Reflections on Food

[rolanni]

I'm taking a little bit of ribbing over on Facebook about my initial reluctance to eat something referred to in the menu as "gyro meat."  So far as I know, there is no gyrobeast from which this meat might be harvested. If the meat in question was simply spiced lamb, why not say "spiced lamb"?

So, a few minutes of soul-searching out of respect for the girl who watched, with fascinated horror, as the Pollack Johnny hot-dog-making machine at Lexington Market made hot dogs.  The same girl who, yes, still happily ate scrapple, even knowing what it was.

In any case, my gyro was perfectly tasty and I'm glad to add a new foodstuff to my repertoire.

Last year, through the kind offices of Mem Morman and Kent Bloom, I added beignets, which were also very  tasty -- and therefore amazed people who could scarcely believe that this was my first experience of the food.
Mem is also, I fear, responsible for my discovery of Greek food in general, back a couple years when we were GoHs at CoSine.

Anyhow, I got to thinking why I'm such a food illiterate.

Part of it -- a good deal of it -- has to do with having been born Rather A Long Time Ago to people who had been raised by people who had survived the (first) Great Depression, who were themselves very frugal, and unlikely to experiment with something so vital as food.  You bought what you knew you'd eat; otherwise, you might not like it, and food would be wasted.

It was Very, Very Bad to waste food.

When I reached adulthood, some of my friends were able to help me expand my food horizons, but when Steve and I moved in together, we were -- not to put too fine a point on it -- bitterly broke, occasionally rising to the point where money was only extremely tight.  We bought basics that we knew we would eat, because it would be Very Bad to waste food.

We (Steve's family was similar to mine -- trad blue collar, where the father worked the Real Job; and mom took care of the kids.  In his case,things were a little tighter still, because there were five kids -- four of them boys.  My parents only had to feed two girls.)  But, yeah -- we might have experienced varied and different foods by  going out with groups at conventions, except, again, we were poor to the point of carrying our own cheese sandwiches with us, and eating out of our room.

Anyhow, it's good that life is easier now, and that there are so many different things to sample.  Even if some of it isn't immediately and intuitively understandable.

What delicious food(s) have you recently discovered?

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Progress on Carousel Seas:  1,733/100,000 or 1.73% complete

This was the tricky part -- well. And not burning down the carousel.

Comments

[seachanges.livejournal.com]

There are a great many things I am no longer allowed to eat because of all the allergies I developed a couple of years back. Therefor, I tend to encourage others to eat and enjoy them for me. It almost makes me wish I had stuck to the picky eating habits of my childhood; otherwise, I wouldn't know what I was missing.

Anywho. If you have not tried any of the following before, I highly recommend that you do:

Kadu

This is an Afghan dish of spiced pumpkin (or butternut squash) and tomatoes, topped with yogurt sauce. As there isn't an Afghan restaurant in the area, I learned how to make it at home, and can post the recipe if you like. It's probably one of my favorite dishes on the planet.

Atakilt Alicha (http://seachanges.livejournal.com/250210.html)

This is one of my favorite Ethiopian dishes. It's cabbage and potato stew, and every Ethiopian restaurant you go to will do it a little bit different. The spicing is usually fairly mild.

Also, you have not lived until you've had Ethiopian spiced collards. Hell, pretty much all Ethiopian food is amazing.

Char Sui Bao

Chinese BBQ pork buns. Love them SO MUCH. Fair warning: they're addictive as hell.

[cgbookcat1.livejournal.com]

I would like to try the Kadu recipe!

[seachanges.livejournal.com]

Done! Posted here (http://seachanges.livejournal.com/490424.html) in my journal. :)

Hope you enjoy it!

[cgbookcat1.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[lagilman]

I grew up with family that had come over relatively recently (within 1-3 generations) from eastern Europe, so I grew up with a lot of non-Western-European standards on the table, and Jews = Chinese food (I don't know why, but it's true). So noodles were perfectly acceptable for breakfast, and so were pancakes, but cold cereal and steak-and-eggs were weird. :-)

(and then I married into a Greek-Irish-German family, and had to introduce my then-husband to proper Greek food. o-0)

I also had a father who grew up with "eat everything on your plate and be thankful" so his reaction against that was "if you don't like it, someone else will eat it, don't worry, what DO you want?" This resulted in me living on boysenberry yogurt for lunch for almost a year when I was 7 or so. Oh well. At least it was healthy?

Direct to your question, I'm a recent convert to butternut squash. No, I don't know why I avoided it for so long. Butternut and apple soup is one of my addictions, now.

