Saturday, January 9, 2010

A Double Dip of Social Discourse

Sorry, but I'm still waiting for approval from the powers that be on the chicken fingers video, but here's a little double dip of silliness from a clip I shot to test the video camera on the new Nexus One Google phone.

This clip has sparked a huge debate on my Youtube channel over the dos and don'ts of double dipping. Hopefully we can have the same heated discussion here. Some say the DD is disgusting, others say it's been proven you don't get sick from this party foul. What do you think?


42 comments:

Luatica said...

i guess because we don't this dipping thing in the continent, never really thought about it. I can see the logic on why not doing it, but I reckon someone must have the worst desease of the world, or you must have a very bad inmune system to get a desease out of it I suspect.

However though, I'm very picky with my food, and the idea of droolage of others in my nomnoms is not good eats.

PukaDog said...

Example No. 1 is a definite faux pas.

Example No. 2 is perfectly acceptable in my party book.

Now, pass the chicken fingers, please!

Greg said...

Did you get sick of AT & T with the iPhone?

Seth G said...

No kidding - how do you like the phone?

Anonymous said...

I think the word contaminate rather than "infect" is a better description, and as one of the comments on You Tube suggested, breaking it in half, then going for a dip with each of middle sections is a better choice than using the end where your fingers once were when making the second dip. Of course, using separate small dipping containers for each person is even better. The people that claim not being bothered because it's family are probably the same ones that turn their face when kissed so old Uncle John's or Grandma Rose's kisses land on a cheek, rather than their lips.

JoAnn said...

But what about your fingers leaving bacteria on the clean end? Is this like the 5-second rule for dropping stuff on the floor? Best to give everyone individual serving of dip then there will be no question. Great way to raise some responses!

JoAnn said...

Here's another superbowl dip for tortilla chips. It's old as the hills but still a fav... The salsa and chilies come in mild, medium or hot...your choice.

2 lb Velvetta cheese
1 8-oz jar Picante salsa
1 3-oz jar diced green chilies

Melt it all together. Hold it warm in a crockpot and provide plenty of doritos or tortilla chips. Great for a gang!

Nikki said...

DD ig fine there is more bacteria in the sauce then on the food u are probably dipping. When I eat food like this I dip the whole thing in the sauce to just about a millimeter to my finger. Really no need to DD after that, is there? LOL

I want chicken recipe, NOw please

missy said...

i do it the same way as you, cj. dip, bite, flip, dip. completely proper, imo. i don't think your fingers coming in contact with the chicken will harm the dip at all. if we use that logic, we would all need our own separate bowls of chips, nuts, etc. at parties. one has to be subjected to some human contact, i believe.

tut said...

Dip with spoon in it,plates to hold food an dip,don't single or double dip lmao,great post on honey mustard dip Chef,i have always loved the kegs dip for shrimp and you showed me what was missing the mayo lol,this is the same dip and its great i went to costco today an stocked up an we filling hot tub with it an gummy bears an um i not telling you what we doing next :)

Anonymous said...

Double dipping is the most heinous crime that one human being can commit against another. Your deceptive chicken finger reversal maneuver is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. It does nothing to eliminate the fact that a portion of chicken that has been in contact with your fingers is now in the dip. That's one step away from sticking your fingers in someone's mouth. You, Chef John, despite your majestic mustache and your manicured hand-model hands, have done the world a great injustice by releasing this video. You are history's greatest monster. Good day to you sir! I said good day!

Chef John said...

well said

Anonymous said...

<a href="http://www.taquitos.net/snacks.php?page_code=123>George Costanza and Double Dipping</a>

franiqueblack said...

If there's a LIKE button anywhere on this comment box, I would click 10X on it coz you used Nexus On for recording!!!! Kudos!!!
Btw, when are you going to post the chicken fingers recipe?

Anonymous said...

who cares? most people drink after friends on a daily basis. is it not basically the same as double-dipping? if all else fails, you have your immune system. i think it's almost completely harmless.

if you're that skeptical, just make the chicken bits smaller to avoid the need to double-dip.

Luatica said...

TBH, if people wash their hands and don't lick their fingers, I don't see why someone else's hand would be dirtier than your own.

Anonymous said...

Fight those powers, don't let them hold the world most important video hostage.

Chris K. said...

Dude, no need to apologize for chewing with your mouth full. I do it all the time. All the time.

Also, how do you get your hands to look so soft and supple? Is it duck fat or lanolin? Do you see a professional manicurist? Is there such a thing as an amateur manicurist?

Chef John said...

looks like it will be approved Monday!

uncivlengr said...

I personally don't mind double dipping - whatever dip actually touches the chicken finger is going to stick to it and come out of the dish when you take it out, so the undesirable stuff isn't getting left behind....

... unless you're just that slobbery when you eat that saliva is dripping off your chicken fingers after a bite, in which case I don't want you anywhere near my dipping sauce for even a single dip.

Anonymous said...

And how do you dipp the midlle part?

Unknown said...

one dip for each of only two of the i/3 portions leaves the middle 1/3 sauceless.

Anonymous said...

just stick your finger in the sauce and dap some on the middle part.

or a better idea, use a wider bowl and dip the entire chicken finger in sideways so that sauce lines the entire length of the chicken.

Anonymous said...

Hi Chef John. I don't go too crazy about the DD since we tend to pick up tons more germs in shaking hands with others, but for technicality sake here are my thoughts: the first double dip is bad in social events--the second one 'may' be OK however that then depends on where the persons hands have been. If you have been shaking everyones hands or just visited the restroom--I dunno.

