Do you like to work for food?

[QSis]

Maybe "play with food" is more accurate.

What I mean is, do you prefer the easier or the harder way of getting to it?

Do you prefer:

- Chicken wings to chicken fingers?

- Bone-in spare ribs to boneless or country-style ribs?

- Pistachios, peanuts, sunflower seeds in the shell to shell-less?

- Lobster in the shell to lobster casserole?

I like working for (or playing with) my food.

Anyone else?

Other examples?

Lee

[Kimchee]

More work is more fun.
I absolutely love reducing chicken to a pile of bones.
And building is as much fun as eating....almost!

[Sass Muffin]

Yes.
Playing with it is half the satisfaction of eating it.
Must be a caveman cavewoman thang LOL

[luvs]

i tweak many foods. most foods~

[SilverSage]

Maybe "play with food" is more accurate.

What I mean is, do you prefer the easier or the harder way of getting to it?

Do you prefer:

- Chicken wings to chicken fingers?

- Bone-in spare ribs to boneless or country-style ribs?

- Pistachios, peanuts, sunflower seeds in the shell to shell-less?

- Lobster in the shell to lobster casserole?

I like working for (or playing with) my food.

Anyone else?

Other examples?

Lee

It depends. the wings and the ribs need to be on the bone. But for me, they are the exception.

Nuts, I rarely eat unless they are part of another dish, so they are already shelled. And lobster, I prefer to fight with the shells in the kitchen and present the food in a n easy-to-eat manner of some sort.

Corn on the cob - I pullout the silks and replace the husk before cooking. Sometimes I actually cut the kernals off the cob.

I make sure shrimp is peeled before serving.

I bone a roast duck after roasting, but before serving.

As a rule, I like to do the difficult work in to kitchen before I serve. I don't like people to have to struggle with the meal. And - it protects my table linens (yes I use them :bonk:).

[UncleRalph]

I really don't discriminate. . .if it tastes good, I will eat it/do what I have to to eat it.

As for meats, bone in yields better flavor, imo, and I certainly don't mind one bit!

If it is something like crab/crablegs/shrimp, I tend to peel/do all the work until I have a nice little pile of bounty to dive into.

As for service/if it isn't for me, I am with Silver Sage, I do the work to save the guest the hassle.

[buckytom]

ralphie and ss are onto the same kind of idea as to why chopsticks were invented, or so i've heard.

in ancient asian cultures, all food was to be prepared and served so that it could be eaten with the simplest of utensils by your guests. it wasn't served properly if the main ingredients still needed to be stabbed and sliced with knife and fork. these were kitchen utensils, not for the serving table.

as for me, i like the visceral qualities of tearing into shell and gnawing bones.

me buckytom, you jane.

[lilylove]

I love chopping veggies... and would never use a processor.
I cut my kernals off of my corn cobs.

I do however buy my chicken thighs and breast boneless ( unless I want to make soup)

[UncleRalph]

ralphie and ss are onto the same kind of idea as to why chopsticks were invented, or so i've heard.

in ancient asian cultures, all food was to be prepared and served so that it could be eaten with the simplest of utensils by your guests. it wasn't served properly if the main ingredients still needed to be stabbed and sliced with knife and fork. these were kitchen utensils, not for the serving table.

as for me, i like the visceral qualities of tearing into shell and gnawing bones.

me buckytom, you jane.

A frickin men to that. There is nothing more primeval then gnawing on a bone. . .well, besides maybe building a fire and finding reasons to put meat on it, and poke said fire with a stick.

[buckytom]

the meat next to the bone is always the sweetest. same goes for shell-on and whole bone-in fish.

i have to say that i'm impressed when someone like ss cooks it that way, then takes the time to do the work for you. but if i'm cooking for myself, i want bone.

[UncleRalph]

the meat next to the bone is always the sweetest. same goes for shell-on and whole bone-in fish.

i have to say that i'm impressed when someone like ss cooks it that way, then takes the time to do the work for you. but if i'm cooking for myself, i want bone.

Exactly, I am a fellow boner too.




wait, what?!

[buckytom]

lol, your on form tonight.

[SilverSage]

I abandon this thread to the cavemen :respect:

[Cooksie]

It doesn't bother me at all to crack crab legs or peel shrimp (low country boil/frogmore stew or bbq shrimp) at the table, and part of the fun of having a crawfish boil is everyone sitting around the table peeling and popping crawfish tails.

[QSis]

Actually, I was asking about personal preference, not about how you would serve guests (I hadn't thought of that, since I am almost never the hostess).

All the replies are interesting and fun, though!

Lee

[Leni]

It depends upon how I'm feeling. Some days I'm just so tired that I follow the KISS principle. Other times I'm really into creating a dish.

