You can't please everyone and you probably shouldn't try. I taste with a clean spoon most of the time just as a habit, but even when I do, I get people complaining that I double-dipped the same spoon (because of course I edit out the part of the video where I throw the used spoon in the sink and get a fresh one - who would want to see that?). If you make a thing of explaining that you didn't double dip the spoon, you annoy the majority of viewers who were not complaining.
@@PippetWhippet Indeed. Interesting what Adam said about the correlation with general intolerance - I did not know that, but I suppose it makes sense. I just thought of this: In our house, we have a box in the freezer that I throw bones into if we have a meal like chicken wings or ribs; when the box is full, I boil them all up to make stock - from those bones that various family members have been gnawing on. For the sake of aesthetics, I choose not to serve stock made this way to guests outside of the family, but the actual health risk from any of this is zero (because of the boiling process to make the stock). The things that some people find 'gross' aren't actually all that similar to the things that present genuine health risks.
As a black person, I want to thank you for saying "black people" instead of African American. There are other countries and lands where the majority of the population is black. Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados...yes they may have come from Africa, but over the years they've developed their own customs and identities. We wouldn't call white Americans anything like European Americans, unless they actually came from Europe and obtained dual citizenship. It is just as foolish as calling a black person from Europe an African American. It's silly. I did not come from Africa. I was born in America. I am, a black American
Wouldn't it be counter intuitive to apply racial designation like that? "White people" or "Black people" label assumes that people are defined by their skin colour. Like, someone from Egypt who has dark complexion would have nothing in common with someone with same skin colour living in US, except the skin colour. They have different culture, different values and different identity.
@@al_Hasaan Definitely true that they are different, but peoples are often lumped under the same umbrella term, both from within and without, and as such it makes sense to define such groups as white/black/etc. when we're talking about such situations and identities.
@@al_Hasaan this is where a lot of peoples frustration with race politics comes from. "You look like me, therefore you are like me" is imo a pretty racist way to view things and the cultures from which people are raised and live in is much more significant
White Americans SHOULD be called European Americans though. The first descriptor describes the place of ethnic origin, the second describes the place of nationality. It's pretty simple.
@@himssendol6512 Maybe it would mean to treat yourself to some pathogens for your immune system to practice on so it doesn't feel the need to attack harmless foreign objects like pollen or - worst of all - some of your own cells. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read more about the hygiene hypothesis mentioned in the video.
With respect, A USDA meat inspector who is looking for a puncture in intestines during the slaughter process *IS* trying to read the future in the entrails. Specifically, they're trying to determine if someone, in the future, might get sick from eating that meat. It is the one time where haruspicy, is actually valid, and it tickles me.
I really appreciated how you handled the "why politics". There was no pandering, no apologizing, no coddling, no backpedaling. I'm sure you may lose some viewers as a result. We need more people who make arguments and opinions in good-faith without virtue signaling or self-editing just for the fans. I like your content because it expands my mind, challenges some of my notions ( or sometimes confirms them ). On the best days it even changes my mind on long held opinions ( I stopped washing my brown rice ). Keep up the editorial on all things, It's what I love the most about the channel.
"No pandering" yeah, i call bs. He's pandering to his own side and he definitely is virtue signalling. Sure, he's not apologetic about it.... so I guess points for sticking to your guns? Also, when he asks what about all the other topics he brings up in videos: that's textbook whataboutism.
@@feetareatreatmmd3750 That's like saying that expressing your personal views is "pandering" to some arbitrary "side" that happens to align with your *personal* beliefs... He *explicitly* states he doesn't identify with a reductive political label. Also when it comes to virtue signaling, I think you just disagree with his definition of it. I'm not a big fan of sermons myself, but he doesn't consider the sermon to be virtue signaling, but rather saying it once for $$ and ditching it to be virtue signaling, which means if he *stopped* talking about politics then he would consider himself to be virtue signaling.
@@feetareatreatmmd3750he was EXPLICIT in saying that he doesn’t belong to a “side”. I understand this completely. I call myself independent for the same reasons. I don’t agree with either side on all issues. In fact even when I do agree, it’s rarely 100%. I appreciate this answer and think more people should take in the information and decide for themselves. Quite frankly, both conservatives and liberals are guilty of requiring people to agree with them completely and this, imho, is why many of us roll our eyes when something political is discussed. Great answer, Adam. I’m elated to have found your channel.
@@melothrien6774 The thing is... I don't believe him. He clearly belongs to the left, he has a lot of leftist views such as the whole "greatful gringo" thing.
As an Asian living in Asia 🙄, I find Adam's take on things related to food - history, economics, culture etc.... illuminating (as in i learn something). In fact, it's those things that make me follow this channel because Adam covers stuff a whole lot deeper than just presenting food & food preparation, and those 'political' stuff are what I really am curious about.
@@MlleFunambuline And in the US food is more influenced by political interests than good sense. Yet we allow - enccourage - disgusting production methods for food from growing to eating.
As a Brit, I'd like to say that your explanation of our sewage system is bang on point. But I'd add one extra detail. Decades of under investment has led us to our disgusting situation. The government sold all the national infrastructure to the private sector decades ago, meaning its all about profit now rather than actually serving the taxpayers.
I actually grew up in a town in Michigan - quite a wealthy town - which had a combined sewer system. The creek in front of my childhood home would smell like a sewer during... well any time of the year really but especially in summer. You could watch actual sewage coming out of the overflow system kind of all the time, and especially after a storm. When I was in middle and high school in the 90s, the city decided to build a separated system, so they used this interesting robot boring thing to make entirely new sewer and storm sewer lines, as well as install underground retention basins to hold overflow. And as a result, the creek and the mill pond near my house stopped being disgusting. It also cost a lot of money.
Two things. Profit in a free market comes from in some way or ways, benefitting others. Secondly, its not as if the government is always able and/or willing to benefit the taxpayer
@@Jonathan-A.C. you are correct. The question is, which 'others' are benefiting? I'm all for a free market, but there are some things that really ought to be kept under national ownership. In the UK we pay a separate tax for our water and sewage services. If you pay for a service, you have a right to expect that service to be delivered properly. Instead though, the private water companies take the money and give it to the top bosses and major shareholders while the people paying for the service can only complain about untreated sewage being pumped into the waterways, causing health issues and environmental damage.
I laughed out loud at “my child sneezed directly into my eyeball the other night” because my own kid coughed in my face & I felt droplets landing in my mouth yesterday. Unfortunate but inevitable indeed.
I suspect that having kids and dealing with all their bodily stuff may help many people with their insane disgust phobias. It did for me. Vacuuming my son's puke out of the cracks in the wood flooring totally abolished all the ocd-esque crap my mom had crammed into my head. She still rinses chicken to this day and won't eat chicken made by anyone else for fear of salmonella.
I cannot stress enough how much I love this channel. The second part especially had me smiling and nodding all the way through and yes, it is important to always have an eye on political implications and ones own responsibility to learn from former mistakes. We here try to do that to a Point, where people from other country tell us to be a little less strickt and no, we should not be less strict. Some Things that happened shall never ever happen again and there are waaaay to many people who disagree in this. Very Kind regards from Germany!
as someone who worked in a deli/butcher.. me tasting from a cooking spoon in my own house is much cleaner than the majority of things that happened in that place; even when considering we followed the rules as much as possible
Sometimes following the rules makes things even less sanitary. I worked for a small, newly founded sushi place when I was about 18. The raw fish would be kept in the fridge obviously. When preparing multiple dishes that needed the same fish we would keep the fish on the counter until we had made all of them (like 5 minutes top). Then the health inspector came and told us we had to put the fish in the fridge at all times, only take it out to use some and put it straight back in. This lead to us having to open the fridge very often (once for every sushi roll). -One thing is the temperature in the fridge would rise from the frequent opening. -Another thing is when making sushi you constantly get rice and fish juices all over you hands and you can't wash your hands every two minutes. So every time you open the fridge you smear the stuff all over the handle and mix it with the older stuff already on there, creating a nice breeding ground for bacteria.
@@Ultrazaubererger Oh man! That’s interesting. There should be special commercial fridges with separate fridge compartments that are each cooled separately or something. Easier said than done, but that is an issue from all angles. Maybe special cooling boards or something?
@@rachelle2227 Sounds like its just an issue with over zealous rulemakers. Like I usually order ahead from my go-to sushi place, and depending on timing my order can easily sit there for half an hour before I pick it up. Doesn't really make much sense then to be so anal about it sitting out for 5 minutes while they're making the dish.
You're so well spoken. I know those videos are probably scripted and you just read from a screen but still. It's really well written and well read. Even your intonation helps deliver the meaning you're trying to convey. Those videos are very nice to listen to as someone who speaks english as a second language. Very clear language and reasoning.
im just impressed he has the skill and the time to write, record, and edit an hour-long podcast which frequently draws from scientific literature, when he already makes two videos per week
2:03 that person's gotta remember that the majority of what Adam cooks in his kitchen will be eaten only by Adam and his wife and kids, not sold to customers where a liability case can ensue
I assume the Person knows this, but is just a cleaning-freak. I know such a person myself, although for him it's a pschilogical thing which he try's to tackle since Corona started, but it's not so easy for him.
And actually according to Adam's earlier podcast, a lot (maybe less nowadays) of his food doesn't even get eaten because he films at odd hours to accommodate his real life family cooking/eating schedule.
Yeah but Adam also rants about our society being 'too clean' -we can only afford to be sloppy in the kitchen _because_ our societies take health, hygiene and sanitation so seriously. I think there is some mutually exclusive ideas at play.
Thank you Adam, I grew up in the countryside and have since moved to a large city where most people are from the city or its suburbs. The amount of people in my white collar environment that hate being reminded of the inherently dirty and chaotic world that we live in boggles my mind. So many people seem to be so removed from the world and I'm glad you are addressing it.
I'm a grandma. (no farm experience.) When I cook for my family I use the two-spoon system. I scoop from the pot and pour it into a second spoon and taste from that. And I gotta say I particularly loved this episode, Adam. Everything has political aspects, and food is no exception.
If, like me, you often cook for someone with an irrational fear of germs, I recommend the two-spoon tasting method, which I learned from Claire Saffitz (Dessert Person on RUclips): Use one spoon to scoop from the pot, and drop it into a second spoon for tasting. Zero cross-contamination, and very little additional spoon-washing. =)
I’m not a professional chef, but I use the two spoon method. Particularly if I’m using the spoon to stir raw meat or raw fish, I’m not sticking that spoon in my mouth and then using it to stir the food I’m cooking.
Classical version of that is a little tea "plate" (? I think the english word is saucer or something like that) you spoon foor onto to taste. Thats what I usually do since its a bit easier to spoon onto that instead of another spoon in my experience. I also only do it when cooking for people not in my familiy though since I dont want my spit in their food. For family as Adam said we basically share all bacteria already anyways
I believe she learned that from Sohla if memory serves correctly, though I can’t remember exactly what ba video it was. Still it’s genius! Was mind blown when I first learned it.
I did too. And then I started overthinking it and I realized that when he said "saucer" I was thinking of a ladle. But it's really a plate. A plaaaaaaaaaaate. And now it's ruined.
@@JetstreamGW I'd argue its more hilarious to imagine a chef using a saucer to get some of the broth or whatever they're cooking to sample it and the strange looks a customer may have to seeing them do so.
@@JetstreamGW it also doesn't actually rhyme in most UK accents. Adam merges the LOT and THOUGHT vowels with the PALM vowel, while in UK English these are all distinct. Saucer is pronounced the same as "sorcer."
I’m a Brit and I can legitimately see that slogan nestled among the posters in my GP’s waiting room - which is the only time I’ve voluntarily read one of those public health releases.
I used to get asked this question all the time when I ran a Level 4 commercial kitchen. And my answer was always that I adhere strictly to food safety rules in the commercial kitchen but not at home. Why?? Because at home, I know who I'm cooking for. In the commercial kitchen, I have no idea if someone is immune-compromised, is pregnant. Also young children and the elderly can be more susceptible... all people I was feeding in the commercial kitchen. Anyone eating in my home kitchen...wel, I know if they had chemo this week.... And I think this "know your audience" rule of thumb guides a lot of pro cooks and home cooks alike.
