Hilarious carbonara comments

[Robin Garr]

I'm not sure if this is a better fit here or in F&F, but either way, you gotta read it.

Reader Comments for The New York Times’ “Homestyle Spaghetti Carbonara” Recipe

Thanks for sharing that, Robin. What is ham leather?

-Paul W.

I think this is made-up.

[Jenise]

Definitely satire, and lots of fun. Yes he nails the quality of the comments on most recipes. Several made me laugh out loud, like this one: "Is there a vegan option? As a vegan (I’m vegan), I consider it my personal responsibility to search for recipes that are clearly dependent on meat and dairy, then ask if there’s a vegan option."

A similar response could be penned--in fact I could lift it directly from an instance in real life from last week--where someone asked an Italian chef-owner of an Italian restaurant who posted his menu on my Facebook page--which of his dishes were gluten free. I don't think Gianni bothered to answer. If you have a problem like celiac disease, then you kinda gotta know what you can and cannot eat. And we're talking pasta here. Jeez.

[Robin Garr]

Jeff, you bet it's made up! And Paul, a quick google search reveals that ham leather is not a thing.

Jenise, I'm sure the chef was offended, but as you know, pasta is only part of an Italian bill of fare, and if the Italian place has upscale pretensions it may not even be the main part. I can think of a ton of segundi piatti that might not have wheat. But yeah, it would be a pain for a restaurant to have to figure out which dishes don't have flour-thickened recipes or bread crumbs or what have you. Not a good question.

Actually Italians disproportionately suffer from celiac, and Italy is maybe best country to eat GF in EU.

I always get a kick out of the comments on actual NYT site. Often some insightful variations, but almost always there's the "I didn't have cream so substituted yogurt, and my husband doesn't like salmon so we used pork." And of course in dishes that specify that they are simplified and non-authentic in opener someone always says "I am X and this isn't how we do it." And someone always thinks anything remotely Italian needs garlic.

[Jenise]

Jenise, I'm sure the chef was offended, but as you know, pasta is only part of an Italian bill of fare, and if the Italian place has upscale pretensions it may not even be the main part. I can think of a ton of segundi piatti that might not have wheat. But yeah, it would be a pain for a restaurant to have to figure out which dishes don't have flour-thickened recipes or bread crumbs or what have you. Not a good question.

Yes of course I know that. But as I said, this comment was in response to the menu the chef posted (which indidently was divided between appetizers, pastas and segundis). I don't need GF but it was clear to me which dishes would and would not qualify. So my point was that anyone with a serious health issue like that needs to think for themselves even more than a chef needs to be able to respond to requests for GF foods.