Ask a Yank of the Day

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  • Nairn0

    Why is your better salt 'Kosher salt'?

    I never got that one.

    • i never got that too. kosher is the way you prepare things...renderedred
    • yes, and it is a way of preparing salt toomonospaced
    • You use that salt to prepare things that you want to be Kosher.toemaas
    • The crystals are bigger, this more of a molecular issue.garbage
    • @tomass, wrongmonospaced
    • how do you prepare kosher salt exactly @mono? except paying the rabbinate for a stamp. other than that all salt is kosher,renderedred
    • as long as it doesn't come in contact with something not kosher...renderedred
    • as far as i know no pigs roaming salt farms :)renderedred
    • I don't know, I'm not versed in kosher processes, but I know they exist.monospaced
    • Not all salt is kosher, though. Iodized synthetic salt is not prepared according to Kosher standards. That's why there's a different version.monospaced
    • You're right in the sense that a rabbi COULD bless anything and make it kosher, but that is separate from Kosher guidelines, in my understanding.monospaced
    • ..."The name stems from the salt’s original use: to draw blood out of meat so that it meets the dietary rules set by Jewish law." :)toemaas
    • And it's made for cooking, not for shaking on stuff.toemaas
    • @mono you made research, there is a special kind of salt used to make meat kosher, yes, other than that all salt is kosher.renderedred
    • you made ME researchrenderedred
    • Salt can be kosher but not all salt is kosher style salt. There’s rock salt and iodized table salt too. Totally different.monospaced
    • My guess on why the name stuck is that it’s uniquely tied to some sort of actual history and sociology of the nation at some point.monospaced
    • ask any jew @mono salt is assumed to be kosher. i am only half jew so for me all salt is kosher ;)renderedred
    • See! Now we're getting somewhere! Woo!toemaas
    • It's pretty simple. Put a salt cellar on your counter, fill it with Kosher salt. Pinch to flavor.garbage
    • Just call it kitchen salt ffsi_was
    • Table salt and kosher salt are different types of salt regardless of official kosher blessing. It’s a name for a type of salt ffs not just the religious name.monospaced
    • Fuck the religious name, you're just obsessed with religioni_was
    • Kosher is big scam, a bunch of Rabbi's shaking down food processing plants for a good buck. Nothing but extortion.utopian
    • ^+1000, my point.i_was
    • That sounds like a monty python sketchscarabin
    • @utopian you're 100% rightrenderedred
  • face_melter-3

    Why do you call pasta and spaghetti 'noodles' instead of their actual given name? Is Fusilli 'twisty noodles'?

    And in turn what do you call actual-factual noodles - Mystical Eastern Edible String?

    • Probably to make it a simple as possible for their infantile brains to comprehend. Which why you also see signs during elections that say, 'voting place' ...Continuity
    • ... instead of the more complex and sophisticated 'polling station'.Continuity
    • We don'ttoemaas
    • Checked my pantry. Spaghetti, Fettuccine, Linguine, Penne, Capelli d'angelo, Shanxi, Lo mein, Udon. And some black bean spaghetti that I shouldn't have..garbage
    • ..bought. Out of Bucatini, thanks for the reminder lol. But yeah, we don't.garbage
    • Black bean spaghetti? That sounds a bit vile.Continuity
    • haha, i actually have some of that at home in the cupboard. bought on a whim. sat there for at least a year, unwanted.Nairn
    • @face, not sure what you're referring to, you'll never see a box of italian style pasta listed as just "noodles"monospaced
    • @cont & nairn Yeah... mine has been untouched. I make a mean gravy, but the black bean spaghetti is probably beyond my powers.garbage
    • lol ok, noodle freaks. whatever.face_melter
    • I tried the black bean stuff, it’s got a weird rubbery texturescarabin
    • unless you go to eat at Noodles & Co. ...sarahfailin
  • Continuity3

    What's with your bizarre aversion to measuring dry ingredients sensibly and logically by weight, instead of by volume in recipes?

