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Why do food from restaurants taste nicer?


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Old 12-08-2009, 17:43
Ovalteenie
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Chippy chips v. DIY oven chips

Chinese or Indian takeaways/restaurants v. Heat your own Ready Meals from supermarkets

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Old 12-08-2009, 17:49
TommyGavin76
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Chippy chips v. DIY oven chips

Chinese or Indian takeaways/restaurants v. Heat your own Ready Meals from supermarkets

Because chip shops have proper fryers and specialise in chips so should be good at them.

As for ready meals, wouldn't you expect a meal prepared from scratch to taste better than one that has been produced in a huge vat with thousands of others and then frozen?
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Old 12-08-2009, 17:58
dsdjm
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a) Because restaurants use more oil / fat than you could possibly bring yourself to use at home; or supermarkets could reasonably use in their ready meals when having to show nutrition information on their packaging.

b) MSG
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Old 12-08-2009, 21:16
TopNotch
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Because oven chips and ready meals are processed rubbish!

Not all restaurants serve good food though, I've had some terrible meals in the past....
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Old 13-08-2009, 11:00
Mark in Essex
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You would be getting closer if you were to actually cook the food from scratch, but it's hard to beat a decent cheif in a decent restraunt as that's what they are good at (been doing it all the time for years and have done lots of training).

You can get chips very nice if you fry them at home, but a decent chip shop knows the best potato/oil to use for the best result.
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Old 13-08-2009, 11:05
RAINBOWGIRL22
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I agree with cooking from scratch - my recreations rarely match up to (high quality) restaurant food but are miles better than anything you can get out of a packet!!
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Old 13-08-2009, 11:55
anouttedlurker
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all food is going to taste better than a heat-it-up-ready meal.
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Old 13-08-2009, 12:09
indianwells
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You can certainly make food at home better than a lot of restaurants, except maybe the top ones. It just takes dedication, practice and a real love of food.
The main advantage restaurants have is better equipment. For instance you're never gonna get that perfect crust on your steak at home because you'll never get the heat required from a domestic hob. Restaurant hobs have far more powerful hobs with higher BTU output. Likewise for stir frys to rival real Chinese ones.
For long, slow cooked dishes though, there's no reason why you can't replicate restaurant food. Just buy the best ingredients you can afford and don't do much to it, let the natural flavour speak for itself.
Often people say "I can't cook". You can cook, just buy a good cookbook, read it and follow the recipe to the letter. Once you have mastered the basic techniques you will then feel confident enough to start adding or taking away different ingredients according to your taste.
Nothing is instant, don't be disappointed if your dish doesn't come out like Gordon Ramsay says it will in his cook books. He's had years of dedication and experience with some of the best chefs in the world, you haven't, so take small steps, learn the basics, and in a short time you will be producing lovely food. There's no better feeling than cooking the people you love good food and watching their faces light up when they take that first mouthfull.
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Old 13-08-2009, 17:10
Russ_WWFC
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Steak on the BBQ done by my dad is just as good as any I have had in a restaurant. And oven chips are healthy(ish) and still nice.
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Old 13-08-2009, 18:58
frankiew1
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For me it comes down to someone else doing the cooking - and the washing up!
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Old 13-08-2009, 19:56
LQS
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I mostly begrudge paying restaurant prices for food I could have done better at home. Also, as somebody said earlier, restaurants use far more oil/butter/salt than you would at home - it's easy to make things taste nice if you are willing to do this !
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Old 14-08-2009, 08:25
Mark in Essex
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You can certainly make food at home better than a lot of restaurants, except maybe the top ones.
I'd totally agree with that - not for all of the food I cook, but certain dishes that I have perfected over the years.
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Old 16-08-2009, 21:52
L'russe besuhof
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Chippy chips v. DIY oven chips

Chinese or Indian takeaways/restaurants v. Heat your own Ready Meals from supermarkets

For chips, it's the difference between frying them and putting them in the oven. Chips fried at home are usually better than the chippy. Most chippies make really bad chips, soggy and not crispsy at all.

For Chinese, the main difference is ten tonnes of MSG and proper stir-frying rather than some crappy teflon 'wok' that doesn't get halfway hot enough.

