Controversial Food Opinions - The Béchamel Test

people shoving food at my face is a slightly different kind of savagery and whether i like the food or not isn't the issue for me

my dad used to be terrible for this, if i mentioned in conversation having eaten something he didn't like - and there was plenty of stuff he didn't like - he'd insist every bleeding time on a quick monologue about how horrible the thing i'd just mentioned was. in case i'd forgotten the previous 200 times he'd told me he didn't care for curry.

My dad wouldn't eat the grilled salmon and salad my mom made for lunch once. He ate too many salads and he ate too much salmon growing up. Of really dad, grilled salmon was all the rage in 1950s Michigan?

Dads are kind of the worst about this stuff. DON'T BE LIKE YOUR DAD.

Speak for your own dad, not mine, plz.

DON'T BE LIKE MY DAD.

but i like pastrami sandwiches ;_;

One time it was a plate of sliced up sausages and tomatoes. We all gave him the side-eye.

okay that's just weird, wtf yerac's dad

I kind of figure all Trump voters are like that. He's my benchmark.

I knew someone in college who apparently at some point decided to eat only olive oil. His thyroid stopped working!

what the shit

I know!

I think he was living on a boat at the time??

I think since then he's founded a cryptocurrency startup. We're not in touch.

Anyway eat what people put in front of you, if possible, is a virtue I've come around to. (I tried with eggplant, it makes me gag, I am not trying again with eggplant.)

he's founded a cryptocurrency startup

this actually helps put the olive oil diet in context tbh

the only things I don't eat are mayo, cooked eggs (except in like fried rice) & savory cream sauces. & when I'm traveling I'll even try those. I mean, I once ate a cow's seminal vesicle, how much worse can béchamel be? (actually the seminal vesicle was pretty good)

idgi will you slam back a raw egg in the a.m.?

I think he was living on a boat at the time??

I think since then he's founded a cryptocurrency startup. We're not in touch.

― valorous wokelord (silby), Friday, March 23, 2018 9:09 AM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i love this post

sorry, euler, i don't mean to make light of familial discord or anything

SILBY I MEAN, gah

iirc in college he was living on a restricted diet that was heavy on unseasoned chicken breast and Nutella

well raw eggs get cooked in stuff & I'm cool with that it's just like hard boiled or fried or whatever you people do, they smell so bad, it's just not my thing

Someone made me kidneys once because I had not had them before and was interested. They were disgusting. I still ate 5 and had nightmares all night. They ate one because they don't like kidneys.

My partner is a reformed vegan and has slowly been adding some seafood to his diet. The first time he had lobster he spit it out. I ate the chewed up bit. He threw up some abalone in a restaurant. He likes grilled octopus though.

Euler how are you in France and not eating mayo. I feel like in France is the only time I eat mayo. Especially when it's freshly prepared.

The first time he had lobster he spit it out. I ate the chewed up bit.

man this is true love right here

whether for lobster or yr partner i leave for others to determine

When we go out to restaurants and it's omakase/chef's menus I have to make sure I am extra hungry, because I hate food going to waste and sometimes have to eat double because i'll eat the portions or plates he can't eat. I have a lot of pics me eating huge cheese/charcut boards all by myself.

I'm a bit of a traditionalist with italian food and béchamel is good in lasagna, but not necessarily necessary - there are many regional variations and many don't contain béchamel

these dad anecdotes are odd to me as my dad was so serious about not wasting food that he'd eat pieces of steak and side salad that I had partially chewed, gagged, and spit out.

and i've gone from curious about béchamel in lasagna to i absolutely must try béchamel in lasagna

I am reading all about bechamel in lasagne now and have come to the conclusion that it's best if it's well integrated and subtle. I think a lot of restaurants/markets cheap out on cheese and just slather it in there.

I will never allow bechamel to get into my lasagna.

I suspect that many people who think they have never tried bechamel on lasagne have in fact tried bechamel on lasagne.

i’ve only ever made lasagna with bechamel
it’s the way my mum made it & the way i like it best

red sauce + ricotta lasagna just doesnt ever feel as substantial as a good rustic meat sauce + bechamel

and per outdoor miner - the bolognese sauce is thick, and the bechamel is thick, it’s not a soupy mess at all. maybe a ~little~ runny on the first night but once the leftovers set up in the fridge overnight it’s 👌🏻

many have in fact tried colombian decaffeinated coffee crystals

Many have in fact tried cocaine.

People who order extra sauce on pizza *shudder*...I think I have issues with too much sauce. I sense a pattern.

my partner once ordered extra sauce for everybody's pizza without asking anyone. there was an awkward initial sampling of the pizza wherein I kept wondering aloud why the pizza was so saucy and bad before she finally admitted her crime. she thought it wouldn't be noticeable and was apparently mortified that I kept talking about how saucy the pizza was to everyone.