[jessie-c.livejournal.com]

I'll throw in another vote for Butternut squash and apple aoup. It's really quite easy to make and sinfully delicious :)

I'm fortunate to live here on the Left Coast of Canada where cuisines from all over Asia, North America, Europe and lately parts of Africa are quite common. You can't throw a rock without hitting a Pho shop (and then it'll bounce off about 3 Starbucks, but that's another story). Our Chinatown is only slightly smaller than the one in San Fransisco so Dim Sum can be a way of life, as can Sushi which can be bought from sidewalk vendors as easily as from a restaurant. Then we come to the Salmon, Crab and Oysters from our very own ocean. The problem here is not discovering tasty things to eat, it's finding the time to sample all of it.

Dinner tonight will be leftover generic faux-asian stir-fry I made the other day and tomorrow we're having yCountry Captain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Captain).

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Having family from Savannah I grew up w/shrimp & grits, burgoo & country captain, great foods to share. Mix w/a lot of cajun & creole & you get a very interesting mix, cheap & good too. I've been working w/a homemade sous vide controller, it allows very nice results on the most inexpensive cuts you can find. I guess the thing that got my buds going lately is a mutton vindaloo, look here for a recipe close to what I do (mine is too large for most home cooks) http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/616522 Mine does have some kind of 'tater in it, both sweet & irish/red work well.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Umm. Raised by parents who graduated college in 1929, right into the teeth of the stock market crash and the Depression. Food was food, as you say, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, salmon loaf, scalloped potatoes. Eat it and be glad you got it.

I've been playing with the infinite variations of cooked chicken or sausage, cooked rice, sauteed onions and garlic in olive oil, with spices and herbs and stuff. Microwave fun.

[von-krag.livejournal.com]

Having family from Savannah I grew up w/shrimp & grits, burgoo & country captain, great foods to share. Mix w/a lot of cajun & creole & you get a very interesting mix, cheap & good too. I've been working w/a homemade sous vide controller, it allows very nice results on the most inexpensive cuts you can find. I guess the thing that got my buds going lately is a mutton vindaloo, look here for a recipe close to what I do (http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/616522) (mine is too large for most home cooks) Mine does have some kind of 'tater in it, both sweet & irish/red work well.

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Salads. I kid you not, I was a total no-salads-please type of kitten. Until, at any rate, the salad bar at work when none of the veggie options at the cafeteria appealed. I tried the baby spinach with some shredded carrots and pine nuts and was amazed. Hey, this actually tastes good!

Possibly what I may disliked more about salads might have been the dressings. Who knows!

[amm-me.livejournal.com]

I was just taken to a good sushi place for the first time recently. Mmmmm. But saki does not impress me.

Same generation, and I still routinely clean my plate, including the kale leaf meant merely to be a decorative garnish.

Fifteen years or so ago, my aunt overheard my cousin on the phone saying something about behavior caused by the Depression. Afterward, she asked him what Depression he had lived through. "The same one you did," he replied.

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

Ironically, I was just bemoaning the fact that since moving to MT, I have not had the opportunity to experience much variety of food. I used to try to get out to different restaurants and try different things, but there are no such places here. I could try to cook stuff, but sometimes I want to try a version that I know ought to be well prepared and see what I like.

I used to go into this lovely Nepalese place in Madison, WI, when I went to Miscon. It was a hole in the wall and the food was wonderful.

Food.

[quondame.livejournal.com]

Food is the nearest thing to religion that I have. I grew up a child of foodies in the fifties and have enjoyed the expanding food horizons of the USA ever since, though the food then was just as good and sophisticated as it is now, and though you had to work a bit to find it you weren't as bombarded by false leads.
Lately I've fallen in love with Bulgarian food - they pickle the cabbage before stuffing it! and am flirting with Himalayan.
Lebanese rocks!
Sue H

[cgbookcat1.livejournal.com]

French Lentils and brown rice with caramelized onions is one of my comfort foods. In Middle Eastern countries it's called mujaderra (various spellings). I usually add cumin, coriander, curry powder, salt, pepper, and a bay leaf, but have also added apples or tomatoes to the base recipe.

My local butcher shop carries a lot of interesting meats. We recently had llama burgers (delicious) and I am planning a ground goat meat curry for next week.

[seachanges.livejournal.com]

Okay, those lentils sound fantastic.

[lagilman]

mmmmm goat curry. It can either be utterly meh or absolutely fabulous, but when you hit the latter it's an amazing experience...

[sibylle]

those lentils sound yummy. must google recipe!!!

[cgbookcat1.livejournal.com]

It's one of those foods where everyone's mother makes it just a little bit differently, and every version is good.

