Food & Cuisine - what's your favourite ?

Ralexx

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« Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you who you are », a French proverb says.
We talked about musical preferences, about perfumes ; now: cuisine and food !! What's your favourite ? What dou you like most ?

...The Italians eat most sensibly. The Spaniards eat most abstemiously. The Scandinavians eat most fastidiously. The Belgians eat most indigestibly. The French eat most pretentiously. The Roumanians eat most garlic-spiced. The Germans eat most...

...My favourite European bar is "Harry's" in Venice, where Italian aristocrats swapping modish gossip confront self-conscious tourists laughing nervously when they see the bill...

... In Cognac, France, I was offered the usual soup, pâté and sausages for breakfast. Belgian specialities include deep-fried sausages stuffed with shrimps and mussels with potato-chips...

... The Heaven of all the cuisine heavens are the French restaurants in Paris - « L'Espadon » in the Ritz, les « Ambassadeurs » in Hotel Crillon, and « Arpège », famous for its carpaccio langoustines with caviar, its lobsters with turnips...

... I spent a week once in Haute-Savoie (High Savoy), in the French Alps, eating gargantuan breakfasts, ample picnic lunches and stout dinners every day. On my way to Geneva (through Férney-Voltaire) I stopped at the Auberge du Père Bise for a lakeside lunch of little fishes with white wines. It was exquisite. The bill came to me more than the bill of all those breakfasts, all those lunches, all those dinners during 7 days and I did not regret a French-Franc of it. They were the "omble chevalier" fish, the rarest in the world (to be found only in Alpine lakes of France)...

...The most puffed-up restaurant in Europe seems to be Wierzynek in Krákow, Poland, which claims to have started its career with a dinner party in 1364 by King Casimir the Great of Poland, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg, King Lájos of Hungary (Anjou dynasty), King Waldemaar of Denmark, King Pierre de Lusignan of Cyprus, the archdukes of Austria, of Pomerania and the Margrave of Brandenburg. It has been entertaining kings, princes, emperors, shahs, presidents and prime-ministers ever since...

So, dearest LPSG-ers, whaddaya like to eat ??

Raal Lexx (aiming to be the cousin of Lucullus)
 

Ralexx

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AnonyMs dearest, :D
Let me make a confession... I never had any Tex-Mex food or (ah, sacrilege !) any Thai !! I ate only once, in August 1999, Chinese food (I was in Denmark in those days), but that was all the "food"-ish contact I had with the extreme oriental Asia.
 
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prepstudinsc: I love food of all types, except that Chinese is probably down low on my list. Being partially of Italian heritage, I do love Italian food, but Northern Italian only, not the heavily tomato based sauces of Southern Italy.
I enjoy authentic Mexican food, not the stuff passed off as Mexican by chain restuarants, but the kind you get from little hole in the wall places in places like Los Angeles or San Francisco. As to Asian food, I enjoy Thai and Vietnamese the most, followed by Filipino, Japanese and Indian. In my opinion, Thai and Vietnamese are much lighter and more flavorful than Chinese. I also enjoy other regional specialties of Europe--the crepes of Brittany are good as are some of the hearty pork dishes of the Germanic regions of Europe. In terms of American food, I can put away some Southern "down-home" food (soul food) such as fried pork chops, macaroni and cheese, and collards followed by a slab of pound cake and a big glass of sweet tea, or a Sunday night meal of pintos, boiled cabbage, fresh tomatoes and other vegetables right out of the garden, and cornbread. A wide range of tastes here!
 
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tott666: I love all kinds of food: Indian, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, French, Swedish, Tex-mex, Ethiopian, Greek... I'm from Stockholm, a city which actually has more restaurants than Paris, believe it or not! A good portion of those are ethnic cuisines so you can find almost any type of restaurant.

