Totally random thread

[Shirley]

If I needed a job, I'd have to consider this:

'We've never had anything like this': Local store sells sweatshirts to Taylor Swift

[Overlander]

If I needed a job

Lazy millennial

[Shirley]

If I needed a job

Lazy millennial

You crochet, right?

[ousdahl]

new Banksy just dropped!



and was randomly stolen like an hour later

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

new Banksy just dropped!



and was randomly stolen like an hour later

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiQTEWes4kQ

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

Today's edition of WTF?

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1TwEBauoyY ... MzOWQ1OA==

Translation.....

“I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions. It was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused. I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future. Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity”

[ousdahl]

so I had a dream last night I was fishing a particular alpine lake near here with my buddy Ben, aka the Huge Fly Fisherman on YouTube.

a dood randomly runs by carrying a bunch of shit. Ol' Huge hollers that he's a shoplifter and there's a reward to catch him.

He runs right past me so I trip him. He comes right back at me and we rassle around. It's when I've got him in a chokehold that I realize it's Bob Saget.

[RainbowsandUnicorns]

so I had a dream last night I was fishing a particular alpine lake near here with my buddy Ben, aka the Huge Fly Fisherman on YouTube.

a dood randomly runs by carrying a bunch of shit. Ol' Huge hollers that he's a shoplifter and there's a reward to catch him.

He runs right past me so I trip him. He comes right back at me and we rassle around. It's when I've got him in a chokehold that I realize it's Bob Saget.

https://tv.apple.com/us/episode/funny-a ... 7trva0kodt

[jhawks99]

So, I'm in Minnesota. It's Dec 29th. I see a fly crawling across the outside of my window. WTF. We have mutant flies up here?

[TDub]

So, I'm in Minnesota. It's Dec 29th. I see a fly crawling across the outside of my window. WTF. We have mutant flies up here?

no it's just warmer than ever, El Nino is strong this year

[Sparko]

Anyone here make their own marinara? I am wondering what spices are considered okay. Watched some chefs dissing Basil. And fennell seeds, which I use. Cooking Lasagna tonight.

[jhawks99]

Basil and tomatoes are a classic combination. Who is saying not to use it?

Fennel is a bit unusual but go for it. It's a main component in Italian sausage.

[Sparko]

Basil and tomatoes are a classic combination. Who is saying not to use it?

Fennel is a bit unusual but go for it. It's a main component in Italian sausage.

I was watching classic chefs rate jar marinara sauces. One of those Youtube deals. They complained bitterly about anything distracting from the tomatoes. But I stuck to the 99 advice. Turned out great. I did scale back fennel. But about the best I have made

[jhawks99]

Glad it worked out

[Shirley]

Glad it turned out well Sparko.

I don't like black licorice, so although I can tolerate some, I tend to avoid both fennel and anise because they contain the aromatic compound anethole*, which make them taste like black licorice.

What foods contain anethole?

*Anethole is a sweet, anise, and balsam tasting compound. It is used as a flavoring agent in alcoholic drinks and in small quantities in natural berry flavors. Anethole is found in a lower concentration in peppermints, wild celeries, and corianders**.

While looking fennel and anise up, it was a surprise that coriander/cilantro contain anethole too, but it wasn't a surprise in that I don't care for it/them either. But not because they taste like black licorice, but because due to genetics***, they taste like soap to me. (And as it turns out, I'm in good company...)

**Both cilantro and coriander come from the Coriandrum sativum plant. In the US, cilantro is the name for the plant's leaves and stem, while coriander is the name for its dried seeds. Internationally, the leaves and stems are called coriander, while its dried seeds are called coriander seeds.

***Soapy taste of coriander linked to genetic variants

Dislike of herb traced to genes encoding odour and taste receptors.

Julia Child loathed the stuff, one in six Nature staff (informally surveyed) says it tastes of soap, and a popular website collects haiku poems denouncing it. Now, researchers are beginning to identify genetic variants behind the mixed reception for the herb Coriandrum sativum, which North American cooks know as cilantro, and their British counterparts call coriander.

A genetic survey of nearly 30,000 people posted to the preprint server arXiv.org this week has identified two genetic variants linked to perception of coriander, the most common of which is in a gene involved in sensing smells1. Two unpublished studies also link several other variants in genes involved in taste and smell to the preference2,3.

“O soapy flavour / Why pollutest thou my food? / Thou me makest retch,” reads one of the hundreds of haikus posted to the website IHateCilantro.com. There is clearly sympathy for this stance — 21% of east Asians, 17% of people of European ancestry and 14% of people of African descent say they dislike the stuff, according to a paper published this year in the journal Flavour4. By contrast, 3–7% of south Asians, Latin Americans and Middle Eastern subjects disapproved of the herb, which is more common in their native cuisines.

Heritable hatred

Dislike of coriander has long been thought to be a partly inherited trait and not just an artefact of cultural practices and exposure to the herb. Charles Wysocki, a behavioural neuroscientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, says that surveys of hundreds of twins he conducted beginning in the early 2000s at the annual Twins Days festival in Twinsburg, Ohio, suggests that coriander preference is influenced by genes. He found that about 80% of identical twins shared the same preference for the herb. But fraternal twins (who share about half their genome) agreed only about half the time. “Strong evidence suggests there's a heritable component to the reactions that people have to cilantro, whether you're a hater or a lover,” he says.

In hopes of identifying the genetic basis for these traits, researchers led by Nicholas Eriksson at the consumer genetics firm 23andMe, based in Mountain View, California, asked customers whether coriander tasted like soap and whether or not they liked the herb. The researchers identified two common genetic variants linked to people's “soap” perceptions. A follow-up study in a separate sub-set of customers confirmed the associations.

The strongest-linked variant lies within a cluster of olfactory-receptor genes, which influence sense of smell. One of those genes, OR6A2, encodes a receptor that is highly sensitive to aldehyde chemicals, which contribute to the flavour of coriander. This makes OR6A2 “a compelling candidate gene for the detection of the odours that give it its divisive flavour”, the researchers write.

Eriksson, who despised coriander when he first tasted the herb but now grows it in his garden, says that nearly half of Europeans have two copies of the 'soapy' variant, and of those, 15.3% said coriander tasted of soap. For comparison, 13% of Europeans had no copies of this variant, and in this group, only 11.5% of them reported the soapy taste...

[TDub]

I like black licorice (hate Jaeger though).

and I love cilantro.


also...are cilantro and coriander really the same thing? I've never known that.

[jhawks99]

Yup, same thing. The rst of the world calls it coriander.

I first encountered the stuff while working at a Mexican restaurant in the 70s. Hated it. I got over it and like it now. My picky-eater family all seem to like it.

Also, I think fresh basil has a slight licorice flavor. Licorice flavored liqueurs like Pernod are used to flavor seafood dishes like steamed mussels and bouilibaise amoung others.

[pdub]

I’ll tend to “make” my own red sauce with canned cento tomatoes, basil, garlic, onions, olive oil, pepper flakes, pepper, salt.

[ousdahl]

I’ve always thought as coriander as the seeds of the cilantro plant.

I think coriander tastes like soap, and don’t like it, mostly cuz it’s used as a flavor gimmick in beer, and keep them flavor gimmicks out of beer please.

Cilantro, otoh, I think can be good on street tacos and in guacamole and such. It’s slightly less soapy to me, for whatever reason

[ousdahl]

And I’ve shared my Italian grandma’s pasta sauce recipe, for those who remember the Cooking Dinner For Her thread.