What brings out your inner ChowSnob? For me, it's apparently enchiladas..
I'm Texan. My love for traditional Tex-Mex (note, TEX-Mex) knows no bounds. (I draw the line at Velveeta in anything but RoTel queso, however - it was not considered standard in my part of TX. For us "rat cheese" aka good old cheap longhorn cheddar was the norm.)
And I got a little.. overbearing, maybe, at the suggestion that you could make Texan style (ie, Tex-Mex) red enchilada sauce with canned salsas.
What's your trigger? What sets off your inner "oh, no no no no, THAT'S NOT RIGHT!" meter? (Other than Cream Of _____ - I think we all can agree on that.)
ETA: I'm curious how often it's regional, also.
shanagain
Nov 02, 2009 02:05PM
As a fellow Texan, I have a hard and fast definition of what constitutes a proper hamburger. Not that I won't eat hamburgers that fall outside this standard definition -- it's only been fairly recently that anything even resembling a good burger has made it here to Boston -- but I still think "It's good, but it's not a proper hamburger."
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I could've just started this in the Texas board, because Chicken Fried Steak belongs on that list, as well. And let's not forget chili. (I've mellowed on chili, as long as you don't name it something like "Texas Red" or whatnot, I can accept variations. Sort of.)
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Care to share that hard and fast definition? I grind my own and it must be 7-bone chuck, coarse ground and nothing else. I no longer eat burgers in restos unless it's fast food out of my lap while heading up or down the road.
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And how do you prepare them? Do you add any seasonings?
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I add nothing at the time I grind the meat. Just freeze in 6oz. patties. Before cooking I sprinkle with a little s&p. We like really rare beef so we cook on the grill for 3-4 minutes per side. I'm making myself hungry and am all out of burgers til I make more tomorrow.
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I am going to request that next time from my local butcher and give it a try. I've always just made my burgers with whatever ground beef he was selling, which is still good quality, but it's not coarse. I did once buy a burger patty from another butcher, too far away from me to shop at on any regular basis, which was coarsely chopped sirloin; I am pretty sure it wasn't ground, the chunks were that big. It was the best burger I've had. How do you think the ground chuck would compare?
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Here's the thread from when I was a burger-grinding-virgin; now I'm a burger-grinding maniac!
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/591071
That grinder attachment was only about $50 and I make sausage, ground beef and turkey burgers.
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I have a KitchenAid stand mixer and a grinder attachment already; just bought the attachment, hoping to use it for just such a purpose. Thanks!!!
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How is the attachment to clean? I had a grinder way back when I had my late and very much lamented Braun Kitchen Machine (damn, I wish you could still get those, they were form and function embodied) and it was a bit of a pain to clean. I use chuck and "grind" it in the FP but don't care for the texture, thinking about geting the KA attachment.
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Cleaning up the KA grinder is a snap. It's quick to completely disassemble it. Then the parts rinse up easily in hot running water. Then I just toss 'em in the dishwasher. Done and done.
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Ditto. For something that it would be logical to be difficult to clean, it's a snap. Oops, Alan already said that :) My FP is far harder to clean. I'm very depressed, however, because the seven bone chuck roasts that were on special are all gone :(
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That's my favorite ground beef cut as well. Must get grinder. Thanks both!
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For me, it's southern cuisine, like fried chicken, potato salad, gravy & biscuits, gumbo, greens, pig feet, etc. I live in NC and a few years ago I went to a buffet in VA (about an hour from me) and I couldn't believe they were calling that food "country".
Potato salad is more than just mayonnaise & potatoes; you have to season a pig foot, you just can't stick it in a pot of water and think it's going to have flavor. Gumbo must have a roux or it aint gumbo, it's soup! I lived in New Mexico for six years and I know Mexican food. What they have here even in the Mexican restaurants is not the real thing so I make my own stuff like enchiladas and tamales. I find myself a lot more critical than I used to be and I'll pass when I know it's not the real thing cause I know it's nothing but a tease.
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LOL - I guess my post originally asking about enchilada sauce caused this!!
Well, definitely have to agree with any "recipe" where a can of soup is an ingredient. But also, bottled salad dressing and proper gravy and mashed potatoes (at least - proper by my own definition). Oh yes! And also "homemade bread" from a bread machine. I guess I am a bread purist but that stuff out of the machine may be easy and fun to make but it just doesn't come out the same as the real deal.
