Food: Prefrences

[Tlaloc]

Mainly for the main cooks of the house, but also a general topic.

We had someone living with us for a while well we were trying to get her established, and one thing that struck me is that the more adults in a house the more dislikes there are concerning food. In this case, she does not like seafood, which is a reasonable percent of our diet. Of course in general I just didn't cook seafood, but occasionally I made a double meal with both chicken and fish available for meat, and side dishes complimentary to them both. Surprisingly enough I found doing that only slightly more difficult.

She's moved now, but it strikes me that actually being poly will make the meals more complicated on a permanent basis. Even preferences of seasoning and sauce have to be somewhat memorized. Has anyone developed techniques or ideas to get everyone what they like to eat at a minimum of cost and labour?

 

[rusty_armor]

She's moved now, but it strikes me that actually being poly will make the meals more complicated on a permanent basis.

I think that this has really been the main problem in our family, albeit a minor one. We have a law in the family that goes thusly:

Thou shalt NOT criticize the cook,
lest ye become the cook in the very neareth future.

Both wives have raised their families, and have become used to having food prepared a certain way, which has caused some raised eyebrows from time to time. But knowing full well that being critical is tantamount to becoming the cook, it has kept the criticism down to a manageable level.

The kitchen was staked out by the eldest wife. But she is open to the various tastes of her family, so we no longer get her tunafish-spinache surprise because the first wife just couldn't bring herself to eat cooked fish backbones. And eldest wife has added to the variety of foods available at each sitting.

Some recent cardiac reoccurrences in me has both wives changing our old eating habits. A good change, probably, though I am not such a big fan of vegetables.

 

[Mark C]

Thou shalt NOT criticize the cook,
lest ye become the cook in the very neareth future.

As I read this, RA, I couldn't help but laugh. All I could think of was a long, admittedly somewhat tacky, joke about grizzled men ("gandy dancers") who worked out West on the railroad, before the Golden Spike was driven. The story involves a man who did exactly that, and was informed that he would be the cook, starting the next day. He concocted a plan, and went into the woods, searching for a way to bring it to fruition, and restore his freedom from the hated task -- after which he prepared a spectacular meal, followed by a dessert designed to bring tears to the eyes of those lured to eat it.

When the first man bit into it, his faced contorted in agony, and then he screamed,
"MOOSE TURD PIE!!!!!
...but it's GOOD!"

 

[Tlaloc]

That's not a bad law, Thou shalt not criticize the cook or you will be served moose turd pie might also be functional...

I guess in the end some things will just usually be off the menu if someone can't stand them. Oh well, all the more adaptive cooking required I guess.