MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Tyrone & Molly serve picky guests out-of-date food?

SuperMarianPahars

The first rule of restaurants applies here: "What the eye don't see, the heart don't grieve over."

Normskin

I'm not averse to eating things that are a few days out of date and frequently do. However, I would never serve up a pie that was out of date two years ago. Surely she had something in mind to cook for them when she invited them rather than finding an old pie at the back of the freezer?

pennypinchUK

If they know their guests have a particular foible (not eating "out of date" food) and you still serve it up it's rude on your guests. You wouldn't serve up (say) prawns if they'd previously told you they don't eat them. No difference.

Although I wonder why the hosts have left the packaging out for all to see!

Laura13214

Surely if Molly bought and froze the pies before the 'best before' date then this becomes irrelevant. The best before is only relevant for fresh foods so that you eat them before they go off. If they've been frozen then they can't go off.

And for the snobs amongst you, what difference does it make if you give guests pies or caviar? The main idea of a 'dinner party' is to have people round that you get on with and can have an enjoyable evening - the food is irrelevent to a certain extent as you are after good company, a drink (or 20) and good coversation with some food to sustain you over the course of the evening (and to soak up the alcohol). Long gone are the days when it was expected to serve up a five course meal with the right wines for each course, proper cutlery and follow with Port and cigars afterwards - I thought we'd progressed from all that!:beer:

persian_star

Generally if I have friends over I'd put more aforethought into making sure I gave them a really nice meal (agreeing with everyone else about frozen pies not really being dinner party material - out of date or not!)

However, my hubby is very picky about out of date food because he honestly believes that as soon as it hits that date it will make him ill. I, on the other hand, was brought up in a family where the freezer preserves forever, and if it smells fine and looks fine, it generally IS fine (never had food poisoning yet, so assuming this approach works ;o) So since I'm the one who does the cooking, I'm the one who chooses whether to eat or not to eat an out of date item... and despite his pickiness, he's never been ill yet because of me (or even noticed the food is slightly less fresh than he would wish).

Therefore, if frozen pie is the In Thing to be served at a dinner party, the sell by date shouldn't have as much sway as it seems to with most people. The only thing I would check for (as someone has already said) is that the quality and texture hasn't degenerating after it's sojourn in the freezer!

lunelli

I'd serve the pies. I find it highly irritating when people think they're so special that they won't eat out of date food (with half the world starving - I know it doesn't make a difference to the starving, but still, it's the principle), even though it looks/smells/tastes fine. I just won't pander to such feeble sensibilities.
I'll eat eggs a month or more after the best before date as long as they're not floating. If they bob gently on the bottom I'll use them in cooking, but upended I'll use them for anything.
Yoghurt in sealed tubs is absolutely fine a month out of date too I've found. If it's open and got a little bit of mould on it I'll just scrape that bit out and use the rest and it TASTES ABSOLUTELY NORMAL!! Would any money-saver chuck out cheese (instead of scraping it off) that has a film of mould on the outside and then go and buy Stilton? Apparently it's a different mould, but would you know?

Let me tell you a little story (at the risk of being thought long-winded!!)...
My uncle owned a successful delicatessen some years ago so knows about food and sell by dates etc.,....I went to visit him with my dog, taking a raw turkey leg to cook for the dog. I put it in his fridge, promptly forgot about it and came home. I rang him about a month later and he told me I'd left the leg which he'd found about 2-3 weeks later as it was in a drawer at the bottom of the fridge. He took it out and it was covered in white slime and obviously stank. Being one of the last of the great English Eccentrics and possibly a Money-Saver-Supremo, he decided that he couldn't waste it (he washes up in rain-water, then saves that to pour down the loo) so he washed it off then marinated it in vinegar for some hours. He then slow roasted it and ate it. He said it was absolutely delicious and reminded him of the hams that he used to hang until they had maggots coming out of them, at which point that part of the ham would be cut off and the rest cooked!:rolleyes:

By the way, he never poisoned anyone in his shop or himself, even with that turkey leg. His theory is that as long as the meat is cooked properly there will be no ill effects from using meat that is way,way beyond it's B-B or Sell-by - think of the slow-matured beef that everyone raves over for a start. I think it's in Italy that Jamie Oliver(?) was showing beef that had been kept for several months in a sort of larder, not even a fridge. It was black and crusty on the outside and red on the inside when cut open.
Sorry, I've digressed completely here.

A.Jones

Should Tyrone & Molly serve picky guests out-of-date food?

In this case, the food is not out-of-date. It is past the best before date, but that does not mean it is out-of-date. As long as the food was always frozen, and had not been defrosted and refrozen, and looked OK, then I would use them.

silvergirl

If they are friends, you should neither risk their health nor their opinion of you. If you're a cheapskate, don't 'entertain'. Tell the truth.
I once invited two acquaintances to dinner, totally forgot, so when they arrived dressed to the nines and I was snoozing on the sofa in front of the TV (this was the 1960's) I told them exactly what had happened, offered to go and get some fish and chips from the local takeaway, and we spend a great evening eating out of the newspaper and remained friends. I didn't pretend or try to feed them dubious stuff. The fish and chips were fab.

pineapple

Just because Molly is a numpty and thinks nothing of eating food 2 YEARS PAST IT'S BEST BEFORE DATE doesn't mean she should risk serving it to her friends.
To those who say these dates don't apply if food is frozen, there is still a limit on how long you are supposed to keep food in a domestic freezer.
Whether it's technically past the 'use by' date or the ''best before' date I don't care. Two years is too long. If the pies are shop bought, they will be dubious enough anyway.
I do hope Molly is not one of my 'friends'...

zygurat789

Trust me food does deteriorate in the freezer, especially if it is home frozen from fresh. Probably because we don't add additives, preservers etc. and we can't freeze as quickly as they do commercially, but like any food I wouldn't bother if it seems off before cooking.