's fusion food was becoming really popular, and people were just started to get into more ethic foods. I remember gointo to my first Vietnamese restaurant and LOVING it, no one else would go with me, now there is a restaurant everywhere, same with suishi. 

Now, with the internet people can actually do some more experimenting with flavor profiles more. I remember prior to the internet I would go searching for fruits and veggies that I never had in canada. A few of them to this day I have no idea what the heck it was and not sure if we even ate them right. Now, I look up item while at the store, a few months ago cactus pears came in, and they were delicious. 

In terms of restaurants, we have the general guideline of not eating things I can easily make at home. Unless, I was in a rush, I would never pay for a plain roast beef sandwich unless it had fancy toppings. I also wouldn't pay for a grilled cheese sandwich, even for my kids. If they were with fancy cheeses, then maybe. Sweet potatoes and yams are different btw.


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## Maybe Later (Feb 19, 2011)

Just a Guy said:


> I'm a food snob, and a good cook. I don't like to eat out unless they can cook better than I can...which is tough, especially when you have kids.


+1. I hate going out to eat something I could have made better. Except the dishes. My kids are still young enough that I'm doing all my dishes.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

On a side note, one of the most interesting things I remember heading during the recession a few years ago was that in history, rescissions have actually brought out some of the most innovative and famous dishes in history. When money is scarce, people tend to eat the cheaper items, and they used to be the same staples, so they find creative ways to make the same times. 

The chef who was speaking was saying that for the last recession, there was more of a concern because people do not know how to cook anymore, and may not be able to afford the prepared foods, or porcessed foods.

I was a really lousy cook when my spouse and I met, I actually food him and most of his friends on at least one occasion, but I did enjoy it. The cooking not the food poisoning. As I had more money, I was about to buy different ingredients to enhance my cooking because I buy expensive fishes, seafood, and spices. 

Then when the recession hit and my spouse lost his job, and I was on mat leave, we had to stop with the expensive ingredients. I learned to make everything from scratch. I read that shredded cheese was like paying someone $80 an hour, since then I shred all my own cheese, same with pre cut veggies and stuff. 

This is a lost skill that I am trying to teach my kids is how to cook in the kitchen. They start getting lessons at on the basic at about 4. My 5 year old helps cut up and peel the veggies and fruit. The 8 year old can make a full hot breakfast. 

We do a lot of fancy foods, my kids love truffle oils and salts, and use it to season lightly. We out lobster on our home made mac and cheese (it was a left over lobster), we sprialized different veggies, we roll our own sushi with butter chicken, we love introducing variety to our kids. My kids ask for the adult menu when hand a kids menu. I love fancy food.


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## Toronto.gal (Jan 8, 2010)

Plugging Along said:


> I love fancy food.


Not very adventurous in my kitchen/restaurants, but I love food from all over, and enjoy inventing my own [simple] recipes.

For us, it does not have to be fancy, but definitely tasty, as food is one of life's many [some would say few] pleasures.

Having a simple palate need not be boring nor tasteless.

Today I'm baking a simple Caribbean Rum-Cake, not a Baked Alaska.  Anything that's too complex/time consuming I rather buy.


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Get off my lawn ya darn kids!


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## Synergy (Mar 18, 2013)

indexxx said:


> However I really view food as fuel for the most part and eat extremely simply at home.


1+ for me, especially considering I'd rather be out hiking, biking, skiing, playing sports, etc than fussing around in the kitchen all day. Simple, fresh, non-processed, high quality octate fuel! Once you start eating really healthy, restuarant food becomes less and less appealing - loaded with sodium, drenched in dressings, etc. I also agree with Just a guy, once you learn how to cook well for yourself, it becomes harder and harder to enjoy restaurant food.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

Synergy said:


> 1+ for me, especially considering I'd rather be out hiking, biking, skiing, playing sports, etc than fussing around in the kitchen all day. Simple, fresh, non-processed, high quality octate fuel! Once you start eating really healthy, restuarant food becomes less and less appealing - loaded with sodium, drenched in dressings, etc. I also agree with Just a guy, once you learn how to cook well for yourself, it becomes harder and harder to enjoy restaurant food.


