Food

[philmayfield 6,145]

My parents used to eulogise about having tripe and onions after ‘the pictures’ on Saturday nights before the war.

I bought some from the butcher’s some years ago to try it out but we all chucked it in the bin. I do enjoy the other varieties of offal though.

[Mess 618]

4 hours ago, philmayfield said:

Tripe is disgusting. Dogs like it though!

My early career in food was in the Petfood industry. I spent eight years with Mars. Three years in their Peterborough factory and five years in Melton Mowbray. I began as a R&D Chemist and most of my time was spent formulating their products to generate improvements or cost savings.

Contrary to popular belief there's a lot of science behind the products and when I later became one of their palatability scientists I had to delve into the chemistry of flavour to try and work out what cats and dogs like to eat. Now that was a challenge and absolutely fascinating.

Mars Petcare produced some excellent products which were nutritional sound and well accepted by owners and their pets.

When Butcher's Petcare launched their Tripe Mix it sent ripples through the industry. As Phil says dogs love it. Mars knew that but wouldn't copy Butcher's product because the product smelt like cow poo which most pet owners wouldn't put up with.

So Butcher's Petcare had a very successful but limited product that dog's loved but most owners didn't. They even tried to tone down the smell by using bleached tripe but guess what, the dogs didn't like it as much.

In my time in the industry we discovered many things that cat's and dog's love but most owners simply wouldn't buy because of their nauseating aromas. Putrefied dead rat anyone?

[philmayfield 6,145]

Someone who once went round Petfoods at Melton Mowbray told me he was amazed at the quality of the foodstuffs that went into the canned pet food. It was more than fit for human consumption apparently!

[Mess 618]

19 minutes ago, philmayfield said:

Someone who once went round Petfoods at Melton Mowbray told me he was amazed at the quality of the foodstuffs that went into the canned pet food. It was more than fit for human consumption apparently!

Phil, Petfood companies have access to increasing amounts of offal because people are eating less and less of it.

Cats and dogs love liver, kidney, tripe and associated fat (dogs only) and lites (lungs). Chicken heads and feet used to be freely available until the Chinese began to buy it up for their human population.

[philmayfield 6,145]

I really enjoy haggis and heaven knows what goes into that! Best not to know perhaps.

[Beekay 5,158]

Always remember when I was a butchers lad from age 11 to 14 & a bit. One of my jobs involved mincing the pork when making sausages. The butcher used to dice up the pork, and it were always decent cuts, and then I had to mince it, ( I had to stand on a stool to reach the top of the mincer tray). When it had all been put through he would then a powdered meal with addition of salt and a generous dollop of white pepper and I would then re-mince it all together. It always fascinated me the way he plaited the links and I could never follow his hand movements. If we were rendering dripping at the same time, he would tell me to cut of a couple of links for us and drop them in the melting dripping. Would nip 2 doors down to a cafe for a couple of buttered rolls and that was breakfast sorted. Bootiful !

[Cliff Ton 10,470]

1 hour ago, Mess said:

Contrary to popular belief there's a lot of science behind the products and when I later became one of their palatability scientists I had to delve into the chemistry of flavour to try and work out what cats and dogs like to eat. Now that was a challenge and absolutely fascinating.

 

And pet food is an unusual subject when it comes to advertising, because the manufacturers can't address their advertising directly to the consumer, they have to speak to the consumer's owner, which is a bit convoluted and awkward.

[Rob.L 1,090]

My dogs used to love Chappie dog food. At the time, there was a decent amount of salmon in it. These days, it smells nothing like it used to and is mostly cereal.

 

I was told that the fresh salmon used to frequently disappear from the Pedigree production line, only to turn up in my then father in law’s local pub in Harby, where it was sold on the cheap for human consumption.

[MargieH 7,602]

7 hours ago, philmayfield said:Roast potatoes in this house are referred to as ‘bastard potatoes’ but I don’t know the derivation.

Could it be ‘basted potatoes’ because you baste them in the oven by spooning fat or oil over them to make them crispy on the outside?

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

2 hours ago, Cliff Ton said:

And pet food is an unusual subject when it comes to advertising, because the manufacturers can't address their advertising directly to the consumer, they have to speak to the consumer's owner, which is a bit convoluted and awkward.

A friend of mine used to do two days a week (in an anonymous industrial unit in sunny Bulwell) for some petfood company which involved assessing cat food by its appearance and smell. None of the tins/pouches bore any trace of the brand. She had to take a comprehensive written test prior to selection for the job.  None of those who assessed the food was allowed to take any home for their cat to try! It's the obvious way to find out how appealing it is.

 

Most cats would probably prefer minced mouse or fricassee of Roland rat to fillet of salmon with broccoli.  The problem is that their humans wouldn't buy it.

[philmayfield 6,145]

1 hour ago, MargieH said:

Could it be ‘basted potatoes’ because you baste them in the oven by spooning fat or oil over them to make them crispy on the outside?

I guess that was the origin and the children corrupted it after listening to their father’s language!