How close would you get to strictly following the food safety rules at home if you did have a guest that was more immunocompromized? Would you follow all the rules you followed in the commercial kitchen to keep the guest as safe as possible or just use your best judgment for what will make the biggest impact over how you would cook normally at home?
@@drewgraham I'm not OP but I do have a weakened immune system ESPECIALLY related to my digestion. For me I don't strictly follow what I would in a restaurant but a big reason for that is because I can keep track of things so much better than in a commercial kitchen. It's similar to what adam talked about with the colored cutting boards. I don't use specialized cutting boards or anything like that but I do keep much more care than the average person. I know what parts are "sanitary" and what aren't compared to a commercial kitchen where you're basically relying on trusting the process to make sure that stuff is correctly placed/used in accordance with the rules. My guess is that OP would take much more care in tasting food, keeping cross contamination risk at a minimum, and especially make sure dishes are sanitary, but otherwise I doubt you would need to bring out the colored cutting boards or have a reserved sink with a disinfectant for cleaning up afterwards.
I’m so glad Adam made the distinction between actual virtue signaling, as in portentously expressing how good you are by agreeing with a particular viewpoint and anticipating praise for it, and “virtue signaling,” where someone just says something you disagree with. It seems like some people liberally accuse anyone expressing an even tacitly left-leaning viewpoint as “virtue signaling” where it would be more apt to throw that accusation at a corporation using a social Justice issue as a way to signal they’re the “good guys” so you buy more of their products.
If I'm cooking for others (coworkers, friends, etc) I'll use a distinct spoon (one for every individual time I taste) for tasting and wash my hands a little more often. If it's me and my family, then off the stirring spoon and from my fingers are okay.
The trick that I was taught in cooking school is to use two spoons. One for tasting and one for scooping your soup or sauce. You transfer the sauce from the scooping spoon onto the tasting spoon. This way you only need two spoons and the spoon that touches your mouth never touches the food in the pan. The only reason why I do it this way is because I often batch cook, so I want to minimize bacteria from entering my food so it doesn't spoil as fast. I agree with everything Adam said in this pod and people who get upset over these things are overreacting. Unless you have a compromised immune system, but that's a whole other story.
A public health officer told me that the biggest problem for his profession was salad bars and buffets, followed by little restaurants started by amateurs who don't know what they are doing, and old, failing restaurants whose owners have stopped caring about safety. Some of the buffets are huge, with a large number of underpaid employees handling large quantities of food left out in the open and fiddled with by hundreds of customers, raising the odds of contamination. He said that contamination at home from people cooking for themselves is not a big problem. He added that the biggest dangers are in politically corrupt cities where regulations are ignored or inspectors can be bribed... fortunately this does not apply in my city.
What I love most about your channel is that you cover so much ground - food, philosophy, history, politics etc. All of these things are entangled in our society and it's all interesting and useful information. Thanks for all the videos!
Adam, howdy, I'm a devoted amateur cook as is my partner. And I've been living in Mexico since 1986. I noticed the Wheat Corn Divide in Mexican cooking. And the problem of making filled dishes with pure corn masa (gorditas empanadas, etc). They tend to leak, split etc. My Partner and I devised a solution. to mix the corn masa with flour (half and half is what we mostly prefer) to retain the corn flavor but not have the structural problems. This is a perfect compromise for the north south debate as well as something I don't see widely done in Mexico (or the other videos I watch, even the US). Enjoy your shows....keep doing what you love...JIM
I buy tortillas that are mix bc they hold better for tacos! I love how corn tastes but you're right, the lack of gluten means they fall apart so quickly
I once saw a heated “debate” about this topic on Twitter between Mexican Americans and Mexicans from different regions; it was interesting if for nothing else than seeing that corn-people spitting at wheat-people and vice versa BOTH had spit left for people who preferred the hybrid. Personally I, a complete outsider as a Dane, have also found the hybrid method most appealing
Maybe I'm too Mexican, but I cannot stand the mixed masa. It tastes like neither, doesn't feel right, and just makes me wish it was either corn or wheat, whichever but the mixed one. Fresh masa worked properly, and fried correctly on hot oil (or lard for better results!) will make an empanada that does not leak its contents, and will taste right.
Man... having worked at a mcdonalds... y'all thinking these teenage minimum wage workers following health codes or policies is f'in hilarious to me... i've watched someone grab a mcnugget, cover it in ranch, eat it, lick the excess ranch off their gloves, then go to make more food, and the manager didn't fire her cause she was cute and 17 and he was a creep... barely even told her off...
I worked in a mcdonald's about 8 years ago, I got yelled at because "if the manager isn't directly looking at you, you don't throw out food when the timer ends" even if that chicken breast has been in the reheater for 8 hours you are supposed to just reset the timer so the waste bin would be empty at the end of the shift. That turned me off fast food for good.
Culinary grad and worked in gourmet kitchens…..it is everywhere no matter how much the establishment charges you as a customer, and cooks in gourmet kitchens are still underpaid workers. So, I left to go to college in hopes to not work in food service anymore, I hope it all works out.
There's no way I'd ever watch this channel without what you discussed in the second part of this podcast. To me most recipes dirty too many dishes, but I still love learning about everything that surrounds those kinds of foods. The other cool thing about this channel is you are skeptical of fads and pseudoscience. The last thing I want is to be fooled by pseudoscience or a scammer of some sort Without careful skepticism we'd fall to the grifters online. Please don't give up shoehorning a foot into the shoe ("politics" etc.[science and so on] is the foot and food is the shoe). I'd be bored out of my mind if you didn't "put the foot where it belongs".
It’s not really politics as much as it is history. I like history. As long as you’re spitting fact with the least bias possible then I’m good. Some people don’t realize that history is political
One of my favorite bits from Adam’s videos was during (I think) his tiki masala video when he’s toasting the spices and he goes (paraphrasing) “you could add each of these spices individually according to the time that it will take them to ideally cook, but that is not something that I’m going to do.” That’s a quote that now rings in the back of my head like a gong whenever I watch another cooking channels videos. Adam is all about showing you ways to cook stuff that is good but also something that you can feasibly accomplish after a long days work sustainably all while teaching you a thing or two. That’s why I keep coming back.
He isn't skeptical of the pseudoscience of Evolution, though. BTW.... To be skeptical about everything should INCLUDE being skeptical ABOUT skepticism. Once you realize this, the more sure you become.
@@modil2935 Neither you, archeologists, or anyone else has ever seen a live mid-species or even a fossil of one. Mid-species aren't springing up anywhere either. It seems you are confusing microevolution with macroevolution. Micro has been observed. Macro has not. Micro cannot be used as evidence for macro. A species of bird my change the shape of their beak over time, but the bird doesn't turn around and become a wolf. Thinking that a species can change into a completely different species is what's called macroevolution, which has never been observed. Macroevolution is therefore pseudo-science. It takes FAITH to believe in something that has not been observed. So ask yourself.... why do you believe in macroevolution when no one has ever seen it? Do you somehow need this fantasy to be true in order for you to peacefully co-exist with everyone?
Great podcast, Adam. I particular love how you do focus on more than food. There are plenty of pure cooking channels out there and I get tired of them I admit. I have always enjoyed your 'larger picture' approach. It's what brought me over here.
It's very refreshing to see an hour long podcast ostensibly framed by confrontational questions from viewers to the channel. It's very instructive to see someone take direct pointed critiques of their work and not shame or belittle the person for asking from a their perspective. It should not be so rare to see someone accept a direct critique, meet it as though it were asked earnestly, and answer duly in good faith. I know the pod is curated, and is a simplified, one-sided presentation of any issue. But I admire the humility, patience and confidence required to respectfully stand your ground, present your case, break things down as much and reasonably as you can. Speculating, but I bet you have your own frustrating emotional reactions to getting a thousand slightly different questions asked a thousand separate times each. Few of us have the perspective of managing a youtube channel glut with such microconfrontations, I appreciate you choosing to respond to those feelings in a way that helps us understand where you're coming from.
I'll never forget a friend telling me about his favourite fish and chip shop in Scotland where the owner would check the temperature of the fat by spitting in it to see how sizzles. Hot enough to be safe but still a bit gross
@@aluminiumknight4038 yeah, but if you really force yourself to think about it, anything living in that saliva died instantly from the 150 Celsius plus heat and everything else in it is just water and some enzymes. i would still strongly suggest that fella start slinging a little tap water into the fat instead, the optics are fuckin awful
@Jared Lind Part of it might be that spitting is culturally a sign of disrespect. Obviously this cook was not actively disrespecting the fat, or the fish, but his action is uncomfortably close to the old story of a troublesome, disrespectful customer who sends his undercooked food back, unaware that several kitchen staff members spit on it on its return trip. (Is this a real thing? Or just a myth?)
also i'm a lifelong oregonian and it was crazy to learn about the black exclusion laws when i did some years ago. not in my public school curricula lol. extra note on it, there were black people that basically had to "sundown town" the entire state but were brought in to labor and driven out by the end of the day
@@JavierPwns well the chilling effect worked since the state was white-only during the great migration. hypothetically speaking, a stupid ass racist would be even more idiotic to think of the 2% they account for in oregon's ethnic demographics as anything but a huge W for the white supremacist movement and their inbred families
The person who sent that e-mail would have an absolute stroke at my house. We don't just taste from the stirring spoon. We pass it around and everyone dips a finger in to taste and give their opinion on the seasoning or if they think anything else would make it taste better. Granted, we do usually rinse the spoon before putting it back in the pot, but probably not always. Oh wait! We all watch your videos. That's all your fault isn't it? 😆 You bad example you!
@@EdwardLindon Have in videos often seen in that some servers to others are choice pieces from a dish. The only problem that I have ever felt when that happens is that it could be something that the receiver really do not like. Friday taco dinner is basically the same where I live in Norway. Many small dishes that everyone take what they want from to put into their taco. 🙂
@@EdwardLindon That's why there was a large campaign for serving chopsticks/spoons in the 1960s. Before that campaign, foodborne illnesses especially Hepatitis A were prevalent in East and South East Asia including Taiwan.
We don't eat from the same spoons unless we already share bodily fluids. If you take a bite from the same sppon as your romantic partner, or the child who regularly kisses you on the mouth, talks, laughs, or snuggles with you, and often coughs directly in your face, the horse is already out of the barn, so to speak. For other family members and guests, serving spoons are for dishing up and you use your own utensils for eating. That is pretty basic hygiene practice, at least where I live. I haven't personally encountered any family that does things drastically differently. Dipping a clean finger into a sauce to taste it for seasoning, especially while it is still simmering doesn't raise any eyebrows in my family and social circle.
This episode was SO good Adam. I listen to all of the pods, and watch all of the videos. They're all good... But, this was superb. It honestly sounded like poetry most of the way through
He’s holding out for a future video. Can’t cannibalise his own content. Jk. But check out J Kenji Lopez alt on the topic. He did massive tests with hundreds of egg peelers of varying skill levels to test which methods make the easiest to peel eggs
bring water to a boil. put eggs directly in the boiling water. wait 7 minutes. pull them out and dunk them in a cold bath. perfect soft boiled eggs (make minor adjustments to time if you like them runnier or more firm).
@@cornoc recently got an electric kettle...I use that to boil the water (much faster and doesn't heat the kitchen), pour that water over the eggs, then start the stove...still takes about 13min to get hard boiled eggs...just less time getting the water to temp. I doubt this will be part of his test as I think it's a rare use case...but yeah, eggs have been perfect to peel
Regarding the too-clean-and-hygienic topic, up until about 10 years ago, my grandparents, who had a farm in the rural area, had several people that they know that lived in bigger cities bring their kids to my grandparents over the summer. The parents wanted their kids to be able to play outside and get dirty, go in the barn to the animals and so on, so they can get a healthier immune system. It's well known that "eating dirt" from time to time is a good thing, especially for kids.
@@VoodooMcVee And my gran always said, "you've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die." I remember her saying that to my mother when I was going through the mud pie stage. (Not that I was eating them, but those hands were always dirty.) Her expression has made me chuckle to this day, because if you think about it, it can be read two ways, both of which are probably true. I really do believe those mud pies made with crick water may have contributed to my excellent immune system, still going strong at 80. And, I'll add, I've never had a problem with digestion etc, so I think I have a very happy population of little unicellular tenants in my personal biome.
