The power of sayings and beliefs in the kitchen
One day, in the comments on the recipe for beaten egg whites, a young woman asked if you could beat egg whites stiff while having a period, as a friend had told her it wasn't possible.
Sometime later another person commented that for mayonnaise it had been (get this!) scientifically proven that a woman having her period couldn't make it successfully…
Sometime later another person commented that for mayonnaise it had been (get this!) scientifically proven that a woman having her period couldn't make it successfully…
52 K 4.4/5 (20 reviews)
Keywords for this post:MythsLegendsBeliefsHabitsCuisineLast modified on: February 6th 2011
The power of sayings and beliefs in the kitchen
In the 3rd millennium (that really is where we are), this kind of idea leaves one reeling, but, well, I suppose (I hope, even) that behind it there's a large measure of what we might call “continuity”: we've been told this when we were very young (or at an age when we were more inclined to believe what others said, especially if they were adults), we took it at face value, then later never gave it another thought, the saying having become an accepted truth.
This belief that “women who are having their periods can't make good mayonnaise” is actually quite widespread. I heard the chimist Hervé This telling a conference that he'd discussed this with a senior schools inspector, a woman who was convinced it was true!
Quite a few wine growers of, let's say, a generation ago, would bar the ladies from going down into the cellar for fear that they'd “spoil” the wine.
So for some, a woman's normal physiological processes can affect food that she is preparing – and that without her even touching it? Must be magic…
Of course, like any man who pays attention to and cares for the woman in his life, I know that this is a time when one can be rather more sensitive, irritable, or a bit tense, so managing tricky operations might be a little more risky, but quite frankly, when it comes to beating eggs or making mayonnaise, it's hardly an issue.
But apart from these medieval (and chauvinistic) sayings about women's periods, there are plenty of other more innocuous sayings that work pretty much the same way: everyone knows that… You know, the sort of phrases that start something like, “You should always cover a pan while it heats, so that it comes to the boil more quickly”, or “You should leave the stone in with the avocado flesh to stop it turning brown”.
And I'm sure that you must know loads of others. I've been wondering just how true they are. And, above all, how can we test them?
With this in mind, a while ago I set up a new category of recipes (not that they are that really) dedicated to such kitchen sayings. The principle is more or less this: I take a saying and I attempt to test by simple means if what we've been told is true or false. Of course, I wouldn't pretend to announce the result as scientific fact. It's just a matter of common sense; the saying says this: OK, let's do it to see if it's true, and let's do precisely the opposite to see if it really doesn't work and therefore if there is any rule we might apply.
As I don't have any sophisticated apparatus to hand, we're in Mr Average's kitchen after all, I make a point of doing it with the most basic of means: a thermometer, scales, etc. I started with a saying that I believed myself: “You should always cover a pan while it heats, so that it comes to the boil more quickly”, a phrase I'd heard many times, even from the mouths of chefs on television.
To test if this was true, I just measured the time a pan of water took to come to the boil, both covered and uncovered. And what a surprise! Covered or not makes no difference (or so little that it's negligible). Yet at the outset I would have bet that that it was true; it seemed to be so obvious.
If we need a maxim or a way of summing this up, it might be, “Don't take any rule or tradition for granted, test it first”.
This belief that “women who are having their periods can't make good mayonnaise” is actually quite widespread. I heard the chimist Hervé This telling a conference that he'd discussed this with a senior schools inspector, a woman who was convinced it was true!
Quite a few wine growers of, let's say, a generation ago, would bar the ladies from going down into the cellar for fear that they'd “spoil” the wine.
So for some, a woman's normal physiological processes can affect food that she is preparing – and that without her even touching it? Must be magic…
Of course, like any man who pays attention to and cares for the woman in his life, I know that this is a time when one can be rather more sensitive, irritable, or a bit tense, so managing tricky operations might be a little more risky, but quite frankly, when it comes to beating eggs or making mayonnaise, it's hardly an issue.
