Thursday, July 9, 2015

Non-Political Question - Food

Now that Andrew is on vacation and he can't stop me (not that he would), let's switch gears from politics while waiting for Kit's well-written analysis of what's happening in Greece.

So to get us starting, I was just at home in Texas with my family over the Independence Day weekend, and, well, we love to cook and eat in my family. While I there, my 14 year old neice planned and set up a "restaurant" called The Wild Cafe in the backyard with a painted sign, printed menu, walky-talky set up to the "kitchen", and a cafe table she bought with her own money. She enlisted my 11 year old nephew to serve as "Chef" and ran the kitchen like a pro as the "owner/manager/hostess" of her restaurant. [Yes, I am a very proud Auntie]. It was amazingly fun, creative, and, might I say, delicious! [See photo]

For those of you who don't know, I am a "foodie" and am proud to say that I have a Grande Diplome in the Culinary Arts from the French Culinary Institute in New York City. Not bragging, just one of the many things that I have challenged myself to do in my life to increase my knowledge of the world around me. Needless to say, I love cooking, perfecting old and creating new recipes, and mostly I love feeding people who like to eat. [No offense, but vegetarians, vegans, and finicky eaters annoy me...]

To me, food is the embodiment of family, culture, but mostly love. My fondest memories are wrapped up in food. I think most of us will agree that food and family go hand in hand. I regret not being old enough to appreciate those wonderful things my Southern Grandmother would make because every time I have good Southern fried chicken, I think of my her. But, as we develop our tastes bud, there are certain foods we just do not like (the much maligned lima beans, brussel sprouts, or liver).

Fortunately for me, my mother was very good at not serving foods that we would not eat, but she was adamant at impressing on my brothers and me that we should try everything. We were free not to like a certain food, but we had to at least try it first before passing judgement.

So, just for fun on this steaming, hot July day, let's talk food. Here's my question:

What is the one food or style of food that you just will absolutely not eat?

Or, on a positive note, what is your absolutely favorite go-to food or style of food or just a special food-related memory? And I wouldn't complain if you wanted to impart some special recipe that I can add to my repertoire or a cooking tip either.

But if the NY Stock Exchange electronic trading floor should crash again or something equally as traumatic should happen, feel free to change the subject.

24 comments:

LL said...

Indian food. I avoid it like the plague. It reminds me of India - unwashed bodies sweating curry, corpses floating down the rivers and feces everywhere.

Critch said...

I love Italian cuisine, and I'm not talking about spaghetti. My uncle Frank was from northern Italy and his cooking was often with white sauces, fish and the meats were often grilled or broiled..yummy....I cannot even touch some of those vegetarian/vegan/lousy hunter dishes I've had over the years..cardboard with mustard would taste better.

Anonymous said...

Watermelon...can't stand it and I get accused being non-American all the time for it. But in my house we do love us some lima beans and brussel sprouts..(might be the bacon we employ in cooking said vegetables). Come to think of it, maybe I would like watermelon if I could figure a way to flavor it with bacon??

BevfromNYC said...

LL - Actually all of those fancy sauces used in haute French cuisine that make it so "hautish" were actually devised to mask the flavor of spoiled, rotting meat. But I get what you mean about Indian food, it seems very "complex" (my more palatable word for the "racid, floating corpse" flavor profile"

BevfromNYC said...

Critch - I find putting bacon or any kind of meat on the vegetarian/vegan/lousy hunter dishes, it makes them more palatable.

BevfromNYC said...

Anonymous - Hey wait, you aren't that same "Anonymous" that took out the NYSE yesterday are you? Just checking because Andrew would be really upset if we were implicated in global e-warfare. Of course, that could account for why you don't like watermelon...hmmmm.

But anyway, I wasn't a big fan of lima beans when I was a child, but I am okay with them now. And I really like roasted brussel sprouts roasted in the oven and then tossed in a sauté pan with bacon and balsamic vinegar...yum!

Speaking of bacon, have you ever tried dark chocolate covered bacon? It is amazingly good.

Critch said...

I love Memphis BBQ, especially the wet BBQ that Central BBQ specializes in ..The Rendezvous is alright, but I'm not a big fan...Earl's Fried Chicken is remarkable also.

Anthony said...

To this day I can't eat seafood because early in my life ((I was maybe four) I started associating it with the fish in my beloved aquarium.

BevfromNYC said...

Anthony - That is cool that you made that connection at such a young age. I think 4 year olds have this magical way of connecting things that really stick.