Apparently the same goes for our living spaces that some dirt traed into the house & open windows go a long way to improving our quality of life & health. Bloomberg Businessweek had a great article about biomes within our homes a few years back
I'm so glad I started watching/listening to your podcasts, this one particularly. I feel like I have a much better sense of your sensibilities and your inclusiveness and understanding. This is great stuff.
Hey Adam, from the bottom of my heart, mind and stomach, thanks for being like you are and showing it to the likes of me, youngsters that have much to learn still. Listening to your thoughtful, empathetic, wise and interesting points of view feels like a privilege.
I'm a Brit with Indian heritage (via the Caribbean) and I was raised with a cultural taboo against contaminating food with saliva. So much so that the word for saliva contamination: "jutar"* was one of the few words of Hindi retained, despite the family only speaking English for a few generations. It is regarded as super important concept in my family. For instance, when my great Aunts came to visit from Trinidad that was what they grilled me on to check that Mum had "brought me up properly". I assume that there is a cultural taboo about it because it matters a lot more in hot countries where food is more likely to be in the microbial "danger zone". Whereas in climate like the UK you are much less likely to accidentally give your friends food poisoning from saliva contamination; though I do actually know someone who did. Interestingly I don't find it inherently disgusting, and have personally decided to relax a little about it as an adult. I will now do things that never would have been allowed growing up, like tasting my friends drinks and eating directly from the ice cream container at home (still no one tell my Mum lol 😅). Though growing up with the concept has been excellent training for my current job as a chef, because I don't have to remember not to taste from the cooking spoon because that was never my habit in the first place. *Don't know if that is the correct spelling since I've never seen it written down. My family pronounces it "jew-tar".
Adam, this episode is good enough that I am writing a comment on it. I don't do that a lot these days, but this episode is really awesome. This just really cemented my appreciation of you and your channel.
I rarely comment on videos, but I felt I needed to add my voice regarding the section on politics and virtue signaling. I feel your Podcast and your videos strike the perfect balance regarding perspective on these issues and how it relates to food. Keep doing what you're doing the way you do it. I will continue to be a follower and a fan . John from Eastern Canada. 🇨🇦
2:13 Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're one of the few "on-air" personalities I've watched that knows it's "end quote," not "unquote." I worked in TV and radio broadcasting for twenty-five years.
Oh, so that's what they're saying all the time! As a non-native english speaker I always understand "quote-on-quote". I mean, I got the meaning, but always wondered why they're saying it in such a strange way.
@@ihcfn I think Dan Rather focused my attention (and that of my high school english teacher) on that quirk way back in the late seventies, before he became anchor. I recall Tom Brokaw doing the same. I don't have any recollection of Peter Jennings doing so.
Why do I get the feeling that we dont choose to watch Adam but Adam is curating an audience. I love that this episode probably caused a few unsubscribes but the people left remaining are tight. Courageous episode Adam! You keep doing what you do man.
I really enjoy the broad topics covered on the channel! Especially the videos with some anthropology in them. The relationship between food and humans is amazing to learn about
During the height of the pandemic in 2020, I cooked several batches of food for a friend who was going through cancer treatment. For many reasons, I was hyper-aware of my food safety practices while preparing those meals. But those were extraordinary times and extraordinary requirements for my kitchen habits. Context matters. I stopped short of wearing a hair net in my own kitchen, but I was so much more careful making that food than I ever have been for my own meals.
Folks consider me a germaphobe. When cooking, I taste from the stirring spoon occasionally when cooking for the family. Since the spoon gets dunked back into 212 °F sauce, or whatever the dish may be, I am not worried about contamination. I would not do this if there were invited guests in the house / kitchen. It's really not a big deal.
25:10 i'm horribly panicked by vomit, but I spent a significant amount of my childhood being sick. I would say in my case it's more phobia based than core disgust based. It's really interesting though the observations about social disgust and core disgust/animal reminder disgust
A big problem with trying to put meats in the bottom of the fridge is that every single fridge I have ever used is designed to not let you do that. The vegetable and fruit drawers are *always* at the bottom. Which seems like a design flaw.
I use the crisper draw as a meat draw and keep the salad on top. Because my fridge was manufactured after 1980, it keeps salad crisp up there just fine. The draw makes it really easy to clean too!
Been tasting off my cooking spoon for 40 years and nobody has gotten sick that I know of... Didn't occur to me that anybody had a problem with that sort of thing
As someone who worked in Fine Dining Restaurants, I can confirm that chefs use tasting spoons when tasting. They have a small bin of spoons and use a fresh spoon per taste to avoid any contamination. Moral of the story: nothing wrong with tasting off of a clean spoon or a clean finger at home
@@HannahHoffmanMusic By using a CLEAN spoon there is no cross contamination. That is the point Step 1) place clean spoon into food Step 2) taste food off of said spoon Step 3) wash spoon Cross contamination easily avoided, just like I described above
@@graceface418 The point of contention was about putting the spoon back into the pot after it's been in the chef's mouth. Obviously there's no cross-contamination if the spoon does not go back in the food!
"Why do you talk about politics" is said by people who are inconvienced by the politics involved in many things. They have the privilege to "stick to food" and have done so for a long time. I am glad that you are delving deeper into sometimes the invonvient truth.
Excellent video, Adam! Your podcast gets better and better with each edition! I am legitimately as excited about these as I am the mainline videos nowadays, and I am always excited to see you upload in general.
Just want to say thanks, Adam, for what you do and the care and thought with which you do it! And an encouragement to fellow viewers to keep cooking, learning, and having fun along the way!
A chef I worked under, was more concerned about people touching their phones than not wearing gloves. Gloves were important for covering cuts and handling chicken. Other chefs were against wearing gloves while handling things on a grill, to prevent getting the glove burned to your skin or having plastic stuck to the food.
The more you explain& go deep about these questions/being vulnerable yourself, showing it, being honest - it makes me love these podcasts even more than the informative food vids xD Really glad I subbed and keep watching all your vids, i respect you alot
Adam, I am new to your channel and your content has helped me find new internet in food that I never had before. Also as an African American currently living in Oregon appreciate the way you addressed the cultural and political "confusion" from the guy from central Oregon. I just had to say thank you. This is exactly what we need in this country and it gives me hope. I wish I could hug you. Keep doing what you're doing.
Regarding the tortilla debate: I remembered learning from the comment section about the North/wheat vs South/corn divide. I love this channel’s community!
I found your RUclips channel pretty recently and like the content a lot, including how you present it. This, this makes me like you very much as a person. You are highly intelligent, very nerdy but also give me the impression you are also very empathetic and inclusive and just a kind caring person. As someone who is an outlier in society and apart of multiple marginalized groups, thank you for making all of it relevant. 💚
I'm surprised this is a topic as Adam is pretty apolitical. It's easy to tell where he lies and a lot of his views but he doesn't try to preach or insert his own thoughts about something irrelevant into his food channel.
you'd be surprised at what people consider to be "political". For instance there were people complaining that he talked about the very real indentured servitude of Black people (usually women) in his video on kitchen design in the American South. Some people just don't want to come to terms with history.
@@m.f.3347 to some people. Even hinting that America has done some pretty sus shit in the past is, “too political.” They want to deny reality as much as they possibly can
@@m.f.3347 That tone is a good example of what people don't like. Very real things have happened but when you jump in the replies on sensitive subjects saying "It's not political you just want to ignore xxx" then people get mad because you sound like a condescending POS more often than not Yes, that was something that happened, it doesn't mean that it's not political. Rather than discussing the subject, people care mostly about how it is framed (Example: your comment). Anyone that could have something to say about a subject or doesn't like sensitive political or controversial topics gets hit with "It's not political you're just a bigot" in the replies
@@SpareMango "well you aren't civil enough so now I will whine and use it as an excuse to not acknowledge injustice or work to fix the damage or even the bare minimum, have a convo" You are criticizing the "tone" of politically involved people as a smokescreen to hide the fact you do not wanna participate, it is your duty to care about justice if you live in society, the tone of anyone's speech does not change that fact. I also love the hypocrisy here, nobody ever complains when casual conservative views are expressed , they are simply background noise (for example literally anything gordon ramsey does) , but even slightly left of center views expressed in the most mild sanitized matter well now we gotta talk for some reason now there is a whole problem apparently
I've been binging these videos so much in the last few days since I've found them, they are so engaging and well put together with just enough bird walking to not get bored. It's fantastic, so grateful to have found this channel, thank you for putting in the time
Best technique regarding tasting is what I learned from a cook. He was cooking for a vacation camp for teens in an outdoor kitchen and had to obey health codes with limited resources (especially no dish washer). He'd simply use his ladle to scoop some of the sauce/dish and then trickle some onto his tasting spoon without making contact between the two. It's such a simple method, but never seemed to cross my mind. Just one tasting spoon for all dishes.
I really enjoyed the politics segment of the episode. I've been watching your videos for almost a year now, and I've never thought anything you've said could be considered "political". I was confused by the question when I saw it in the description. I suppose, not being from the US, I have a much different sense for politics. Whenever you talk about history, social issues or ethical issues related food consumption, I just considered it relevant to the video.
Dude was just mad that Adam was like acknowledging systemic issues here and there, which directly shits on the idea that conservatism is good for society. In order to present this as the case, they intentionally ignore all systemic issues which have arisen directly due to their ideology as to essentially sanitise it.
@@Noba46688 There are systemic issues. Some are leftover and plenty of them are introduced by the extreme left, e.g. the racism experienced in university. The issue is that Ragusea holds some extreme views and doesn't understand that the people criticizing him have a point. A lot of people are watching him because of the food content, who do not neccessarily share his fringe views on politics. Therefore it would probably be better to move politics to a secondary channel.
@@svr5423 If you think any of Adam's expressed views are fringe, then you need to touch grass. I dare say he's views aligned with the majority of Americans. I haven't heard him advocating class solidarity or the decommodification of food. In this very video he criticized the wokescolds in the far left that constantly virtue signal to others.
I was taught to use the stirring spoon to dribble some of the food onto the back of the other hand and taste that; it's somewhere between lots of fresh tasting spoons to wash and just tasting from the stirring spoon. It might be a result of that sort of hybrid environment that is regular multiple household/extended family meals.
Politics influence what we eat, what food is available to us, and how we feel about it. The one time I remember Adam speaking on something vaguely political is when he was talking about his old kitchen and how it was probably used by slaves. He said "you don't want to hear my opinions about it and I don't want to give it. "
He talks alot abut US politcal stuff in his food sciency videos. Snide remarks about how bad that or this view is always gets a mention. I am not from the US and US politics I find annoying for that reason. The Us politival view of any subject no matter what ilse in your politics you sit in is not always right.
@@betaich I think your assessment is more accurate. Adam's writing is inherently snarky (with the good & bad that comes with that), and Adam has a background in journalism, and and also teaching in US universities. Both vocations are significantly dominated by adherants to one particular end of the US political spectrum.
@@betaich everything is connected to politics. Doesn't matter where you are from, content creators from your region of the world also express politics in their content, intentional or not. The only way to avoid politics is to keep your head literally in the sand., but even that would be an expression of your politics.
@@hewhohasnoidentity4377 I like Adams snark, but sometimes I am annoyed that he only views some stuff from an US perspective despite the thing not having solely to do with the us. I still like his videos and I know his biases and therefore can calculate them in while watching. But I still get annoyed sometimes by the Us centric view
Hi Adam. I started helping a cooking teacher with her catering which was done to help fund her school. I, actually we, didn't take any of her cooking courses, but she was the leader of that programing, so her friends were doing okay with food prep. Well, for the most part. There was a failure she committed and I saw it right away. Tasting out of the stir spoon and put it back in for another taster or to stir with. I didn't say anything, until I suddenly saw a large spoon appear near my mouth as she got beside me and said "Tastes good, try it." I moved my head away from that and said in a calm voice 'If you can see my teeth I haven't been able to afford fixing, you won't eat that after I do.' I then took a teaspoon out of the drawer and served myself a single sample and then put the spoon in the sink for our next washing load. I got my wish to speak out to this teacher and it went further than my own matters, she stopped doing that. For a bigger tasting, get a bigger utensil for one use or a coffee cup and put a serving spoon amount to eat with another utensil, I haven't found a problem with that. It is sometimes hard to call out a friend though, but I never saw anyone do that there again, she offered a hand full of teaspoons when encouraging tasting or when people suggested going for a taste and we all took our individual responsibility on that. At home, I do fail on that, but I try, however I know others won't eat my food, I live by myself. I also put my food away soon or take a chance or toss it if I fail on that, this cooking school was doing that quite well as things were prepared, but the teaspoons, or any single use utensils were peace of mind for her shared food. I have no idea why this teacher wasn't up on that before I came into the picture. Though I haven't seen you cook yet, viewing your content is new to me, I haven't thought anything of this on other cooking shows. The amount of food made in front of an audience is normally a single or family size meal, I think the seated audience won't be eating, and certainly the TV and Internet audience won't eat it. As for the poo and Norovirus, that's dangerous in any workplace. Even when I was a mechanic, I saw there was that ugly risk of contamination on or in the mouth when sharing tasks and tools with people who don't wash hands because we touch our faces. And mechanics are notorious for holding tools in mouths and under chins when finding no flat surface or pocket available to hold a wrench to use fingers to hand tighten something. Too quick washroom breaks are red flags for that and I don't think there's a mechanic workplace with everyone adhering to good restaurant handwashing policies. Oh, my tool belt was so handy.
