The funny thing about starting a blog about food is that people assume you are a much better chef than you actually are. You are relied upon for handy tips, asked to come up with recipe suggestions on-the-spot and, most importantly, are expected to not mess up in the kitchen. And if you do, it better be something like not torching the top of your crème brulée quite right or not knowing some fancy-schmancy technique that only those who spend time in France or a culinary academy might know.
Well, you can imagine how embarrassing a burning bagel incident might be for me then. No, I didn’t make the bagels by hand or whip my own cream cheese. All I was doing was toasting a large batch of pre-made bagels for a family brunch and I practically started a kitchen fire. After a few rounds of laughs and some minor surgery on the bagels to scrap off the char and salvage them for eating, I realized that this was a great lesson in not taking yourself too seriously. Even the best chefs out there mess up ALL the time. So whether you are chopping veggies for the first time or learning how to soft boil an egg, it’s TOTALLY normal to mess up. You might even do it multiple times before getting it right, but that’s what cooking is all about - trial and error!
Luckily I only ruined one battch of bagels when I tried to broil them, and I learned something to help me in the future. I learned that if you are broiling something, do not under ANY circumstances take your eyes off the oven. It only takes a few seconds under the heat to toast bread. And leave the door open slightly, as it lessens the odds of burning your bread and filling your kitchen with smoke. I thought I’d share a few other chef’s disasters in the kitchen…because misery loves company!
- Serious Eats has a great post on a cookie dough gone array and some great disaster stories from other readers (note that the first comment is about a broiler disaster too, I’m not alone!!)
- The Daily Beast has a fun roundup of chef horror stories. Paula Deen explains, “l was on the Oprah show when I dropped a glass bowl in my mixer. I didn’t know whether to shit or go blind”.
- Martha Stewart Living’s Senior Style Editor Eddie Ross talks about a catering job gone wrong on Simmer till Done (plus, the short Q&A is a just a fun read).
- Read about Spork or Foon’s overzealous attempt at Parisian Apple Tartlet.
- Don’t Try This at Home’s editor Andrew Friedman joins an archived NPR segment on Thanksgiving about holiday kitchen disasters.
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OH so true!! Every one that cooks has a story to tell. I can’t tell you how many times I have forgot the sugar in the pumpkin pies. The sad thing is it happened more than once!! Thanks for sharing
Ditto on the disaster! This Thanksgiving was a prime example for me; my boyfriend and I unknowingly punctured a hole in the pan and half of the juices leaked out – resulting in a nice little smoke fire. I was mortified when the fire alarms went off, but not as mortified when 40 minutes earlier I somehow managed to turn the oven off on the almost-cooked turkey…what a day.
UGH, broilers! You don’t want to know how many things I’ve ruined after going, “oh, hey, I know–let’s BROIL it!”
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