S06.E06: Pastry

[Jesse]

I can't get the menu to open, but maybe that's just me -- anyway, it was from this place: http://river-bar.com/#Menus There was definitely also ginger beer.

[Rick Kitchen]

Why is Mary wearing a belt buckle that spells "H"?

The idea of them doing all of this pastry kneading with their bare hands without removing their rings kind of freaks me out.

Man all of those tarts sounded so good.

Man, Flora likes to do extra work for herself.  Those things she did last week, the amaretto cookies this week.

Mat: "I've made these a few times.  Not really never heard of them."  Love it.

Good God, Alvin is killing me.

Hooray, Mat.

"While I get the white wine warming nicely."  Uh, ewwww.

"Circle of stodge."  Heh.

No, not truffle oil!

I wonder if the cold and rainy air made the puffs not incorporate the butter properly.

Mat's work surface was totally covered with things.

I thought when they said that Alvin needed a miracle, that he would pull it off.

I loved Tamal's attitude throughout this entire challenge.

[dubbel zout]

7 minutes ago, Rick Kitchen said:

Why is Mary wearing a belt buckle that spells "H"?

It's for Hermès, of Birkin and Kelly bags fame.

[Rick Kitchen]

On 7/24/2016 at 1:39 PM, Kohola3 said:

I would bet dollars to donuts that you are correct especially having seen the faces of the contestants smelling the ingredients.  One of those things Cypriots probably grew up with and are used to.  Mary is normally quite adventurous so these must be especially vile.

I imagine Cypriots also drink turpentine-flavored wines, like the mainland Greeks.

[DHDancer]

Retsina anyone?  Tried it, not a fan ....

[Kohola3]

43 minutes ago, DHDancer said:

Retsina anyone?

Pass, thanks.

[Clanstarling]

4 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

The idea of them doing all of this pastry kneading with their bare hands without removing their rings kind of freaks me out.

Me too. I expect utmost hygiene when cooking. I forget which Food Network show it was, but one of the contestants had massively long fingernails and I stopped watching that season because I couldn't stand to see her work with food.

[DHDancer]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

Me too. I expect utmost hygiene when cooking. I forget which Food Network show it was, but one of the contestants had massively long fingernails and I stopped watching that season because I couldn't stand to see her work with food.

Seriously???  Do you people cook to these standards in your home kitchen?  Obviously I wash my hands, and full disclosure, I don't wear rings (never had) but there's no way I'd put on gloves or anything approaching "government" regulations.  Have you watched all the programs showing professional top class restaurants?  Seen any plastic gloves?    Seriously, anything that gets cooked after prep, who cares?

[Clanstarling]

10 hours ago, DHDancer said:

Seriously???  Do you people cook to these standards in your home kitchen?  Obviously I wash my hands, and full disclosure, I don't wear rings (never had) but there's no way I'd put on gloves or anything approaching "government" regulations.  Have you watched all the programs showing professional top class restaurants?  Seen any plastic gloves?    Seriously, anything that gets cooked after prep, who cares?

Yes I do actually cook to those standards. I didn't say anything about gloves, I use my ungloved hands for most things. But I do use them when I have a bandaged cut or burn (as professional restaurants do, and yes I've seen them both in restaurants and on food shows) . Cooking does not cleanse everything. So yeah, I care.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Clanstarling

[Portia]

I often wear surgical gloves when handling sticky foods, and I always wear them when handling meat. I wear fake nails all the time because my real fingernails are disfigured by psoriasis, and I don't want to run the risk of bacteria getting trapped under the nails and/or transferred elsewhere. I know that most professional chefs use bare hands (or so I've been told), but I hope to gosh they're washing their hands regularly, keeping their nails on the short side, and using a fingernail brush when they've been elbow-deep in poultry or whatever.  Only the food is going into the high-temperature oven; the cook, mixing bowls, etc. are not.

I'm new to this show but have already noticed multiple instances of bakers using the floor for a work surface, presumably because they've run out of counter space...? It always squicks me out! I sincerely hope they're mindful of the natural, er, substances that may be tracked in from the verdant, goat-or-are-they-sheep-scattered hills and transferred to the bottom of those pans. 

Edited July 29, 2016 by Portia

[Christina]

Kneading bread with rings on is something I find so disgusting, I cannot eat food that someone has made if I know they did it. That and smoking in the kitchen while cooking. Having cleaned rings before, you know how dirty they get. It is extremely gross and unnecessary. I don't wear gloves while cooking, but would if I had a cut and bandage. Watching it on this show literally makes me cringe. We all have our issues.

[stillshimpy]

I'm another person who always takes off my ring and I keep my nails trimmed really short, specifically because I do make bread.  If my hands are going to touch it, off comes the ring, basically.   I'm not a giant germophobe or something, but it catches on things, stuff gets into the fitting and then...yeah...that sort of applies to everything else I've come in contact with where I didn't take off my ring.  I make sure to wash my hands without my ring on before I start cooking and I cook without it on.  I also always put my hair back too, but frankly that's because I shed like a dog. 

I know we've almost sanitized ourselves to death in some areas, but when it comes to yeast products in particular, dude, that stuff is already a live culture.  Don't feed it anything other than the stuff I want it to interact with, that's my policy.  

[kirklandia]

I also flashed on Retsina when they were sniffing that obscure piney ingredient.  I was a Greek-by-marriage for many years and encountered my share of it, never a fan.

On the other hand, my miniscule collection of booze includes bottles from two local (tree-hugging Pacific Northwest) distilleries - a spruce tip aquavit and a Douglas Fir liqueur. So, proserpina65 and dubbel zout, I hope you will invite me to your cocktail party!

[Crs97]

My only issue with Nadyia getting through is that it was the second time she messed up her showstopper and had to serve it unfinished.  Her flavors must be out of this world for her to keep getting passes like that.  Poor Alvin; I hope he is doing well.  I like this group, but find myself especially rooting for Flora and lion bread Paul.