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've tried a new kind or type of food in a while, but I enjoy working on variations on existing themes from the choices available in SF.

[stitchwhich.livejournal.com]

Pork & chicken. I know that sounds odd, but in fifty-plus years of eating it, I'd always had it as 'home cooking, American style", The advent of a diabetic menu plus the desire to lose weight painlessly led to discovering the best way to cook tender and tasty pork cutlets or skinless chicken ever. Dribble enough olive oil in small frying pain to barely coat the bottom, then spinkle on kosher rock salt, pepper, and whatever other spices fit your mood. Heat on high until the oli beings to smoke a tad, then place the raw meat inside. Let it sear for a few minutes, then turn. Lower the heat and cover until it is cooked clear through.

The meat seems to suck the seasoning into itself, staying very moist, while the outside becomes crisp. It is my 'new' way of preparing my dinners. Imagine my surprise to learn that it is the traditional method of cooking meats in India and other southern Asian countries.

[gilraen2.livejournal.com]

Sharon, I came from a somewhat similar background, except both my parents worked and there were six children. Our grandmother lived with us and she was a Southerner who cooked "po' white" Southern food. My first taste of ethnic cuisine was at a Chinese restaurant when I was in college.

I've come a long way.

What we tend to have as "gyro meat" in the US is not the same as it is in Greece. In the US it's more like a meatloaf mix of beef and pork that's formed onto the central spindle and then turned round and round to cook the edges - which are cut off and put into your sandwich. In Greece they take whatever cuts of whatever meat is avaiable in the market inexpensively that morning (usually pork or lamb or mutton, sometimes beef) and stick them on the spindle like you would stick bills on a spindle, one on top of another. The spindle goes around, the bits of different meats roast and toast, and are sliced off the edges for your sandwich.

[kay-gmd.livejournal.com]

I find the best way to try new foods is going to a multicultural buffet. That way I know if I don't like it I can get something else.

I really love curries. In the last several years I've become a fan of Thai curries specifically. Also Tom Kha Gah is an amazing Thai soup.

I'll second the joy of lentils, and Afghan and Ethiopian food.

Also I've recently discovered that Tatziki (sp?) sauce is really easy to make. (yogurt mint cucumber and garlic) great with fallafel or veggies.

[saruby.livejournal.com]

Food sensitivities have put Chinese and most Japanese food off my list, but I have found solace in southeast Asian delights. Pho, Vietnamese noodle soup, is wonderful on a cold day or when you have a cold. Thai curries such as Panang curry are great, also Pad Thai or Khao Pad. Those are all eat out foods. At home, I like to make risotto, which can be doctored up with just about any vegetable. I find it unfortunate that the dietary restrictions keep me from trying all the new things I'd like, but what can you do?

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

Ham-and-Swiss-with-mustard. From Starbucks.
Not very exotic, I know, but I don't usually *like* Swiss cheese. Or mustard on anything not a hamburger or hot dog

Food

[mary cay martin (from livejournal.com)]

Youngest Son and his Wife are full-blown Foodies and Middle Son and his Good Lady aren't far behind, In the last year I have discovered ,through their good offices, Thai Food, Indian Food ,and that I am willing to eat Sushi(as long as it's vegetarian)!I am also addicted to Sweet Potato Fries from our favorite BBQ restaurant and several other sweet potato dishes. Sweet potatoes and marshmallow are both good, just not together for me!Do you remember when pizza was an exotic new dish?

It's Very Bad to Waste Food

[catherine ives (from livejournal.com)]

I still think it's bad to waste food. I think it's bad luck. I was told as a child to remember the starving Armenians...I think they ended up starving around the turn of the 20th century. I should look it up. I love Chinese food. We are lucky in our little UT town have a good Chinese restaurant....althought the locals think it's a tad pricey.

So to...Wikipedia

[catherine ives (from livejournal.com)]

There was in fact mass starvation among the Armenians before, during and after World War I when the Ottoman Empire tried to exterminate their largest minority at the time. This is sometimes called the Armenian Holocaust. Nasty business.

Seafood Linguini

[fiopi.livejournal.com]

Scallops and Crab with garlic, lemon and parsley over pasta. Defrost half a pound of frozen bay scallops in bowl of cold water. Put about 2 teaspoons of good olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet, saute a clover or two of chopped garlic briefly, add drained scallops, saute until nearly cooked. Add about 4 ounces of crab meat (canned chicken of the sea works). Continue saute until scallops are done, add parsley and squeeze a wedge of lemon for juice into the pan to finish. Divide in two and serve over freshly cooked linguini. Add grated sheep's milk Romano cheese.