April 30, 2004
-
From time to time I wonder what basic knowledge you need to be a decent cook. Then I think, hey — these could be interview questions to judge food/cooking expertise.
Basic Chef Skills Question #1: how many cups to a gallon?
Advanced Chef Skills Question #1: describe the difference between spearmint and wintergreen.
Comments (12)
Some coworkers were talking about a Futurama episode where they did a parody on Iron Chef. One of the guys (Bender?) wants to be a cook but is absolutely awful. That’s a common theme in humor, e.g. there’s a female character in “Ranma 1/2″ that has the same problem.
I think people who are not good at cooking should start with baking. Baking is like somewhat like certain aspects of engineering — you follow steps and don’t deviate from them. It’s sorta like why people who aren’t good at normal dancing can still be good at swing.
BTW: I have no idea about the answers to either question :-b. I hate mint.
I can understand not knowing the mints. But basic measurement conversions, like cups to a quart and quarts to a gallon – how do you scale large recipes?
I couldn’t tell you any of those conversions either :-b. When I scale, I look up the conversions online… I guess I should just learn them once and for all.
heh, if you think that’s bad, try going from metric to imperial (or whatever it’s called in the US… i love the irony of the US using “imperial” measurements). i had to download a conversion app to my palmV just so i could buy the right groceries. =P my fave: fl.oz to ml.
cups to a gallon – i’d approximate like this: 1 c = 240-250mL (did you know there’s a diff between the dry and liquid cup volume?) –> 1 litre = 4 c, 1 gallon = 4 qts (this is also different depending on whether you’re in the States or UK), 1 qt = 1 litre. so about 16 c = 1 gallon?
let’s just say i prefer metric. =)
is spearmint an herb, and wintergreen from a coniferous tree? just a guess.
I THINK its 4 qts per gallon and 2 cups per qt…so eight?
btw…when tchrs run out of time in the school year (math) capacity and volume are most commonly neglected chapters.
what’s a litre?
(hi beatawan)
another factor is that decent chefs should like to eat.
cups to gallon is definitely 8. Teaspoons to tablespoons?
It might be smarter to ask intuitive questions, like how many cups of flour go into a 9″ birthday cake, or whether olive oil or sesame oil goes better in corn bread.
I have no idea about spearmint or wintergreen. Flavors of bubblegum? =)
Argh!!!!!!! I can’t believe all these smart people and good cooks don’t know these measurements! I’m going to have to write a separate post to educate people and make sure everyone reads it.
B, when I saw the line “blah-blah-blah… metric” I figured it was you and jumped to the signature. It was indeed. =) Yeah, the whole “imperial” is ironic, but maybe not so much now that the US is the world’s biggest imperial power. I don’t know much about our foreign policy, but I know we’re basically consumer-driven imperialists.
Shoe, those are good intuitive questions!
Living in Korea for 3 years has taught me the superiority of the metric system.
Isn’t wintergreen sweeter?
Too easy, Ed. Wintergreen Lifesavers will spark in the dark if you bite on them, and spearmint ones won’t. Duh.
so i’m predictable… what can i say =). may the imperial system of measurement die a timely death….
(the other thing i should’ve thought of is: here in Canada you can buy milk in a package of 4 1-litre (liter, for clieu
) bags. yes, bags. you can (less commonly) buy 1-gallon jugs too, and they’re the same amount of milk. didn’t make the connection before.)
I would think a good cook to be one that can improvise new recipes, which is tougher than just following directions. Think of the head-chef distinction in a restaurant.
Baking seems tougher since you can’t deviate from the recipe as much as in other techniques, like making a sauce or sauteeing chicken breasts. I liked the swing analogy though.