Everyday Systems

Maybe this is a ridiculous question, but things that you add to your plate of food -- ketchup, salt, etc -- do you abide by the 'no seconds' rule, i.e. make sure that you have everything you're going to eat on your plate before you begin? Or do you feel free to salt and sauce your food while eating?

I mean, in some ways, it seems ridiculous to make sure all salt and sauce is on your plate before you begin. I've been following the 'everything in front of me before I eat' rule comically strictly, but loving ketchup as much as I do, I'm scared I won't have enough! I always put a massive dollop on and often end up having to throw it away at the end.

Sauce can be deceivingly high in calories, but it's not like if I run out of food I'm going to go back for JUST sauce, so in that way, sauce is already limited by what's on my plate. But I know being 'comically strict' has psychological advantages so I've been sticking to the letter for now.

And I've been adding salt to my food without tasting first. This is so bad manners according to my upbringing but I guess when I cook there's no-one to offend! I've gotten pretty good at knowing how much I want things salted, but there's no calories in salt so I'm not even sure there's a reason for this!

When left to my own devices to read or understand something, I tend to take it EXTREMELY literally, so it's crossed my mind that possibly it's obvious to everyone else what to do in these situations. I tried searching and I couldn't find anything on this topic, but if it's been discussed before, forgive me.

I guess I already know this is a 'grey area' (or possibly totally okay and I'm over analysing) and if one day I add more ketchup while eating I'm not going to count it as a failure, but I'm curious as to what other people do. So tell me -- is adding sauce equivalent to seconds? Not equivalent, but not okay? Not obeying the letter but obeying the spirit? Obeying the letter and I'm misreading? Virtual plating? Something else?

Thanks!

It never crossed my mind to consider sauces as seconds, but then I am so uncouth that I actually put any salt, pepper and condiments on the plate before eating. I suppose if you go absolutely crazy and put half a pint of ketchup or mayo or whatever on the plate that would be an issue. Yes, some sauces can be sugary and/or high in fat, but a small dollop isn't going to make much difference to anything.

I've been following No-S for 4½ years and never thought about that.

I think I generally view it as "season to taste". No-S isn't about calories or fat, so that's not an issue. If I have a sauce or gravy I usually try to get enough on the food initially, but if I need more, I use more.

There's a good possibility that you're going to get as many different answers to this as people who respond. My best advice is don't overthink it -- do what works for you.

If I thought something I was eating needed some more condiments, I'd put it on without thinking about it, to be frank.

But I'm not a major autocondimentor, so I don't think in my case it would make a significant difference.

Personally, I think that it is more in the spirit of No-S to condiment lightly, then re-condiment if you need more.

But that's just me, and I've been known to break a rule or two.

For most condiments, it's a non-issue to me. For minor things like salt/pepper, don't even think about it. For more substantial things like gravies, what I put on my plate is what I get - they count as "food."

The in-betweens are ketchup and salsa - I like major quantities of both with my fries/chips, but neither is SO sweet or caloric that I would count it as a food in its own right.

Still, I put on what I consider a reasonable amount to start. But if I need a bit more to finish out whatever-I'm-eating, that's okay.

(However, I am NOT allowed to get more fries/chips to finish out the sauce. I remember using that excuse in the past, and eating quite a lot trying to make it come out right!)

Over time, I've gotten pretty good at estimating.

Great question -- and you know, I don't think it's been asked here before.

I don't worry about condiments and sauce and I wouldn't advise you to either unless you think you're being pathological about it. And yes, though unlikely, it is *possible* to be pathological about condiments -- I had a coworker at a bookstore where I worked ages ago who used to carry around ketchup packets with him and suck them down (seemingly) every few minutes. Of course, he was thin as a rail, so go figure (I think there he may have had some weird metabolic issues going on).

Reinhard

Is 10 packets of ketchup for fries pathological?

No. And I don't believe I have to be an expert in this to have an opinion.

leafy_greens wrote:Is 10 packets of ketchup for fries pathological?

I doubt it, but if you also have 10 packets of ketchup with your breakfast cereal, I might reconsider!

thanks everyone for giving your thoughts on this issue.

After reading your replies, I think I was overthinking it. Yesterday I added more ketchup to my plate when I'd finished the first bit. I probably will treat it as 'seconds' when a 'sauce' makes up a substantial part of my meal (sometimes I have baked potato where salsa is one of the fillings, for example) but for now, I'm going to try not to stress about adding extra sauces