We all have those ‘duh’ moments where something that’s been apparent to everyone else for what seems like centuries, suddenly dawns on you. The best you can hope for is that the light bulb dings when you’re on your own. Not right in the middle of a conversation where you’ve just mentioned you’d love a gherkin plant.
Yep, that happened to me quite a few years back- I was about 16 at the time. A group of friends and I were discussing burgers, I was arguing that McDonald’s should put more gherkins/pickles on burgers and declared I wanted my own plant because I love them that much. Everyone else, of course, knew that gherkins were in fact pickled cucumbers and proceeded to have a real good laugh on my behalf. At the time I wanted the ground to swallow me up, but I’m giggling to myself as I’m typing this. “Duh!”
Image from theparsleythief.com
Now for some ‘duh’ moments I’ve witnessed:
A friend of mine, who shan’t be named (for risk of embarrassing them) thought that Broccoli and Cauliflower were just different colours of the same thing. I’ve never laughed so much in my life as when I heard about ‘white broccoli’, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it! Perhaps I should have introduced them to Romanesco, that could have been mind blowing!
Another friend, who was fairly new to cooking used to ring me regularly for advice. One of the times she rang, she told me she was preparing a roast. I expected the eternal “how long do I cook the chicken for?” question. What she asked was much more baffling, “what do I put on the chicken to make it roast flavoured?”. Yep, you heard it here first folks!
Ok, now your turn. What was your biggest ‘duh’ moment?
P.S. if you enjoyed this post you’ll probably like the one where I asked you guys what your strangest food combo was. I’m hoping to do more posts like this in future, I love to get your input on things, especially when we can all have a giggle!
R says
Just read your “Duh moment” post and thought I would share this with you. First time I ever cooked for my girlfriend, I asked her if she could peel the red onion for me as I prepared the other veg and meat. A good 5 minutes had passed so asked her how she was doing. In her hand was pretty much 23 layers of onion (and it started of pretty big). When I asked what she was doing, she asked me “When does the colour change?” (like a white onions outer dry layer is golden brown and turns white) I just shook my head and peeled another one, showing her how to do it
Vicki Higham says
Thanks for sharing that R! I’m sure that calmed any nerves you had about cooking for her! Haha 🙂
Laura says
I still didn’t know at gherkins were pickled cucumbers !!!!!!!!
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Vicki Higham says
At least I’ve saved you from your very own “duh” 🙂
Kirsty says
I didn’t know gherkins were pickled cucumbers haha! It makes sense now that I’ve read it but I’d never really thought about it to be honest!
Vicki Higham says
Glad I could help someone else out 🙂
Lindley says
Hahaha, I love these! I think it took me about twenty years to realize corn produced popcorn…yes, extremely embarrassing!
Vicki Higham says
Ahh Lindley I know someone that never knew that either! Eee I can’t wait to see more comments.
Sunae says
Hahaha I loved hearing these “duh” moments! I can’t remember one of my own right now (though I’m sure I’ve had PLENTY!) but when my mum was younger, she was cooking with her best friend. they were just making steak and mashed potatoes, but her friend turned to her and asked “Do I peel the potatoes before or after I mash them?” I’ll never forget this. it makes me laugh every time I think about it! 🙂
Vicki Higham says
Haha! It’s amazing how some people think. If you know to peel them first it just seems so obvious. Ah well, it gives us a good laugh!
If you do remember one of your own I’d love to hear it 🙂
Ashleigh says
I’m trying to think of one of my own because I know that I’ve had loads but nothing is coming to me. However; I used to live with a girl who’s “duh” moments were infamous. Not food related unfortunately but my favourite had to be when she came home, sat down and said “I learnt something today, but I don’t know whether it’s one of those things that EVERYONE knew and I’m just stupid, or whether it’s genuinely interesting”… intrigued I told her to go on, to which she said “you know dinosaurs? They actually existed once.” Turns out that for all 22 years of her life she thought they were mythical beasts, like unicorns. We promptly tried to arrange a visit to the Natural History Museum! This was the same girl who asked me where abouts in Spain she would find Brazil. Possibly more worrying was the evening that we discovered that she hadn’t realised that urine and babies came from a different… you know… outlet. Had she been a guy I could have laughed it off but…..
Vicki Higham says
How on earth had she gotten to 22 without knowing her own anatomy?! I bet she provided plenty of laughs whilst you lived with her!
Jean says
Not only did I not know that, but now I am craving a gherkin!
I’ll share a “duh” moment of my ex-husband. He made me an omelet when we were first dating, and put what he thought was frozen, shredded white cheese on it from his roommate’s freezer. Turned out it was coconut. It was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever eaten (no, I couldn’t finish it), but it gave us lots of laughs.