For Indian, the main differences are fresh spices, and ten gallons of oil and ghee. Rather than some tomato sauce out of a jar with two grains of stale chilli powder.

Ready meals? Ingredients off the factory floor, designed for price and shelf life, nothing else.
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Old 17-08-2009, 08:09
TommyGavin76
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For chips, it's the difference between frying them and putting them in the oven. Chips fried at home are usually better than the chippy. Most chippies make really bad chips, soggy and not crispsy at all.

For Chinese, the main difference is ten tonnes of MSG and proper stir-frying rather than some crappy teflon 'wok' that doesn't get halfway hot enough.

For Indian, the main differences are fresh spices, and ten gallons of oil and ghee. Rather than some tomato sauce out of a jar with two grains of stale chilli powder.

Ready meals? Ingredients off the factory floor, designed for price and shelf life, nothing else.
Either you're great at making chips or you have a shite chippy. Can't decide which.
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Old 21-08-2009, 08:54
L'russe besuhof
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Shite chippy, they all are round here.
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Old 21-08-2009, 16:04
polka.dott
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I have no idea but I always like going to Italian restaurants they taste so much better than anything I could make, haha..
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Old 21-08-2009, 16:25
slapmatt
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I cannot seem to recreate at home a steak as good as you get in a restaurant.

Granted, I use a griddle pan rather than under a grill, but I make sure I take it out of the fridge in advance, cook it so that it is medium in the middle (no problem there) and leave it to rest, but it still isn't quite as juicy or "right".

Damn those lovely restaurant steaks.
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Old 21-08-2009, 16:47
TommyGavin76
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I cannot seem to recreate at home a steak as good as you get in a restaurant.

Granted, I use a griddle pan rather than under a grill, but I make sure I take it out of the fridge in advance, cook it so that it is medium in the middle (no problem there) and leave it to rest, but it still isn't quite as juicy or "right".

Damn those lovely restaurant steaks.
I can't either, no idea why. Have tried all the above plus using a cast iron pan heated to within an inch of it's life!
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Old 21-08-2009, 19:36
indianwells
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I can't either, no idea why. Have tried all the above plus using a cast iron pan heated to within an inch of it's life!
I've found that I can. The key is the quality of steak, the initial sear, and the resting. Seasoning also plays a major part. Give me a curry though and i'm rubbish!
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Old 22-08-2009, 09:45
TommyGavin76
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I've found that I can. The key is the quality of steak, the initial sear, and the resting. Seasoning also plays a major part. Give me a curry though and i'm rubbish!
Curries have such complex spices going on in them that unless you are Asian and/or have an understanding of how the spices work you will never be able to do it.
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Old 24-08-2009, 09:56
anouttedlurker
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Curries have such complex spices going on in them that unless you are Asian and/or have an understanding of how the spices work you will never be able to do it.
that's pants!!

i am not Asian but love cooking and make perfectly good curries. I have had my Asian friends round to eat them and they have said they are 100% authentic. I can make both North Indian and South Indian food too.

Get a good cook book (I recommend anything by Charmian Solomon) and get yourself down to your local Asian supermarket to buy your spices.
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Old 24-08-2009, 11:21
Orangemaid
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It's the same when you buy ready made sandwiches.They seem to taste better than home made ones
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Old 24-08-2009, 15:17
sele01
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It's the same when you buy ready made sandwiches.They seem to taste better than home made ones
Yeah maybe because they put loads of salt in, don't they, to give more flavour to the cheap ingredients?
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Old 24-08-2009, 18:43
TommyGavin76
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that's pants!!

i am not Asian but love cooking and make perfectly good curries. I have had my Asian friends round to eat them and they have said they are 100% authentic. I can make both North Indian and South Indian food too.

Get a good cook book (I recommend anything by Charmian Solomon) and get yourself down to your local Asian supermarket to buy your spices.
As I said, if you understand how the spices work then you can do it, which you can.
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Old 24-08-2009, 19:30
anouttedlurker
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As I said, if you understand how the spices work then you can do it, which you can.
or follow a recipe!
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