The New York Post (I think it was) recently had a special about Stockholm and the writer was very impressed by the modern Swedish cuisine. And rightfully so! I realise I'm partial, but it is very good! This writer went to the most expensive restaurants but most others are good value as well, the general standard is not bad at all. Milanese restaurants are just as expensive as Swedish ones and can't really compete IMO. Some are excellent but the quality in general really is lower.

OK. So what if I had to pick one cuisine I could eat the rest of my life? Japanese, definitely.
 

D_Martin van Burden

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I'm with Prep on the soul food. About the only things I won't touch are pig's feet or chitterlings ("chit'lins," phonetically), but feel free to pass along the collard greens, cornbread, hamhocks, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, and so forth.

But hey, I'm biracial so I can't neglect my beautiful Greek heritage. I think Mom really "Americanized" my tastebuds; she hardly cooks authentic Greek food except for holidays, and even then it's usually homemade gyros, spannakopita (spinach pie), or patates mi kraes [sp?] (lemon-seasoned roast and potatoes) and maroulli (Romaine salad with olive oil and vinegar). My aunt Thomais used to make a different selection of dill salads and avgolemono (tomato and cucumber salad), and of course we'd snack on feta cheese, kathamala olives, and fresh fruit.

American favorites include Chinese and Italian.
 
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tott666: [quote author=prepstudinsc link=board=99;num=1053936119;start=0#3 date=05/26/03 at 11:47:01]I love food of all types, except that Chinese is probably down low on my list.[/quote]

Chinese food has a tendency to have the same bland taste all over the world; it's really not that good. I don't know if "real" Chinese food is that bland but I've been to a few places which served fresh, flavourful, exciting food which they claimed was more authentic. For the Chinese people's sake I hope it's true...
 

B_DoubleMeatWhopper

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Despite the fact I'm Cuban, Caribbean food is not my favourite cuisine. Don't get me wrong: I like it ... in fact, it's like going home in a way ... but it's not a great epicurean treat to me. During a three-week long stay in Greece, I discovered I really love Greek food. Appetizers: fried calamari served with skordalia (garlic sauce) and melitzanosalata (eggplant relish), youvarlakia (poached meatballs], dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) served with tzatziki (cucumber yogurt sauce], spanakopita, tiropita (cheese pies) and kalamata oives and feta cheese. Soups: kakkavi (the Greek predecessor of bouillabaisse), lentil soup and avgolomeno soupa (chicken broth and rice soup thickened with egg-lemon sauce). Avgolemono sauce (egg-lemon sauce) is found in all kinds of dishes. Entrées: Moussaka, pastitsio (obviously related to lasagna), souvlaki (shish kebab), and lamb chops prepared as only the Greeks can. Desserts: baklava (of course), loukoumi (Turkish delight) and galaktoboureko (custard pastry) are my favourites. And those are just the highlights. Guide me to a Greek restaurant where to food is good and I'll be one happy Cuban 'tourist'!
 
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sammygirly: I'm a big fan of Poutine yum!

Really - I go for Italian first...pastas and salads oh my!
 

B_DoubleMeatWhopper

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[quote author=sammygirly link=board=99;num=1053936119;start=0#10 date=05/26/03 at 13:26:04]I'm a big fan of Poutine yum! [/quote]

Oh ... at first I thought you said 'poontang'. I was thinking, "not even if you got the sauce right!" :D
 
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tott666: [quote author=DoubleMeatWhopper link=board=99;num=1053936119;start=0#8 date=05/26/03 at 13:15:09] loukoumi (Turkish delight)[/quote]

That's an acquired taste I think. It tastes perfume and soap if you ask me. Nasty stuff.

;D
 

jonb

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I eat a lot of meat and beans, personally. As a kid, I didn't like chiles, but now I do. (My family jokes that my stomach's made of asbestos.) I have a thing for pasta, as long as it doesn't come in a can. I also like curry. Right now, since I'm in college, I get to have Ramen noodles every day. (Oh, joy... ::) )

One thing: I don't drink. Let's get that stereotype right out of the way. LOL

Oh, another thing: I'm lactose-intolerant.