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Perhaps the same applied to their mother's language when sewing?  I remember basting stitches, though I'm no needlewoman.

[Mess 618]

6 hours ago, Cliff Ton said:

 

And pet food is an unusual subject when it comes to advertising, because the manufacturers can't address their advertising directly to the consumer, they have to speak to the consumer's owner, which is a bit convoluted.

Spot on Cliff.

Trying to satisfy two consumers when developing pet food products is quite a challenge.

The product developer has to bear in mind that the cat or dog doesn't care how much the product costs or what the label says or even if it delivers good nutrition. They only care about how good it tastes. It's the pet owner who has to be persuaded to buy it in the first place. If they won't, their pet never gets the chance to try it.

[mary1947 2,084]

When I trained my dog she was only given dried food eg Beta puppy /B senior / B working dog.

I would never give any of my dogs tinned food. Your dog/cat is going to sit there and say oh that a great taste can I have it again. Just think how many police dogs are trained and I am sure that they are all given tinned dog food,  I don't think so?     We all love our cats and dogs but that is the way we are.  

[Mess 618]

2 hours ago, mary1947 said:

When I trained my dog she was only given dried food eg Beta puppy /B senior / B working dog.

I would never give any of my dogs tinned food. Your dog/cat is going to sit there and say oh that a great taste can I have it again. Just think how many police dogs are trained and I am sure that they are all given tinned dog food,  I don't think so?     We all love our cats and dogs but that is the way we are.  

Dry vs canned petfood was always a lively debate when I worked in the industry. Big dogs will eat almost anything whilst small dogs are more like cats and quite fussy. Dogs prefer canned food to dry but dog owners enjoy the convenience of dry food. It smells better too.

Cats are rather indifferent to dry food and much prefer canned food. It's unwise to feed cats dry food exclusively because they can easily develop kidney/urinary issues.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

My cats generally prefer biscuits but I limit them due to high fat content and uncertainty about how much water the cat drinks.  They are fed good quality wet food plus a lesser quantity of biscuits with fish as a treat.  The hedgehogs are also fed cat food which they seem to enjoy. There's never any waste.

[mary1947 2,084]

Thankyou for the message Mess I can not say much about cats , I did have a cat years ago, it tells you how long ago by its name. It was called Bimbo  remember the song it was on (an old fashion thing called a radio) and was on Uncle Macs Saturday morning show.                                                                                          I have had big dogs and small dogs , but with my 2 rotties I had dog training lessons for working dog trials, and after lessons must admit it taught me a lot of things about dogs, that you just never think about.

[nonnaB 4,895]

 

 

Alba, Truffle fair. My son appreciating a large truffle.

[Cliff Ton 10,470]

If I found a truffle in the street I would have no idea what it was. I'd probably just kick it into the gutter as some kind of random rubbish.

[nonnaB 4,895]

6 minutes ago, Cliff Ton said:

If I found a truffle in the street I would have no idea what it was. I'd probably just kick it into the gutter as some kind of random rubbish.

NOOOOO THEY ARE WORTH THOUSANDS. They don’t look nice and they don’t smell nice but when they are thinly shaved on top of food it’s a different experience. This truffle fair is for 9 days and you can’t walk in Alba it’s jam packed. Just seen the local news interviewing people from all over the world. Including English .

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

I recently tried Marmite with truffles. I'm an avid fan of Marmite, always have been as I was brought up in a family who loved it. Marmite with truffles? No thank you.  I'll even eat Marmite with peanut butter. Sounds yukky but actually it's not bad. Prefer Marmite on its own. Not everyone's taste but I love it. They keep doing these Marmite combinations but you can't beat good old plain, B12 soaked, Marmite.

[nonnaB 4,895]

Marmite to me is the most disgusting taste. I can’t imagine how people can like it but they do and I accept that we all have different tastes. 
 

[Cliff Ton 10,470]

14 minutes ago, nonnaB said:

NOOOOO THEY ARE WORTH THOUSANDS. They don’t look nice and they don’t smell nice but when they are thinly shaved on top of food it’s a different experience. 

 

I realise that !  I find it amazing that something which looks so cheap and nasty can be so valuable.

 

I've never eaten truffle (apart from the chocolate version)  so I can't comment on what they actually taste like.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

11 minutes ago, nonnaB said:

Marmite to me is the most disgusting taste. I can’t imagine how people can like it but they do and I accept that we all have different tastes. 

It's perfectly true that you either love Marmite or loathe it. It has even been suggested that it's genetic!!  A friend recently mentioned that she'd never tried it so I gave her a taste on some toast. I knew she'd hate it...and she did.  She was born into a family who never bought Marmite, probably because they didn't like it, and it was almost a certainty that she wouldn't like it either.  As children, my sister and I ate Marmite on bread 'soldiers' with boiled eggs for breakfast. Loved it. Still do.

[The Pianoman 1,535]

I've never tried Marmite. I am not inclined to spend money on a jar either in case I find myself in the hate it camp.