Sneakin Stuff In

I was at our annual superbowl party last night which is all about the food and company. The host served a goulash with scalloped taters. After everyone commented on how good it was he informed the room that it included all parts of the cow. Kidneys, heart, liver and other parts best left to your imagination. The reaction was 50/50.

I sneak wheat germ into my kids smoothies, will throw the odd old veg in a soup if its going to be pureed, put the last bit of spaghetti sauce in the chili. I haven't killed anyone yet.

Thoughts?

quote:

Originally posted by rumbelly

I was at our annual superbowl party last night which is all about the food and company. The host served a goulash with scalloped taters. After everyone commented on how good it was he informed the room that it included all parts of the cow. Kidneys, heart, liver and other parts best left to your imagination. The reaction was 50/50.

I sneak wheat germ into my kids smoothies, will throw the odd old veg in a soup if its going to be pureed, put the last bit of spaghetti sauce in the chili. I haven't killed anyone yet.

Thoughts?

He must be a darn good cook to have incorporated all that stuff in goulash and have no one detect it. Or maybe everyone had partaken of enough drinks so that they really could not taste anyway.

I see no problem with this, as long as the addition meets the following tests:

1. It won't make anyone sick (or worse) because what you are adding is "spoiled" or contaminated.

2. It won't cause an allergic reaction (for example, adding a peanut product if you don't know the allergies of whoever will be eating it).

3. It won't change the odor, taste or texture to a point that it would be unpleasant for anyone who eats it.

I "re-cycle" leftovers all the time adding them to an appropriate dish. I do think your host probably should not have divulged his ingredients, simply because of the psychological reactions involved (though that is probably exactly why he did announce what was included...in hopes someone might barf, so everyone could kid this person about it). It would have been more appropriate (and kind) just to accept their compliments on his cooking and left it at that, unless someone decided to pursue the topic and ask him the ingredients.

One angle strikes me clearly on this: Dietary Restrictions. lets go through them shall we?

Religious restrictions such as Kashruth: If someone was adhering to this, they would ask. Not going to eat the rest of the meat but have a problem with organ meat. At least not to my knowledge, please correct me if there is some religious restriciton I am not familiar with.


Allergies: Would ask, dont know of any allergies related to organ meat of a particular animal.

High Fat/Cholesterol: Would also expect someone to ask what was in it.


Now those aside, should a host disclose everything? Maybe, but a guest has an obligation as a guest too. You are going into a home not your own and partaking of food you did not cook. If you want to be sure, you should ask.

This is coming from a person who loves offall and blood/guts. So I am admittedly a bit biased. But I think the host was okay here. I think he should have just accepted the compliments and not go into detail, but again that is me.

I used to sneak new guns into the house by telling my wife that I had become a collector of antique gun cases. I did just as well with new fishing rods, too.

Due to most American's seeming distaste for organ meats, I'd save the guts goulash for family consumption and stick with skeletal meat for the fiestas. The presence of liver alone would have put me off the stuff at first bite.

How 'bout the kitchen sink while you're at it. Might as well.

Oh my god, the host was very gutsy indeed. He must have known his guests quite well to serve that. I have to say the whole thing made me very queeeeezy. BLECHHHHH! LOL! I don't think I would even dare look at his pots and pans either! My guests are pretty boring I don't think I could trick them like that. BLECHHHHH! I am shivering in my timbers. The thing is, that was pretty darned creative. BLECHHHHH! I would have loved to see the reation on those peoples faces

No dietary or religious boundrys were crossed. It tasted good. After all at the end of the day its just food.

Sounds like a great dish. Make it and serve it with no apologies.
I agree with renfrew. . . you're in my house and I go to the trouble of cooking (which I do often), I am not obligated to tell you exactly how everything is cooked or what is in it if you don't ask. . . even if you ask, you'd better be specific, because I don't particularly like to give long detailed explanations of my cooking.

one of the only ways I can get vegetables into my husband is by grinding them up into stuff...mushrooms, eggplant, etc... he never notices...

quote:

Originally posted by Peachpie9



Incidentally, when I saw the name of this thread, I though it was going to be about smuggling candy into the movie theater.

Hahaha, this is a favorite pastime of mine, initially brought on by general disdain about being charged 10 bucks for a small popcorn and a small drink. Not to mention 4 dollars for a half-full box of raisinettes(they must make these special for movie theatres). Who's first on the soapbox to be upset about this? Am I really putting a serious dent in the owners pocket after forking out 14 bucks to see Friday the 13th Part XXXVI?

Green_Chili,

LOL, I see it as my DUTY to sneak food into the theatre. When it costs $70 to take a family of four to the theatre (including snacks) it's time to change things a little.

I would puke right then and there on the fools carpet , furniture whatever I could cover if someone thought that adding organs to a meal without saying so was funny. I also feel no shame in sneaking in snacks to a movie.

I feel for yer son, it's a shame really...the movie theatre operators are why DVDs are putting them outta business I guess....or is it it Hollywood? I still say 4 bucks for raisinettes is the reason
Not to make light of yer sons probs but...it goes with the territory.

Beef Inards=Tasty

At least it wasn't

Movie Theatre floor sweepings=

Reminds me that they used to hide the green beans in the meatloaf in grade school [|)]
Now I'm REALLY Scare about things I don't want to think about

FOUL!!! This was really unfair and rude and I'm not sure if we are being put on a bit. Most people would detect the liver and "goulash"? I think not. At any rate,I like most creative cooks,add a little interest when I feel the inspiration,but instead of grossing my friends out, I want to seduce their senses and please thier palates. I thought this thread would be about sneaking in healthy stuff or making some kind of suprise in a recipe.I still think it would be a good topic.