I have worked as a chef in Norway (I am now certified). I am also a hobby cook, and cook for myself and my family sometimes. I follow a few guidelines I learned at the restaurant, but not all. I try to avoid cross contamination as much as I can (raw meat, and other ingredients that need to be heat treated). I wash my hands after going to the bathroom, and before I start cooking. But I am not crazy about other microbes, and generally I see my home as having it's own microbiome, which I am used to, as such it's not harmful. It can actually be bad to over sanitize the kitchen because it can produce more resistant microbes. The presence of harmless microbes also helps outcompete dangerous microbes. Anyway, that's how I see things.
Preventing raw meat contamination is a good practice for home kitchens as well. Probably far and away the most likely vector that home cooking can actually get you sick, considering pretty much all other vectors require one member of the household to have gotten it somewhere else already
There is a school of thought that hospital superbugs evolved through trying to over sterilize where/when it is not needed. Personally I use Emc cleaning products that contain beneficial bacteria to prevent (out compete) other harmful bugs.
That email you received from that disgruntled ex-viewer has got to be one of the most dramatic things I’ve ever heard of. I literally don’t know whether to shake my head, huff at the stupidity of it all, or laugh… all three? 😂 To be _that_ upset over how someone else cooks _their own_ food in _their own_ home and that the viewer _will not_ be eating themselves, is wildly mind boggling. I do the same thing when I cook for myself - never when I cook for others. I just think some people out in the big, wild world, just want something - anything - to be upset and appalled at.
I am loving your podcast, Adam! I am a nerd in many ways, but I’ve not seen or heard that many nerdy cooking/food facts in one place before. I love all the facts, and you always portray and explain everything in a very accessible way, but also very intelligentally.
One thing I've come to love about the podcasts is that you can hear the former professor seep through. These are usually presented more like an academic lecture, which I quite like.
I live in a very hot place so I have to be very careful about safe food practices because food can spoil extremely fast. My mom and grandma would always taste food by pouring a few drops into the palm of their hands and tasting it instead of tasting directly from the stirring spoon. It's awful to see a pot of beans or soup spoil because you left it at room temperature for a few hours. Colder climates allow for sloppier food safety routines because microbes don't multiply very rapidly
Hi Adam... I recently found your channel and I'm hooked. You're honest and your delivery is crystal clear. These "podcasts" are utterly fascinating, please keep this going
Thank you Adam, again. This brief hour of "over answering" has cemented my subscription! Another wonderful journey of clarifying some of my own thoughts, of what gives meaning to our lives and hence, one might say, gives meaning to eating. A moment of reflection, perspective and gratitude before eating, that Christian ritual of Grace, always struck me as somehow appropriate (I'm not religious in any normal sense). In other words, the bigger, wider, older picture is always relevant - everything is related (am I "over commenting" already?).
As I was listening I had to check to make sure I was subscribed. I am loving it here. This is very high quality content and I’m so glad I found this channel.
Adam, I barely comment on videos (yours or any other), tho I am a regular watcher. But I wanna say... Thank you for this episode, and for the amazing answers. And thank you for the amazing content!
That discussion was really enjoyable on all fronts. I like where you explained to Wesley exactly where YOU were coming from and the expectations you place on YOURSELF regarding your content. I like that you outlined your own thought process and gave him a guide to follow on formulating an opinion no matter what he chose to believe. All you can ever hope is that someone has thought about why they believe what they do.
Adam this was a great podcast. I love your views and "politics" please keep them coming. I'm not here just for food and would listen to all of your other interests as well. It's your logical and scientificish takes that keep me watching, not your cooking skills. 😂
Saliva enzyme are denatured at boiling temperature anyway. So are bacteria cells. It’s not like we are cooking with an autoclave to kill all pores. (Duh!) When tasting during cooking use any spoon you want. When the heat is off and the soup is cooling, use a clean spoon. That’s what i do.
Hey adam, I first watched your "why do we cook at home anymore" vid, and since then I've been watching all your stuff because I love the non food talk. I usually won't comment. I don't cook much myself but I love all the science and culture information that helps me to decide what I want to eat or how to live healthily or just interesting ideas. I don't always agree with your political ideas, as I don't agree with anyone on every single thing, but I appreciate it and hope you keep it up.
This episode of the podcast is a perfect encapsulation of what I like about Adam's channel. Thoughtful. And deftly weaving together disparate ideas, not just with a smooth segue, but with genuine interconnections and callbacks.
As a health inspector it doesn't really have anything to do with percent chances or anything like that. You do what you feel you're comfortable with in your home kitchen. I'm not going to tell people that they're right or wrong. The difference comes in the number of people that might get sick from a foodborne illness. Fixing food at home at most you might make 10 people sick. However, in a food establishment you might get hundreds of people or thousands of people sick by not adhering to Food Safety standards.
Honestly, listening to you discuss cultural and political relevance of food and consumption is probably the best entertainment I get from this website. Thank you for producing your content your way, its amazing work.
I was a manager in food as well and there’s just no reason to keep all of those standards in your own home lol You can be clean and not be restaurant standard and you should. Just be comfy in the kitchen :)
A heartfelt bravo. I found this entire episode, most particularly the second half to be among the most intelligent and enlightened things on the Internet.
If you really want to taste and not let your saliva touch the dish, use a dessert spoon to taste from and pour your taster onto it from your stirring spoon
I think this is the best episode of yours that I've yet heard. And thanks for the plug for "virtuous examples". It's an endangered species in some quarters.
Outstanding episode. Your discussion with Wesley at the end was pitch perfect. “Your” reality isn’t everyone’s reality, and it’s not weakness or virtue to acknowledge that; it’s humility.
I have been watching your videos for quite some time and while I do not always agree with your comments, I always learn something and am always interested in what you have to say. Today’s episode was one of your best in my opinion. You explained why you support some things and were especially respectful and careful so as to not offend those who think or feel differently. Great show today! You deserve the success you have achieved. I look forward to watching more.
Boiled eggs: I used to steam them, I've tried baking them, and I've tried starting with cold water. The first worked OK, but always got super sticky shells that shredded the egg when I'd go to peel. Very consistent results, though. Baking them? Soooo uneven, and sometimes would even brown the part of the egg touching the pan or muffin tin (I didn't dare try them on the rack directly). By starting in cold water, it was going to take too many experiments to figure out timing, since burners vary so much...one might come to a boil in 4 minutes, one might take 8...and while it's not boiling, it's still cooking for several minutes. I didn't have that kind of time. After watching Kenji's video on it, where he puts them in already-boiling water, and then pulls them out to cool in the egg carton? Very consistent, and of the last 2 dozen eggs I've tried (one was 2 weeks past the package date, and one was 8 days *before* the package date), only one had a little piece of white tear off with the shell, and the results were perfectly consistent from one egg to another. I've also tried vinegar in the water and poking holes in the shell, and neither of those seemed to have any effect.
this is now my 2nd favorite episode from your channel... i hope this makes some into better people even though some will probably unsubscribe or feel alienated.. always love your over-answering
Holy cow he really went in on that person, haha. When he started pulling up the intolerance research, I was like, please he's already down! Have some mercy!
you suddenly going on a rant about shoehorns is why i love your videos. its like vsauce, where you get random information about something, without a warning. i love random information
I had a lot of fun in this episode. Sadly it is always going to be a little controversial for some. But I did enjoy every tidbit life lessons/tangents here and there. I do wish more people listened, reflected upon themselves and hopefully had little light-bulb realizations for their conscience.
Ok gotta say that i love the " why you gotta" rant even more than the foid safety rant i commented on before. Thank you for what you do and you're right about being virtuous. It's hard but we all need to strive to be, genuinely be, because this is how we will make the world a better place!
@@dandychiggins6802 Simply having a political view and expressing it, as Adam does, does not mean that he's bringing up politics, because he's not advocating. You, on the other hand, are advocating because you're telling other people what to think and what to say. So, technically, you're the one being political.
I LOVED this conversation!!!! And I didn’t know about the correlation between intolerance and disgust and can’t wait to dive into the research! Keep up the great work!
You can't please everyone and you probably shouldn't try. I taste with a clean spoon most of the time just as a habit, but even when I do, I get people complaining that I double-dipped the same spoon (because of course I edit out the part of the video where I throw the used spoon in the sink and get a fresh one - who would want to see that?). If you make a thing of explaining that you didn't double dip the spoon, you annoy the majority of viewers who were not complaining.
Its Atomic!! Early Autumn mushroom foraging video in the making? I hope the rain has hit the UK as hard as it dit The Netherlands!
@@ForestContent Yeah, we've had some rain now, so I'm hoping the fungi will be up soon
Good grief, these people must have their mind blown every time spouses kiss or a parent holds hands with their children! Love your content Atomic!
@@PippetWhippet Indeed. Interesting what Adam said about the correlation with general intolerance - I did not know that, but I suppose it makes sense.
I just thought of this: In our house, we have a box in the freezer that I throw bones into if we have a meal like chicken wings or ribs; when the box is full, I boil them all up to make stock - from those bones that various family members have been gnawing on. For the sake of aesthetics, I choose not to serve stock made this way to guests outside of the family, but the actual health risk from any of this is zero (because of the boiling process to make the stock).
The things that some people find 'gross' aren't actually all that similar to the things that present genuine health risks.
that's crazy I was just watching a bunch of your scammers videos and now you show up in these comments. can I get your autograph?
Q: Is sipping from the cooking spoon gross?
Adam: We're all flesh automatons animated by neurotransmitters and all you know will rot.
DIVINE LIGHT SEVERED
This comment is gold.
damn, sudden cruelty squad
From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh, it disgusted me…
I cannot believe I found a cruelty squad reference under the adam ragusea podcast
As a black person, I want to thank you for saying "black people" instead of African American. There are other countries and lands where the majority of the population is black. Haiti, Jamaica, Barbados...yes they may have come from Africa, but over the years they've developed their own customs and identities. We wouldn't call white Americans anything like European Americans, unless they actually came from Europe and obtained dual citizenship. It is just as foolish as calling a black person from Europe an African American. It's silly. I did not come from Africa. I was born in America. I am, a black American
The woke left makes people afraid of saying that though
Wouldn't it be counter intuitive to apply racial designation like that? "White people" or "Black people" label assumes that people are defined by their skin colour. Like, someone from Egypt who has dark complexion would have nothing in common with someone with same skin colour living in US, except the skin colour. They have different culture, different values and different identity.
@@al_Hasaan Definitely true that they are different, but peoples are often lumped under the same umbrella term, both from within and without, and as such it makes sense to define such groups as white/black/etc. when we're talking about such situations and identities.
@@al_Hasaan this is where a lot of peoples frustration with race politics comes from. "You look like me, therefore you are like me" is imo a pretty racist way to view things and the cultures from which people are raised and live in is much more significant
White Americans SHOULD be called European Americans though. The first descriptor describes the place of ethnic origin, the second describes the place of nationality. It's pretty simple.
As long as the "Treat yourself; lick the bowl" sign stays in the kitchen, and out of the bathroom, you'll be OK.
Lol!
Now you’ve made me curious. What would “treat yourself” mean in the bathroom context? 😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣👏👏👏
Toilet is probably cleaner than every other surface in your house
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@himssendol6512 Maybe it would mean to treat yourself to some pathogens for your immune system to practice on so it doesn't feel the need to attack harmless foreign objects like pollen or - worst of all - some of your own cells. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read more about the hygiene hypothesis mentioned in the video.
