Cheetos as Molecular Gastronomy

Cheetos as Molecular Gastronomy.

I've often thought that a lot of what makes crazy restaurant food taste crazy is the solemn appreciation you lend to it. If you put a Cheeto on a big white plate in a formal restaurant and serve it with chopsticks and say something like "It is a cornmeal quenelle, extruded at a high speed, and so the extrusion heats the cornmeal 'polenta' and flash-cooks it, trapping air and giving it a crispy texture with a striking lightness. It is then dusted with an 'umami powder' glutamate and evaporated-dairy-solids blend." People would go just nuts for that. I mean even a Coca-Cola is a pretty crazy taste.

And see! I wasn't far off about the McRib either...

How much difference really is there between McDonald's super-processed food and molecular gastronomy? I used to know this guy who was a great chef, like his restaurant was in the Relais & Châteaux association and everything, and he'd always talk about how there were intense flavors in McDonald's food that he didn't know how to make.

[Robin Garr]

Love it!

and what about that Homegrown KY jelly !

Not exactly MG....... but I once worked at the jail in Nashville, TN. My job was to pick orders from a warehouse consisting of snacks, toiletries, playing cards, slippers, whatever was needed and couldn't be fashioned into a weapon. Families of inmates supplied charge accounts with money and the inmates would place weekly orders. We would then take the orders to the jail and distribute them to an extremely happy population of captives. One thing we noticed was that the most common orders were Hot Cheetos, Slim Jims, Saltines, and Bean Dip. We investigated and found out that one of the most common jailhouse culinary delights is known as "Ghetto Dope", or sometimes just "Dope". Here's how it is made:

Flamin' Hot Cheetos crushed up fine
Slim Jim or similar meat product, chopped or broken up as thin as possible
Bean Dip

All of these ingredients were mixed together and either spread on Saltines, and I even heard of people crushing up Saltines and mixing them with water to form something like a pizza dough that when dried was a crust for the mixture to be spread atop of, with the slim jim then being used as a topping, like a little pizza! The dudes would talk about it all the time, they seemed to be addicted and obsessed with it, hence the name.

Jailhouse Gastronomy. I'm glad I know about it. Now who is looking for the next Food Truck concept?

Jailhouse Gastronomy. I'm glad I know about it. Now who is looking for the next Food Truck concept?

Interesting! Boring food and lot's of time means creativity.

Did you happen to see this link in the article I linked in the original post? If not, then it must be more than a coincidence!

Interesting! Boring food and lot's of time means creativity.

Did you happen to see this link in the article I linked in the original post? If not, then it must be more than a coincidence!

No I didn't....but I like it and I like how it mentions the role of the spreads in prison politics....interesting indeed!