I am a cook at home and a chef at work. I use all kinds of ingredients in both places but never ever do I try to feed someone something without them knowing it. I hunt deer and I enjoy the venison I get when I hunt and some people having never tried it say they dont like it. I can generally make something out of it that is appealing enough to get them to try it and most actually like it once they do try it. But I would never want someone to Find out that I went against what they felt or believed just to be sneaky or cheap. My 2 cents in MI

quote:

Originally posted by Hode

I would puke right then and there on the fools carpet , furniture whatever I could cover if someone thought that adding organs to a meal without saying so was funny.

Me Too!!!.....LOL!!!!

Hey Peachiepie, I feel also for your son, but theatres are really getting to pricy. I send my daughter alone with a friend to save money. I just rent them when they come out. When she goes I do let her buy whatever snacks she wants, but when she was a baby, boy did I sneak stuff in! I had to! the costs were horrible.

As for the sneaking stuff in food, as I said earlier, Blechhhh. I just can't do that to my guests, how could anyone do that to their guests? I could see trying that with your family ,( mine would know for sure) Unless your family doesn't care what it eats. I remember when I was a kid my mom would fry up liver like chicken fried steak and think I would not know....blechhhhhh she made me sit in the bathtub until I ate it, that was a longgggggg stay in the tub. I tried like heck to jam it down the drain she caught me right in the middle of doing it! LOL, I wonder if the clinking noise was the problem, so she whipped me out of the tub and sent me to my room for a very early bedtime. I was soooo happy, I was hungry, but I knew I would get breakfast, so the next day I had 2 bowls of cereal and all was good. She would do the same with brussel sprouts and asparagus, by drowning them in some italian cheese sauce, blechhhh, to the tub she would say! LOL those were some good times!

whats wrong with people that can't ask someone they know very well whats in the brown stuff?.....if you are that touchy,bring your own brown stuff(or a hotdog)instead of getting all bent out of shape over it.

Regarding sneaking stuff in the theatre, I was well aware that the profits were made from the concessions. Therefore, hubby and I sort of split the difference: we buy popcorn (hard to sneak it in and I like movie popcorn with the fake butter), but I usually throw a couple bottles of water in my purse. If hubby wants a soda, he buys one. Frankly, if movie theatres sold their concessions at a reasonable price, they'd probably make MORE money in the long run, because people wouldn't sneak stuff in but instead would buy it at the theatre.

I have much stronger feelings about the joker who "snuck" organ meats into his food. Bad, bad, BAD idea! Putting aside the religious issues that some guests might have, there are other issues that this idiot probably didn't think about...liver is very high in Vitamin K, which causes blood to increase clotting in the body. If someone is on an anticoagulant like Coumadin (and many, many people are) eating a bunch of liver is a very bad idea. People on this drug are usually told which foods to limit or avoid, but it's pretty difficult to avoid something if you don't know it's there!

Now, as a parent, I've snuck a little wheat germ into my kids' pancakes, and thrown a little carrot juice in with the OJ, etc, but I know my kids, and I'm responsible for them. If the aforementioned person on Coumadin develops a pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis as a result of eating too much Vitamin K, who's to blame? In this case, probably the "jokester" host. Stupid idea all the way around. Tell your guests what you are serving them, and let them decide whether they want to eat it. If you don't do so, the joke might be on you when you get sued!

I have a friend that can't eat anything that has a face, makes no sense to me, but oh well...this would be wayyyyyy wrong

Thanks peachpie! No there wasn't water in the tub, if there had been I would have been an ice-cube! LOL! Actually, looking back, it was kind of fun to torment my mom. I had fun jamming nasty food down the drain, at our kitchen table it was a pedestal table, I found a way to drop food down the pedestal! She would go to clean her floor and Welllaaahhhhh lot's of food! Muahhahaa it left her speechless like, "where did this come from" Then she would blame it on my dad for feeding the dog!

All of it worked out for the best becuase I love all kinds of food now, I still won't eat brussel sprouts though, or liver. BLECCCHHHHHHHH

I generally feel that it is poor etiquette to try to sneak "controversial" ingredients into food for company. I would prefer to have my guests know what they are eating just as I would expect the same in return. After all, if you are sneaking stuff in, you know that it is something that folks would prefer not to eat, which is deception at its finest.

There can be many concerns, such as religious dietary restrictions or health issues. A few years ago, a coworker made chili for a group luncheon but withheld the fact that the meat in it was venison. It didn't bother me, as I enjoy venison, but two of the women in our group were pregnant at the time...most in the medical community recommend that pregnant women not consume game meats for fear of bacteria or parasites that could exist. They were understandably upset by the "hiding" of deer in their lunch!

General rule for cooking for guests - stick to basic dishes (unless unique foods are agreed to by guests before event) and don't try to "hide" anything in food!

Well said, Carolina Bill.
My Mother in Law would serve liver to the kids and steak to the grown-ups. They grew up thinking steak was really nasty and couldn't understand why anyone would want to eat it!

My brother HATES onions. One night his then-wife told me, "I've been putting onions in the blender and putting them in EVERYTHING I feed your brother." Then she cackled madly. That's when I realized she was pure evil.

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

My brother HATES onions. One night his then-wife told me, "I've been putting onions in the blender and putting them in EVERYTHING I feed your brother." Then she cackled madly. That's when I realized she was pure evil.

That is dreadful. She should understand that some people are severely allergic to onions, as I am to raw onions. An elderly aunt who could not believe that anyone could be allergic to onions, finely minced some and put them into a seafood salad mold that she served me for lunch. She sure learned her lesson fast when she saw my reaction.

rumbelly

how about sharing the recipe, best you can reconstruct it?