With respect, A USDA meat inspector who is looking for a puncture in intestines during the slaughter process *IS* trying to read the future in the entrails. Specifically, they're trying to determine if someone, in the future, might get sick from eating that meat. It is the one time where haruspicy, is actually valid, and it tickles me.
Hahah true!
Awesome point!
Had to look up haruspicy. Hilarious comment
lol, nice
You have a point. 😀
I really appreciated how you handled the "why politics". There was no pandering, no apologizing, no coddling, no backpedaling. I'm sure you may lose some viewers as a result. We need more people who make arguments and opinions in good-faith without virtue signaling or self-editing just for the fans. I like your content because it expands my mind, challenges some of my notions ( or sometimes confirms them ). On the best days it even changes my mind on long held opinions ( I stopped washing my brown rice ). Keep up the editorial on all things, It's what I love the most about the channel.
"No pandering" yeah, i call bs. He's pandering to his own side and he definitely is virtue signalling. Sure, he's not apologetic about it.... so I guess points for sticking to your guns? Also, when he asks what about all the other topics he brings up in videos: that's textbook whataboutism.
@@feetareatreatmmd3750 where was the pandering in that, might i ask?
@@feetareatreatmmd3750 That's like saying that expressing your personal views is "pandering" to some arbitrary "side" that happens to align with your *personal* beliefs... He *explicitly* states he doesn't identify with a reductive political label.
Also when it comes to virtue signaling, I think you just disagree with his definition of it. I'm not a big fan of sermons myself, but he doesn't consider the sermon to be virtue signaling, but rather saying it once for $$ and ditching it to be virtue signaling, which means if he *stopped* talking about politics then he would consider himself to be virtue signaling.
@@feetareatreatmmd3750he was EXPLICIT in saying that he doesn’t belong to a “side”. I understand this completely. I call myself independent for the same reasons. I don’t agree with either side on all issues. In fact even when I do agree, it’s rarely 100%. I appreciate this answer and think more people should take in the information and decide for themselves. Quite frankly, both conservatives and liberals are guilty of requiring people to agree with them completely and this, imho, is why many of us roll our eyes when something political is discussed.
Great answer, Adam. I’m elated to have found your channel.
@@melothrien6774 The thing is... I don't believe him. He clearly belongs to the left, he has a lot of leftist views such as the whole "greatful gringo" thing.
As an Asian living in Asia 🙄, I find Adam's take on things related to food - history, economics, culture etc.... illuminating (as in i learn something). In fact, it's those things that make me follow this channel because Adam covers stuff a whole lot deeper than just presenting food & food preparation, and those 'political' stuff are what I really am curious about.
Agreed. It's his non-recipe content that I'm more interested in. I learn stuff, or I'm tickled to go learn stuff from other sources.
Exactly! I love that the food is the entry point but I LOVE the deep dive into real issues that affect people across the world!
Same
Same for the European I am, I learn a lot about US (food) politics.
@@MlleFunambuline And in the US food is more influenced by political interests than good sense. Yet we allow - enccourage - disgusting production methods for food from growing to eating.
As a Brit, I'd like to say that your explanation of our sewage system is bang on point. But I'd add one extra detail. Decades of under investment has led us to our disgusting situation. The government sold all the national infrastructure to the private sector decades ago, meaning its all about profit now rather than actually serving the taxpayers.
I actually grew up in a town in Michigan - quite a wealthy town - which had a combined sewer system. The creek in front of my childhood home would smell like a sewer during... well any time of the year really but especially in summer. You could watch actual sewage coming out of the overflow system kind of all the time, and especially after a storm. When I was in middle and high school in the 90s, the city decided to build a separated system, so they used this interesting robot boring thing to make entirely new sewer and storm sewer lines, as well as install underground retention basins to hold overflow. And as a result, the creek and the mill pond near my house stopped being disgusting. It also cost a lot of money.
@@kevinwhite6176 that's awesome
Two things.
Profit in a free market comes from in some way or ways, benefitting others.
Secondly, its not as if the government is always able and/or willing to benefit the taxpayer
If there are people making the rules, it is never a free market
@@Jonathan-A.C. you are correct. The question is, which 'others' are benefiting?
I'm all for a free market, but there are some things that really ought to be kept under national ownership. In the UK we pay a separate tax for our water and sewage services. If you pay for a service, you have a right to expect that service to be delivered properly. Instead though, the private water companies take the money and give it to the top bosses and major shareholders while the people paying for the service can only complain about untreated sewage being pumped into the waterways, causing health issues and environmental damage.
I laughed out loud at “my child sneezed directly into my eyeball the other night” because my own kid coughed in my face & I felt droplets landing in my mouth yesterday. Unfortunate but inevitable indeed.
Same here, both the laugh out loud and the kid-sneeze into the eyeball.
I suspect that having kids and dealing with all their bodily stuff may help many people with their insane disgust phobias. It did for me. Vacuuming my son's puke out of the cracks in the wood flooring totally abolished all the ocd-esque crap my mom had crammed into my head. She still rinses chicken to this day and won't eat chicken made by anyone else for fear of salmonella.
I cannot stress enough how much I love this channel. The second part especially had me smiling and nodding all the way through and yes, it is important to always have an eye on political implications and ones own responsibility to learn from former mistakes. We here try to do that to a Point, where people from other country tell us to be a little less strickt and no, we should not be less strict. Some Things that happened shall never ever happen again and there are waaaay to many people who disagree in this. Very Kind regards from Germany!
as someone who worked in a deli/butcher.. me tasting from a cooking spoon in my own house is much cleaner than the majority of things that happened in that place; even when considering we followed the rules as much as possible
Sometimes following the rules makes things even less sanitary.
I worked for a small, newly founded sushi place when I was about 18.
The raw fish would be kept in the fridge obviously.
When preparing multiple dishes that needed the same fish we would keep the fish on the counter until we had made all of them (like 5 minutes top).
Then the health inspector came and told us we had to put the fish in the fridge at all times, only take it out to use some and put it straight back in.
This lead to us having to open the fridge very often (once for every sushi roll).
-One thing is the temperature in the fridge would rise from the frequent opening.
-Another thing is when making sushi you constantly get rice and fish juices all over you hands and you can't wash your hands every two minutes.
So every time you open the fridge you smear the stuff all over the handle and mix it with the older stuff already on there, creating a nice breeding ground for bacteria.
Me taking a food handling certification exam: Oh wow! A list of things we Definitely don't do at my job!
@@Ultrazaubererger Oh man! That’s interesting. There should be special commercial fridges with separate fridge compartments that are each cooled separately or something. Easier said than done, but that is an issue from all angles. Maybe special cooling boards or something?
@@rachelle2227 Sounds like its just an issue with over zealous rulemakers. Like I usually order ahead from my go-to sushi place, and depending on timing my order can easily sit there for half an hour before I pick it up. Doesn't really make much sense then to be so anal about it sitting out for 5 minutes while they're making the dish.
health inspectors are not exactly smart
You're so well spoken. I know those videos are probably scripted and you just read from a screen but still. It's really well written and well read. Even your intonation helps deliver the meaning you're trying to convey. Those videos are very nice to listen to as someone who speaks english as a second language. Very clear language and reasoning.
Absolutely true!
im just impressed he has the skill and the time to write, record, and edit an hour-long podcast which frequently draws from scientific literature, when he already makes two videos per week
Agreed, English is also a second language for me and he speaks in a very clear way.
I think he's a former radio person, right?
2:03 that person's gotta remember that the majority of what Adam cooks in his kitchen will be eaten only by Adam and his wife and kids, not sold to customers where a liability case can ensue
also 99.9% of his viewers, we are mostly home cooks here
I assume the Person knows this, but is just a cleaning-freak. I know such a person myself, although for him it's a pschilogical thing which he try's to tackle since Corona started, but it's not so easy for him.
@@mlem6951 Take him to the beach and let him touch some sand.
And actually according to Adam's earlier podcast, a lot (maybe less nowadays) of his food doesn't even get eaten because he films at odd hours to accommodate his real life family cooking/eating schedule.
Yeah but Adam also rants about our society being 'too clean' -we can only afford to be sloppy in the kitchen _because_ our societies take health, hygiene and sanitation so seriously.
I think there is some mutually exclusive ideas at play.
Thank you Adam, I grew up in the countryside and have since moved to a large city where most people are from the city or its suburbs. The amount of people in my white collar environment that hate being reminded of the inherently dirty and chaotic world that we live in boggles my mind. So many people seem to be so removed from the world and I'm glad you are addressing it.
I'm a grandma. (no farm experience.) When I cook for my family I use the two-spoon system. I scoop from the pot and pour it into a second spoon and taste from that. And I gotta say I particularly loved this episode, Adam. Everything has political aspects, and food is no exception.
If, like me, you often cook for someone with an irrational fear of germs, I recommend the two-spoon tasting method, which I learned from Claire Saffitz (Dessert Person on RUclips): Use one spoon to scoop from the pot, and drop it into a second spoon for tasting. Zero cross-contamination, and very little additional spoon-washing. =)
I use this a professional chef, so much more convenient! lol
I’m not a professional chef, but I use the two spoon method. Particularly if I’m using the spoon to stir raw meat or raw fish, I’m not sticking that spoon in my mouth and then using it to stir the food I’m cooking.
Classical version of that is a little tea "plate" (? I think the english word is saucer or something like that) you spoon foor onto to taste. Thats what I usually do since its a bit easier to spoon onto that instead of another spoon in my experience.
I also only do it when cooking for people not in my familiy though since I dont want my spit in their food. For family as Adam said we basically share all bacteria already anyways
I believe she learned that from Sohla if memory serves correctly, though I can’t remember exactly what ba video it was. Still it’s genius! Was mind blown when I first learned it.
This is how coffee tasting is actually done in the post covid world as well.
15:43 "only a tosser would sip from the saucer" made my day, had a good giggle to that!
I did too. And then I started overthinking it and I realized that when he said "saucer" I was thinking of a ladle. But it's really a plate. A plaaaaaaaaaaate.
And now it's ruined.
@@JetstreamGW lmao
@@JetstreamGW I'd argue its more hilarious to imagine a chef using a saucer to get some of the broth or whatever they're cooking to sample it and the strange looks a customer may have to seeing them do so.
@@JetstreamGW it also doesn't actually rhyme in most UK accents. Adam merges the LOT and THOUGHT vowels with the PALM vowel, while in UK English these are all distinct. Saucer is pronounced the same as "sorcer."
I’m a Brit and I can legitimately see that slogan nestled among the posters in my GP’s waiting room - which is the only time I’ve voluntarily read one of those public health releases.
I used to get asked this question all the time when I ran a Level 4 commercial kitchen. And my answer was always that I adhere strictly to food safety rules in the commercial kitchen but not at home. Why?? Because at home, I know who I'm cooking for. In the commercial kitchen, I have no idea if someone is immune-compromised, is pregnant. Also young children and the elderly can be more susceptible... all people I was feeding in the commercial kitchen. Anyone eating in my home kitchen...wel, I know if they had chemo this week.... And I think this "know your audience" rule of thumb guides a lot of pro cooks and home cooks alike.
How close would you get to strictly following the food safety rules at home if you did have a guest that was more immunocompromized? Would you follow all the rules you followed in the commercial kitchen to keep the guest as safe as possible or just use your best judgment for what will make the biggest impact over how you would cook normally at home?
@@drewgraham I'm not OP but I do have a weakened immune system ESPECIALLY related to my digestion. For me I don't strictly follow what I would in a restaurant but a big reason for that is because I can keep track of things so much better than in a commercial kitchen. It's similar to what adam talked about with the colored cutting boards. I don't use specialized cutting boards or anything like that but I do keep much more care than the average person. I know what parts are "sanitary" and what aren't compared to a commercial kitchen where you're basically relying on trusting the process to make sure that stuff is correctly placed/used in accordance with the rules. My guess is that OP would take much more care in tasting food, keeping cross contamination risk at a minimum, and especially make sure dishes are sanitary, but otherwise I doubt you would need to bring out the colored cutting boards or have a reserved sink with a disinfectant for cleaning up afterwards.