    • Because our recipes are written in volumes and so are measuring cups.monospaced
    • And weighing each ingredient is tedious. That being said I do want a kitchen scale for when I want to cook like a proper cunt.monospaced
    • You people are fucked up.Continuity
    • Americans cook with cups of tomatoes and buckets of rice.face_melter
    • And a size 42 Air Jordan 2 holds just the right amount of beans.face_melter
    • Wait.
      Having kitchen scales makes me a cunt?
      I didn't need it anyway, but this on top of everything? Jeez. They're like £8.
      Nairn
    • Top tip: the measurement of flour in a crepe recipe should be about the weight of each egg used. Doesn't matter whether it's metric or imperial.Nairn
    • Can't do that with a fucking cup.

      Whatever a fucking cup is.

      Hopefully not menstrual.
      Nairn
    • Cooking is not exact science. Close enough is good enough. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯pango
    • it was a joke, Nairn, relax :)monospaced
    • Recipes that use cups and tablespoons are designed to have accurate weights in the end. The recipes work :)monospaced
    • I take my cooking seriously. I do want a kitchen scale. But I still have the issue of having 90-99% of all recipes using volume not weight.monospaced
    • Many ways of cooking, I 'spose. Sometimes I measure, I used to weigh, but mostly I just wing it.garbage
    • Perfect example: a cup of onions. I'm not going to potentially waste part of an onion because it overflows your fucking cup, which should be used for liquids.Continuity
    • Ditto garlic. A tablespoon of garlic? How many cloves is that? WTF?Continuity
    • oh please, even garlic cloves come in different sizes, so are you telling me you chop and weigh them?monospaced
    • Nope. I make a decision how many cloves I want in my dish.Continuity
    • ^Nairn
    • I have a garlic bulb here. One large clove is 3x bigger than one of the smaller ones. Not all cloves are considered equal. C'mon.monospaced
    • tablespoon works well for garlic ... it's an amount (volume) to use when your bulbs are of differing sizes (volumes). Weight works too.monospaced
    • I guess my point is that using volumes (which are based on weights, roughly), actually does work, and that's WHY we use them?monospaced
    • And like I said, I do want a kitchen scale. It allows for far more accurate baking (you're RIGHT). To write off WHY we do this as incompetence is just silly.monospaced
    • Finally please don’t confuse this discussion as me saying metric weight isn’t superior. It is. I’m only answering the “why” and defending it a bit.monospaced
    • Jeez, these comments. Cooking is about instinct and experience, not spoon fed (!) measurements.fadein11
    • baking is more of a science, but the rest... nah.fadein11
    • Garlic should be measured by the handfulscarabin
    • ^pango
    • who measures ingredients except for cake and deserts?!oey_oey
    • Yeah, the correct measurement for garlic is "double it".garbage
    • If you don't weigh your coffee every morning you might as well go live in a cave.deadsperm
  • Nairn0

    Why do your principal cultural exports taste better abroad - McDonalds and Coca-Cola are both renowned for tasting muich better outside the US.

    .

    Also, when are you going to share Chik'n'Fil with us?

    • fucking lol, I just made up a 'Tenneesee Fried Chicken-a-like'Nairn
    • Huh, apparently they tried, and failed in Reading. https://www.chick-fi…Nairn
    • ^ that's hilarious. As for Coke, it can be explained here: https://www.huffpost…garbage
    • I don't really drink soda, but when I do it's a Mexican Coke, because it is made with cane sugar.garbage
    • And we're keeping our CFA, god damn it.garbage
    • Can't answer this one as I don't consume any of that garbage and I sure as shit wouldn't consume it abroad if I had a limited amount of meals while im theretoemaas
    • Coca-Cola is the dark nectar nipple-excreta of your society's capitalist gods. I've joyously supped upon those teats since I was a kid and loved every secondNairn
    • McDs and, I imagine, CF too are both absolutely shit, but hey, the point stands.Nairn
    • Here in the UK we have a 'sugar tax' on drinks, so all my favourite treats now contain artificial sweeteners. Coke is the only indulgence I can now affordNairn
    • Puritism sucks.Nairn
    • *Puritanism, twat.Nairn
    • Oh, Nairn. You've contracted yurimonitis / deathboyitis, too :(Continuity
    • Because instead of unhealthy but within the scope of not too shittiness sugar, my once-beloved treats are tainted with artificial sweeteners?Nairn
    • You have no idea how deeply it pains me that I'll likely never drink Irn-Bru again.Nairn
    • Irn-Bru. Gone
      7Up. Gone.
      Dandelion & Burdock. Gone.
      Orange Fanta. Gone.
      Nairn
    • No, because of your spelling mistakes!Continuity
    • I've never tried Irn-Bru, so I've no clue what I'm missing.Continuity
    • in bygone days i'd've happily sent you a can or four. no more. no more.Nairn
    • Also, Aperol Spritz is a fair enough stand-in for Irn-Bru, imho.

