Olive Garden is gone bad

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The cuisine in Naples is different than the cuisine served in Turin or Venice. What is "Italian food"?

[Flint1979]

I'm pretty sure the stuff cooked at Olive Garden is nuked in the microwave as well, that's not a real way of cooking either.

That's BS. Microwaves are just a cooking tool that's no more or less legitimate than an oven or range. They are very good at ensuring that the moisture content of a piece of food is heated evenly throughout, which can be very difficult to do with other cooking tools. Even Michelin-starred restaurants make use of a microwave when it's the best tool for the job.

What you really have issue with is the food being pre-cooked, flash-frozen, shipped out, then warmed up in a microwave. I would agree that if that's what Olive Garden does, it's pretty shitty, since then you're basically paying for a TV dinner with extra window dressing.

That's how it's done with most of the food at Applebee's and I'm pretty sure that Olive Garden does the same thing. I'd much rather eat something made out of an oven than a microwave. I would have had to work at an Olive Garden to know for sure but I've heard rumors about what I'm saying being true.

[Flint1979]

REAL Italian's run Tony's. A Saginaw staple for 75 years. Home Of The Giant Steak Sandwich.

Cool. And?

Olive Garden isn't REAL Italian food.

What defines "real Italian food"?

Ingredients and using quality ingredients. And Italian food isn't supposed to be smothered with sauce and cheese either it's supposed to be light with lots of vegetables and very little cheese. But eat what ya want to eat. I'm pretty sure the stuff cooked at Olive Garden is nuked in the microwave as well, that's not a real way of cooking either.

No sauce and cheese? I guess I've never had Italian food before.

Never said anything about no sauce or cheese. I said it's not suppose to be smothered in sauce and cheese. You use it lightly. Would you want to eat something that is just dominated by one thing? Like sauce is that what you want to eat or do you want to eat the vegetables and pasta too? I wouldn't want something completely dominated by one ingredient.

[Flint1979]

The cuisine in Naples is different than the cuisine served in Turin or Venice. What is "Italian food"?

Italian food indeed has regional diversity.

[jeffandnicole]

Since I'm on a roll about REAL food cuisine. What do you people think of Taco Bell and Del Taco? Are those places REAL Mexican restaurants?

No but that doesn't mean that the food is bad.

Well the food is bad, real bad. Taco Bell is disgusting if I wanted Mexican food I'd go to a real Mexican restaurant. Their meat is disgusting but that's my opinion and I honestly have the same opinion about Del Taco.

Other restaurants I avoid at all costs: Burger King, Subway, Little Caesars, Domino's.

I'm shocked. Please, tell me more about this food. For $1.09, a taco created from meat chopped up in a regional warehouse made by a 18 year old with no culinary experience, I want and demand top notch perfection.

[Scott5114]

And it's fast, too. My lunch break is only 45 minutes, so I can't drive to a legitimate Mexican restaurant, be seated, eat, pay, and drive back in time to not get in trouble. But I can do that at Taco Bell.

[hotdogPi]

Price has nothing to do with legitimacy. US$1.09 is enough to buy something at an authentic Mexican produce stand.

[hbelkins]

I'm pretty sure the stuff cooked at Olive Garden is nuked in the microwave as well, that's not a real way of cooking either.

That's BS. Microwaves are just a cooking tool that's no more or less legitimate than an oven or range. They are very good at ensuring that the moisture content of a piece of food is heated evenly throughout, which can be very difficult to do with other cooking tools. Even Michelin-starred restaurants make use of a microwave when it's the best tool for the job.

What you really have issue with is the food being pre-cooked, flash-frozen, shipped out, then warmed up in a microwave. I would agree that if that's what Olive Garden does, it's pretty shitty, since then you're basically paying for a TV dinner with extra window dressing.

That's how it's done with most of the food at Applebee's and I'm pretty sure that Olive Garden does the same thing. I'd much rather eat something made out of an oven than a microwave. I would have had to work at an Olive Garden to know for sure but I've heard rumors about what I'm saying being true.

I've heard the microwave story about Applebee's for years. But interestingly enough, I've never heard it about competitors like O'Charley's, Chili's, and other chain sit-down casual places.

