German cooking habits

[Tap 8,460]

Wow rheinmain, I've obviously lost my religion as I keep all those things in my fridge and my bin is by the wall (although I would prefer it under the sin, but it won't fit!)

[Tibia 1,974]

According to this theory I store food like a Catholic.

Which considering my parents both came from hard core Protestant families, one an Ulster protestant, the other a Scots "wee free" - the sect of Protestants who think that all other Protestants are too frivolous for their own good, is amusing.

 

@Moondancer: Sauces on the shelf!

[Guest]

 

As to the food hygiene thing, people using the same sponge for ages. That is probably the biggest hotbed of germs in your kitchen.

 

 

You can put a wet sponge in the microwave for 20 seconds and kill all the germs inside. It's also good for loosening the dried dirt in the microwave without using chemicals.

 

I'm from the US as well and we are taught to be freaks about germs. Personally I think it's more to protect yourself (and the shops and the manufacturers and the farms) from litigation than from food-borne illness. That being said, I've taken hundreds of hours of microbiology courses/lab work and there a lot of nasty illnesses you can get from improperly handled food, including hepatitis. Normally I cook enough just food so that I don't have leftovers.

 

I think it would be ok to eat food you left out of the fridge, but only if you reheat it thoroughly.

[SJ1 2,052]

 

An American acquaintance of mine in Leeds once waffled on about how you can tell whether some one was Catholic or Protestant by such markers. HP sauce, peanut " butter ", mustard or catsup out of the fridge indicates Catholic, in the fridge indicates Protestant.

 

He also said that having the rubbish bin under the " sink " (basin) was Catholic, whilst having a rubbish bin by the wall was Protestant.

 

I replied that he should move to Ulster. But then I started thinking about how Germany is one of the few places in the world that have had the two religious groups living in relative harmony for centuries, so perhaps he should have moved here to suss it all out in a controlled environment.

 

-- Ann

 

 

 

Heilige Scheisse, all this time I have been in the wrong church.

[dessa_dangerous 13,315]

I had to teach my then 27-year-old husband about cross contamination but he did then and does now still insist that mustard be kept in the frige

 

One result of his indifference to bacteria and consequent resistance to it is that he is made of Chuck Norris, concrete, and steel, and will never die. After the dust settles from whatever nuclear war kills us all he will be living on among the cockroaches and telemarketers. I was violently ill for weeks after returning home from Mexico, he was just fine. We'd eaten the exact. same. things.

[mlovett 8,681]

 

As to the food hygiene thing, people using the same sponge for ages. That is probably the biggest hotbed of germs in your kitchen.

 

This is true. You can microwave a moist sponge for 1 minute to kill the germs. For the real germ-phobic, this should be done daily. I used to work with bacteria for a living...

 

I don't clean my fridge daily. I figure if I put leftovers in a clean, sealed Tupperware-type product, the contents should remain relatively germ-free until I get around to re-heating them.

[calibear 1,514]

Maybe I misunderstood the whole peeling potatoes thing previous posters where referring to, but peeling them before boiling (Salzkartoffeln) and after (Pellkartoffeln) results in different consistencies and flavors. I also like the skin on, but usually I either fry or bake them then and eat them with different foods then when boiled. Just my two cents...

[garry entropy 776]

I put my sunglasses in the fridge today,dont know why,I was looking for them for ages.

[Moondancer 5,723]

Some of us don't have micro waves, so can't nuke those sponges.

 

I do throw them in the washer when I wash with hot water, but usually, I just toss them.

[BlueWolf 7]

Sauerkraut - it's not normal, I tells ya!

[robinson100 12,828]

I like sauerkraut and schupfnudeln - lovely!

 

Generally speaking, I wouldn´t say that I have changed much of the way I cook, although I have learnt a few German recipes, and things that you only need to warm up.

What I keep thinking I must do one day and enver seem to get around to doing is having a fry-up for breakfast.....

[kitty-kat 20]

This reminds me of Christmas a few years back with the German in-laws: MIL cooked Christmas turkey on the evening of the 24th, it sat out in the abstellraum until the evening of the 25th it was re-heated, rinse, repeat for 2 more days. By the last day I just refused to eat it. I know what you're thinking- "but kitty-kat, winters in Germany are cold, surely the abstellraum would be like a big ole fridge?" but no- this particular Christmas was unseasonably warm- at least 7-8C during the day...

 

On the other hand though, my husband who happily eats food his mother with her bizarre habits cooks, is obsessed with tossing out anything in our fridge even possibly past the sell by date. We always kept bottles of mustard, ketchup, salad dressings, etc in the fridge forever- without any ill effects. He even rabidly checks the dates on canned food, which I also find weird- I mean I wouldn't eat something like 10 years past it's date, but surely 3 months ago is still ok???

[BlueWolf 7]

We have tons of fry-ups here - can't stop that habit (and yeah, we include fried bread, too)

[Onawa 12]

SJ1--the leaving the food out business disturbs me greatly but only if the food left out contains meat or milk products of some sort. Additionally, leaving the "out" food on top of a stove (gas) is also supposed to be a no-no as it keeps the food just slightly warm and, according to what I've been told, actually leads to faster bacteria growth, etc etc.

 

This is done in the US, but I imagine it's very much a generational issue now. Now, this is of course all completely unsubstantiated but these two analogies make me overly wary of this "leaving the food out" phenomenon I've encountered here: My grandmother used to do this--leave dinner out and eat on it until the next day dinner time. Apparently (according to my Mom) they used to have very young children die of "summer sickness" which basically came down to food poisoning. My grandmother also used to make amazed comments that we (the grandkids) didn't throw up all the time. I can only imagine this is because our food was stored properly when needed (i.e. containing meat).

 

Guess we all have certain things we refrigerate and some we don't...much to the constant annoyance of our spouses who come home to find the ketchup bottle removed (once again) from the refrigerator. :P

[john g. 37,775]

I´m insecure and feeling extremely worried about my cooking plans tomorrow. Ok, the truth is the cat is too expensive and I´m thinking of making a feline soufflé tomorrow. The problem is I´m not a voracious eater, I tend to leave half of my meal and recook the next day. Bearing in mind what certain experts have uttered today, is it safe to eat, say, half of my ex-cat, and put the remaining half in the fridge for a day or so? Can I leave these 50% remains next to a decaying cucumber and tired stem of ginger without risking my health? These are hard times and any serious advice would be much appreciated.

[Onawa 12]

why not refrigerate 25% of the remaining cat and leave 25% out then conduct a controlled botulism experiment right in your own kitchen??!!

[mlovett 8,681]

 

Some of us don't have micro waves, so can't nuke those sponges.

 

I do throw them in the washer when I wash with hot water, but usually, I just toss them.

 

10% bleach kills bacteria; it's how we disposed of the buggers [used for cloning] in the lab. Do you know what the doubling time is for E. Coli?

 

how to

[john g. 37,775]

Onawa: any parts of the ex-cat you recommend for the experiment? Science is not my forté

[Onawa 12]

Meh, cat is cat in my book. Careful, though, I hear there's more than one way to skin the buggers. :0

[john g. 37,775]

Well, I hadn´t planned on skinning him. Tried that with a dead chicken today..took me for ever, gave up snd had an avocado salad without the avocado.