The problem is that in almost every case, restaurants’ only objectives are to make food that tastes good and make customers think they’re getting a good value. Hence, tons of high-caloric additives and huge portions.
When you cook at home, even if you use oils and other high-caloric ingredients, you still use way less than restaurants do. I promise you, take a “healthy” meal from a restaurant and compare its nutritional content to the same thing you would make at home; the difference will be drastic.
A couple examples:
- Broccoli side dish. Cooked at home in a pan; some oil and salt and pepper. In a restaurant? Drowning in butter and tons of salt.
- baked potato. At home, some cheese and sour cream. In a restaurant? Bigger potato with tons of butter, sour cream, gobs of cheese, bacon.
In these examples, both taste good. But the restaurant versions are tons of empty calories that contribute to a very unhealthy lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, I like that shit too. But it’s rare for me, I’d rather make it myself and control what goes in.
Flauschige_Lemmata@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Considering that I am struggling not to loose weight, I don’t mind a lot of calories.
When I make baked potatoes at home I usually use 2 of the biggest potatoes I can find. Per person that is. Then I use Quark with 40% fat, mix in some cream, at least a teaspoon of salt, green onion and some frozen herbs.
I don’t think restaurants make it any less healthily.
Your point about using oil instead of butter is valid enough. Rapeseed oil has a lot of alpha-linolenic acid. Butter a lot of saturated fatty acids. But oil is the cheaper ingredient. Butter is important to archive the traditional tase. If restaurants use butter I won’t hold it against them.
For dishes where you can choose your own carb-rich sides I would appreciate some whole-grain options though. For example cooked spelt. It pairs wonderfully with many traditional German dishes. Far-eastern and Indian restaurants could offer whole grain rice.
White grain is the worst offender when in comes to empty calories. Saturated fats at least still fill you up as much as unsaturated fats. You need twice as much white grain to feel as full as you would with whole grain. And you’ll be hungry an hour later.
Ledivin@lemmy.world 1 day ago
I will always remember a conversation I had with a chef friend… he said something along the lines of “Of course restaurant food tastes better… take the butter you’d add, then double it. Then double it. Then double it again. Then add some cream.”
You are vastly underestimating how unhealthy restaurant food is for you - even the “healthy” places are ridiculous.