[theoddz]

This, from cnn.com this morning:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/16/world/...ety/index.html

This brings to mind something my father talked to me about, on several occasions. When I first moved to Las Vegas with my ex, Pop cautioned me about eating at the various Chinese restaurants in town. Dad was full Chinese (2nd Generation from Canton, China), the youngest of 7 children, raised in Hawaii. and an absolutely excellent cook!!!! No, he didn't do it for a living, but let's suffice to say that, over the years of my childhood, I got to eat some really GREAT Chinese cooking, most of it home style!! My grandmother and aunt would come from Hawaii to our home in Savannah, Georgia, and stay for, sometimes, 3 months at a time, cooking most every day. My grandmother, who taught my dad and his siblings to cook, was second to none in the "chef" arena, and could, via Chinese homestyle cooking, feed 9 people with one chicken (and everyone had their fill!!)!!! Chinese food, in itself, is good, nutritious, economical and healthy. BUT..........

Dad said that one had to be very, very careful about eating in Asian restaurants. Why?? Well, basically, because in restaurants owned by many native Asians (those who come from the "old countries"), the standards of cleanliness that we usually enjoy here in western restaurants, is not maintained in some of the Asian restaurants. In some Asian restaurants, here in the U.S., cooks are brought over from the old countries and, even though they may have to be educated in the use of proper food handling techniques, they don't always employ them in their day to day operations.

Here in Las Vegas, as in may be the case in other big cities, the local newspaper, the Las Vegas Review Journal, carries a column in the Wednesday edition of the newspaper. One of the local television stations also does a broadcast version of "Dirty Dining". This column and show expose local restaurants to the public and maintain a "demerit" system that is used to either force local eating establishments to clean up or simply close them down for unsanitary conditions/food preparation. Incidentally, the #1 reason that restaurants, here in the LV valley, are cited is for "failure to maintain food at adequate temperatures" to prevent spoilage. There are many other reasons, too, and I remember reading about one Vietnamese pho (noodle soup) restaurant getting immediately closed down for that reason and for also thawing a chicken out in the friggin' mop sink!!!! Anyway, here's the link to the RJ's "Dirty Dining" web site, so you can see it for yourself:

http://www.jrn.com/ktnv/news/dirty-dining

As for Dear Wife and me, we make it a practice to not eat at places that are not well known to us, via personal experience or our family/friend's recommendations. Still, we do try to eat at home, most of the time, where we know how our food is prepared and that our groceries are fresh and stored properly. My dad taught me to cook quite a few Chinese dishes, along with other kinds of foods, like eggs, steaks (I'm great with a BBQ) and I do okay. I'm not him, of course, but I do well enough for Dear Wife and myself. One thing I don't eat, and would not eat, is any kind of raw seafood. I will NOT eat sashimi/sushi or raw oysters. Seafood spoils extremely easily and I don't trust restaurants to keep these foods fresh. Dear Wife is an excellent cook and does most of the cooking at our house. That's mostly because she enjoys trying new recipes and she has some really wonderful dishes that are her own. She does enjoy my cooking, as well, and loves the respite that my cooking brings, from time to time.

I just wanted to share Pop's message about being careful about eating out at restaurants, particularly ones that you don't know much about. The food may taste good, but you never know how it was prepared, or under what conditions. Getting sick from food poisoning is something I don't ever want to do, and I'm certain that you all feel the same way!!!

Bon apetit!!!

~Theo~