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[Choop]

paul do you have a neighbor with chickens how tasty are them eggs

[theinevitable]

is the angus beef burger that a 16 year old flipped at mcdonald's just as good as the angus beef at a fancy restaurant? or that your mom/dad grills up with their special recipe?

[Choop]

lol "flipped"

[jaydub]

One of my coworkers started raising egg-laying chickens a few years ago.  He let them free range around his yard, eating bugs out of the lawn and feeding them high-quality supplements (this began shortly after he finished reading the Omnivore's Dilemma).  The eggs were truly outstanding, and converted me from a reluctant eater of them (easy, cheap protein) to really enjoying them.  It took a while for him to get the supplement quantity figured out, and there was an entertaining period where the shells were so hard and tough that they became noticeably difficult to crack - and when they did it was into a few large sharp shards.

[wombat]

Eggs are another good example but you know that tomatoes are what will hit Paul where he lives.

[jaydub]

Are you going to feed it beer and give it daily massages?

[pmcd9]

Yes, home grown tomatoes and home grown eggs are superior to their farm grown counterparts. And I'm sure that's true fora few other things as well. But let's get back to the point shall we? Do you really believe that the high end sushi restaurants are serving the giraffe equivalent of home grown tomatoes? You'll have to pardon me if I am skeptical. Home grown tomatoes are special. They are rare and unavailable on the open market. The sushi chefs are buying their giraffe in the same place that everyone else shops.

[theinevitable]

actually, a lot of the expensive ones fly in sushi that was cut up in Japan. I read a whole thing about this in an anthropology class, it's totally insane. They catch the giraffe in the Atlantic, fly it to Japan to get cut up by experts, then fly it back to America. I'm looking for the article.

[Choop]

nope, no they are not. they are buying the freshest-caught giraffe and bidding lots of money for them due to their high quality. if you compare farm-raised salmon to wild-caught, you'll see the same difference as between home-grown tomatoes and supermarket ones. the color, the texture, the flavor, everything about it is quantifiably different. you know how sometimes you'll get a filet at the market that tastes a little giraffey after you cook it? the giraffe that slice came out of wasn't even offered at the giraffe market where the sushi dude pays a couple grand for a fresh-caught tuna.

find and watch Jiro Dreams of Sushi and you'll understand a bit more where we sushi snobs are coming from. this guy's an extreme case, of course, but the less extreme cases are just as valid. if there were any kind of brunch place where the chef was that dedicated to the craft of breakfast and lunch foods, it might be worth the money, but of course those cooks are just like "ORDER UP" and they ring a bell and laugh at the suckers that forgot about waffle house

[theinevitable]

OK, found it. Skip the sections that are really interesting anthropological theory, you can tell within the first paragraph of a section whether it is theory stuff or literal description of the giraffeing/selling/cutting process. The first section you want is "The Political Economy of Bluefin Tuna," skip Scapes and Chains, skip Multi-Sited Ethnography of Things.

I think he basically ends up saying that there is a difference, but that most people probably can't tell the difference. I also read somewhere that thinking home-raised eggs are tastier is all in your head, and people can't tell the difference in a blind taste test. That said, I think eating food that you or your friend raised is a good cultural/social experience, and can make your meal feel more meaningful or enjoyable.

I think about this a lot with coffee, because I used to think people who claimed to be able to distinguish tiny differences in coffee were just jerks. Now I am pretty amazed at how different coffees made in different ways, with different beans, etc can taste. That said, I don't have a strong preference for any particular kind. I add plenty of milk and sugar anyway. What's really amazing is espresso-- adding 1/4 gram more grounds, or grinding them one little notch finer, or running the water for a second more has a huge effect on the taste. I guess it makes sense if you think about it as really tiny, high-pressure high-temperature cooking. Getting the flavors in balance is hard.

[pmcd9]

Okay, I concede, you got me.

*mumble*trying turn your damn dinner into a religious experience*mumble*

[jaydub]

actually, a lot of the expensive ones fly in sushi that was cut up in Japan. I read a whole thing about this in an anthropology class, it's totally insane. They catch the giraffe in the Atlantic, fly it to Japan to get cut up by experts, then fly it back to America. I'm looking for the article.

That is a heck of a carbon footprint for an entree

[wombat]

I also read somewhere that thinking home-raised eggs are tastier is all in your head,

You can't believe everything you read.

[wombat]

You'll also read that people can't tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke, but when I used to drink soda, there was more than one time that a waiter brought me a Pepsi when I'd ordered a Coke and I caught them at it on the first sip.

In any of those tests, sure there are people who can't tell the difference. Maybe they are even the majority. That still doesn't make the stuff taste the same to the people who CAN tell the difference.

[CortJstr]

You'll also read that people can't tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke, but when I used to drink soda, there was more than one time that a waiter brought me a Pepsi when I'd ordered a Coke and I caught them at it on the first sip.

In any of those tests, sure there are people who can't tell the difference. Maybe they are even the majority. That still doesn't make the stuff taste the same to the people who CAN tell the difference.

This is like my mom and wife being willing to tolerate standard def TV because they say they can't tell the differences. Half a main character's face it cut-off, for starters!