Not sure how much of that crosses the line into ChowSnobbery or merely are just strong personal preferences. Interesting question though...
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Ditto on bread machine bread. I make bread all the time, multiple loaves a week. Anytime I give a loaf away, I get 'oh, you must have a bread machine'. It's kind of insulting, actually. And only serve me real butter. Margarine sucks!
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Anytime I give a loaf away, I get 'oh, you must have a bread machine'.
Ugh, that must be frustrating! The problem is the general public has no knowledge of the time & effort involved. They grab a loaf off the grocery store shelf and voila - bread.
And if you are going to put forth all that aforementioned time and effort, you MUST use real butter! :)
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I agree in part, and understand how you must feel, being an obviously accomplishes bread maker. I don't even mind the bread machines (in fact I have one, but it probably hasn't been used since honorable son got a job at the local high-end bakery).
But when you pour a bread machine mix out of a box, pour in water and turn the machine on, don't expect me to rave about your baking skills.
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When I'm served mashed potatoes at a restaurant and they're made from a dried "instant" product, I send them back. I'm not talking about the spuds on a blue plate special at a diner, I'm talking about mashed as a side at a restaurant I'd not expect to use potato powder. The more I think of it, actually, diners make some of the nicest mashed potatoes -- consistently -- from scratch.
Bottled salad dressing is indeed nasty stuff. Cheap oil, cheap vinegar, dried *everything* from spices to garlic, citric acid, corn syrup, and salt! Isn't it disappointing when a restaurant that appears to be charming and progressive drops the ball by using a prepared dressing on an otherwise lovely salad combination?
Sugar in Italian-style tomato sauce ("gravy") of any sort: sad that so many people accept poor-quality tomatoes (and compensate with sugar) rather than seeking out a quality ingredient. Hey, I'm not against sugar at all; just not in the sauce!
(I've posted on this elsewhere on Chowhound) Those scrawny little yellow onions (like the ones that come in mesh bags). Use a big, fat, lovely "chef's" onion or similar sweet onion (Vidalia et. al.) and your foods will taste better!
Please, please, don't deep-fry cubes of bread and then put them on my salad (or worse, in my onion soup) and call them "croutons." It's just gross. Toast bread cubes, if you must. Better get rid of "croutons" all together...
"Skinless" frankfurters are an abomination that're one step up the food chain from "Vienna Sausages." I need my doggies to go "snap!"
Don't Ever Add Chocolate to Pumpkin Pie.
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I'm with you on the mashed potatoes and the bottled salad dressings-haven't had one in my home for years now. To add to that:
I hate frosting made with shortening; I understand that sometimes it's needed because of dietary restrictions, and I can put up with it in that case, but I was recently at an adult birthday get-together, and the spouse brought out a Costco cake, a huge one, for six people!!! I couldn't eat one piece and wondered whether they liked it that much that they wanted to have enough leftovers for a week...
Bad chocolates - I mean those Pot o' Gold concoctions. Can't eat them.
Fake maple syrup - Please don't serve it.
Fruit "drinks" - I'm not interested in drinking sugar water that tastes like some unidentifiable fruit, thanks.
Fake grocery store "croissants" - I mean the small, yellow ones found in a bag that taste more like a stale dinner roll. Sorry, those aren't croissants.
Anything that pretends to be whipped cream, but isn't. Don't bring it near me, I can tell a mile away.
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oh, yeah, that waxy holiday foiled chocolate and the sweet sweet hersheys...FIE!!!
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I didn't think I had any but your response of instant mashed potatoes did me in. Yeah, I think that's pretty gross. Don't think I can tolerate that at all if I encounter it today, especially since I've been making my own since the age of 7 on Saturday mornings while I watched my cartoons. I may have used margarine (it was during the margarine craze) and a fork to mash it. But at least it wasn't of the boxed variety.
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When my sister and I were children, we used to visit an aunt who only ever made instant mashed potatoes. We'd had the real thing elsewhere, and in particular, my sister hated the instant version from a young age. My aunt's response always was, "you can't tell the difference", hahaha. I guess some people can't.
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Wow. I wonder what kind of real mashed potatoes your aunt has been eating. Or I guess she's not too discerning as you have noted.