      'clink
      Nairn
    • I'd fucking kill for an old sodastream bag of sugar-based irn-bru concentrate to use in a mutant italoscottish aperol spritz cross-over. fnnngh.Nairn
    • Oh. Aperol Spritz. Rather fond of those, I am, as long as they're well-made.Continuity
    • Our government subsidizes the growth of corn here. It’s coca cola’s fault for wanting to save a buckscarabin
    • Who gives a fuck if it's shitty food ?i_was
    • i find irn bru is the most palatable of all the low sugar shitstorm. did you try that real sugar irn bru they released nairn? didn't make its way over here...kingsteven
    • ...after looking it up it looks like shite. 1901 recipie with no caffine. ballskingsteven
    • i lived in NY when diet dr pepper came out and american lads i worked with went mad for it even though it tasted like shite. can't be doing diet drinks...kingsteven
    • i'm 6ft and 11 stone. and i totally agree. i need sugar and fat. absolute bastards. brb im off out to punch random fat children to let off steam.kingsteven
    • just got to the front door and collapsed. i hope you're happy BARRkingsteven
    • omg omg omg how did i never know about IrnBru 1901?!?! fnnnnngh
      https://www.amazon.c…
      do I buy?
      Nairn
    • OK, ok. Calm down. Just buy one bottle for now and see how you get onn Nairn.

      THANK YOU, KINGSTEVEN
      x
      Nairn
    • Inca Kola is better than IrnBru.garbage
    • hahah, i may need to do the same. got a 2 litre of the normal stuff coming with my tesco order tonight. still worth having about as my girlfriend hates it...kingsteven
    • any other fizzy drink in the fridge - i get a glass and the next day it's gone :Dkingsteven
  • _niko-1

    Do you all have a portrait of your leader Vladimir Putin on your walls just like your president does?

    • No, we're not allowed to show His face.garbage
    • But seriously, some alt-right types might do this. Counter question for any Irish: Why did your grandparents hang JFK portraits? Is it a Catholic thing?garbage
    • The only time he is on the wall is if it's on the news... for the handful of old people that still actually watch that dumb shit. Quit acting like your from CAtoemaas
    • Lol only an American would think CA is California and not Canada_niko
    • Mine is over my bed so i can gaze at it while boinking. Helps me get offscarabin
    • Jesus scarabin. Article 152 strictly prohibits horizontal boinking. Don't make me report you to bureau.garbage
    • What made you think I thought you were from Cali?toemaas
  • eryx8

    Why cant you just use the fucking metric system!

