Who Is The Most Intimidating Person You Have Cooked For?

[Joe H]

I think for all of us who are into cooking there have been dinners we've cooked for "someone special." This could be a girl friend, wife, relative, friend, client-perhaps a situation where the dinner "had" to turn out. There may have even been a number of dinners like this; even an "audition" for a job or an amatuer or real Iron Chef. I am guessing there are some interesting stories....

[dinwiddie]

I think for all of us who are into cooking there have been dinners we've cooked for "someone special." This could be a girl friend, wife, relative, friend, client-perhaps a situation where the dinner "had" to turn out. There may have even been a number of dinners like this; even an "audition" for a job or an amatuer or real Iron Chef. I am guessing there are some interesting stories....

I think it would have been the first time I cooked dinner for my Mother-in-Law. Of course, now that I've been married over 20 years, it is no big deal, but the first time I was sweating bullets.

[Barbara]

I think it would have been the first time I cooked dinner for my Mother-in-Law. Of course, now that I've been married over 20 years, it is no big deal, but the first time I was sweating bullets.

We must be related!

[porcupine]

Thanksgiving dinner years ago, for my parents, Steve's mom and aunt, and a great aunt. I had three women, two of whom rarely cooked, crowding me in my galley kitchen and giving three different opinions on everything I attempted to do.

[DLB]

I have a reputation now among friends and family of being a very good cook, although I think I have a long way to go. I am not really intimated by cooking for anyone, I sometimes feel pressure when we are having a dinner party, because what the expectations are among our inner circle. When my in laws were here a few weeks ago, they kept requesting me to"show them my skills" this was a little annoying but I did make two dinners and a breakfast for everyone.

On the flip side of this, I often fell like we intimidate our friends when they invite us over. Most of them are not as into food as I am, and there are always disclaimers when we walk into their homes about how it's not going to be as "fancy" as our dinners. This really upsets me and makes me feel really uncomfortable, as if we are having competing dinners or something. I am just happy to be a guest, and not have to host, I could care less about the food, although it's always good!

[Heather]

In the early 80's I worked as an au pair for a prominent journalist and his wife during the week, while attending a weekend culinary school program. After short time in their house they let me take over all the shopping and cooking, including their dinner parties. The dinner I sweated over the most was a dinner with Helen Thomas as the guest of honor. The only thing I can recall serving was a lemon mousse served in hollowed lemon. Very pretty presentation.

My most ambitious party for friends was a Spanish tapas dinner for 40 people, including a sherry tasting. The preparation took three days, but was more fun than stressful.

Cooking for my mother-in-law doesn't worry me, as she is a mediocre cook.

[zoramargolis]

Come on, Joe. Tell us about the time you invited Roberto Donna and Jeff Black and their wives over to your house and cooked dinner for them!

[mdt]

Come on, Joe. Tell us about the time you invited Roberto Donna and Jeff Black and their wives over to your house and cooked dinner for them!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo...

[Stretch]

For heaven's sakes,

Don't burn the cakes!

[The Hersch]

I'd have to say it was when I was young and feeling that I was falling in love, and invited this person to dinner and pulled out all the stops doing the coolest dinner I could come up with at the time (which wasn't all that great, since my cooking skills were pretty rudimentary at the time) ...and then being stood up. It still hurts, thirty years later.

[Barbara]

I'd have to say it was when I was young and feeling that I was falling in love, and invited this person to dinner and pulled out all the stops doing the coolest dinner I could come up with at the time (which wasn't all that great, since my cooking skills were pretty rudimentary at the time) ...and then being stood up. It still hurts, thirty years later.

Oh, man. Look at it this way: This person didn't DESERVE your efforts. Really. Imagine him/her thinking that McDonald's is the King of Culinary Expertise!

[Joe H]

Come on, Joe. Tell us about the time you invited Roberto Donna and Jeff Black and their wives over to your house and cooked dinner for them!

appreciate the question, Zora, but I really didn't start this to talk about my experiences. I've been very fortunate to entertain a number of people including Roberto, Jeff and Barbara Black along with Fabio, Vincent and Emmanuele, too. Roberto has been here four times and every time I've had a dish that didn't turn out the way I expected. Of course I'll have five or six courses so the odds are in my favor!!! When the Blacks came I made Kinkead's Portuguese stew from his (then) new cookbook and while the flavor was fine, it was thinner than I would have preferred. Jeff, who used to make it years ago when he worked for Kinkead looked at the recipe and noted that it did NOT list cooking it down as it should have at the very end. Still, I was embarassed that I didn't realize this. On the other hand I have no hesitation to make risotto-I've made it so many times that it has become a "standard" as has ice cream in the White Mountain freezer.

But as DLB noted if a chef comes for dinner I believe they really don't care whether you can cook or not. It's really not about the skill of the host or hostess. I've also learned to pour good wine-this can compensate for almost anything! Also, when we had our group some were much more talented than others. Still, it wasn't really about an outstanding dinner. Rather, it was an outstanding experience that we could share.

