If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen! Also, if you don’t use fresh garlic, don’t frequently sharpen your knives, create low sugar desserts, or have the audacity to use glass cutting boards, you have no place in my kitchen!
Cooking can be enjoyed by anyone and everyone. But, like many other communities, the cooking world has some purists who refuse to tolerate anything less than the best. If you think it should be a felony to put pineapple on pizza or people should have their culinary rights revoked for claiming onions are caramelized after only seven minutes on a pan, this might be the perfect list for you.
Reddit users have recently been sharing their most gatekeeping culinary opinions, and they certainly did not hold back. We all have opinions we’re passionate about when it comes to food (for example, as someone who grew up in Texas, I think packaged, store bought tortillas are an atrocity), so be sure to upvote the responses that make your blood boil like pasta water. Keep reading to also find an interview with Reddit user CessnaBlackBelt, who started this conversation in the first place, to hear his thoughts on the topic.
Feel free to share what would cause you to throw a cook out of your kitchen in the comments below, and then if you’re hungry for another Bored Panda article that can help you elevate your culinary skills, check out this story next.
#1
I’m of the opinion that you can do whatever the f**k you want with food *but* if you fundamentally change a dish you have to change its name.
It’s all about expectations. If I go into a restaurant and order a carbonara, then when it arrives they say ‘oh we make it with pepperami snack sausages and cream cheese’, then it’s no longer a f*****g carbonara…it’s not necessarily gatekeeping but things are called things for a reason. Imagine the chaos if we just abandon this…come on people.
Image source: broom-handle, Bruna Branco
#2
If you can’t take a full bite of your sandwich or burger in one go it is a fundamental failure.
If your sandwich or burger requires a skewer to maintain integrity it has fundamentally failed.
If you want more filling scale horizontally, not vertically.
Image source: Djinjja-Ninja, Mae Mu
#3
If you change a recipe when you make it, you’re not allowed to rate it in the reviews without making the original. Nothing worse than someone rambling about the 14 changes they made to a recipe, and then giving it a 3 star…
Image source: Slickness81, Jeff Sheldon
#4
Anthony Bourdain was right: butter is the secret ingredient.
Image source: Redditforgoit, Sorin Gheorghita
#5
I think EVERYONE (both food service workers and general public) should take a food safety course.
Image source: ADryMuffin, rithwick. pr
#6
Homemade whipped cream is and always will be better than the fake store bought stuff
Image source: framedfjord, Sorin Gheorghita
#7
One piece of garlic is never enough
Image source: Diathor, Sahand Babali
#8
People who actually only like 2 foods should stop pretending they’re ‘picky eaters’. I understand people having problems with certain textures or types of flavors, for instance someone saying ‘I usually don’t like spicy things’ is fine, or if it were sour or too sweet I could accept that as well. It’s fine to not like the gritty texture of some vegetable when cooked some way or to dislike the ‘smeary’ texture that fat-rich food can sometimes have.
However, as a Midwesterner specifically, I have met so many people who literally act as if they cannot eat anything but mac&cheese, potatoes, and steak. These same people then look outward at the entire rest of food culture and say ‘I don’t like those weird things, I’m picky with what I eat’. No you are a baby sir, and you are still eating exclusively what your mother fed you as a little boy so that you stay that way. I know I have no right to be upset with what other people decide to put in their bodies, but y’all asked me to gatekeep and folks like this get to me.
Image source: BryceSchafer
#9
Charcuterie is cured meats.
There is no Dessert Charcuterie board.
If it has cheese, fruit, nuts, etc. It may be f*****g delicious and beautiful but it’s not a charcuterie board.
That’s like me making a Cheeseburger Board and it’s strawberries, chocolate, cookies, nuts, jams, etc.
Image source: MrCrash2U
#10
STOP COOKING SHRIMP WITH THEIR TAILS ON IN DISHES YOU EAT WITH UTENSILS!
Am I supposed to reach into my plate with my hands like an animal, or leave half of the shrimp stuck in the tail like an animal?
Image source: Teenoh, Megan Bucknall
#11
Posting a video on social media of cooking some stupid c**p like Kraft Mac and cheese, throwing it into a pan, topped with crushed spicy Cheetos, and throwing the video on social media with a bunch of hashtags is NOT a “food hack” and it does not mean you can cook. Quite the opposite, imo.
Image source: lolncpls
#12
LEMON and LIME have two very different flavors. My entire family seems to think that they taste the same and will substitute one for another.
Image source: Hack-A-Byte
#13
Celery is not “just as good”when used as a replacement for onion, Will, you f*****g monster
Image source: rupesmanuva, Daniela Paola Alchapar
#14
Wash your filthy hands. I don’t want food poisoning again.
Also, if you use a glass cutting board, we can’t be friends.
Image source: Bearded-and-Bored, Clay Banks
#15
Shepherd’s pie with beef isn’t shepherd’s pie. It’s cottage pie.
Image source: WoolaTheCalot
#16
Grilled Cheese MUST be buttery
Image source: No_Adhesiveness2387, Kateryna T
#17
Most people’s knives are so dull as to be next to useless
Image source: Nbjaj2576, iBecome Communication
#18
Desserts should not be healthy or low sugar. They’re dessert damn it! Yes, it can be healthy but when you’re changing texture by removing sugar itself… Urgh
Image source: TroublesomeTurnip, Lore Schodts
#19
Please scrape the food off your chopping board with the non cutting edge of your knife.
That is all.
Image source: Ex-zaviera, RODNAE Productions
#20
The dark meat of the chicken is infinitely better than the white meat. No exceptions.
Image source: GarlicAndSapphire
#21
While recipes are useful, folks should prioritize WHY things work in a recipe over just memorizing a recipe.