    • < thissted
    • Fucking right.Continuity
    • hey canada...what's your height and how much do you weigh?hotroddy
    • canada: 5'10" and 160 poundshotroddy
    • Hey Mike Weir, how far do you hit your driver?hotroddy
    • Mike Weir: I hit an average 290 yardshotroddy
    • The metric system issue is a microcosm of America.CyBrainX
    • *walks a mile to the pub to get a pint of ale and pays in hundred penny pounds at 12:00pm, sits down and posts a snarky comment about the US lack of MetricNairn
    • What's the problem with no metric systems ? stop being a cunti_was
    • The imperial system of units (and anyone who uses it) can suck my dickbabydick
    • That's the thing though - on some scales, inches just make more sense than as-arbitrary metric cms.Nairn
    • So in your case, BabyDick - what are we looking at here - half an inch?Nairn
    • Measuring anything with rocks and body parts is a vulgar insult to the intelligence.Continuity
    • can't even wear a mask, as if they going to change the way they measure things.inteliboy
    • Rocks? Probably. Body parts... why? Metric is entirely arbitrary, measurement on a human scale can be more intuitive with 'imperial'Nairn
    • I'm totally metric (and definitely well mexico) but a 'craftsperson' made me realise recently that inches and feet have their place in some contexts.Nairn
    • Continuity nobody is measuring with body parts though. Don’t be ridiculous.monospaced
    • Not explicitly, but inches work with hand scales and feet with limbs, yards with general heights of people. As approximations, they kinda work.Nairn
    • Like, I know what a 6 foot drop is, but 1.8 isn't quite so meaningful. They're both useless in their own ways, but still we have meanings ascribed to them.Nairn
    • I still fucking hate it when people send me files based in Imperial units and describe them as such on the phone or emails or whatever. Twats.Nairn
    • 'nobody is measuring with body parts though' Really? What's a foot, then, other than a body part?Continuity
    • Hotroddy. We use both. The only reason we still use imperial is cuz we trade with US. Otherwise we will be using metric.pango
    • What would really make me happy is if Canada switched 100% to ISO216/DIN paper sizes. But, again, US trade ...Continuity
    • They're measurements. Who cares. We'll follow you rules when you're in your space :)toemaas
    • ^ lol. I'll believe that when I see it.Continuity
    • I've Spent about 8 months in EU over the course of my adulthood and love your ways, even you measurements. But like a different language, you learn to use it.toemaas
    • it's a proud boy thang.dibec
    • Fahrenheit is better for weather, who fuckin caresnb
    • ^ How?
      If 0C⁰, shits gonna freeze. Simple as that.
      pango
    • Yes..Celsius is much more intuitivehotroddy
    • Anyone who defends the imperial system in 2020 is a dumb ass.babydick
    • Hotroddy I agree with you.pango
    • A foot is a distance. Not a body part. Nobody is using body parts. Don’t be ridiculous.monospaced
    • Eat a foot of dick, monobabydick
    • I fucking hate a place where an asshole like me isn't banned.babydick
    • cause they prefer to have 7 inch instead of 17,78 cm though they could say it measures 18 cm aprox.oey_oey
    • yeah mono eat a foot of dick like a baby dick had one foot...LOL!oey_oey
    • Uh, OK, mono.
      https://simple.wikip…)
      Fuck me, you're thick.
      Continuity
    • Thick? Please. Nobody uses a body part to take measurements, that’s ridiculous. Unless you are prohibitively literal you could understand.monospaced
    • That’s like saying you weight things with stones. You would reply “no, a stone is a weight, we don’t actually use rocks to measure. That’s ridiculous.” Samemonospaced
    • Obviously nobody uses their foot just like nobody uses rocks. Maybe once upon a time nearly lost in history it was done and set, but that’s the extent.monospaced
    • stop using foot and rocks!pango
  • utopian0

    With the American empire in decline, are American's prepared for what comes next?

    • I expect they're not nearly as prepared for the mi'suse of the apo'strophe, but...YMMV.zarb0z
    • American’s what?monospaced
    • Most aren't. Wait, I meant "most a'rent".garbage
    • These notes ar'ent easy on the brain.Continuity
    • Tell us what you think comes next Utopiantoemaas
    • America will never decline, god only loves Americai_was
    • I would like so much to reply some of the questions but I'm not a yank.oey_oey
    • @oey_oey Here's your honorary green card. You can be American for 2 years.garbage
  • mort_1

    How bad does it have to get to consider emigrating?

    • RBG dies before the election, Mitch McConnell shoves in another lifelong lunatic into the Supreme Court, Trump wins his second term.garbage
    • Let's be honest though, Americans used to be figuratively toxic. Expatriation might be tough now that we're literally toxic.garbage
    • Pretty bad. Just like anyone else that wants to leave a country they grew up in. I just finished a feature length Doc about someone who immigrated during badtoemaas
    • times in Eastern Europe in the 90s (to America). Would be a shame if he would have to do it twice in 1 life.toemaas
    • Bad. I can escape politics and live in the hills if i want toscarabin
    • After W in 2000 I thought about Europe but now they have a lot of the same populist bullshit. Canada is a great option but I can't even handle how cold NYC is.CyBrainX
    • Just bumping this to pimp my sadly true comment and remind people to fucking vote.garbage
  • grafician-3

    Why is America so fucked?

  • _niko2

    question 1.
    Why is a Brit starting a thread called ask a yank?

    • oh wait i thought you were Gardener lol_niko
    • lol, I wish.garbage
  • garbage

    Collate your queries here.