From: arielle@taronga.com (Stephanie da Silva)
Subject: Commonly Requested Threads FAQ  ;-)
Organization: Taronga Park BBS
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1992 18:07:25 GMT


This is a repost of the list of frequently discussed topics
on rec.food.cooking.  Note that I am *NOT* saying don't bring these
subjects up.  However if you do, keep in mind that you may not get the 
response you were anticipating.  

Feel free to send me comments, suggestions, flames.  :-)

Here's what I have so far (I've only included threads that have come
up at least thrice before in the last year or so):

Cookbooks.  "What's a good cookbook?" gets my vote for the single most 
	asked question on r.f.c.  
Speaking of cookbooks, a lot of people like to bash the Frugal Gourmet.
Gross Foods.  This one can be good for a laugh (if you can stomach it!).
Imperial to Metric conversions and vice versa.  Actually a valid thread.
Cider vs. Apple Juice.  This discussions goes off on tangents about
	hard cider, applejack, scrapple, apple brandy, sparkling cider 
	and what each is called in various countries.
Key Lime Pie.  (Sometimes cooked, sometimes not).
French Silk Pie.  Excellent stuff.
Ice cream.  (With or without bacteria-laden raw eggs).
Black Beans.  Also known as turtle beens (not to be confused with
	turtle cheesecake).
Pasta (fresh and dried) and pasta makers.
Pesto.
Squid.
Mushrooms.  A lot of people are "wild" about them.  :-)
Mole.  No, not little burrowing mammals, the savoury Mexican dish that
	has chocolate as an ingredient.
Sun Dried Tomatoes.
French fries.  Yes, some people like to dip their fries in mayo.
Perfect Mashed Potatoes.  Mashed potatoes are *supposed* to be lumpy!
Cookware.  Strangely, the same questions about the same kinds of cookware
	get asked over and over.  There are the "What are the best knives?"
	(Don't put them in the dishwasher!), the "Which cookware is best 
	for my purposes?" and the always exciting "How do I season my wok/
	cook with a wok on top of an electric stove?" threads.
Appliances.  Then there are the recurring appliances.  Microwaves come up
	a lot (I honestly think we need a rec.food.cooking.microwaves
	group).  Crock pots.  Rice cookers (this one never seems to die).
	Bread machines (the bread-thread is another long-running one).
Aluminum cookware.  Speaking of cookware, aluminum pots and pans deserve
	a mention of their very own because of the Alzheimer's connection.
Cast Iron Skillets.
Knives.
The honey is better than refined sugar myth.  (In reality, there is virtually 
	no nutritional difference between the two).
General Tso's chicken.
Ethnic foods.  Most common are Thai and Indian (both excellent cuisines).
	Most notable repeat is Pad Thai.
Red beans and rice. (And with it the usual flames about how kidney beans
	are *not* red beans). 
Mayonnaise vs. Miracle Whip. (Plus the raw-eggs-are-bad-for-you flames)
The $250 Cookie. (It's a hoax, dammit!)  This one usually starts with, "I 
	don't read this group, but...."  And then they get mad when they're 
	flamed.  (sigh)
The dreaded buffalo wings.  About a month after I joined this group, someone's 
	newsreader kept burping and the same group of articles (on buffalo 
	wings) were posted over and over -- about 300 times.  That was fun.
	Personally, I think anyone who posts a request for buffalo wings
        should be shot.
Hummus.  Easy.  (Chick peas, tahini, garlic and fresh lemon juice).  A twist
	on this one is for hummus made with dried chick peas.
Salsa.  All sorts -- fresh, cooked, red, green.  Related threads include
	chile peppers and chili (with or without beans).  Another related
	thread is discussion on what makes chiles hot (capsacain) and
	the chile addiction/endorphin connection.
Fajitas.  Two schools on fajita marinades:  Bottled Italian salad dressing 
	or the kind made with fresh lime juice.
Oz foods.  Usually (but not confined to) either requests for scones or "What 
	is vegemite"? (Yeast extract -- very strong and very salty).
Pizza dough.  (And toppings).  Variations include white and fruit pizzas.
Fast Food "Secret Sauce."  Plus the usual Fast Food bashing.
Puttanesca sauce (and Italian foods in general).
Barbequing.  Most prevelant during the summer.  Not just barbequing, but also 
	smoking and questions about what barbeque equipment to buy and what 
	are good techniques and marinades and sauces and meats, ad nauseum.
Jams, jellies and pectin.  Another summer thread.
Sourdough:  Not nearly as prevalent as it used to be because the sourdough 
            mailing list gets most of the traffic now.


Last time I posted a little bit about netiquette.  This time I'm going
to post a different comment on it.  I'm also trying to be tactful
about this but the hard part about the written media is people tend to
read emotions into messages that aren't there.  Go ahead and flame
me about something if it makes you happy -- flames don't bother me.

To new users on the net:  There is a group called news.announce.newusers.
It has a lot of excellent informational files about conduct, posting
techniques, etc, that apply to the net.  It is a very good idea to read
these articles before you post.  It's also a good idea to read a group
for at least a month before you post.  Too often someone starts their
message with "I'm new to this group and I don't know if this has been
requested before, but..." and then to their dismay, don't exactly get
the response they anticipated.  This sort of thing can easily be avoided.

There are certain posting errors that seem to push more annoyance buttons
than others.  Quotinng the entire text of a large message only to
add a 2 line comment at the end is real high on the list.  
A similar example of this was the request about basmati rice (I know I 
shouldn't make specific examples because it looks like I'm picking on
someone -- I'm not.  It's just that this perfectly illustrates
my point).  The originator posted a compilation of all the responses
he had gotten from his request.  This was fine except he left in
complete headers and .sigs and every single response said the exact
same thing!  The file could have been better replaced with a summary
of a just few lines with less bandwidthwaste.  I think what I'm trying
to say is learn to use your newsreader/editor and edit the text of
what you're replying to (or summarizing) down to the most pertinent points.

Another thing that bugs people are requests from people who don't
read the newsgroup and treat us like some sort of online recipe
service.  Things like, "I'm fixing dinner in a few hours, I need some 
recipes for filet of mudskipper.  I don't read this group so please email."
Or, "My Jupiterberries are starting to ripen and I need ideas for
canning.  Please email and I'll summarize if there's interest."  I can't 
help but think I'm nit-picking but still, I feel that it somehow defeats
the spirit of the group.  As Manda mentioned to me when she was here,
it seems there are considerably less recipes posted and a lot more
flaming than there used to be.  (sigh)  On the same vein, another
user told me he's always amused by requests for "good" recipes.  Like
all we post are bad ones.  :-)

Back to the subject at hand, it helps if you can be as specific as
possible about requests.  One that amuses me are people who post
articles that asks for "chicken, beef, soup, veggie and dessert"
recipes.  Um, read the group for a while and you'll get plenty.
And please try to avoid Subject: titles that say "A question," or
"A request."  It helps to be a little more specific than that!
Same with specific recipes.  Try to describe the dish that you're
searching for in a fair amount of detail. 

As usual, I've run on too long!
-- 
Stephanie da Silva                        Taronga Park * Houston, Texas
arielle@taronga.com                           568-0480   568-1032   
                     "Oopsy... " -- CometGuy