Just in case you thought perhaps my ineptitude in the kitchen knew some bounds, you might be amused to know that I just Googled "How to dice a tomato."
I maintain that if dicing a tomato the right way (as opposed to the sloppy and obviously wrong way I've done it so many times before) were innate knowledge, then this page would not exist. This is how we learn, people. Surely there's no shame in that. Incidentally, the tutorial was quite helpful. I don't know why it never occurred to me to ask Google about this before.
Actually, it might not have occurred to me today either, had I not found this video on how to make the national cocktail of Brazil* so unexpectedly useful in learning how very wrong I've been cutting limes for drinks all these years.
The Internet is an amazing thing, my friends. Whatever did we do without it?
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* The hard-to-spell Caipirinha, of which NancyPearlWannabe is a big fan.
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17 comments:
Holy moly! Apparently I've been doing that wrong for my entire life! Wow!
Also amazing are Chef Tony's Miracle Blades! The best chopping, slicing, cutting knives for the money.
Especially the rock-n-chop.
heheheh, you kill me! :P
I think I'm going to buy a tomato tonight at try that. Part of the reason that I like to cook with tofu is that you don't have to deal with the "how do I turn this circle into a square" challenge.
Yay, national cocktails of Brazil! And congrats on learning how to dice. It's a true milestone. :)
I'm going to disagree with about.com on how to dice a tomato. Since most of the flavor is in the seeds and the juice, they've got you throwing out the best part. I just slice it, stack the slices and cut them in little squares. It's messier, but ... it's food. It's supposed to be a little messy.
Chefs just like to assign "appropriate" cutting and dicing methods so they can sniff disdainfully at each other's "knife skills." Yes, I do watch Top Chef--why do you ask? ;)
Dicing is a soothing therapy for me. I am very weird, and I remember when I used to get overtly stressed, I'd come back home and take tomatoes, onions and jalapenos out of the fridge and begin dicing so I could make pico de gallo salsa.
Mother is known in our family to be an expert dicer.
I hope the party was fun. Sorry I missed it. How did the mojitos or national cocktails of Brazil (or both) turn out?
I pretty much think that any way you can dice things without cutting your fingers off is the "right" way.
keep this up & you'll have to revise the "so very not Martha" tag.
Abbersnail--The limes or the tomatoes? (Obviously I was clueless about both.)
BK--Or you could just get the pack of 4-for-$1.99 paring knives off of a peg in the gadget aisle. That's what I do. :-)
Anniina--Yeah, I figure if I can't laugh at myself (and invite others to do the same), what's the point?
Noelle--I'm not such a fan of tofu, but you make a good point there.
NPW--Yay indeed. But holy cow are those things strong! Did anyone make it home the night you made those??
TOG--That was always my method, too. For certain things, though, wouldn't you not want the sloppy seed and juice part? (I was making taco dip, and I figured this was one of those times.)
Liz--Perhaps, but in the case of the limes, I do have to say it's a much more effective method. Also, I love that the guy in the video said, "Always cut your limes before you start drinking." That's good advice indeed. :-)
LC--That's a nice image. My mom always thought doing dishes was soothing. Some people enjoy ironing to reduce stress. I enjoy none of these things. I did, however, once scrub my microwave because I was mad at a boy and had nervous energy to burn, so I suppose it all makes sense.
R--I didn't actually make the Caipirinhas at the party... I made one for myself before going out on Friday (because I really wanted to try out my new muddler and I was intrigued after watching that video), and holy cow was it a potent (though tasty) drink. I didn't want to obliterate my friends immediately. The mojitos were good, though (although I don't think I'll ever get used to having all that stuff floating around in my drink... the limes, the mint leaves... it's all such an obstacle). You should have had my sangria, though. Yum.
Whiskeymarie--No, as long as it's still enough of a novelty that I feel compelled to write about it as such, I think the "Not Martha" tag still fits. :-)
We would all die without the internet.
I just discovered Google SMS, and it has literally changed my life!!
FunkyB--I LOVE Google SMS! Unfortunately, it does not work with my current phone/plan anymore. :-( I am heartily disappointed. Also, I have tried to tell everyone I know about how awesome and useful it is, but no one seems to get it or listen to me. This must be what it was like when Maliavale first told everyone about T9. I'm a believer in that, too, now. It's awesome.
I'm so excited that you posted this! I HATE dicing tomatoes...but I don't think I'll hate it anymore! Yay, very excited over here! Ok, now I'm off to see if I cut my limes the right way!
Bigstar--I'm just here to help. :-) Also, you have no idea how happy it makes me to see that other people are in need of this basic advice as well. See? Win-win!
Oh, I ADORE Caipirinhas! Yum. Was the recipe good?
Metalia--I just used regular rum instead of the fancy Brazilian stuff, and it was tasty. Mighty strong, but tasty! (Hello, it's basically a cup of rum. But with sugar! And lime! Yum.) :-)
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