Which food things make a difference, which don't?

[El Diablo]

I'll give my opinions on some of these after a few responses. Feel free to add your own things:

Fresh herbs v. dried herbs

Ground pepper from peppercorns/grinder v. ground pepper from shaker

Sea salt v. regular salt

Fresh chili peppers v. powder

Specialty (virgin/extra virgin) olive oil v. grocery store (virgin/extra virgin) olive oil

Specialty balsamic vinger v. generic balsamic vineger

Organic fruit/veg v. regular

Farm/Farmer's market fruit/veg v. grocery store

Premium fresh pasta v. premium dried pasta

Organic meat v. regular

Butcher meat v. grocery store

Free range poultry v. regular

Grass fed beef v. grain fed beef

Farmed salmon v. wild salmon

I'm not looking for essays on any of this stuff or answers for everything. I'm just looking for pointers from those of you who cook a lot like "the difference in using fresh herbs v. dried is HUGE" or whatever little changes in ingredients make dishes WAY better.

[Copernicus]

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I'll give my opinions on some of these after a few responses. Feel free to add your own things:

Fresh herbs v. dried herbs huge difference

Ground pepper from peppercorns/grinder v. ground pepper from shaker some difference, but not critical


Sea salt v. regular salt some difference, but not critical


Fresh chili peppers v. powder depends on the dish and the purpose of the peppers


Specialty (virgin/extra virgin) olive oil v. grocery store (virgin/extra virgin) olive oil no difference


Specialty balsamic vinger v. generic balsamic vineger huge difference


Organic fruit/veg v. regular no difference unless home grown


Farm/Farmer's market fruit/veg v. grocery store some difference, but not critical


Premium fresh pasta v. premium dried pasta some difference, but not critical


Organic meat v. regular no difference


Butcher meat v. grocery store can be signficant difference if you know the butcher. walk in as a stranger no difference


Free range poultry v. regular no difference


Grass fed beef v. grain fed beef significant difference but not worth the cost


Farmed salmon v. wild salmon some difference, but not critical


I'm not looking for essays on any of this stuff or answers for everything. I'm just looking for pointers from those of you who cook a lot like "the difference in using fresh herbs v. dried is HUGE" or whatever little changes in ingredients make dishes WAY better.

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[DOMIT]

One of the biggies for me, from personal experience, is the fresh pasta. I've made it before; it can be a pain, but BOY what a difference!

[Copernicus]

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One of the biggies for me, from personal experience, is the fresh pasta. I've made it before; it can be a pain, but BOY what a difference!

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I think he was talking about store bought "Fresh vs Dried", not homemade. Yes theres a big difference between homemade and storebought dried, but the difference between homemade and storebought fresh isnt as big, and definitely not worth the effort.

Same with bread imo. Artisan breads from the store arent as good as home baked, but the effort may not be justified. And its more important for bread than pasta because the differences in pasta tend to get buried in other flavors, where bread needs to stand on its own much more.

[FeliciaLee]

Organic fruit/veg v. regular

Home grown most definitely. In the midwest the fruit right out of the garden is amazing. Here in the desert, well, I wasn't so impressed with my garden, until yesterday, when I bit into a red onion. That was the first thing that has tasted absolutely better than any produce aisle in any store.

Farmer's Market vs. Store

Yes, FM is better.

Butcher vs. Store

Definitely butcher (although I've only gone steadily at one period of my life.

Grass fed beef v. grain fed beef

Unbelieveably better. We get our beef from the midwest now. I can't stand the stuff in Arizona.

And you say?

Felicia [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[El Diablo]

Copernicus,

Just curious, what's your level of food/cooking experience? Are you a food lover, serious cook, professional chef, etc?

[Ron Burgundy]

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Fresh herbs v. dried herbs

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Big difference, no question about it.

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Ground pepper from peppercorns/grinder v. ground pepper from shaker

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Big difference, preground pepper is retarded, it's not any harder or more expensive to use freshly ground.

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Sea salt v. regular salt

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I don't notice a difference in taste, but sea salt is said to contain more minerals and nutrients, so that's what I usually use.

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Fresh chili peppers v. powder

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Chili powder is fine for most recipes.

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Specialty (virgin/extra virgin) olive oil v. grocery store (virgin/extra virgin) olive oil

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What does "grocery store" mean? It all depends on the brand. Some grocery stores have very good brands of evoo.

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Specialty balsamic vinger v. generic balsamic vineger

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I've never had really expensive balsamic, I heard that the best ones are like $150 a bottle and they taste good if you drink it straight.

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Organic fruit/veg v. regular

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Heirloom tomatos are the shiznit, other than that, I don't notice a difference in taste. I mainly buy organic produce to not get cancer.

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Farm/Farmer's market fruit/veg v. grocery store

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Never been to a farmers market. But if anyone knows a good farmers market in Chicago, please tell.

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Premium fresh pasta v. premium dried pasta

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I don't think I've ever had fresh pasta.

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Organic meat v. regular

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I don't eat much meat, but I don't notice any difference in taste.

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Butcher meat v. grocery store

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They still have butchers?

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Free range poultry v. regular

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No difference.

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Grass fed beef v. grain fed beef

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They're both disgusting, I haven't eaten beef in a few years.

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Farmed salmon v. wild salmon

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Wild seems to be a little better.

[AnthonyV]

i'm not extremely familiar with each of these so i'll comment on what i know:

Fresh herbs v. dried herbs noticeable difference, but only huge in select cases. basil comes to mind specifically, obv never use powdered garlic. in sweets, real cinnamon is big upgrade

Ground pepper from peppercorns/grinder v. ground pepper from shaker a difference, but in many common scenarios not worth the trouble. i definitely would never put shaker pepper on a salad, but i think it makes no difference in a soup, for instance.

Sea salt v. regular salt matter of taste imo

Specialty (virgin/extra virgin) olive oil v. grocery store (virgin/extra virgin) olive oil worth the extra expense. high quality extra virgin olive oil makes a huge difference when it's a critical element of a dish, such as an oil/garlic pasta sauce or when you're using it in a marinade. when you're just using it as "cooking" oil, don't bother.

Specialty balsamic vinger v. generic balsamic vineger this is BY FAR the biggest difference on this list. it's just so mind-bogglingly better when it's aged or specialty. not even in the same ballpark. this is a cost matter though, as specialty balsamic can be exceptionally expensive. that being said, if you're looking to impress, make some bruschetta with 25 year old balsamic or do a legit balsamic reduction with lamb. whoa.

Farm/Farmer's market fruit/veg v. grocery store freshness here is typically the issue. whenever i hang out with my hippy friends i try to hit up a farmers market, but honestly i'm not losing sleep over this one.

Premium fresh pasta v. premium dried pasta the difference here is most pronounced in flavored pastas (which generally i'm not a huge fan of), say wheat pasta for instance

Butcher meat v. grocery store huge, just huge. absolutely enormous difference, particularly in just being able to get precisely what you're looking for, but also from the standpoint of getting leaner cuts and more flavorful meats.

Free range poultry v. regular meh not a huge difference from what i've found, but the big difference here is EGGS. man, free range non-pasteurized eggs are just so much better, from a taste and presentation standpoint (i.e. the yolks are incredibly bright yellow)

[turnipmonster]

whole spices vs. preground spices in general (cloves, cardamom, cumin, mustard seeds, etc). for instance garam masala freshly ground from whole lightly toasted spices is way different from preground garam masala.

[turnipmonster]

also, depending on the recipe, homemade stocks can make a very big difference.