My childhood was spent with completely bland foods, because my dear mother, despite the fact that her cooking was usually very tasty, didn't like to add much salt or spices at all. Perhaps this is why, as an adult, I turned into a great connoisseur of various seasonings and sauces...
But even I, with my all-consuming passion for seasonings, wouldn't dare to change the taste of someone else's food right on the stove. Even if it was completely bland. But the user u/Strong-Emu7954 has a sister-in-law who once ruined a whole batch of tomato sauce in this way, for which she rightfully received retribution. However, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post has a sister-in-law and the two women both love cooking
Image credits: Liudmyla Shalimova / Pexels (not the actual photo)
However, the sister-in-law is hugely adherent to various seasonings and has sometimes even tried to "fix" the taste of the author's meals
Image credits: Strong-Emu7954
Image credits: RDNE Stock project / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The author once received 40lb of tomatoes and decided to make tomato sauce and can it plain
Image credits: Strong-Emu7954
Image credits: Racool_studio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
When the sauce was simmering on the stove, the author's bro and his wife came over - and she immediately poured in olive oil, seasonings and herbs, without asking any permission
Image credits: Strong-Emu7954
The author banned the sister-in-law from her house and didn't change her mind, even after her apologies and a sweet "cake bribe" as well
So, let's now introduce the main characters of this story, as classic playwrights did. Firstly, the Original Poster (OP), a 28-year-old woman, secondly, her older brother, and thirdly, his 33-year-old wife. Looking ahead, the main antagonist of our tale.
The thing is that the author loves to cook, and so does her SIL. But even more than cooking, this decent lady loves to add all sorts of spices to food. Often in, from the OP's point of view, unjustified amounts. Our heroine caught the SIL a couple of times in her own kitchen trying to add some pepper - and each time she firmly said that she would not allow anything like that.
And now we move on to the main plot itself. Once the OP received 40lbs of tomatoes and decided to make tomato sauce for the winter. Usually the woman cans it plain, and only upon opening it adds salt, pepper and other herbs, depending on the need. That's what she planned to do this time too...
But fate, in the person of the restless SIL, decreed otherwise. The brother and his wife came over, and she literally immediately entered the kitchen, where the sauce was already simmering. And when, a couple of minutes later, the host entered the kitchen, the sauce was already generously salted and peppered. Moreover, the SIL poured olive oil and various seasonings into it - and, with a smile, said something like: "this sauce needed some taste, I added it for you!"
Our heroine boiled like a sauce on high heat. She went straight to her brother and, firstly, demanded that he and his wife go home immediately, secondly, that they compensate her for 40 pounds of tomatoes, and thirdly, that the SIL is now banned from her home for life. The author simply didn't want to see this woman under her roof anymore.
After some time, the brother came back with tomatoes, his wife's apologies and, as a kind of bribe, with the OP's favorite carrot cake. Well, our heroine accepted all this, but declared that she remains adamant in her decision. Moreover, now the next family gatherings will have to be hosted by someone else - because extended family also implies the presence of her SIL.
Our heroine's husband is completely on her side, but her relatives - in particular, her parents - sincerely believe that she has overreacted here. However, it's quite possible that they simply do not want to host the upcoming family gatherings instead of her...
Image credits: wavebreakmedia_micro / Freepik (not the actual photo)
"We must always remember the most important rule that all flavor enhancers, all seasonings, exist only to emphasize and reveal the product, to reveal the taste of a specific product or a specific dish," says Roman Sardarian, the chef of the Weber Ukraine grill brand, with whom Bored Panda got in touch for a comment. "You can't eat something to feel that there is salt in it."
"You always need to balance the meal so that in general you don't feel any particular notes playing separately: somewhere something is sweeter, somewhere sour, somewhere pickled..."
"If, for example, the product is a tomato, which is sour, and you are making tomato sauce - then, accordingly, in order to balance the acidity, you need to add sugar to it. If the tomato itself is sweet, then you can add nothing. In any case, this is at the discretion of the cook, and then everyone who eats adds seasonings at their own discretion."
"As for this particular situation, the kitchen is a kind of sacred place, and to barge in there without the host's permission to do something with the dishes being prepared is the height of bad manners. Even if you are the best cook in the world - you still need to ask permission," Roman concludes.
Well, it's quite interesting that the opinions of the commenters under the original post were very divided. Some fully support the author's righteous indignation, and share her feelings. "This feels like it's the first time your SIL has truly faced the consequences of her meddling," one of the responders wrote. "Maybe she'll learn her lesson and stop touching other people's things."
However, other people do consider the very fact of the apology (and the cake as well) a full-fledged reason for the author to forgive the hapless spice lover, and change her anger to mercy. "Accept her apology and apologize to her and your brother for overreacting. And ask her to never do it again without asking first," another person wisely suggested. And which point of view are you more inclined to?
People in the comments were very divided, but most of them agreed that doing something in someone else's kitchen without permission is way inappropriate