I love how Adam acts like a total goober when listening to the audio clips, my man busts out of the Mr. Mime skills
upvote for use of the word "goober". i like that word, doesnt get used enough.
@@notarealperson87 Completely agree, one of my favourite non-offensive descriptors
"Watching it w/o sound for the first time and trying to guess what is being said" is a new game I've found fun.
@@notarealperson87 I'm upvoting you for you upvoting a positive shout out to George Lindsey!
@@mellow3995 how you find calling someone a goober as non-offensive is mind-numbing.
I’m so glad Adam made the distinction between actual virtue signaling, as in portentously expressing how good you are by agreeing with a particular viewpoint and anticipating praise for it, and “virtue signaling,” where someone just says something you disagree with. It seems like some people liberally accuse anyone expressing an even tacitly left-leaning viewpoint as “virtue signaling” where it would be more apt to throw that accusation at a corporation using a social Justice issue as a way to signal they’re the “good guys” so you buy more of their products.
If I'm cooking for others (coworkers, friends, etc) I'll use a distinct spoon (one for every individual time I taste) for tasting and wash my hands a little more often. If it's me and my family, then off the stirring spoon and from my fingers are okay.
i taste from a small plate and use one spoon to pour on the plate:)
The trick that I was taught in cooking school is to use two spoons. One for tasting and one for scooping your soup or sauce. You transfer the sauce from the scooping spoon onto the tasting spoon. This way you only need two spoons and the spoon that touches your mouth never touches the food in the pan.
The only reason why I do it this way is because I often batch cook, so I want to minimize bacteria from entering my food so it doesn't spoil as fast. I agree with everything Adam said in this pod and people who get upset over these things are overreacting. Unless you have a compromised immune system, but that's a whole other story.
Very good practice. I follow a similar tact.
Absolutely disgusting. Always use one tasting spoon per taste.
@@sebastianwhitestone7504 If I taste a sauce twice, I use two spoons. Not one spoon only for tasting
A public health officer told me that the biggest problem for his profession was salad bars and buffets, followed by little restaurants started by amateurs who don't know what they are doing, and old, failing restaurants whose owners have stopped caring about safety. Some of the buffets are huge, with a large number of underpaid employees handling large quantities of food left out in the open and fiddled with by hundreds of customers, raising the odds of contamination. He said that contamination at home from people cooking for themselves is not a big problem. He added that the biggest dangers are in politically corrupt cities where regulations are ignored or inspectors can be bribed... fortunately this does not apply in my city.
What I love most about your channel is that you cover so much ground - food, philosophy, history, politics etc. All of these things are entangled in our society and it's all interesting and useful information. Thanks for all the videos!
Adam, howdy, I'm a devoted amateur cook as is my partner. And I've been living in Mexico since 1986. I noticed the Wheat Corn Divide in Mexican cooking. And the problem of making filled dishes with pure corn masa (gorditas empanadas, etc). They tend to leak, split etc. My Partner and I devised a solution. to mix the corn masa with flour (half and half is what we mostly prefer) to retain the corn flavor but not have the structural problems. This is a perfect compromise for the north south debate as well as something I don't see widely done in Mexico (or the other videos I watch, even the US). Enjoy your shows....keep doing what you love...JIM
Good idea I will try that next time I’m making gorditas
I buy tortillas that are mix bc they hold better for tacos! I love how corn tastes but you're right, the lack of gluten means they fall apart so quickly
I once saw a heated “debate” about this topic on Twitter between Mexican Americans and Mexicans from different regions; it was interesting if for nothing else than seeing that corn-people spitting at wheat-people and vice versa BOTH had spit left for people who preferred the hybrid.
Personally I, a complete outsider as a Dane, have also found the hybrid method most appealing
Maybe I'm too Mexican, but I cannot stand the mixed masa. It tastes like neither, doesn't feel right, and just makes me wish it was either corn or wheat, whichever but the mixed one. Fresh masa worked properly, and fried correctly on hot oil (or lard for better results!) will make an empanada that does not leak its contents, and will taste right.
Molotes are made from mixed masa so I really don't know where anyone in these comments is coming from when they say it doesn't exist.
Man... having worked at a mcdonalds... y'all thinking these teenage minimum wage workers following health codes or policies is f'in hilarious to me... i've watched someone grab a mcnugget, cover it in ranch, eat it, lick the excess ranch off their gloves, then go to make more food, and the manager didn't fire her cause she was cute and 17 and he was a creep... barely even told her off...
I worked in a mcdonald's about 8 years ago, I got yelled at because "if the manager isn't directly looking at you, you don't throw out food when the timer ends" even if that chicken breast has been in the reheater for 8 hours you are supposed to just reset the timer so the waste bin would be empty at the end of the shift. That turned me off fast food for good.
Culinary grad and worked in gourmet kitchens…..it is everywhere no matter how much the establishment charges you as a customer, and cooks in gourmet kitchens are still underpaid workers. So, I left to go to college in hopes to not work in food service anymore, I hope it all works out.
There's no way I'd ever watch this channel without what you discussed in the second part of this podcast. To me most recipes dirty too many dishes, but I still love learning about everything that surrounds those kinds of foods.
The other cool thing about this channel is you are skeptical of fads and pseudoscience. The last thing I want is to be fooled by pseudoscience or a scammer of some sort Without careful skepticism we'd fall to the grifters online.
Please don't give up shoehorning a foot into the shoe ("politics" etc.[science and so on] is the foot and food is the shoe). I'd be bored out of my mind if you didn't "put the foot where it belongs".
It’s not really politics as much as it is history. I like history. As long as you’re spitting fact with the least bias possible then I’m good. Some people don’t realize that history is political
One of my favorite bits from Adam’s videos was during (I think) his tiki masala video when he’s toasting the spices and he goes (paraphrasing) “you could add each of these spices individually according to the time that it will take them to ideally cook, but that is not something that I’m going to do.” That’s a quote that now rings in the back of my head like a gong whenever I watch another cooking channels videos.
Adam is all about showing you ways to cook stuff that is good but also something that you can feasibly accomplish after a long days work sustainably all while teaching you a thing or two. That’s why I keep coming back.
He isn't skeptical of the pseudoscience of Evolution, though.
BTW.... To be skeptical about everything should INCLUDE being skeptical ABOUT skepticism. Once you realize this, the more sure you become.
@@CelticSpiritsCoven Evolution isn't pseudoscience though, it's a well researched field that's been backed up decades of further study.
@@modil2935 Neither you, archeologists, or anyone else has ever seen a live mid-species or even a fossil of one. Mid-species aren't springing up anywhere either.
It seems you are confusing microevolution with macroevolution.
Micro has been observed.
Macro has not.
Micro cannot be used as evidence for macro. A species of bird my change the shape of their beak over time, but the bird doesn't turn around and become a wolf. Thinking that a species can change into a completely different species is what's called macroevolution, which has never been observed.
Macroevolution is therefore pseudo-science.
It takes FAITH to believe in something that has not been observed. So ask yourself.... why do you believe in macroevolution when no one has ever seen it? Do you somehow need this fantasy to be true in order for you to peacefully co-exist with everyone?
Great podcast, Adam. I particular love how you do focus on more than food. There are plenty of pure cooking channels out there and I get tired of them I admit. I have always enjoyed your 'larger picture' approach. It's what brought me over here.
It's very refreshing to see an hour long podcast ostensibly framed by confrontational questions from viewers to the channel. It's very instructive to see someone take direct pointed critiques of their work and not shame or belittle the person for asking from a their perspective. It should not be so rare to see someone accept a direct critique, meet it as though it were asked earnestly, and answer duly in good faith. I know the pod is curated, and is a simplified, one-sided presentation of any issue. But I admire the humility, patience and confidence required to respectfully stand your ground, present your case, break things down as much and reasonably as you can. Speculating, but I bet you have your own frustrating emotional reactions to getting a thousand slightly different questions asked a thousand separate times each. Few of us have the perspective of managing a youtube channel glut with such microconfrontations, I appreciate you choosing to respond to those feelings in a way that helps us understand where you're coming from.
I'll never forget a friend telling me about his favourite fish and chip shop in Scotland where the owner would check the temperature of the fat by spitting in it to see how sizzles. Hot enough to be safe but still a bit gross
Absolutely disgusting
@@aluminiumknight4038 yeah, but if you really force yourself to think about it, anything living in that saliva died instantly from the 150 Celsius plus heat and everything else in it is just water and some enzymes. i would still strongly suggest that fella start slinging a little tap water into the fat instead, the optics are fuckin awful
@Jared Lind Part of it might be that spitting is culturally a sign of disrespect. Obviously this cook was not actively disrespecting the fat, or the fish, but his action is uncomfortably close to the old story of a troublesome, disrespectful customer who sends his undercooked food back, unaware that several kitchen staff members spit on it on its return trip. (Is this a real thing? Or just a myth?)
You can do the same thing with a few drops of water.
I piss in the tub so it seems that this guy and I would get along well
also i'm a lifelong oregonian and it was crazy to learn about the black exclusion laws when i did some years ago. not in my public school curricula lol. extra note on it, there were black people that basically had to "sundown town" the entire state but were brought in to labor and driven out by the end of the day
I wish they kept those laws
@@JavierPwns what an edgelord. enjoy your mother's basement 👍
@@JavierPwns well the chilling effect worked since the state was white-only during the great migration. hypothetically speaking, a stupid ass racist would be even more idiotic to think of the 2% they account for in oregon's ethnic demographics as anything but a huge W for the white supremacist movement and their inbred families
it's why the siegepilled guys always want to start their stupid insurrection here--they wouldnt have to do much work to ethnically cleanse the state
Without those laws, all cities become Detroit.
The person who sent that e-mail would have an absolute stroke at my house. We don't just taste from the stirring spoon. We pass it around and everyone dips a finger in to taste and give their opinion on the seasoning or if they think anything else would make it taste better. Granted, we do usually rinse the spoon before putting it back in the pot, but probably not always.
Oh wait! We all watch your videos. That's all your fault isn't it? 😆 You bad example you!
They should try a family meal in Taiwan, where we all share multiple dishes and each serve ourselves with our chopsticks.
@@EdwardLindon Have in videos often seen in that some servers to others are choice pieces from a dish. The only problem that I have ever felt when that happens is that it could be something that the receiver really do not like.
Friday taco dinner is basically the same where I live in Norway. Many small dishes that everyone take what they want from to put into their taco. 🙂
Haha!
@@EdwardLindon That's why there was a large campaign for serving chopsticks/spoons in the 1960s. Before that campaign, foodborne illnesses especially Hepatitis A were prevalent in East and South East Asia including Taiwan.
We don't eat from the same spoons unless we already share bodily fluids. If you take a bite from the same sppon as your romantic partner, or the child who regularly kisses you on the mouth, talks, laughs, or snuggles with you, and often coughs directly in your face, the horse is already out of the barn, so to speak. For other family members and guests, serving spoons are for dishing up and you use your own utensils for eating. That is pretty basic hygiene practice, at least where I live. I haven't personally encountered any family that does things drastically differently. Dipping a clean finger into a sauce to taste it for seasoning, especially while it is still simmering doesn't raise any eyebrows in my family and social circle.
This episode was SO good Adam. I listen to all of the pods, and watch all of the videos. They're all good... But, this was superb. It honestly sounded like poetry most of the way through
I guess we'll never find out how Adam makes boiled eggs...
I don’t boil them I steam them 13 minutes and then into an ice bath. They peel like a dream.
He’s holding out for a future video. Can’t cannibalise his own content. Jk. But check out J Kenji Lopez alt on the topic. He did massive tests with hundreds of egg peelers of varying skill levels to test which methods make the easiest to peel eggs
@@huckthatdish thanks
bring water to a boil. put eggs directly in the boiling water. wait 7 minutes. pull them out and dunk them in a cold bath. perfect soft boiled eggs (make minor adjustments to time if you like them runnier or more firm).
@@cornoc recently got an electric kettle...I use that to boil the water (much faster and doesn't heat the kitchen), pour that water over the eggs, then start the stove...still takes about 13min to get hard boiled eggs...just less time getting the water to temp. I doubt this will be part of his test as I think it's a rare use case...but yeah, eggs have been perfect to peel
Regarding the too-clean-and-hygienic topic, up until about 10 years ago, my grandparents, who had a farm in the rural area, had several people that they know that lived in bigger cities bring their kids to my grandparents over the summer. The parents wanted their kids to be able to play outside and get dirty, go in the barn to the animals and so on, so they can get a healthier immune system. It's well known that "eating dirt" from time to time is a good thing, especially for kids.