Oh ... at first I thought you said 'poontang'. I was thinking, "not even if you got the sauce right!"
Would you prefer Chinese? Sum yung hung gai?
 
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sammygirly: Wellll, he did say "Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you who you are..." I aint chinese....:D
 
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Finedessert: Being of Irish descent I'm a Meat and Potato type guy, Theres nothing like having a night out and hiting the local McDonalds for a double cheesburger with the works, some french fries, milk shake, a deep fried apple pie, followed by two swiggs of Mylanta Antacid.

Grandpa
 

B_DoubleMeatWhopper

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[quote author=tott666 link=board=99;num=1053936119;start=12#12 date=05/26/03 at 13:55:31]

That's an acquired taste I think. It tastes perfume and soap if you ask me. Nasty stuff.[/quote]

I personally don't know what soap and perfume taste like. Many foods are an acquired taste, to some extent. Some of my friends object to the texture of loukoumi rather than its flavour. It doesn't bother me. Hell, I'm Cuban; my mother cooks tripe. Now there's a texture experience many people would rather skip!
:eek:
 
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prepstudinsc: [quote author=DoubleMeatWhopper link=board=99;num=1053936119;start=12#17 date=05/26/03 at 17:24:25]

. Hell, I'm Cuban; my mother cooks tripe. Now there's a texture experience many people would rather skip!
:eek:[/quote]

My great-grandfather owned a slaughter house and my grandfather was a butcher. I've eaten tripe before. I think it's nasty. I'm not a big fan of any organ meats but when your family owns the place, they cook using every part of the animal. At least the meat was disease free and everything was as clean as a slaughterhouse can be. Even though none of my family is Jewish, they operated a Kosher facility so the rabbi would come by and inspect it on a regular basis. From what I'm told, my family supplied many Kosher markets/delis in the Northeast. My family sold the place off to some company now and my grandfather is retired, so thank god I don't have to eat some of the food that used to be cooked. Now they buy their meat from a butcher shop and they eat normal stuff like steaks and roasts and chops, no more organ meats.
 
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tott666: [quote author=DoubleMeatWhopper link=board=99;num=1053936119;start=12#17 date=05/26/03 at 17:24:25]Now there's a texture experience many people would rather skip!
:eek:[/quote]

I think I'd pass on the tripe...

I don't eat raisins because of the texture, I find it revolting.
 

Ralexx

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Wow, I like this !
So, Greek cuisine is quite dominant in preferences ! (What's funny for me is the fact that Roumanian cuisine - offering somethimes the same mixture of refinement and barbarity as the Russian one - was strongly influenced by the Greek one (especially in Wallachia). A lot of hors d'oeuvre that you described, Dee and Whopper, also have Roumanian correspondents. Russian, Turkish, Hungarian, German gastronomy tinted Roumania one here & there. )

I have to add my complete weakness when confronted with a British pudding (I love them !!!) or a British 5 o'clock tea. French "tartes" and cakes make me dream. (And wines !!! Mamma mia ! A "Lacrima Christi", a "Château Yquêm" (this one is a pure delight for gods !!), a "Châteauneuf du Pape"... and... aaaah, so many !!!)

Let's hear more !!! ;D
 
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Javierdude22: Wow....quite the nationalities arent we?

Then why the hell didnt anyone include Spanish!?!? :))
Im half Dutch/Spanish so i get the two extremes.

Dutch food mainly exists out of cooked stuff, cooked vegetables, potatoes, and veal....YUK!!!

Now Spanish is like angels peeing over my tongue (sorry, an expression). Paella is ok, but the fish (im from a fish region) is superb (boccorones), squidrings, cooked squid, empanada's, tortilla (not mexican style), chorizo....and i can tell you....Spanish wine is a thirdbest in the world (i think :))....Rioja, Torres de Leon....hotdamn!!!

Recently i started to appreciate Italy a bit more, so i tried cooking some stuff, Bruscchetta (lotta garlic, bad for your social life), Tortellini are great.