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They couldn't have been too good...Alas, she's passed on, and I never had a chance to ask her about that. Now, I wish I could make my version of mashed potatoes for her (my mother instilled very high standards for mashed taters in us), and ask her if she can tell the difference!!!
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the powdered/flaked mashed have come a LONG LONG way from the early days. but they are still a long way from the real thing.
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Maybe if you are referring to the ones filled with hydrogenated vegetable oils, but they are still gloopy (and don't taste good to me) and full of ingredients that normally wouldn't be found anywhere near my mashed potatoes, nor my kitchen, for that matter (like hydrogenated veggie oils, corn syrup, and a bunch of multi-syllabic ingredients that scare me!!). However, you can still buy the plain dried flakes, and they taste just the same. If I had to take one flaked kind over the other, I'd take the plain flakes, because at least the ingredient list isn't so scary.
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I always have plain potato flakes in my emergency pantry. I use them for breading and as my husband is now GF for baking as well, but I have never been able to make them into anything resembling mashed potatoes. Mine are gluey, pasty, nasty and if I add more butter (cause that should fix anything) greasy yuck!! If you have any tips I would love them.
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Hahaha, I don't, but maybe Scargod can remember the recipe he used when he was 14!!!! You might have to be 14 and have a hollow leg and underdeveloped tastebuds to enjoy them, though, hahaha!!!
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Not when you season the hell out of them and add a full stick of real butter. That was MY experience at 14, at a friend's house.
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Beg to differ. Powdered mashed potatoes are just plain gross. They're not even mashed! They should be called powdered potato product. No amount of butter can help those things.
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Butter makes everything better. You need to use more.
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Hahahaha, why don't you do it again for old time's sake and let us know if your adult palate still feels the same way???
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Ack! You got me!
There is one time, and one time alone, in my life, when I'll *knowingly* and *happily* eat "processed" mashed potatoes. At Kentucky Fried Chicken. I can eat a pint of their mashed (it must be topped with their peppery gravy) in record time -- every time I do I get a great childhood flashback.
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OMG! I love the mashed potatoes at Popeyes, and the other day we went to KFC instead and I CANNOT tell you HOW GROSS those things tasted. How can anyone eat the stuff? But I saw LOTS of folks eating them! So I'm going to officially add this to my list of foods not to messed around with. Ever.
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I am also a Texan and I have a knee jerk reaction of irritation to people who think they "know" Mexican food but they fetishize Oaxaca, or only want restos with the lable "interior" and they especially turn their noses down at Northern/Frontera cuisine and Tex-Mex and don't realize how much these cuisines overlap. And they snub flour tortillas, thinking flour tortillas are inauthentic. And they think fajitas are "inauthentic." Pity the fools.
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I just point them to Robb Walsh. I figure if they don't have The Tex-Mex Cookbook, surely they can't be blamed, right? ;)
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I have a bunch. I cook a lot. When places don't take pride in their food offerings, it makes me think they are only in business to slop out food to anyone who will accept it.
Mole
Jarred Salsa - there is NO excuse for this.
Fake meat on a sandwich
Processed, preservative laden, guacamole.
Fake, sugar laden, "salad dressings," and "mayonnaise" - who EATS that stuff? Why not just sprinkle sugar on your salad?
Baked clams where they chop up the clams, mix it with breading, and then puta spoonfull of this mixture back in the clam's half shell. - for those of you who have been so lucky to never aencounter this in a restaurant, consider yourself lucky. It's APPALLING to say the least.
Frozen mussels. Give me a break. Just tell me they are frozen off the bat. PLEASE? I don't care if you freeze them, that's your choice. Just be honest about it so I don't have to return them, it will save you the embarrassment.
Gravy from powder that is laden with cornstarch.
Chinese food that is laden with cornstarch.
If you serve me margarine with my pancakes or bread, or whatever, I'm leaving.
Places that put bbq sauce on a piece of meat, and label it (magically) as bbq.
Sugary cole slaw or potato salad (kind of goes along with the sugary mayo thing.) I can not think of many things that are more vile.
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Your list resembles mine, so I will just add a few more:
- Ditto again on any recipe that includes adding a can of cream of something or cheddar cheese or anything soup.