But apart from these medieval (and chauvinistic) sayings about women's periods, there are plenty of other more innocuous sayings that work pretty much the same way: everyone knows that… You know, the sort of phrases that start something like, “You should always cover a pan while it heats, so that it comes to the boil more quickly”, or “You should leave the stone in with the avocado flesh to stop it turning brown”.
And I'm sure that you must know loads of others. I've been wondering just how true they are. And, above all, how can we test them?
With this in mind, a while ago I set up a new category of recipes (not that they are that really) dedicated to such kitchen sayings. The principle is more or less this: I take a saying and I attempt to test by simple means if what we've been told is true or false. Of course, I wouldn't pretend to announce the result as scientific fact. It's just a matter of common sense; the saying says this: OK, let's do it to see if it's true, and let's do precisely the opposite to see if it really doesn't work and therefore if there is any rule we might apply.
As I don't have any sophisticated apparatus to hand, we're in Mr Average's kitchen after all, I make a point of doing it with the most basic of means: a thermometer, scales, etc. I started with a saying that I believed myself: “You should always cover a pan while it heats, so that it comes to the boil more quickly”, a phrase I'd heard many times, even from the mouths of chefs on television.
To test if this was true, I just measured the time a pan of water took to come to the boil, both covered and uncovered. And what a surprise! Covered or not makes no difference (or so little that it's negligible). Yet at the outset I would have bet that that it was true; it seemed to be so obvious.
If we need a maxim or a way of summing this up, it might be, “Don't take any rule or tradition for granted, test it first”.
Lasts posts
Oven height
When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.October 8th 20251,7925
The importance of sieving
In recipes that use a fine powder (flour, powdered sugar, etc.), you'll often see the advice to sift before using it. To sift is to pass the powder in question through a sieve (a very fine strainer) before incorporating it into your recipe. It's often advice, but is it really useful?September 3rd 20257,0353
The grease spray
As soon as you have something in a recipe that sticks to the mold, the question always arises as to how difficult it is to remove from the mold. There's nothing more frustrating than breaking your cake when unmolding it, because part of it has stuck in the mold. The classic way to avoid this is...August 26th 20256,5145
Cake moulds
When we make a cake, or a cake of the same rectangular shape, we usually take out our usual mould and tell ourselves that the recipe is anyway "for a cake", but is it really that simple?August 25th 20256,5965
Thinning out herbs
If you need to add a long-stemmed herb (tarragon, mint, verbena, thyme, etc.) to a recipe, you'll probably only need the leaves and not the stem, so you'll need to remove the leaves. Leaf removal means keeping only the beautiful leaves, and eliminating the ugly stems and leaves, but how do you do...August 8th 20254,7125
Other pages you may also like
What can I use for blind baking a pastry case?
When it comes to home-made desserts, tarts are always popular. They can be divided into two basic types: those cooked with their filling, such as an apricot and almond cream tart, and those where the filling is added after baking the pastry case, such as a strawberry tart or chocolate tart. For...May 2nd 2017111 K4.5
Steam for baking bread
What does steam have to do with bread-making? This is not only a bakers' secret, it is something you might not think of at all: if you make bread and bake it like a cake, you will end up with bread, but pale and with a thick, hard crust – a long way from the golden-brown crusty loaf you had in...June 16th 2021146 K4.5
How to zest a fruit?
You will have no doubt noticed that many recipes call for the zest of citrus fruit. The zest is that outer layer of the skin which adds so much flavour to a dish. There are many different ways to peel off the zest and various tools are available. Here is a summary of the “dos and don'ts” of...November 5th 201347 K3.8
Raising (or leavening) agents
When we want to make a dough or batter rise when baking, either in patisserie or bread-making, we need to use a raising agent or leavening agent, one of which is called leaven. In the context of baking, a raising agent is simply what "makes something rise". It is a substance which, when added to...June 16th 202156 K4.8
Perpetual stock
It's something you have probably have done yourself: cooked or pre-cooked vegetables before adding them to a recipe. This is almost always done the same way: peel the chosen vegetables (carrots, for example), cut them up, boil them in salted water (using a tablespoon or so of coarse salt per litre),...November 22th 201630 K5
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.