Image source: The_Owl_Bard, cottonbro
#22
You are not a chef if you have not ever worked in a professional kitchen or had formal training.
I know someone who thinks she’s an influencer and calls herself the Rachael Ray of our city. She refers to herself as a chef even though she’s never even been a server at a restaurant, let alone work in a kitchen under a chef or pro.
It prob shouldn’t annoy me as much as it does.
Image source: PhilEMama
#23
Fresh Thyme is the answer!!!
Image source: hotgirlll3, Ian Yates
#24
Blending a tub of Cool Whip with a block of cream cheese and throwing it in a pie crust does not make cheesecake. Call it something else. That s**t ain’t cheesecake, full stop.
Image source: Much_Difference, Tina Guina
#25
Freshly ground black pepper is so much better than pre-ground (like the stuff in shakers at restaurants).
Image source: lumamaster, Nancy Hughes
#26
People who refuse to try new tastes, foods and dishes suck.
Image source: notahouseflipper
#27
There is no shame in using a meat thermometer to get the temp you want.
Image source: keiths31
#28
Preoccupation with dish authenticity is toxic. The authenticity of a dish varies by geography and culture so for example something like ‘street tacos’ will never be authentic because they are different depending on where you are. Snobbery takes away the pleasure of experiencing food.
Image source: tacochemic
#29
Bacon does not belong in everything.
Image source: izwald88
#30
If your middle eastern/Mediterranean place serves bad or bland hummus I’m not even going to bother with the rest of your menu. If you can’t get the basics right don’t waste my time.
Image source: Anduinnn, Christopher Alvarenga
#31
Burn marks from taking food out of the oven with just a thin towel/your bare hands are not “badges of honor”. Protect yourself and wear some damn gloves.
Image source: PineappleWhip
#32
Stop calling mayo with anything mixed into aioli.
Image source: Poet_Pretty, Tim Pierce
#33
If you say white folks can’t cook. You been eating the wrong food.
Image source: Ldiduknowshinigami
#34
People eat the “fast” versions of food for different reasons then the authentic versions of food. People don’t eat Kraft mac and cheese and expect it to be the best they’ve ever had, they eat it because it’s easier to make then an actual homemade Mac and cheese. Sometimes your brain just craves the weird powdered cheese flavor from Kraft and sometimes it wants the real cheese flavors that come from homemade Mac and cheese. Both can be good in their own categories but shaming people for eating “non-authentic” versions of food is just weird and elitist.
Edit cause people keep saying it – I’m aware that this isn’t gatekeeping. I typed this out and posted it without realizing that I mixed up gatekeeping and controversial, both questions come up on this sub so often that I didn’t even think about the difference until a few people pointed it out.
Image source: Notdownforthis, Ronmar Lacamiento
#35
I have a few about cajun food.
Jambalaya is a dry rice dish. If someone is serving a sauce over rice and calling it jamabalaya, they have no idea what that dish should be.
Cajun does not equal so spicy it can’t be eaten. Most cajun food is full of flavor and not all that spicy.
I have been to a few restaurants and seen dishes to the effect of “Pasta with cajun sauce” I don’t know WTF cajun sauce is, but in all my years, no one in my family ever made it or heard of it.
Image source: orezybedivid, bour3
#36
Washing your meat just spreads germs in your sink. It’s gross and a waste of time
Image source: CornfedOMS
#37
Fresh garlic that you peel and chop yourself is SO much better than the c**p in a jar. Yes it’s more work but it’s so worth it I don’t get why anyone complains.
Image source: CatherineConstance
#38
MSG makes average food delicious, and takes delicious food over the top.
Image source: Mendican, erik forsberg
#39
Kind of the opposite of gatekeeping, but to quote a time honored classic movie about a rat cooking, “Anyone can cook”.
It is worth it in every possible way to learn how to cook, if even just for yourself.
Image source: Sovreign_grounds
#40
Tin foil can be used both ways. It makes no difference. The smooth and matt sides are from the manufacturering process.
Image source: kiffman710
#41
If something’s missing and you can’t put your finger on it, it’s acid. Add lemon, vinegar, etc.
Edit: missed the point on gatekeeping, still true tho
Image source: woaini_ogelskerdig
#42
People need to taste their food. I can’t count how many times I’ve had under-salted food. People just follow a recipe without even tasting anything and expect things to be perfect. You gotta taste it first people!
Image source: AustinAbbott
#43
YOU CANT F*****G CARAMELISE ONIONS IN LESS THAN 20 F*****G MINUTES. I DON’T GIVE A FLYING F**K WHAT THE F**K YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING OR HOW YOU F*****G THINK YOU’RE GOING TO “HACK” THIS, ITS NOT F*****G CARAMELISED. IT JUST F*****G ISN’T.
#44
My friend was in Maine. Stopped at a place and their chicken parm was… chicken nuggets with ketchup and American cheese. If he told me the name I would Molotov cocktail that place so that culinary abomination could never be made there again.
Image source: StarMasher
#45
A s**t ton of condiments on burgers doesn’t = better tasting
Image source: Ralf_E_Chubbs
#46
Burning s**t doesn’t make it Cajun.
Image source: HanMaBoogie, Global Reactions
#47
Propane will never be as good as charcoal
Image source: Fafurion, Dim Hou
#48
If you add olive oil to the water when making pasta you’re a monster. No idea why I’ve met so many people who do this
Image source: cheetah611
#49
Buy the best knives you can afford. You only need three- chef’s, bread, and paring. Keep the chef’sand paring sharp.
Image source: Conscious-Charity915
#50
Casserole is a perfectly fine way to meal prep, and while some can be bland or TikTok bait, they’re often hella good.
Image source: Anarchical-Sheep
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