Where I come from we have a saying that (roughly translated) goes something like "dirt scrubs the stomach". Seems to be true everywhere.
@@VoodooMcVee And my gran always said, "you've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die." I remember her saying that to my mother when I was going through the mud pie stage. (Not that I was eating them, but those hands were always dirty.) Her expression has made me chuckle to this day, because if you think about it, it can be read two ways, both of which are probably true.
I really do believe those mud pies made with crick water may have contributed to my excellent immune system, still going strong at 80. And, I'll add, I've never had a problem with digestion etc, so I think I have a very happy population of little unicellular tenants in my personal biome.
Apparently the same goes for our living spaces that some dirt traed into the house & open windows go a long way to improving our quality of life & health. Bloomberg Businessweek had a great article about biomes within our homes a few years back
I'm so glad I started watching/listening to your podcasts, this one particularly. I feel like I have a much better sense of your sensibilities and your inclusiveness and understanding. This is great stuff.
Hey Adam, from the bottom of my heart, mind and stomach, thanks for being like you are and showing it to the likes of me, youngsters that have much to learn still. Listening to your thoughtful, empathetic, wise and interesting points of view feels like a privilege.
I'm a Brit with Indian heritage (via the Caribbean) and I was raised with a cultural taboo against contaminating food with saliva. So much so that the word for saliva contamination: "jutar"* was one of the few words of Hindi retained, despite the family only speaking English for a few generations. It is regarded as super important concept in my family. For instance, when my great Aunts came to visit from Trinidad that was what they grilled me on to check that Mum had "brought me up properly". I assume that there is a cultural taboo about it because it matters a lot more in hot countries where food is more likely to be in the microbial "danger zone". Whereas in climate like the UK you are much less likely to accidentally give your friends food poisoning from saliva contamination; though I do actually know someone who did.
Interestingly I don't find it inherently disgusting, and have personally decided to relax a little about it as an adult. I will now do things that never would have been allowed growing up, like tasting my friends drinks and eating directly from the ice cream container at home (still no one tell my Mum lol 😅). Though growing up with the concept has been excellent training for my current job as a chef, because I don't have to remember not to taste from the cooking spoon because that was never my habit in the first place.
*Don't know if that is the correct spelling since I've never seen it written down. My family pronounces it "jew-tar".
Adam, this episode is good enough that I am writing a comment on it. I don't do that a lot these days, but this episode is really awesome. This just really cemented my appreciation of you and your channel.
I rarely comment on videos, but I felt I needed to add my voice regarding the section on politics and virtue signaling. I feel your Podcast and your videos strike the perfect balance regarding perspective on these issues and how it relates to food. Keep doing what you're doing the way you do it. I will continue to be a follower and a fan . John from Eastern Canada. 🇨🇦
Man, you really have a knack for describing ideas in a concise and accessible way. Thanks for all the great content, Ragusea.
2:13 Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're one of the few "on-air" personalities I've watched that knows it's "end quote," not "unquote." I worked in TV and radio broadcasting for twenty-five years.
Oh, so that's what they're saying all the time! As a non-native english speaker I always understand "quote-on-quote". I mean, I got the meaning, but always wondered why they're saying it in such a strange way.
I've never heard anybody say unquote, interesting.
@@ihcfn Brits do quite a lot - they’re not saying “un”, they are saying “end” but some British accents say “end” a bit “unnishly”
@@PippetWhippet I'm british and I say end, what accent are you thinking of?
@@ihcfn I think Dan Rather focused my attention (and that of my high school english teacher) on that quirk way back in the late seventies, before he became anchor. I recall Tom Brokaw doing the same. I don't have any recollection of Peter Jennings doing so.
Why do I get the feeling that we dont choose to watch Adam but Adam is curating an audience. I love that this episode probably caused a few unsubscribes but the people left remaining are tight. Courageous episode Adam! You keep doing what you do man.
I really enjoy the broad topics covered on the channel! Especially the videos with some anthropology in them. The relationship between food and humans is amazing to learn about
During the height of the pandemic in 2020, I cooked several batches of food for a friend who was going through cancer treatment. For many reasons, I was hyper-aware of my food safety practices while preparing those meals. But those were extraordinary times and extraordinary requirements for my kitchen habits. Context matters. I stopped short of wearing a hair net in my own kitchen, but I was so much more careful making that food than I ever have been for my own meals.
Folks consider me a germaphobe. When cooking, I taste from the stirring spoon occasionally when cooking for the family. Since the spoon gets dunked back into 212 °F sauce, or whatever the dish may be, I am not worried about contamination.
I would not do this if there were invited guests in the house / kitchen. It's really not a big deal.
25:10 i'm horribly panicked by vomit, but I spent a significant amount of my childhood being sick. I would say in my case it's more phobia based than core disgust based. It's really interesting though the observations about social disgust and core disgust/animal reminder disgust
A big problem with trying to put meats in the bottom of the fridge is that every single fridge I have ever used is designed to not let you do that. The vegetable and fruit drawers are *always* at the bottom. Which seems like a design flaw.
I use the crisper draw as a meat draw and keep the salad on top. Because my fridge was manufactured after 1980, it keeps salad crisp up there just fine. The draw makes it really easy to clean too!
Been tasting off my cooking spoon for 40 years and nobody has gotten sick that I know of... Didn't occur to me that anybody had a problem with that sort of thing
As someone who worked in Fine Dining Restaurants, I can confirm that chefs use tasting spoons when tasting. They have a small bin of spoons and use a fresh spoon per taste to avoid any contamination.
Moral of the story: nothing wrong with tasting off of a clean spoon or a clean finger at home
I knew a chef used one small silver spoon, his fav spoon, to taste every dish. I never gave it a second thought
What about allergen cross-contamination? If the chef recently ate gluten or nuts and the customer has a gluten or nut allergy, that could be deadly.
@@HannahHoffmanMusic Who cares. People with gluten allergies will eventually succumb to nature. You need gluten to survive.
@@HannahHoffmanMusic By using a CLEAN spoon there is no cross contamination. That is the point
Step 1) place clean spoon into food
Step 2) taste food off of said spoon
Step 3) wash spoon
Cross contamination easily avoided, just like I described above
@@graceface418 The point of contention was about putting the spoon back into the pot after it's been in the chef's mouth. Obviously there's no cross-contamination if the spoon does not go back in the food!
"Why do you talk about politics" is said by people who are inconvienced by the politics involved in many things. They have the privilege to "stick to food" and have done so for a long time. I am glad that you are delving deeper into sometimes the invonvient truth.
This has been one of the most banging podcasts yet Adam and I've listened to every single one thus far! You're awesome!
Also, GET THEIR ASS ADAM!
Excellent video, Adam! Your podcast gets better and better with each edition! I am legitimately as excited about these as I am the mainline videos nowadays, and I am always excited to see you upload in general.
I really want to know how long Adam was thinking of the tosser/saucer line, which is beautiful even if it wouldn't rhyme in a British accent.
He was definitely super proud of that
Just want to say thanks, Adam, for what you do and the care and thought with which you do it! And an encouragement to fellow viewers to keep cooking, learning, and having fun along the way!
A chef I worked under, was more concerned about people touching their phones than not wearing gloves.
Gloves were important for covering cuts and handling chicken. Other chefs were against wearing gloves while handling things on a grill, to prevent getting the glove burned to your skin or having plastic stuck to the food.
The more you explain& go deep about these questions/being vulnerable yourself, showing it, being honest - it makes me love these podcasts even more than the informative food vids xD
Really glad I subbed and keep watching all your vids, i respect you alot
I really admire how considerate you are Adam. It is something I aspire to.
Adam, I am new to your channel and your content has helped me find new internet in food that I never had before. Also as an African American currently living in Oregon appreciate the way you addressed the cultural and political "confusion" from the guy from central Oregon. I just had to say thank you. This is exactly what we need in this country and it gives me hope. I wish I could hug you. Keep doing what you're doing.
Regarding the tortilla debate:
I remembered learning from the comment section about the North/wheat vs South/corn divide.
I love this channel’s community!
I found your RUclips channel pretty recently and like the content a lot, including how you present it.
This, this makes me like you very much as a person. You are highly intelligent, very nerdy but also give me the impression you are also very empathetic and inclusive and just a kind caring person. As someone who is an outlier in society and apart of multiple marginalized groups, thank you for making all of it relevant. 💚
I'm surprised this is a topic as Adam is pretty apolitical. It's easy to tell where he lies and a lot of his views but he doesn't try to preach or insert his own thoughts about something irrelevant into his food channel.
you'd be surprised at what people consider to be "political".
For instance there were people complaining that he talked about the very real indentured servitude of Black people (usually women) in his video on kitchen design in the American South. Some people just don't want to come to terms with history.
@@m.f.3347 to some people. Even hinting that America has done some pretty sus shit in the past is, “too political.” They want to deny reality as much as they possibly can
@@m.f.3347 That tone is a good example of what people don't like. Very real things have happened but when you jump in the replies on sensitive subjects saying "It's not political you just want to ignore xxx" then people get mad because you sound like a condescending POS more often than not
Yes, that was something that happened, it doesn't mean that it's not political. Rather than discussing the subject, people care mostly about how it is framed (Example: your comment). Anyone that could have something to say about a subject or doesn't like sensitive political or controversial topics gets hit with "It's not political you're just a bigot" in the replies
@@uh4875 Adam hits it pretty hard in this podcast in regards to that. People who know but don’t want to hear about it are bad people. Cut and dry.
@@SpareMango "well you aren't civil enough so now I will whine and use it as an excuse to not acknowledge injustice or work to fix the damage or even the bare minimum, have a convo"
You are criticizing the "tone" of politically involved people as a smokescreen to hide the fact you do not wanna participate, it is your duty to care about justice if you live in society, the tone of anyone's speech does not change that fact.
I also love the hypocrisy here, nobody ever complains when casual conservative views are expressed , they are simply background noise (for example literally anything gordon ramsey does) , but even slightly left of center views expressed in the most mild sanitized matter well now we gotta talk for some reason now there is a whole problem apparently
I've been binging these videos so much in the last few days since I've found them, they are so engaging and well put together with just enough bird walking to not get bored. It's fantastic, so grateful to have found this channel, thank you for putting in the time
Best technique regarding tasting is what I learned from a cook. He was cooking for a vacation camp for teens in an outdoor kitchen and had to obey health codes with limited resources (especially no dish washer). He'd simply use his ladle to scoop some of the sauce/dish and then trickle some onto his tasting spoon without making contact between the two. It's such a simple method, but never seemed to cross my mind. Just one tasting spoon for all dishes.
I really enjoyed the politics segment of the episode. I've been watching your videos for almost a year now, and I've never thought anything you've said could be considered "political". I was confused by the question when I saw it in the description.
I suppose, not being from the US, I have a much different sense for politics. Whenever you talk about history, social issues or ethical issues related food consumption, I just considered it relevant to the video.
Dude was just mad that Adam was like acknowledging systemic issues here and there, which directly shits on the idea that conservatism is good for society. In order to present this as the case, they intentionally ignore all systemic issues which have arisen directly due to their ideology as to essentially sanitise it.
@@Noba46688 There are systemic issues. Some are leftover and plenty of them are introduced by the extreme left, e.g. the racism experienced in university. The issue is that Ragusea holds some extreme views and doesn't understand that the people criticizing him have a point.
A lot of people are watching him because of the food content, who do not neccessarily share his fringe views on politics. Therefore it would probably be better to move politics to a secondary channel.
@@svr5423 If you think any of Adam's expressed views are fringe, then you need to touch grass. I dare say he's views aligned with the majority of Americans. I haven't heard him advocating class solidarity or the decommodification of food. In this very video he criticized the wokescolds in the far left that constantly virtue signal to others.
@@stevenclark5173 lol, for people like you the world consists only of Americans :).
@@svr5423 Does Adam hold extreme political views? What are they? Please give any example.
Thank you for discussing such a tough subject in this podcast. You're one of the best youtubers imo.