I do want to add this: there are some things that involve a great deal of work. Like 14 or 15 hours for a beef stock reduction, sourcing fresh shrimp instead of frozen, making "real" fish fumet for bouillibasse, etc. I've found that before I'll go to the trouble and/or expense to do some of this I really care if someone can taste the difference. If it turns out then there really is a sense of pride that I have; if it doesn't hopefully they'll appreciate the effort that goes into it. I've found that there are really only a small number of people that I'll do this for. The result is that this kind of dinner is only a monthly type of thing. Part of the reason for this is that in the '70's I once had a girl friend that I made beef stroganoff for-from scratch. She told me that she didn't like mine nearly as much as what her mother made. From a box of hamburger stroganoff.

I guess that left an impression of sorts. On the other hand there are several who I really enjoy cooking for including yourselves and Guy and Cyndi.

I must tell you that when Roberto told me on his first visit that I "was stirring the risotto too much" it took quite a bit of courage for me to tell him that "no I wasn't" and I kept stirring. Fortunately it turned out!

[DanCole42]

I'm not intimidated by cooking for people I'm trying to impress... potential girlfriends, friends I've never cooked for before, family, in-laws, etc. I KNOW I'm a pretty decent home cook, and they'll like what I make.

What stresses me out is cooking for people who I know are picky eaters because I know that, no matter what I make, they won't enjoy it as much as someone else would. And if I'm catering to their tastes, I just feel so pressured and limited. It's like I've been asked to paint a landscape, but I'm not allowed to use blue or green.

I'd feel more comfortable inviting Michael Landrum over for a steak, or Mark Slater to try my homemade wine, than to cook for someone who only sometimes likes tomatoes, hates chicken, only likes steak if there's no salt added, and will only eat caesar salad if the romaine leaves are whole and pointed north.

-Dan "Desperately Trying to Get His Post Count Above 500" Cole

[pizza man]

Any one of the chefs who has signed my paycheck..

[sparkycom]

As a student at L'Academie, the most intimidating person I cook for is the great (and I mean that) Chef Gerard Pangaud. 'Nuff said.

[crackers]

I'm not intimidated by cooking for people I'm trying to impress... potential girlfriends, . . . etc.

That sure didn't take long. It seems like only a few months ago you were walking up the aisle.

Back on topic - did anyone catch that article a few weeks ago in the NYT about what happens when two alpha cooks try to occupy the same household kitchen? [hint: not a pretty sight.]

[xcanuck]

I have a reputation now among friends and family of being a very good cook, although I think I have a long way to go. I am not really intimated by cooking for anyone, I sometimes feel pressure when we are having a dinner party, because what the expectations are among our inner circle. When my in laws were here a few weeks ago, they kept requesting me to"show them my skills" this was a little annoying but I did make two dinners and a breakfast for everyone.

On the flip side of this, I often fell like we intimidate our friends when they invite us over. Most of them are not as into food as I am, and there are always disclaimers when we walk into their homes about how it's not going to be as "fancy" as our dinners. This really upsets me and makes me feel really uncomfortable, as if we are having competing dinners or something. I am just happy to be a guest, and not have to host, I could care less about the food, although it's always good!

This is almost exactly the way I feel.

The main exception would be if I was to cook for people on this board. THAT would be intimidating. Far more sophisticated palettes than I'm used to cooking for.

[Heather]

The main exception would be if I was to cook for people on this board. THAT would be intimidating. Far more sophisticated palettes than I'm used to cooking for.

If you pour enough wine into them then they don't notice the screwups.

I don't recall ever being intimidated by anyone I've cooked for. I've probably been more anxious to please some than others, but have found as I get older that worrying usually guarantees more goofs in the kitchen. So I just try not to obsess and people almost always have an OK time.

[MarkS]

At L'Academie Francois was yelling at me once because my apron had some flour on it. He was telling me the flour goes in the bowl not on my apron.

I can get intimidated why i make mayonaise and my son is watching me wisk the egg, saying "nothing is happening"

[rkduggins]

Like Dan, I get nervous cooking for picky eaters. I have a running list of the food aversions of friends in my head. Someone can't have dairy, everyone eats meat but ONE at the party, etc. I know that I overthink things, because all that comes to mind is butter in everything and pork dishes galore. And, like Heather, there are some that I'm more eager to please than others. For them, I make things I've made often before so there is less room for putting my foot in it.

[Pat]

I can't really come up with a most intimidating, but I sure was nervous the time I had a friend and her now ex-boyfriend attend a dinner party. He has a really severe potato allergy, and I was convinced I was going to do something inadvertent with ingredients and send him to the hospital.

[legant]

Folks attending the DR.com summer picnic.

[Barbara]

Folks attending the DR.com summer picnic.

Word.

[agm]

Folks attending the DR.com summer picnic.

On the one hand, yes, cooking for a crowd that tends to eat very well, and who mostly cook better than I do, is intimidating. But on the other hand, this is a group that knows food well enough that they'll understand what you're trying to do, understand and be sympathetic if anything goes wrong, and will be appreciative of your efforts no matter what happens. That's why NQD and I are planning to use the picnic to experiment with roasting a lamb - we're not actually confident enough to try it on our less food-obsessed friends first.