Rasaucenikov

It's a good point that recooked lasagne > freshly made

a few years ago my grandfather lovingly cooked hot dogs for the whole family.
he also DRESSED them for everybody. and he included MAYONNAISE!

man, pre-dressed dogs. what a time saver. UNFORGIVABLE

no you don't understand he dressed them all the same, with everything

the first part was the sarcasm and the last part was sincere

i am on your side

lol sorry

my partner once ordered extra sauce for *everybody's pizza without asking anyone*.

tbf nobody was expressing a strong opinion on toppings, and i think it was a gambit to impress everyone with her ordering skills. she was just the only one who liked extra sauce. she is also my favorite person, though, so the others maybe (probably?) haven't moved on.

The next time I want to get fired from a job I might try repeatedly ordering pizza with extra, extra sauce for everyone.

what is wrong w sauce, sauce is good, the more the better. is it because it makes it too gloopy? i had a friend who would order pizzas "well done" because he felt, with some justification, that the middles of most pizzas are too gloopy

i can't deal with pringles ever since watching a Pringles can get crushed by a hydralic press, all the "oil" comes out at the end and it's super gross.

On that topic, Stevie texted me this article and it is one of the loveliest things I’ve read this year:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/05/best-free-restaurant-bread-america/686582/?gift=BxOhs766OfpwbG1UQKn3bUzu9z6Cs7n4-aOdxcHpcYQ

Also

Yes this thread is crazy. Sugo/bolognese plus béchamel plus Parmesan is the essential filling for traditional lasagna al forno and all substitutions are inferior

Mozzarella creates cheese strings which are undesirable in lasagna, and it’s too unctuous and oily when baked. Ricotta is a dessert cheese, for one, nice in salads or tossed with green sauce pasta just before service, sure, but baked in oven it loses all its positive qualities and— if overused— dries into a grainy white wall of yuck. Ricotta in lasagna al forno is as appetizing as “a bowl of microwaved cottage cheese”

I think smash burgers are bullshit. I like a juicy burger with a pink center. Our local place used to have the best burgers but they recently switched to only smash patties and I'm grumpy about it. They sometimes had a hard time judging doneness, medium-rare would often come out icky-rare. In my mind they got tired of dealing with it and said "fuck it, smash 'em all!"

There's a dive bar out here I like to go to. I've been dreaming about their smash burger for weeks.

Oh I don’t agree with that. Smash burgers fried hot get crisp on the edges and remain drippy pink midway. Something about a history of dense ass burgers that make you feel like you’re eating someone’s wallet makes me rate the smash burger highly

i'll have a squeeze burger from the squeeze inn please

https://squeezeburgerroseville.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/img_1474-e1596787484969.jpg

What is that horrific alien entity.

At Squeeze Burger, the burger eats you

Ah, maybe I have never had a good smash burger. The couple of times i’ve had them they have been beyond well done.

I had never had a good burger until I tried a smash burger (a double from honest burger) - having a huge wodge of meat has always put me off, just not into that.

I resisted smashburgers for the longest time, just thinking they were an overcooked fad. Then I had a good one at Hamburger America and now it's my preferred style.

They are easy to cook at home. Shave onions on the mandoline, put a pile on two round balls of meat in good-sized frying pan, smash so the edges are thin and the middle is a little thicker, flip when blood starts to gather on top, add a slice of cheese to each one, top with the bottom of a potato roll brushed with mustard, add the top of the bun upside down on top with more mustard and pickles. This is called "letting it ride" in the parlance. When the cheese is melted, get under the patty/onion/cheese/bun with a spatula, lift the top bun and put it under the spatula, pinch it all together and pull out the spatula. This is called the "pinch and pull". It's pretty slick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL3Focg_xqQ

ngl that crispy oversized cheddar on the squeeze burger is looking pretty good

On that topic, Stevie texted me this article and it is one of the loveliest things I’ve read this year:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/2026/05/best-free-restaurant-bread-america/686582/?gift=BxOhs766OfpwbG1UQKn3bUzu9z6Cs7n4-aOdxcHpcYQ

― the gay of hormuz (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, April 15, 2026 10:19 PM (yesterday)

This was delightful! Somehow "No???" is the funniest thing I've read all year

regardless of where she's being published, caity weaver remains the goat of talking a publication into sending her somewhere to document a food experience

That Caity Weaver piece was exactly what I needed to read at 2am when I couldn't sleep (although it made me hungry)
We don't really get free restaurant bread in chains here :(
At posher places though, certainly.

Planning to have burgers tonight and now I'm wondering if I should smash them

It's pretty slick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL3Focg_xqQ

― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Thursday, 16 April 2026 13:11 (yesterday)

ok this guy is great

Yeah, he's an American treasure. His place is named after the documentary he did in the early 00s about American regional burgers and burger restaurants, which is great if you haven't seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mkpc5Q1Mgdc

i love a good bagel with lox/cream cheese/etc. but i absolutely cannot stand the half inch thick of cream cheese most deli places slather on each half of the bagel.

also, for anyone that does like a good bagel with lox/cream cheese, this is my rough estimate cream cheese hack that i keep on hand:

1/2 cup cream cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
zest of a lemon
tbsp of capers

a nice, moderate layer of that on a bagel goes a long way.

thanks for sharing pbkr, that documentary looks awesome.

I heard somewhere that back in the day they put a ton of cream cheese on to balance out another ingredient that
was salty or funky.

There should be more bagel than cream cheese.