- Canned beans. I know they are convenient, but for what? When you have to hide out in a bomb shelter? All the dried ones need is water.
- For that matter, canned vegetables. It is no longer 1945. You can get carrots, beets and green beans year round. They ship them in.
- Most frozen entrees. I can't believe people buy frozen "panini". I once tried pizza rolls and couldn't believe that someone once told me that they eat them for dinner. Yuk!
- I hate margerine. I live in Texas, a beef and dairy state, yet most BBQ restaurants put ot margerine instead of butter. What am I missing here?
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While I also disdain canned vegetables, I also have hardcore ChowSnobbery against buying vegetables out of season: even besides the whole carbon-footprint aspect, they're often simply not very nice. Sure, you can buy a tomato in February, but it's gonna be a crap tomato.
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Just read the new posts to this thread since a few weeks ago, very entertaining. Got me thinking again. Thought of something else.
Chronologically challenged cooks.
If one hot item takes 2 minutes to make, and another hot item takes 15 minutes to make, don't make the two minute item first, dummy. PIzza and fried calamari for takeout. Don't make the calamari first, dummy. Burger and onion rings. Don't make the onion rings first, dummy. Eggs and hash browns. Don't make the eggs first, dummy (or have the toast sitting on the plate ready before anything else is even started.) It is SOOOOOOO noticeable when the cook has made something out of order. I usually have to split up takeout orders for this reason. I'll call ahead, place an order, then call back in 15 minutes and place a second order. If they ask why, I'll tell them. Usually it's takeout pizza [places that get my goat with this one. If I order a bunch of pizzas, and some are different sizes, or different thickness (I'm in Chicago, where we have stuffed and deep dish, thin, and cracker crust.) You can tell when they tghrow them all in the ovens at the same time. Guess what? The small cracker crust pizza will be done for 30 minutes when the large stuffed pizza finally comes out of the oven. Thanks for the crappy pizza that's been drying out in the warmer oven for half an hour! This happens far too often.
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What the hay is "cracker-crust" pizza?
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Ultra-thin crispy crust. It's what Chicagoans refer to as Chicago style pizza. The rest of the country refers to deep dish or stuffed as "Chicago Style."
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Amongst my friends and family, all Chicago style thin crust (crispy thin/cracker crust) here in Chicago, is just called "Thin" or "Thin crust". Any other style of thin crust is I.D.'d by area of origin (New York, New Haven, etc.) .
"Pan", "deep dish" or "stuffed" are used often for the thicker crust and differ in a few (important) details.
Thanks for the dinner plans gordeaux and I think I'll skip the sides tonight.
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next time you are down this way go to Fat Cat Pizza in Norwalk. Crispy and thin crust pizza.
http://www.fatcatpie.com/
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We used to live in East Norwalk, and return regularly. Thanks for the tip!
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do not ever serve me a margarita with that sweet tart premixed crapola. give me tequila, cointreau, fresh lime juice and a shot of agave nectar.
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I'm so with you! "Sour mix" is one part sugar, one part poison.
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On top of that, don't serve me sour mix and call it lemonade. If you don't have lemonade, just tell me. I'll order something different.
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Also agreed!
@invinotheresverde - HA!
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even a bad real margarita beats that premixed garbage
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Yeah, that's one of mine too. Especially when I ask if they have fresh lime juice, they say yes, and then make it with sticky-sweet Rose's anyway.
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Yep, that's oneof mine too.
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So weird, but for me it's shepherd's pie...I get all upset when people talk about putting CORN or peas into it or even ground beef...LOL!
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LOL, I love this one.
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It's a stupid dish to get all cranky about...but I do!!! And I have to stop myself from trying to "correct" others. sheesh!
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I'm EXACTLY the same way! If it has beef in it it is cottage pie NOT shepherds pie!!! Nothing wrong with cottage pie just tell me thats what it is!!!!
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I get that way about a lot of things - just call them what they really are please! I've gotten into rants out here when someone presented a low-fat custard recipe as panna cotta, or chicken & beans in a crock pot as cassoulet. Those might be a tasty little custard and a nice chicken stew, but they are not panna cotta or cassoulet and to use those names is language abuse!
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Pardon my ignorance here, but what *does* go in shepherd's pie? I always thought it was ground beef?
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Lamb generally, no?