Exactly my take. I'd rather spend an extra hour hiking with my camera or playing guitar than fussing in the kitchen. I can cook fairly well when I need to but it's anot worth my time as I currently live alone.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

I can make a full meal, including fresh baked desert, in probably 30-45 minutes. Not a lot longer than the time it takes to drive and order...or cook prepared meals. If my kids chip in, it goes faster and we have some more family time...plus they tend to try things more if they cook it themselves. Of course, when I was in school, and worked in a restaurant, I learned a few tricks to speed up cooking...


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

It is expensive to buy good quality ingredients though.........and some people just don't have the money to spend.

So they eat whatever is cheap........usually bargain priced no-name processed foods.

I can buy a cheap no name lasagna for a lot less than it cost for the ingredients for my wife's 4 cheese and meat lasagna.

But of course, the no name lasagna taste like paste..........and probably isn't very healthy to eat.


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

sags said:


> Anyone else notice that many restaurants are offering some weird food these days ?
> 
> I ordered a roast beef sandwich the other day, and it came on a heart shaped bun, with some black gooey stuff in it.
> 
> ...


 ... food got this fancy since the "yuppies" movement and it's going to get even fancier as the newer gens' tastebuds/wallets become more "distinguished". Just look at "poutine" of yesteryear's - simple fries with gravy .. now you can get them with curd cheese, mulitple and very fancy toppings. So yes, you're missing something -that black gooey mushroom stuff that you declined costs about the price of a nice cut of meat on a per pound basis. You need to eat out abit more often (aka abit more adventurous) to keep up with the times. :biggrin: Cheers,


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

sags said:


> It is expensive to buy good quality ingredients though.........and some people just don't have the money to spend.
> 
> So they eat whatever is cheap........usually bargain priced no-name processed foods.
> 
> ...


I've found that "cheap" food isn't always cheap (fast food, for example, is quite expensive) and I tend to buy good quality when it goes on sale. Higher quality food does go on sale, so stock up when it does...


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

From age zero - 18 years I lived in a small town in Newfoundland ,population of 500 and we had no such thing as a restaurant.We could drive an hour to go to Gander for Chinese food or burgers.Pizza or KFC so learning how to cook was very important and of course ate loads of Seafood ,homemade bread and pies and Vegetable from the garden.If mom wanted to make a blueberry pie in August she would give my sister and I a small container each and we would go and pick them fresh.Over the years we have traveled a lot and tried practically everything ,in fact I love trying different foods but nothing like a simple home cooked meal at home.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Beaver101 said:


> ... food got this fancy since the "yuppies" movement and it's going to get even fancier as the newer gens' tastebuds/wallets become more "distinguished". Just look at "poutine" of yesteryear's - simple fries with gravy .. now you can get them with curd cheese, mulitple and very fancy toppings. So yes, you're missing something -*that black gooey mushroom stuff that you declined costs about the price of a nice cut of meat on a per pound basis*. You need to eat out abit more often (aka abit more adventurous) to keep up with the times. :biggrin: Cheers,


Really, I guess they probably weren't thrilled when I sent it back. There was a big heap of it on the bun........

Nothing I like better than "home made" standards in a restaurant.........

I have a Greek friend who owns a restaurant his elderly mother gets up every morning to make fresh soup for the day.

Fantastic soup........just better versions of what I am used to.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

marina628 said:


> From age zero - 18 years I lived in a small town in Newfoundland ,population of 500 and we had no such thing as a restaurant.We could drive an hour to go to Gander for Chinese food or burgers.Pizza or KFC so learning how to cook was very important and of course ate loads of Seafood ,homemade bread and pies and Vegetable from the garden.If mom wanted to make a blueberry pie in August she would give my sister and I a small container each and we would go and pick them fresh.Over the years we have traveled a lot and tried practically everything ,in fact I love trying different foods but nothing like a simple home cooked meal at home.


I had a friend who was from the rock in my 20's who hated shrimp...when I asked why, she said it was all they ate growing up...boiled shrimp (the worst possible way to prepare it). I had her over for dinner and provided a meal with about 15 different ways to prepare shrimp and she loved it.

