How You Cookin' That?

A very common question in my job. More often than not, said just that way as well. I try to be as professional as possible since I am serving customers and reflecting my company, but obvious errors like "how you cookin' that?" (or, as a throwback, "you ain't got no combos?") really irritate me. I'm not rude enough to call out the obvious or get visibly upset when people interrupt me, but I am passive-aggressive enough to answer the question in proper English.

I always explain how I cooked my food that day, as well as the other options. Such as, "these were prepared in the microwave in two minutes. You can also bake them in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees." Inevitably, some people ask about cooking them other ways. I understand they think maybe I forgot to mention something. Sometimes I do forget alternate cooking methods. And sometimes I don't say things are cooked certain ways because ... well ... they aren't.

I was doing such an event once in a multi-cooker (see photo). Like every other cooking event, people came up and asked why there were no samples on the table. I explained that I had just put the macaroni in the water and that it will be 10-15 minutes. Usually, people come back a few minutes before and stand beside me as I start dishing the food.

This particular day, there were quite a few people waiting while I started scooping the finished macaroni from the multi-cooker. I started reciting my selling points when a woman interrupted me.

"How you cookin' that?" The woman asked, looking at the price sign. As I started to answer, another woman answered (incorrectly) for me.
"Oh you make this in the microwave. Like Easy Mac, you know?"
I politely told the women that it was not Easy Mac and needed to be prepared like regular macaroni and cheese, to which the second woman replied, "nah but you do these in the microwave, right? Real easy."

I couldn't help it. I'm usually so good at keeping my composure and not calling people customers out when they're obviously wrong but I couldn't stop myself this time. I looked at the second woman, looked at the multi-cooker, back at the second woman ... and as I pointed the spoon toward the multi-cooker, I asked, "does that look like a microwave?"

It was wrong. It was unprofessional. But really? I know there are customers who think my job is done by the elderly and people who couldn't get hired anywhere else. Even if that were true, don't you think I would know how I just cooked that food?

Needless to say, the second woman probably didn't buy the macaroni.

Lesson: Don't doubt the cook. Or interrupt, because you just might get a snippy response.