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Leftover cooked lamb meat, sauce or gravy made from any leftover pan juices, and potatoes, sometimes mashed potatoes. Of course, I usually embellish it with rosemary and red wine (in the sauce) and can also get yelled at for doing so...LOL!
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Interesting - for me shepard's pie means mashed potatoes. I guess I wouldn't throw a fit over other potatoes, never thought about it - but I'd never make it with anything other than mashed potatoes (and lamb).
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me as well, cookie44. Always a topping of mashed browned and bubbling juicy lamb morcels inside with a mirepoix.
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Now that DOES sound good! I never knew.
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Shepherds Pie is the little baa baa baa's... lamb. Great stuff, btw.
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Of course. Otherwise we'd call it cowherd's pie. ;-)
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That makes perfect sense. Thanks :) Now I have to break the news to DH since he loves it with beef. I'll just call it Cottage Pie from now on.
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Unless it is made with moose. Then it's moose turd pie - oops, I listed to too much Utah Phillips in my youth.
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Good, though!
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A pub opened up near me that made Shepherd's Pie with mayonnaise. They stopped after someone wrote a snarky review about it.
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I'm easy. Usually. But what really sends me into a Chowsnit is the direction to put olive oil into the pot of boiling water for pasta. Agreeing with Shaogo, another infraction is the addition of sugar to a red sauce. What complete poppycock those instructions are!
I like Poppycock, BTW.
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"the addition of sugar to a red sauce"
I'm curious what is wrong about this? My mother's Sicilian family always added a teaspoon or two of sugar to a pot of sauce - they said to round out the acidity of the tomatoes. I've always done it because they have. (I like poppycock too)
In keeping with things about sauce, I despise it when they add nutmeg to the sauce - ick.
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Here in Tuscany nutmeg is a one of the traditional spices to add to a sugo... Italian food is so amazing in it's regionality. What they do in one region would be sacrilege in another.
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I'm sure its lovely to some. And I may even enjoy it when used appropriately in regional cuisine, though I've not yet had the pleasure. My family is Sicilian and never used nutmeg in anything, that I recall. I hate when I go into a mom & pop red sauce pizza joint and surprise, nutmeg in the sauce on my spaghetti & meatballs.
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I always add nutmeg and a touch of cinnamon (as well as sugar!!) to my red sauce.
My mom cringes about the nutmeg and cinnamon because I got that from my father's Sicilian side!!
So it's funny that your Sicilian family never used it - maybe different regions of Sicily??!!
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Presumably a vestige of the Arab influence on Sicilian food, like raisins in savory foods?
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Yep - buttertart - that's what I have always assumed.
My grandmother made an amazing savory stufffing with raisins, pinenuts and sausage...yummmm
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Sounds wonderful.
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Hi Lynn... I think the sugar thing depends on the region. My heritage is Abruzzo and Trieste. So no sugar allowed in the sauce. It's as simple as that. And you know how territorial some Italians can be.... J/S. LOL
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not letting meat (or turkey) rest before carving
Cool Whip offends me
the use of artificial vanilla in anything
cheese "food" or cheese "product" or "slices"
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I'm with you on the vanilla.
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OH my god - how could I forget Cool Whip! Nothing cool about that.
Funny related story - I went to a party one time, I think it was a graduation party, anyway it was when strawberries were coming into season. The party hostess had the party catered but bragged to NO END about making the dessert, strawberry shortcake, herself with REAL WHIPPED CREAM. No, it wasn't cool whip but maybe it should've been - she just whipped cream, without adding anything! It was almost like having unsalted butter with your cake and strawberries.
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Ugggh... that truly sounds awful! I would also have preferred Cool Whip (or Reddi Wip) in this situation.
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Unsweetened whipped cream is actually quite good with some desserts, especially very sweet ones where it helps keep things from being too cloying. Sounds like this was not the right combination though.
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Having been raised in Massachusetts, I find most of what passes elsewhere as New England clam chowder revolting. Potatoes that have turned to mush, bits of rubber out of a can (the clams) and watery milk thickened with cornstarch, instead of real cream. And don't even talk to me about so-called Manhattan clam chowder. It's not clam chowder. It's vegetable soup.