REAL Italian's run Tony's. A Saginaw staple for 75 years. Home Of The Giant Steak Sandwich.

Cool. And?

Olive Garden isn't REAL Italian food.

What defines "real Italian food"?

Ingredients and using quality ingredients. And Italian food isn't supposed to be smothered with sauce and cheese either it's supposed to be light with lots of vegetables and very little cheese. But eat what ya want to eat. I'm pretty sure the stuff cooked at Olive Garden is nuked in the microwave as well, that's not a real way of cooking either.

No sauce and cheese? I guess I've never had Italian food before.

Never said anything about no sauce or cheese. I said it's not suppose to be smothered in sauce and cheese. You use it lightly. Would you want to eat something that is just dominated by one thing? Like sauce is that what you want to eat or do you want to eat the vegetables and pasta too? I wouldn't want something completely dominated by one ingredient.

There is no such thing as too much cheese.

[Scott5114]

There is no such thing as too much cheese.

I don't know about that:

The better-known enormous White House cheese was presented to President Andrew Jackson on New Year's Day 1836. It had been created by a prosperous dairy farmer from New York State, Col. Thomas Meacham.

Before sending it to Jackson, Meacham exhibited the cheese in Utica, New York, and stories of it began to circulate. The New Hampshire Sentinel, on December 10, 1835, reprinted a story from a Utica newspaper, the Standard and Democrat:

Mammoth Cheese – Mr. T.S. Meacham exhibited in this city on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week a cheese weighing 1,400 pounds made from the milk of 150 cows for four days at his dairy in Sandy Creek, Oswego County. It bore the following inscription: "˜To Andrew Jackson, President of the United States.'

He also exhibited a National Belt, got up with much taste, presenting a fine bust of the President, surrounded by a chain of twenty-four States united and linked together. This belt is intended for a wrapper to the mammoth cheese when presented to the President.

Meacham, the intent of generation of good publicity for his project, transported the enormous cheeses with great showmanship. In some towns, the enormous cheeses were paraded on a wagon decorated with flags. In New York City the cheeses were displayed to curious crowds at the Masonic Hall.

The cheese for Jackson was shipped to Washington on a schooner, and the president accepted it at the White House. Jackson issued a letter of profuse thanks to Meacham on January 1, 1836. The letter said, in part:

I beg you, sir, to assure those who have united with you in the preparation of these presents, in honor of the Congress of the United States and myself, that they are truly gratifying as an evidence of the prosperity of our hardy yeomanry in the State of New York, who are engaged in the labor of the dairy.

The enormous cheese aged in the White House for a year, perhaps because no one really knew what to do with it. As Jackson's time in office was coming close to its end, in early 1837, a reception was scheduled. A Washington newspaper, The Globe, announced the plan for the colossal cheese:

The New York present is nearly four feet in diameter, two feet thick, and weighs fourteen hundred pounds. It was transported through the State of New York with a great parade, to the place where it was shipped. It reached Washington accompanied with a splendidly painted emblematic envelope. We understand the President designs to offer this great cheese, which is finely flavored and in fine preservation, to his fellow citizens who visit him on Wednesday next. The New York present will be served up in the hall of the President's mansion.

The reception was held on Washington's birthday, which was always a day of celebration in early 19th century America. The gathering, according to an article in the Farmer's Cabinet of March 3, 1837, was "crowded to excess."

Jackson, reaching the end of eight controversial years as president, was described as "looking extremely feeble."  The cheese, however, was a hit. It was very popular with the crowd, though some reports said it had a shockingly strong odor.

When the cheese was served "there arose an exceedingly strong smell, so strong as to overpower a number of dandies and lackadaisical ladies," said an article which appeared on March 4, 1837, in the Portsmouth Journal of Politics and Literature, a New Hampshire newspaper.

A postscript to the story is that Jackson left office two weeks later, and the new occupant of the White House, Martin Van Buren, banned the serving of food at White House receptions. Crumbs from Jackson's mammoth cheese had fallen into the carpets and been trampled by the crowd. Van Buren's time in the White House would be plagued by many problems, and it got off to a horrible start as the mansion smelled of cheese for months.