Best IMO with dips--provide a small spoon for a dip-dollop. You wouldn't use the same spoon twice in tasting someones food. I understand a lot of chefs taste--I prefer them to, however I prefer the chef who has oodles of new plastic spoons around to do so with. You are one of those, right?

Since we're talkin about OPC, or "other peoples cooties"--most people freak out about a DD yet there is the two things most never think or discuss about. First is simple--how do you grab TP off aroll--and not know someone else doin their thing has not already touched that roll or those end sheets. Hmm. Second--How often have people shared the same bar of soap with others? Most households tend to have one bar of soap in the shower/tub--its been 'everywhere' and yet folks don't think twice about it but just assume that 'its soap--its clean'...well think again. That is far more objectionable to me then a DD. Just some thoughts for this OPC topic.
Can't wait for the chicken strip vid. Hope you are well and have a cheery day. :)

proximation said...

guess thisi is LEGAL double dipping . . . triple dipping would get you into real trouble :)

Asian Malaysian said...

This reminded me of your seminal chicken wing eating tutorial. Yesterday, I was at a TGIF bar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and watched in disgust as some dude looked like he was attempting cunnilingus on a whole mess of chicken wings. Please keep doing the Lord's Work with your videos.

Scott - Boston said...

Good tip, Chef. Any party tip on how to not wake up in one's driveway, sans car, with your pants around your ankles would be much appreciated.

Asian Malaysian... uh, good observation. I'll try and be more careful next time. Though I don't remember the chicken complaining at all. It's all in the technique, I've been told.

(Which reminds me, Chef, when are you going to post a video about how to properly eat a frozen banana dessert without getting kicked out of a restaurant?)

Scott - Boston

Anonymous said...

i don't mind double dipping per-say, it's just i don't like when the saliva starts diluting the sauce.

Wendy B. said...

I think everyone is worrying about this just a bit too much. Let's all focus on solving health care issues or something (she says, inciting an argument about her insensitivity that leads to harsh words and eventually the break up of the party, where, you guessed it, she gets all the dip to herself!)

Pyrofish said...

The worst instance of DD I have ever witnessed was at my house. I had just made some seared tuna for some friends. I put out some wasabi, and a some soy/wasabi/honey sauce for dipping. One of my buddies grabs a piece of tuna, takes a bite with the sauce and says how great it is. Then he proclaims, "Double dipping's fine by the way." and smears the bit end through the wasabi and into the sauce.... I don't make community plates when he's around anymore. That is just nasty...

The demo in your video is fine though. That is the way I have done it for years. To take the bitten end and smear it through a community sauce or paste though... (shudder) nasty...

Anonymous said...

Wendy, if you don't double dip, you'll need less health care. Problem solved.

Worse than double dipping, are the guys who double dip from one type of sauce to another.

Chris K. said...

I don't mind double dipping because germ exposure is healthy in the long term. It keeps our immune systems working in peak condition.

I'm not saying it's OK to neglect personal hygiene. But an over-obsessive concern with sanitation is ultimately self-defeating. Anti-bacterial soap only creates hardier microbes.

I would rather endure a nasty cold than lose a limb (or die) from an untreatable staph infection.

Anonymous said...

Of course, Mythbusters disproved that double-dipping would have any ill effects a long time ago (episode 117), but that still doesn't make it seem any less gross.

Anonymous said...

"That's like putting your whole mouth right in the dip! From now on, when you take a chip – just take one dip and end it!"

Maybe if the portions were smaller then a double dip wouldn't be necessary. Also, toothpicks help to get better dip coverage,

Unknown said...

Wendy & Annon - re double dipping - Those on the hill do it all the time. In the case of Health Care they're paid by big Pharma, or whomever. They get great gov't benefits, and their pockets lined! Now that's disgusting!

NO MORE DC double-dipping.

KLM said...

I agree with Fluffy and Chris, our immune system needs small amounts of germs to become strong. People are WAY to obsessed with sterilization these days.

Anonymous said...

That's not quite what I meant. I was just pointing out that Mythbusters showed how double-dipped food didn't contain any harmful bacteria that wasn't already on the food to begin with.

There are a lot of beneficial bacteria that we need in our GI tracts, but in general we already have those there. There's no specific need to introduce more most of the time, and whenever you do need to, it's better to use something like active-culture yogurt (which has the right kind of so-called "probiotic" cultures in it) than the random junk from your friend's mouth and fingers.

But the random junk from your friend's mouth and fingers probably won't hurt, unless they recently had mono or whatever.

KLM said...

Yah o.k. I didn't really mean that we should lick our friends fingers or that double dipping was you know kosher, BUT, as you stated, it probably won't hurt you. It's just that people today are too germaphobic. My friend bleaches every single thing in her kitchen, they are the only people using it for the most part, and I think that it's just a little too obsessive.
I'm not a double dipper myself, and I will tell others not to do it, but I won't refrain from eating a little ranch dressing if I saw a friend of mine double dip.
I don't know about anyone else but I have yet to read a head line that says "Party goer dies from eating double dipped food" LMAO

Spike said...

@Anonymous said...
Please.. Get a Life: "it's just i don't like when the saliva starts diluting the sauce". My God, how do you dip, you don't have too? Far more people are killed in a car crash on a daily basis, then that they are being killed by a DD event... And as allways... wash your hands!

inchrisin said...

If I have to double-dip, I always rip the food into segments--especially if it's something like a 5 dip breadstick. What would you do if you already dip your two ends in sauce and you're stuck with a dry middle. Problem solved! :)

Anonymous said...

If I see you double-dipping, the REST of the dip is all YOURS. I'm done.

Unknown said...

To quote a well-known chef in regards to the risk to others from double dipping: "You have an immune system. Use it."