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I've researched the chowder question. Evidently, according to mid 19th century New England cookbooks, tomatoes, one of the first items canned due to their high acidity were used in chowder recipes. According to one source the red vs white, read Boston vs New York, began around the time, in the late 1920's, that Babe Ruth left the Red Sox for the Yankees.
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Thanks for this information. I still don't see how the NY version qualifies as a chowder, which to me is a thickened soup. Just about every time I've had Manhattan clam chowder, it has been a thin broth with tomatoes, other (usually overcooked) vegetables and the same rubbery clam bits out of a can. It's not a good New England recipe modified with the addition of tomatoes. It's something completely different and IMO much less distinguished.
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First I usually make NE white Chowdah, but on occasion make Manhattan (I dig my own clams or buy them for a buck a pound.) For further clarification, the addition of milk and especially cream is a relatively recent innovation, a little over a hundred years ago, as well. Rhode Island has 3 distinct styles, the white, the red and the "clear" gray broth using the clam broth. The word chowder itself is a corruption the French word of the pot soups were cooked in, something like Chaudilier. I do agree, however, that it is difficult to find good chowder in restos.
During the winter I make a tremedous amount of soups/stews to take to work for our lunches. Last week Russian schi, this week, New Mexican (Navajo) green chile mutton posole.
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Ah, thank you for this clarification. Indeed the french word "Chaudière" (bucket) does sound like "chowder".
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cheesecake
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As a vegetarian, I'm this way about salad. Nothing gets me more upset than ordering a salad at a restaurant and finding out it doesn't meet my standards: less-than-fresh vegetables, too much lettuce (esp. anything with iceberg lettuce), boring ingredients, bottled salad dressing, menus that don't offer salads without meat -- all these things really annoy me.
I want my salads to be heavy on the veggies, light on the greens. Argentines know how to do this -- few others seem to be able to do it.
Of course, I understand being served a light, greens-heavy salad if it is served as a side to a meal. These comments more refer to salads that are listed as a main course in restaurants.
The only other thing I'm snobby about is yogurt. Considering how much money we (don't) earn, I spend a ridiculous amount of money on organic, fancy-pants yogurt. I should probably start making my own...
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I'm with you on the veggies vs greens in salad. When I go through a salad bar, I seldom put any lettuce at all.
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I came up with that sort of salad in this house raising a kid who didn't like "salad." So I left out the greens altogether, sliced the other vegetables like peppers, celery, cukes and carrots into easy-to-handle strips, and called it "crunchies" - and he ate it! What kid doesn't like crunchies? To this day (the kid is now 22, a college grad and living in another city) it's still a regular item on our dinner table.
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exactly
give them some ranch on the side and watch them go
I don't like ranch myself, but kids sure do
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I'm a New Mexican food snob. Red chile only has blended New Mexico red chile pods, water/broth, garlic, salt and meat. It is served OVER pinto beans and used in layers, w/ cheese and raw onion, in stacked, not rolled enchiladas, served w/ a fried egg on top.. Green chile has has fresh New Mexico (Anaheims), onion, garlic, salt, water and meat, served the in the same methods as above.
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Oh Lord! You called them dishes "chile". You know that's sacred to me! Chile is the fruit and anything that is basically chile. Chili is what you get when you add meat. This only applies to the Southern US (and north), though some Europeans say it the same way.
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Anaheims? Did you eat the whole stash of Hatch you got from your brother?
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No, it was a point of clarification. I've got lots of Hatch red dried pods, but use fresh green Anaheims for the green chile, ourchased locally. El Veggo, if you want a couple of bags of Hatch red, shoot me an email.
ps More Hatch red (from Deming, actually, much cheaper than paying for the Hatch name.) is on its way as I type.
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I cried with joy the first time I had the stacked green chile enchiladas with the oozy soft fried egg on top. Total peace qand oness with the earth. The heavens opened and St Peter offered to take me home then and there. I opted to check out an Indian place a state up north in Boulder. St Peter will hopefully wait for another day.
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Hey, DD, we'll be down in Austin, the 12th of Feb. for a week. If you want to do a taco truck crawl, email me.
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oh dang. the enchiladas sound heavenly.
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Damn- I cried just reading your description.
BTW I've always heard the flat enchiladas with the fried egg on top called Sonoran style, but then I live in Baja Arizona. Is it one of those delectable things that lots of people claim as their own does anybody know?