[ChowderMan]

personal preference is one side of the question, but the other side is the "dining environment"

tossing an elegant dinner party, I would not foist a chunk of meat with bunch of bones onto guests. ehhhh, fresh whole trout aside, mebbe.... but then only if I know they know how to deal with a whole fish comma +/- head.

a bbq/cookout? all bets begone! here's the ribs, enjoy!

personally I prefer all my meats "bone in" - I never would dream of a prime rib roast done boneless. that said, carving at the table, no I don't serve the prime rib "on the bone" - it's cut loose. when I get the hankering and don't want to do a whole roast (for two.....) I've developed a pretty mean faux-prime rib - ribeye/delmonico steak "oven baked" at 200'F. au'jus as good, imho.

I prefer pork chops 'on the bone' - almost without fail I have to go to the meat counter and get them cut special. everything in the case is boneless. most of the time the butcher cuts me a price break - sometimes I get charged the same $/lb for bone in as boneless by a newbie cutter... bummer.

I almost never buy anything but a whole chicken. for pieces I cut it up - for the breast I cut off the trailing ribs bones and cut out the keel bone / backbone - but leave the ribs on the back of the breast. but that doesn't apply to some dishes - chicken with cheese topping, florentine, (whatever) - that kind of stuff should be boneless. there are exceptions to my whole chicken routine.... for a chicken stir fry I'll buy just the tenders - not enough chicken tenders on one whole chicken for much of a stir fry..... but for a chicken breast dish, got knife, can handle it.

so far as personal preference - gimme the bones, please.
then again, I'm fond of brussel sprouts, which a whole lotta' people won't go near !
go figger.

[Keltin]

Hmmmm….are we talking about eating or preparing?

For preparation, I prefer lots of play. I love to break down whole chickens, cut loins into steaks and chops, grind meat, peel shrimp, snap beans, husk corn, etc. The “wholer” the better (is that a word????). :biggrin:

For eating, pretty much the same. I prefer bone-in, shell on, etc. I like cracking and peeling the shells, gnawing the bone, shucking the oyster, etc.

I’ve had interesting versions of Gumbo that use bone-in chicken pieces, or cracked crab claws. It’s really different to some to have a whole item like that in a bowl of soup/stew, but I think it’s fun to get that big “prize” that you can’t eat off a spoon and instead have to do a little work (PLAY!!) to get the meat.

Although, I will admit, I often prefer filleted fish over whole. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood for that plethora of tiny bones that permeate the fish. Man, they are everywhere! :lol:

[Guts]

the one that catches me is the lobster. I want my lobster fresh and in the shell I don't mind working for it, cutting the tail or if Easter lobster cracking the claws.

[ChowderMan]

>>the lobster

oh, indeed - I overlooked the whole "shellfish" thing.

crabs, lobster, clams, oysters - all are best done aka "cooked" in the shell - methods vary.

and "service" varies equally - steamed/boiled lobster is winky-dinky whacked out of the shell. broil, crack the shell, remove meat, for pretty service reconstruct and serve in the shell works just fine.

like bones, "the shell" adds a dimension of flavor to shellfish. I tried (live) lobster tail cracked out of the shell, broiled & served in the reconstructed shell... not even close - cooked in the shell is far superior in my experience.

I have a linguine with clam/shrimp dish where I prefer to buy live clams, steam them, remove from shell and rough chop. chopped clams in a can works but is a pale second. I'm forced into frozen shrimp, sigh..... thawed&peeled for that dish.

[FooD]

I see a guy every day at the freeway off ramp holding a "work for food" sign. :D

[MexicoKaren]

Have to add this also, given the way the topic was worded. Our community organization supports a "kilo por kilo" program through a local church, i.e., for every kilo of street trash or recyclables that are turned in, the person gets a kilo of nonperishable food (rice, beans, etc.). Because the economy here is so seasonal, there are lots of people who struggle through the "low" season. But the last few years, the economic situations in the US and Canada have affected us, as well. Not such a good high season this year or last year. Handouts are not well-regarded here, and most people prefer to do something productive in exchange for food.

[katlin]

The more work it takes to consume a dish, the less likely you are to over-eat.

[abi_csi]

That's a great idea with the community and church Karen.

[abi_csi]

Actually, when I work in my allotment growing veg, I'm working for food I guess, albeit in a few months. :)

[QSis]

The more work it takes to consume a dish, the less likely you are to over-eat.

Good point, katlin. Not that I need one, but that's an additional incentive for me to serve myself food that I have to work for. Or play with, as it were.

Lee

[Lefty]

I prefer the Asian style of food being served ie. what BT said.

OTOH, when I get to finger foods, like wings and such I have no problem gnawing them down. My mom always said food eaten with your hands always taste better. I have to agree.