[Roadgeekteen]

I'm pretty sure the stuff cooked at Olive Garden is nuked in the microwave as well, that's not a real way of cooking either.

That's BS. Microwaves are just a cooking tool that's no more or less legitimate than an oven or range. They are very good at ensuring that the moisture content of a piece of food is heated evenly throughout, which can be very difficult to do with other cooking tools. Even Michelin-starred restaurants make use of a microwave when it's the best tool for the job.

What you really have issue with is the food being pre-cooked, flash-frozen, shipped out, then warmed up in a microwave. I would agree that if that's what Olive Garden does, it's pretty shitty, since then you're basically paying for a TV dinner with extra window dressing.

That's how it's done with most of the food at Applebee's and I'm pretty sure that Olive Garden does the same thing. I'd much rather eat something made out of an oven than a microwave. I would have had to work at an Olive Garden to know for sure but I've heard rumors about what I'm saying being true.

I've heard the microwave story about Applebee's for years. But interestingly enough, I've never heard it about competitors like O'Charley's, Chili's, and other chain sit-down casual places.

REAL Italian's run Tony's. A Saginaw staple for 75 years. Home Of The Giant Steak Sandwich.

Cool. And?

Olive Garden isn't REAL Italian food.

What defines "real Italian food"?

Ingredients and using quality ingredients. And Italian food isn't supposed to be smothered with sauce and cheese either it's supposed to be light with lots of vegetables and very little cheese. But eat what ya want to eat. I'm pretty sure the stuff cooked at Olive Garden is nuked in the microwave as well, that's not a real way of cooking either.

No sauce and cheese? I guess I've never had Italian food before.

Never said anything about no sauce or cheese. I said it's not suppose to be smothered in sauce and cheese. You use it lightly. Would you want to eat something that is just dominated by one thing? Like sauce is that what you want to eat or do you want to eat the vegetables and pasta too? I wouldn't want something completely dominated by one ingredient.

There is no such thing as too much cheese.

Cheese is the best food ever.

[Flint1979]

Since I'm on a roll about REAL food cuisine. What do you people think of Taco Bell and Del Taco? Are those places REAL Mexican restaurants?

No but that doesn't mean that the food is bad.

Well the food is bad, real bad. Taco Bell is disgusting if I wanted Mexican food I'd go to a real Mexican restaurant. Their meat is disgusting but that's my opinion and I honestly have the same opinion about Del Taco.

Other restaurants I avoid at all costs: Burger King, Subway, Little Caesars, Domino's.

I'm shocked. Please, tell me more about this food. For $1.09, a taco created from meat chopped up in a regional warehouse made by a 18 year old with no culinary experience, I want and demand top notch perfection.

Well I think a lot of people say that Taco Bell is only good at 3:00 in the morning when you're drunk.

Seriously though I live in a city that features a ton of authentic Mexican restaurants. If you're in Detroit you're going to eat at one of the authentic Mexican restaurants in Mexicantown before you eat at a Taco Bell.

[Flint1979]

I think some good cooked Mexican food is the best food ever. Give me a taco dinner with some rice and beans any day.

[hbelkins]

There is no such thing as too much cheese.

I don't know about that:

The better-known enormous White House cheese was presented to President Andrew Jackson on New Year's Day 1836. It had been created by a prosperous dairy farmer from New York State, Col. Thomas Meacham.

Before sending it to Jackson, Meacham exhibited the cheese in Utica, New York, and stories of it began to circulate. The New Hampshire Sentinel, on December 10, 1835, reprinted a story from a Utica newspaper, the Standard and Democrat:

Mammoth Cheese – Mr. T.S. Meacham exhibited in this city on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week a cheese weighing 1,400 pounds made from the milk of 150 cows for four days at his dairy in Sandy Creek, Oswego County. It bore the following inscription: "˜To Andrew Jackson, President of the United States.'

He also exhibited a National Belt, got up with much taste, presenting a fine bust of the President, surrounded by a chain of twenty-four States united and linked together. This belt is intended for a wrapper to the mammoth cheese when presented to the President.