When I was about 4 yrs old I was watching my mother crack eggs and she cracked on that had a little red vein in one of them. She explained that meant the egg had been fertilized and could have been a baby chicken. To this day I cannot stand the color combination of red and yellow.

BevfromNYC said...

Critch - I'm a Texas-style BBQ girl. I like the dry kind and you can't beat that Texas BBQ brisket...yum.

TJ said...

I have fond memories of my parents taking me to this Mexican restaurant in Virginia that had those little individual juke boxes at each booth and they always let me put a quarter in and play "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" by B. J. Thomas. I don't know why I loved that song so much, but it brings back great memories to hear it now. All of that to say I just love Mexican food.

I also have memories of this restaurant run by some folks from Greece. The menu was basic stuff, but every once in a while they would have a special buffet of nothing but Greek food and to this day I still love Greek.

I like a lot of food, heck I even like liver, although I haven't had it in years. About the only things I won't eat are peas, beets, chicken and dumplings, and biscuits and gravy (something about the bread getting soggy).

Critch said...

I went to a small restaurant in the Alsace-Lorraine area of France, it was a hole in the wall. We had local favorites, a chicken in wine sauce, fresh veggies, ratatouille etc...wine, more wine,,,lots of laughs with the proprietor, who went to school in NYC.

BevfromNYC said...

TJ - My mother used to take us kids to an old hole in the wall burger place that had THE best onion rings ever. It has been my quest to find and/or re-make those onion rings again. So far my quest has come up very short.

So what kind of Mexican food do you like?

And what pray tell what is wrong with Chicken and Dumplings? With Anonymous not liking watermelon and you not like good solid American food like C&D, I am fearing Commies are infiltrating! :-O

Critch said...

Ah, chicken and dumplings, so good.....The Steinhouse in Jefferson City, MO, our capital, has some of the best German food in the States.....sauerbraten is so good...

Something I noticed on my first deployment to Europe was that the UK may speak English, but their food is nothing like ours, the Germans speak a different language, but much of what they eat is virtually identical to American favorites.

BevfromNYC said...

I have to confess that I will try anything, but I draw the line at insects.

Koshcat said...

I'm willing to try just about anything. I've had fried grasshopper that wasn't too bad. I was in China and tried sea cucumber once, yuck. I can't figure out what they found so interesting in fish heads. Shark fin soup needed salt. I used to hate brussel sprout but more recently I have found ways I liked. Still not a big fan of cooked spinach.

I love good BBQ and hate bad BBQ and Colorado has a lot of bad. I really hate it when someone smothers my ribs in their crappy sauce. It means they are hiding bad meat.

BevfromNYC said...

Koshcat- when I was in Japan, one of the "snacks" they love in the town Imwas working in was crickets. They sold them in cellophane bags in the snack aisle. I just couldn't bring myself to try them. Bee larvae was popular too, {{shutter}}. One thing I did try was a pickled plum which was the worst tasting thing I have ever eaten. It was a taste profile that I could not describe. Alkaline maybe. The Japanese food profile is very savory. But real Wagu beef is exttraordinarily good and blowfish too if you are brave enough to try it!

Anonymous said...

LL; As vivid as that was, I still love Indian food. :)
As for what food or type of food I won't touch, organs. Liver,kidneys,etc.Yuck.
GypsyTyger

tryanmax said...

Fried chicken. Especially pan fried. Yum!

When it comes to what I won't eat, the list is short. I'm pretty adventurous. I'll scrape the mold off and eat what's underneath. I draw the line at "infested" food--food with wriggling creepy crawlies in it.

Critch said...

I remember a Japanese NCO giving me a dried olive to try....it was hideous...the taste got worse the more I chewed..I finally had to gag it out...

BevfromNYC said...

Tryanmax - Yes, pan fried in a old cast iron skillet.

BevfromNYC said...

Critch - And that olive probably looked beautiful and delicious, right?

TJ said...

Bev, as for Mexican, around here at least they called it "Authentic", not the Chi Chi's kind of Mexican.

On the chicken & dumplings I think it's the dumpling part - something about the consistency (just like with soggy bread). They are just close enough that I really can't eat it. My dad has gotten on me about being southern and not liking biscuits and gravy, but I just can't help it. It makes me gag. I do, however, love my grits. ;)

I've had snails, frog legs, and squirrel, but not any kind of bugs. I think I would draw the line at trying bugs.

Critch said...

....and then there is breakfast,,,,,My favorite is a Denver omelet, wheat toast, and pan fries with coffee, lots of coffee....

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