I was taught to use the stirring spoon to dribble some of the food onto the back of the other hand and taste that; it's somewhere between lots of fresh tasting spoons to wash and just tasting from the stirring spoon. It might be a result of that sort of hybrid environment that is regular multiple household/extended family meals.
Politics influence what we eat, what food is available to us, and how we feel about it.
The one time I remember Adam speaking on something vaguely political is when he was talking about his old kitchen and how it was probably used by slaves. He said "you don't want to hear my opinions about it and I don't want to give it. "
He talks alot abut US politcal stuff in his food sciency videos. Snide remarks about how bad that or this view is always gets a mention. I am not from the US and US politics I find annoying for that reason. The Us politival view of any subject no matter what ilse in your politics you sit in is not always right.
@@betaich everything is political, cry about it
@@betaich I think your assessment is more accurate. Adam's writing is inherently snarky (with the good & bad that comes with that), and Adam has a background in journalism, and and also teaching in US universities. Both vocations are significantly dominated by adherants to one particular end of the US political spectrum.
@@betaich everything is connected to politics. Doesn't matter where you are from, content creators from your region of the world also express politics in their content, intentional or not.
The only way to avoid politics is to keep your head literally in the sand., but even that would be an expression of your politics.
@@hewhohasnoidentity4377 I like Adams snark, but sometimes I am annoyed that he only views some stuff from an US perspective despite the thing not having solely to do with the us. I still like his videos and I know his biases and therefore can calculate them in while watching. But I still get annoyed sometimes by the Us centric view
Hi Adam. I started helping a cooking teacher with her catering which was done to help fund her school. I, actually we, didn't take any of her cooking courses, but she was the leader of that programing, so her friends were doing okay with food prep. Well, for the most part. There was a failure she committed and I saw it right away. Tasting out of the stir spoon and put it back in for another taster or to stir with. I didn't say anything, until I suddenly saw a large spoon appear near my mouth as she got beside me and said "Tastes good, try it." I moved my head away from that and said in a calm voice 'If you can see my teeth I haven't been able to afford fixing, you won't eat that after I do.' I then took a teaspoon out of the drawer and served myself a single sample and then put the spoon in the sink for our next washing load. I got my wish to speak out to this teacher and it went further than my own matters, she stopped doing that. For a bigger tasting, get a bigger utensil for one use or a coffee cup and put a serving spoon amount to eat with another utensil, I haven't found a problem with that. It is sometimes hard to call out a friend though, but I never saw anyone do that there again, she offered a hand full of teaspoons when encouraging tasting or when people suggested going for a taste and we all took our individual responsibility on that. At home, I do fail on that, but I try, however I know others won't eat my food, I live by myself. I also put my food away soon or take a chance or toss it if I fail on that, this cooking school was doing that quite well as things were prepared, but the teaspoons, or any single use utensils were peace of mind for her shared food. I have no idea why this teacher wasn't up on that before I came into the picture. Though I haven't seen you cook yet, viewing your content is new to me, I haven't thought anything of this on other cooking shows. The amount of food made in front of an audience is normally a single or family size meal, I think the seated audience won't be eating, and certainly the TV and Internet audience won't eat it. As for the poo and Norovirus, that's dangerous in any workplace. Even when I was a mechanic, I saw there was that ugly risk of contamination on or in the mouth when sharing tasks and tools with people who don't wash hands because we touch our faces. And mechanics are notorious for holding tools in mouths and under chins when finding no flat surface or pocket available to hold a wrench to use fingers to hand tighten something. Too quick washroom breaks are red flags for that and I don't think there's a mechanic workplace with everyone adhering to good restaurant handwashing policies. Oh, my tool belt was so handy.
I have worked as a chef in Norway (I am now certified). I am also a hobby cook, and cook for myself and my family sometimes. I follow a few guidelines I learned at the restaurant, but not all. I try to avoid cross contamination as much as I can (raw meat, and other ingredients that need to be heat treated). I wash my hands after going to the bathroom, and before I start cooking. But I am not crazy about other microbes, and generally I see my home as having it's own microbiome, which I am used to, as such it's not harmful. It can actually be bad to over sanitize the kitchen because it can produce more resistant microbes. The presence of harmless microbes also helps outcompete dangerous microbes. Anyway, that's how I see things.
Preventing raw meat contamination is a good practice for home kitchens as well. Probably far and away the most likely vector that home cooking can actually get you sick, considering pretty much all other vectors require one member of the household to have gotten it somewhere else already
There is a school of thought that hospital superbugs evolved through trying to over sterilize where/when it is not needed. Personally I use Emc cleaning products that contain beneficial bacteria to prevent (out compete) other harmful bugs.
That email you received from that disgruntled ex-viewer has got to be one of the most dramatic things I’ve ever heard of. I literally don’t know whether to shake my head, huff at the stupidity of it all, or laugh… all three? 😂 To be _that_ upset over how someone else cooks _their own_ food in _their own_ home and that the viewer _will not_ be eating themselves, is wildly mind boggling. I do the same thing when I cook for myself - never when I cook for others. I just think some people out in the big, wild world, just want something - anything - to be upset and appalled at.
thank you for the last segment, awareness of history and politics in food is what i enjoy since i live in a small country and dont travel
I am loving your podcast, Adam! I am a nerd in many ways, but I’ve not seen or heard that many nerdy cooking/food facts in one place before. I love all the facts, and you always portray and explain everything in a very accessible way, but also very intelligentally.
I would have liked this video about half a dozen times, if I could. Alas, I can only like it once. Thanks for what you do, Adam.
One thing I've come to love about the podcasts is that you can hear the former professor seep through. These are usually presented more like an academic lecture, which I quite like.
I live in a very hot place so I have to be very careful about safe food practices because food can spoil extremely fast. My mom and grandma would always taste food by pouring a few drops into the palm of their hands and tasting it instead of tasting directly from the stirring spoon. It's awful to see a pot of beans or soup spoil because you left it at room temperature for a few hours. Colder climates allow for sloppier food safety routines because microbes don't multiply very rapidly
Hi Adam... I recently found your channel and I'm hooked. You're honest and your delivery is crystal clear. These "podcasts" are utterly fascinating, please keep this going
Thank you Adam, again. This brief hour of "over answering" has cemented my subscription! Another wonderful journey of clarifying some of my own thoughts, of what gives meaning to our lives and hence, one might say, gives meaning to eating. A moment of reflection, perspective and gratitude before eating, that Christian ritual of Grace, always struck me as somehow appropriate (I'm not religious in any normal sense). In other words, the bigger, wider, older picture is always relevant - everything is related (am I "over commenting" already?).
As I was listening I had to check to make sure I was subscribed. I am loving it here. This is very high quality content and I’m so glad I found this channel.
Adam, I barely comment on videos (yours or any other), tho I am a regular watcher. But I wanna say... Thank you for this episode, and for the amazing answers. And thank you for the amazing content!
That discussion was really enjoyable on all fronts. I like where you explained to Wesley exactly where YOU were coming from and the expectations you place on YOURSELF regarding your content. I like that you outlined your own thought process and gave him a guide to follow on formulating an opinion no matter what he chose to believe. All you can ever hope is that someone has thought about why they believe what they do.
Adam this was a great podcast. I love your views and "politics" please keep them coming. I'm not here just for food and would listen to all of your other interests as well. It's your logical and scientificish takes that keep me watching, not your cooking skills. 😂
Saliva enzyme are denatured at boiling temperature anyway. So are bacteria cells. It’s not like we are cooking with an autoclave to kill all pores. (Duh!)
When tasting during cooking use any spoon you want.
When the heat is off and the soup is cooling, use a clean spoon. That’s what i do.
Hey adam, I first watched your "why do we cook at home anymore" vid, and since then I've been watching all your stuff because I love the non food talk. I usually won't comment. I don't cook much myself but I love all the science and culture information that helps me to decide what I want to eat or how to live healthily or just interesting ideas. I don't always agree with your political ideas, as I don't agree with anyone on every single thing, but I appreciate it and hope you keep it up.
This episode of the podcast is a perfect encapsulation of what I like about Adam's channel. Thoughtful. And deftly weaving together disparate ideas, not just with a smooth segue, but with genuine interconnections and callbacks.
As a health inspector it doesn't really have anything to do with percent chances or anything like that. You do what you feel you're comfortable with in your home kitchen. I'm not going to tell people that they're right or wrong.
The difference comes in the number of people that might get sick from a foodborne illness. Fixing food at home at most you might make 10 people sick. However, in a food establishment you might get hundreds of people or thousands of people sick by not adhering to Food Safety standards.
Honestly, listening to you discuss cultural and political relevance of food and consumption is probably the best entertainment I get from this website. Thank you for producing your content your way, its amazing work.
I was a manager in food as well and there’s just no reason to keep all of those standards in your own home lol
You can be clean and not be restaurant standard and you should. Just be comfy in the kitchen :)
A heartfelt bravo. I found this entire episode, most particularly the second half to be among the most intelligent and enlightened things on the Internet.
If I was tasting with a new spoon every time. I would have to wash just about every spoon I own every time I cook.
If you really want to taste and not let your saliva touch the dish, use a dessert spoon to taste from and pour your taster onto it from your stirring spoon
@@PippetWhippet I'm not worried about it. People can live with my germs or cook their own food lol
I think this is the best episode of yours that I've yet heard. And thanks for the plug for "virtuous examples". It's an endangered species in some quarters.
Outstanding episode. Your discussion with Wesley at the end was pitch perfect. “Your” reality isn’t everyone’s reality, and it’s not weakness or virtue to acknowledge that; it’s humility.
I have been watching your videos for quite some time and while I do not always agree with your comments, I always learn something and am always interested in what you have to say. Today’s episode was one of your best in my opinion. You explained why you support some things and were especially respectful and careful so as to not offend those who think or feel differently. Great show today! You deserve the success you have achieved. I look forward to watching more.
Boiled eggs: I used to steam them, I've tried baking them, and I've tried starting with cold water. The first worked OK, but always got super sticky shells that shredded the egg when I'd go to peel. Very consistent results, though. Baking them? Soooo uneven, and sometimes would even brown the part of the egg touching the pan or muffin tin (I didn't dare try them on the rack directly). By starting in cold water, it was going to take too many experiments to figure out timing, since burners vary so much...one might come to a boil in 4 minutes, one might take 8...and while it's not boiling, it's still cooking for several minutes. I didn't have that kind of time. After watching Kenji's video on it, where he puts them in already-boiling water, and then pulls them out to cool in the egg carton? Very consistent, and of the last 2 dozen eggs I've tried (one was 2 weeks past the package date, and one was 8 days *before* the package date), only one had a little piece of white tear off with the shell, and the results were perfectly consistent from one egg to another. I've also tried vinegar in the water and poking holes in the shell, and neither of those seemed to have any effect.
I just use an egg cooker. Quick and energy efficient, since it uses a minimal amount of water that is heated.
this is now my 2nd favorite episode from your channel... i hope this makes some into better people even though some will probably unsubscribe or feel alienated.. always love your over-answering
Holy cow he really went in on that person, haha. When he started pulling up the intolerance research, I was like, please he's already down! Have some mercy!
you suddenly going on a rant about shoehorns is why i love your videos. its like vsauce, where you get random information about something, without a warning. i love random information
I had a lot of fun in this episode. Sadly it is always going to be a little controversial for some. But I did enjoy every tidbit life lessons/tangents here and there. I do wish more people listened, reflected upon themselves and hopefully had little light-bulb realizations for their conscience.
Ok gotta say that i love the " why you gotta" rant even more than the foid safety rant i commented on before. Thank you for what you do and you're right about being virtuous. It's hard but we all need to strive to be, genuinely be, because this is how we will make the world a better place!
I appreciate that you’re willing to wade into political topics. I think you handle them well.
No, no, no. Politics are into too much as it is. Keep some things genuine.
You take selfies in your bathroom.....that should be enough. No politics.
@@dandychiggins6802 Simply having a political view and expressing it, as Adam does, does not mean that he's bringing up politics, because he's not advocating.
You, on the other hand, are advocating because you're telling other people what to think and what to say. So, technically, you're the one being political.
Do you believe in God, Liz?
@@ErebosGR I'm making a comment and never gave a political statement. It's fun to make up random things isn't it?
I LOVED this conversation!!!! And I didn’t know about the correlation between intolerance and disgust and can’t wait to dive into the research! Keep up the great work!