Meacham, the intent of generation of good publicity for his project, transported the enormous cheeses with great showmanship. In some towns, the enormous cheeses were paraded on a wagon decorated with flags. In New York City the cheeses were displayed to curious crowds at the Masonic Hall.

The cheese for Jackson was shipped to Washington on a schooner, and the president accepted it at the White House. Jackson issued a letter of profuse thanks to Meacham on January 1, 1836. The letter said, in part:

I beg you, sir, to assure those who have united with you in the preparation of these presents, in honor of the Congress of the United States and myself, that they are truly gratifying as an evidence of the prosperity of our hardy yeomanry in the State of New York, who are engaged in the labor of the dairy.

The enormous cheese aged in the White House for a year, perhaps because no one really knew what to do with it. As Jackson's time in office was coming close to its end, in early 1837, a reception was scheduled. A Washington newspaper, The Globe, announced the plan for the colossal cheese:

The New York present is nearly four feet in diameter, two feet thick, and weighs fourteen hundred pounds. It was transported through the State of New York with a great parade, to the place where it was shipped. It reached Washington accompanied with a splendidly painted emblematic envelope. We understand the President designs to offer this great cheese, which is finely flavored and in fine preservation, to his fellow citizens who visit him on Wednesday next. The New York present will be served up in the hall of the President's mansion.

The reception was held on Washington's birthday, which was always a day of celebration in early 19th century America. The gathering, according to an article in the Farmer's Cabinet of March 3, 1837, was "crowded to excess."

Jackson, reaching the end of eight controversial years as president, was described as "looking extremely feeble."  The cheese, however, was a hit. It was very popular with the crowd, though some reports said it had a shockingly strong odor.

When the cheese was served "there arose an exceedingly strong smell, so strong as to overpower a number of dandies and lackadaisical ladies," said an article which appeared on March 4, 1837, in the Portsmouth Journal of Politics and Literature, a New Hampshire newspaper.

A postscript to the story is that Jackson left office two weeks later, and the new occupant of the White House, Martin Van Buren, banned the serving of food at White House receptions. Crumbs from Jackson's mammoth cheese had fallen into the carpets and been trampled by the crowd. Van Buren's time in the White House would be plagued by many problems, and it got off to a horrible start as the mansion smelled of cheese for months.

Where do you come up with these tidbits, or even know to look for them?

Also, is this where the phrase "cut the cheese" as a synonym for flatulence came into being?

[wanderer2575]

Price has nothing to do with legitimacy. US$1.09 is enough to buy something at an authentic Mexican produce stand.

If one of those is around, sure.  I've never seen one even in the Mexicantown area of Detroit.  And you're sure not getting anything for $1.09 from any aspiring food truck.

[Flint1979]

Price has nothing to do with legitimacy. US$1.09 is enough to buy something at an authentic Mexican produce stand.

If one of those is around, sure.  I've never seen one even in the Mexicantown area of Detroit.  And you're sure not getting anything for $1.09 from any aspiring food truck.

I second that. As someone who has ate at several of the restaurants in Mexicantown I have never seen one for $1.09. Sometimes those food trucks have the best food it just depends I guess.

[Roadgeekteen]

Price has nothing to do with legitimacy. US$1.09 is enough to buy something at an authentic Mexican produce stand.

If one of those is around, sure.  I've never seen one even in the Mexicantown area of Detroit.  And you're sure not getting anything for $1.09 from any aspiring food truck.

Go to Mexico and buy a tomato for a dollar.

[Scott5114]

Where do you come up with these tidbits, or even know to look for them?

Also, is this where the phrase "cut the cheese" as a synonym for flatulence came into being?

I just tend to retain information that I've picked up through recreational reading, and one of my fascinations as a kid was the history of the various US Presidents. So I saw your post, remembered "Andrew Jackson's giant wheel of cheese", and Googled to find an appropriate article telling the story so as to get the details right.

As for "cut the cheese", Wiktionary offers this etymology, for whatever that's worth:

This idiom references the foul smell emitted by some cheeses, many of which have a rind that keep the odor in. Once the rind is pierced, as in the case of slicing it, the smell is released.