There's fussy eating and then there's fussy cooking. I like fussy
cooking. Not fussy in the sense of finding nits to pick or having a
list of dislikes, but fussy in the sense of making extra efforts to
ensure that a dish's appearance and aroma and taste all add to the
pleasures of eating it. I like cutting vegetables and meat for a stir
fry or a stew or a salad 'just so' to make them uniform and
appropriately shaped and sized for the dish. I like ensuring that all
the silverskin and fat streaks are cleaned away from the pork
tenderloin or flank steak before I dry rub or marinate it, all the
excess fat trimmed from the chicken. I like making the gremolata to
add that final touch to the osso buco. I don't omit 'extra
unnecessary' steps from traditional dishes, like the brandy flambe in
coq au vin. I'm happy to make a compound herbal/garlic butter the day
before I'm going to use it so the flavors have time to permeate the
mixture. I've even been known to try the seven-sided potato shaping
you see in classic French dishes (tournet? tournons? something like
that). I scissors off the pointy ends of artichoke leaves.

And I always taste and smell during and at the end of cooking. It
drives me crazy to see tv cooks prepare a dish and serve it up without
ever tasting it or at least giving it a good sniff test.

I think part of this comes from having started serious cooking with
Chinese stirfry dishes where the preparations take far longer than the
cooking and tradition dictates things like whether to slice that
carrot into coins, ovals (diagonal), shreds, roll cut or dice. During
my brief commercial kitchen stints I learned the same lesson:
complete preparations are what enable efficient production of the
final dishes. Part of it came from slavish devotion to some of
Julia's directions, too. This is how you prepare Brussels sprouts....

Oh sure, sometimes we're in a hurry, what with work and family.
Fortunately, since retirement I'm able and willing to spend more
time. And I get positive reinforcement from an attentive and
(usually) appreciative audience to add to the feeling of
accomplishment. When I was working I would sometimes do substantial
amounts of prep work late at night for the next day's dinner. Among
its other pleasures, fussy cooking may be good therapy.

Those who think I'm just anal or suffer from ocd, may pass on to
another thread. Those who want to say how or where they like to fuss,
feel free. -aem

"aem" ha scritto nel messaggio
> There's fussy eating and then there's fussy cooking. I like fussy
> cooking.
> Those who think I'm just anal or suffer from ocd, may pass on to> another
> thread. Those who want to say how or where they like to fuss,> feel
> e. -aem

I don't call it fussing, I call it doing a good job. I don't usually make
the shaped potatoes, however. My mandoline and I are close friends and I
have some very nice fruit and veg shapers and carvers.

I like to think it's why you cook for someone once one year, three times the
next and five times the year after that. I never did really believe Tony
the Tuna.

On Apr 15, 2:11*pm, aem > wrote:
> There's fussy eating and then there's fussy cooking. *I like fussy
> cooking. *Not fussy in the sense of finding nits to pick or having a
> list of dislikes, but fussy in the sense of making extra efforts to
> ensure that a dish's appearance and aroma and taste all add to the
> pleasures of eating it. *I like cutting vegetables and meat for a stir
> fry or a stew or a salad 'just so' to make them uniform and
> appropriately shaped and sized for the dish. *I like ensuring that all
> the silverskin and fat streaks are cleaned away from the pork
> tenderloin or flank steak before I dry rub or marinate it, all the
> excess fat trimmed from the chicken. *I like making the gremolata to
> add that final touch to the osso buco. *I don't omit 'extra
> unnecessary' steps from traditional dishes, like the brandy flambe in
> coq au vin. *I'm happy to make a compound herbal/garlic butter the day
> before I'm going to use it so the flavors have time to permeate the
> mixture. *I've even been known to try the seven-sided potato shaping
> you see in classic French dishes (tournet? tournons? something like
> that). *I scissors off the pointy ends of artichoke leaves.
>
> And I always taste and smell during and at the end of cooking. *It
> drives me crazy to see tv cooks prepare a dish and serve it up without
> ever tasting it or at least giving it a good sniff test.
>
> I think part of this comes from having started serious cooking with
> Chinese stirfry dishes where the preparations take far longer than the
> cooking and tradition dictates things like whether to slice that
> carrot into coins, ovals (diagonal), shreds, roll cut or dice. *During
> my brief commercial kitchen stints I learned the same lesson:
> complete preparations are what enable efficient production of the
> final dishes. *Part of it came from slavish devotion to some of
> Julia's directions, too. *This is how you prepare Brussels sprouts....
>
> Oh sure, sometimes we're in a hurry, what with work and family.
> Fortunately, since retirement I'm able and willing to spend more
> time. *And I get positive reinforcement from an attentive and
> (usually) appreciative audience to add to the feeling of
> accomplishment. *When I was working I would sometimes do substantial
> amounts of prep work late at night for the next day's dinner. *Among
> its other pleasures, fussy cooking may be good therapy.
>
> Those who think I'm just anal or suffer from ocd, may pass on to
> another thread. *Those who want to say how or where they like to fuss,
> feel free. * *-aem

Me too . . . like you. Starts with stir fry. That'll teach you "mise
en place" as well! But then we got a baby and I slacked off for a
while. When she was about 5 and eating all grown up foods I went back
to fussing, Then my husband had his second heart by pass and I was
working so things got simpler again. Now I'm alone, have diabetes and
high blood pressure and high everything else they can measure, but I
still fuss when I cook for somebody else and I still cut everything
into matching size/shape for stir fry. Thank heaven I never really
liked to bake.
Lynn in Fargo
Cooking is good therapy AND good exercise!

In article
>,
aem > wrote:

> Those who think I'm just anal or suffer from ocd, may pass on to
> another thread. Those who want to say how or where they like to fuss,
> feel free. -aem

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Depends on my mood, and what day it
is.

I don't have the time during the week as I have to work and do physical
therapy. (I make myself do my PT before I can eat lunch).

If it's a weekend or a holiday, I may "fuss" over a more involved dish.
--
Peace! Om

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.
It's about learning to dance in the rain.
-- Anon.