Apparently some people get very angry if there are not exactly 3 coffee beans floating in their espresso martinis. Go figure.
@ipsedixit I had no idea! When we make these at home we never put beans on them.
Thanks for the article
@LulusMom I wouldn’t complain if there were none LOL!
I share your pain about swallowing unexpected objects in a drink.
My ex-GF brought me a bubble tea without telling me what it was. You would think the super sized straw and the cozy hiding the contents would have been warning enough… But no, i took a sip and the first gelatinous bubble was a huge surprise for me.
I laugh about it NOW.
Then? Less so.
I think some of it has to do with managing expectations. If the menu described it as scallion pancake pizza with cumin lamb I’d be ok with it not resembling a “traditional” pizza. But is it was described as pizza with lamb and scallions I might be. I hate when menu descriptions go out of their way to give you the wrong impression of what you’re ordering (to bring it back to the subject).
I used really despise the concept of pizza with pineapple but for some reason it doesn’t bother me anymore. Think al pastor pizza. You were just far ahead of your time.
How about that very long string garnish, ie: carrot, chive, zuke peel laid upon your dish? If you are not issued a knife, how are you supposed to eat it? Are you supposed to eat it? It is too hard to slurp like a noodle or even cut to an edible size. I can see the chef carefully using the tweezer tongs to plate these pieces with a flourish, but how are they to be consumed? Form following function?
I kinda love a little sea salt sprinkled on a rich, chocolatey cookie. It almost brings out the sweetness more, while at the same time reining it in. Our current obsession, a local Turkish baker makes amazing triple chocolate pistachio cookies (with pistachio butter inside). While her pastries and cookies are already not as sweet as most baked goods in the US, the few salt crystals are the perfect finish. For me.
The great thing about trends is that those who eschew them can be properly annoyed and grumbly, while those who love them can enjoy.
As I always say: vive la différence!
I have never eaten hot honey. It’s a personal choice. Just wanted to share.
I’m going to court controversy here! Admittedly, this is my personal annoyance - ramen and noodle soups are not soups, in my opinion. They deserve their own section on menus that offer more than noodle soups. At the very least stick it under noodles! But when I consistently hear others talk about soup and then bring up ramen or pho, I always wonder, when did we bring noodles into the game? Not many restaurants blend the two, as many places don’t just randomly throw in pho/ramen if they’re not specialists. But I have seen this in very few cases, and I hear about it more when people talk about soup. So please keeps soups in soups, and ramen/pho/soba/udon/rice sticks/rice cakes/rice vermicelli in noodles.
Chicken soup with rice is not rice; that’s a soup. Chicken noodle soup is a soup, but chicken noodle soup is not a cousin of ramen/pho/soup noodles either.
I’m not sure why chicken noodle soup is a soup, but pho is not. What do you see as the difference?
And a lot of menus separate out soups and noodle soups, in my experience. But it would not bother me if they did not.
I don’t see the difference either, TBH
I think largely this is a cultural and language issue.
In Japanese, when one says “ramen” or ラーメン, the connotation is that it is a food item all unto itself, not noodles or only, nor soup. It is, just, ramen. And, in fact, there’s not even the word soup (or スープ) in the name ラーメン. Both the connotation, and obviously the annotation, is that ramen is just, well, ramen.
Also, unlike chicken noodle soup, ramen (and pho or even Chinese beef (ahem) noodle soup) are often eaten as entrees, not an appetizer like chicken noodle soup often is (though not always).
Aha. Okay.
No doubt influenced in many ways by my heritage and how they think of soup noodles and soup, but for chicken noodle soup - it’s chicken soup with a bit of pasta thrown in, at least in versions I’ve had, the noodles seem more of an accoutrement to the chicken soup itself. While the broth is important in soup noodles, the noodles are equally important, and perhaps for some chefs the most important part of the meal.
Chicken noodle soup I’ve had feels like the energy is all in good chicken broth and pasta is an after thought. The ratio of the pasta to the broth, meat, vegetables is pretty slim. I haven’t noticed though a chicken noodle soup on a menu, so maybe chefs could do a more interesting take on this.
In soup noodles, it’s the noodles that are the main component of the meal. The top rated noodle restaurants usually will have something special about the type of noodles they use whether they are hand made, special texture or dough, or perhaps a secret to how they’re prepared. There is more oompf in the noodles I’ve had in noodle soup vs what are the different pastas I’ve had in chicken noodle, or minestrone, Italian wedding or similar. I think this is often why they are seen as starting a meal on menus (and I understand many do eat soup at home as a meal). I would never start a meal with pho or ramen. It has always been seen as the meal itself in their respective Asian cuisines.
I’m with you, Li’l Pig. Ramen is noodles, not soup. Pho is noodles, not soup. Chicken soup with rice is soup, not rice. OTOH, jook is…well…jook.
I can eat soups as a main. We just had cream of asparagus soup the other day for dinner. Maybe it’s an Asian perspective. (Now I’m getting into my own head whether wonton soup is soup or not!)
I can understand this.
Me neither, but I might get an appetizer pre-pho.
Entree salads. Are they really salads? Discuss.
Haha, yes. It’s so much easier when there are just different terms used in the various Asian languages. I think I would have a bigger conniption if someone compared chicken soup with rice to congee!
Wonton soup does exist as a soup, even in Hong Kong at least. You just get the wontons in the broth too, no noodles. For me, I like wonton with the noodles though. Something about them that I crave the springy thin noodle texture as I eat them.
Of course.
For me chicken noodle soup is always an entree
You know it. I adore a good bowl. I’ve been using bean thread for the noodles of late, and really like faux pho effect.