I also introduced her to a rootbeer float...she'd never had one in her entire life. For the next month, all she drank was rootbeer floats...then, to totally blow her mind, I told her she could change the pop!

Newfies don't need to be the butt of the jokes...they do it to themselves.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Well we had fisherman on both sides of the family , lobster , Crab,Salmon and cod fish.Can honestly say only shrimp we ever had growing up came from Dominion We had Happy Days on TV ,that's where root Beer Floats came from


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## Itchy54 (Feb 12, 2012)

You are all just making me jealous. I have so many food allergies that I never go out to eat. When I do it is a salad with grilled chicken...and I always feel extremely ripped off. I only go out if I have to.
I am a darn fine cook though and a paleo diet works for me, with a little dairy because life without cheese is sad. Meat and vegetables, yum. My spaghetti squash "lasagne" is amazing.


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## Plugging Along (Jan 3, 2011)

Toronto.gal said:


> Not very adventurous in my kitchen/restaurants, but I love food from all over, and enjoy inventing my own [simple] recipes.
> 
> For us, it does not have to be fancy, but definitely tasty, as food is one of life's many [some would say few] pleasures.
> 
> ...


True, Maybe adventurous is a good description. We like fancy too, but different is a better word, 



sags said:


> It is expensive to buy good quality ingredients though.........and some people just don't have the money to spend.
> 
> So they eat whatever is cheap........usually bargain priced no-name processed foods.
> 
> ...


I can make a lasagne for about the same price as store bought on sale . The difference is I have to get the ingredients on sale, like the cheese, and then I do it in bulk, and freeze two. 

I have found that some of the processed stuff you can get really cheap especially if there are coupons, so that makes it hard to beat, but we try to make as much as possible from home. 

I will buy a roast chicken or make one myself, cut up the meat for the first meal, have leftovers for the next day, and boil the carcass for a soup. I can get 3 meals for a family of 4 about $15 including the sides, It takes a lot of planning to make the meals work. I can technical feed a family of 4 for under $10 easily using good quality ingredients.


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## indexxx (Oct 31, 2011)

funny...
https://www.facebook.com/theskeptic....426482.16599501604/10152795766746605/?type=1


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

marina628 said:


> From age zero - 18 years I lived in a small town in Newfoundland ,population of 500 and we had no such thing as a restaurant.We could drive an hour to go to Gander for Chinese food or burgers.Pizza or KFC so learning how to cook was very important and of course ate loads of Seafood ,homemade bread and pies and Vegetable from the garden.If mom wanted to make a blueberry pie in August she would give my sister and I a small container each and we would go and pick them fresh.Over the years we have traveled a lot and tried practically everything ,in fact I love trying different foods but nothing like a simple home cooked meal at home.




isn't canada's currently most recherché restaurant right now supposed to be located in st john's? something about a country food menu? fish, lobster, wlld greens, fiddleheads, irish soda bread, cloudberry & seaweed foams, cat-tail flour pastry, partridge berry tarts, fresh cream?

i can't even write out such a mouthwatering list without feeling envious


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

sags said:


> Really, I guess *they probably weren't thrilled when I sent it back*. There was a big heap of it on the bun........
> 
> Nothing I like better than "home made" standards in a restaurant.........
> 
> ...


 ... of course, they wouldn't have been happy with the food sent back to the kitchen as it's food wasted (additional cost to them), nothing to say the chef may have been insulted or you got the cook in trouble. 

"Home-made" standards in a restaurant???? ... hmmm... why would you want to eat "home-made" food in a "restaurant" ... kind of defeats the purpose of going out to eat, and how do you establish such "home-made" standards? LOL. ... besides would Mrs. sags approve of you going out to eat "home-made" food at a restaurant? What's wrong with her (or maybe yours) cooking at home? Particuarly going for that fantastic soup that your Greek's friend's elderly mom makes everyday? :biggrin: 

Were you mooching off your friend's place? If not, then you should patronize his place more often because family-owned restaurants with much "home-made" meals are going the way of dinosaurs ... good luck with your new eating adventure ... each:


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