Cooking is a personal act. We cook for our loved ones, we cook using recipes passed down through generations of family members, and we cook using tips, tricks, and methods that might not always be based in the scientific method, but that our families, cultures, and communities strictly adhere to. So when Bobby Flay recently shared some of his most controversial cooking takes with Food Network, his answers had some of his fans reeling. What do you do when a professional chef, a celebrity chef at that, admits to some cooking practices that have been, frankly, debunked? Do they get a pass for the same reason my dad got a pass for testing pasta by flinging it at the wall to see if it sticks? Or are they held to higher standards, because they’re supposed to be experts in their field? It seems like fans of Flay weren’t afraid to be frank about the chefs cooking opinions.
Food Network shared an interview with Flay on Instagram, asking him some simple cooking questions. “Do you add oil to your pasta water?” “Is it sacrilegious to break pasta?” etc. His answers there didn’t generate much controversy, but there were two questions in particular that had people all up in their feelings.
Food Network: “Do you wash your chicken?”
Flay: “I wash my chicken before I cook it.”
Food Network: “Do you wash your rice?”
Flay: “I do not.”
The debate over whether or not to wash chicken before cooking it has raged on for a while, even without Flay’s help. On Reddit, you can find dozens of threads asking why people wash their chicken and whether or not it makes sense. But some fans on Instagram were shocked by his response. “I’m flabbergasted with the washing of the chicken,” shared commenter hansfamatotable.
Then there’s the rice. Some people say that rice should be washed, not only to remove excess starch so the rice cooks up fluffy rather than gummy, but also to wash away any impurities.
“How am I supposed to take advice from someone who doesn’t wash their rice?” questions thereal_maximilian. Some folks were put off by both answers. “You wash your chicken but not your rice?!” exclaimed adrianabello_.
When it comes to the chicken, Flay is in the wrong, at least according to the FDA. Their advice for washing chicken is this: “Do not rinse raw meat and poultry before cooking. Washing these foods makes it more likely for bacteria to spread to areas around the sink and countertops.”
But what about the rice? The FDA actually recommends against rinsing polished, parboiled enriched rice, because it can wash away some of the nutrients. But they don’t offer advice for other types of rice (and it’s unlikely that Flay or any chef of that caliber is using parboiled rice, anyway). So the fans and Flay might be in a draw for that topic.
One thing that almost everyone disagreed with Flay on? When asked “How do you feel about animals in the kitchen?” Flay paused for a moment, then said “cats only.” We have to assume the famous feline-loving chef meant his home kitchen and not a professional restaurant kitchen, but lots of people still seemed freaked out. “He lost me at cats in the kitchen,” shared nicknamestink, while marci.elaine said “I stopped listening after the cat comment.”
It just goes to show that even if you’re a professional chef, you might have some cooking practices that aren’t universally accepted, but also that pretty much no matter what your cooking opinions are, the fans are going to have a lot to say about them!
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