One more thing- flour tortillas are most definitely authentic, especially in the drier north of Mexico where wheat can be grown. Corn is pretty much ubiquitous in the southern part, or at least used to be.
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In New Mexico, the easiest way to tell a local is he's the one who orders flat enchiladas with an egg on top.
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And doesn't have to be "prompted" by a server to answer the "red or green?" question.
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What, no cumin? No oregano? And it's perfectly okay to make chile sauce without meat. Of course, then you can put a layer of meat in the enchiladas montanas.
As far as using Anaheims, I suppose that's okay if you live in, say, Maine. But it ain't quite the same. Meet you next Labor Day in Hatch. We can stock up on roasted green Big Jims for the freezer and get some ristras of dried red chile.
Scargod: chili is what Texicans make. Chile sauce (or chile stew, or, for short, just chile) is what you get in NM.
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My bro (His wife is an NMSU alumna) was in Hatch last week, horrified at the way prices have risen, instead bought a metric ton of Deming New Mexico dried red chiles. They are on their way to me right now. I agree about NM green chiles over Anaheims; I dislike Wally World and refuse to go there, but when my better half, the parsimonious Yankee goes there, she knows to bring home a few pounds of fresh green Anaaheims and I will immediately roast them and make her some excellent Ne Mex comida..
Eating Navajo posole this week for lunches; posole, pintos, green chile, and lamb as a mutton substitute. I wish I could find mutton up here. Gotta raise it, I guess.
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Yeah, Hatch chiles are now a marketing phenomenon, and the town itself has become quite the tourist trap. Still and all, it's pretty impressive when they have a roaster going every few feet.
The last couple of years my supply of green chile has come from Deming, too. So long as they're one of the good NuMex hybrids I don't care if they come from a couple of valleys over.
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I trust the metric ton is hyperbole, or you better have a barn or at least a garage to store them in.
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What, exactly, is a Texican?
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A native of Baja Oklahoma. ;-)
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I know! I know! I remember many a time going to Taos to ski, or to fish in the spring, and they would say, "you know that chile doesn't have any meat in it, right?" Got it.
But Passa mentioned chile with meat. I know there are some versions with a smidgen of meat in them, like for going on Huevos Rancheros. I've seen ground pork in chile verde.
Still, I can't help saying, when you start talking meat you are talkin' "chili". Perhaps not everywhere outside of Texas, but I have read where in other cultures some have adopted the same logic and spelling. Seems sensible to me...
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I’m in Kansas City. For me it’s barbecue.
Barbecue does not come out of a stock pot, an oven, or a crock pot.
Barbecue does not include tossing a steak/burger/hot dog/piece of fish on a grill.
Barbecue is a method of cooking large pieces of meat slowly over charcoal and/or wood.
Ribs that are “fall off the bone tender” are overcooked mush.
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North Carolina here, and it's the same thing for me. My snobbish gripe is that people on CH are always calling eastern NC barbecue "pulled pork". No one around here uses that term.
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Mike, you are correct. A big one for me is that slopping barbeque sauce from a bottle on anything does not make Barbeque. Real Barbeque does not need sauce.
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A Texan too, so being in the Northeast (after 50+ years in Texas), Mexican and Tex-Mex is my Achilles heel. Lordy, so much of it is so bastardized!
I think chile rellenos... I actually had some with the skin on. That was the least of the problems with the chile. Many places will not even offer them.
Salsa! OMG! Like Passa, I have had my share of New-Mex and Tex-Mex and Mex. How can they serve some of the tasteless, tomato engorged, mild and sweet salsa, with corn in it (!) they call "salsa"? Then they have the nerve to bring it to you COLD!
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And of course, Texas chili does not include beans. I don't like being tricked by jarred mole. And boneless, skinless chicken breasts should be OK for vegetarians. They are little more than plucked tofu.
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OMG thats funny.
In 2 days I will be at the chili mecca of the world. I will be reporting back here what makes real chili (already know, but will report what i see anyway).
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See above post for real chile; you mean real Texas chili.
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That's why he said, chili, not chile, I bet. Because they're different things.
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I'm going to hit the spectrum of Jewish/Middle Eastern food on this and have three items that I just do not enjoy if they're not "right".
1. Matzah balls. There is not excuse for a "sinker" ever. They're supposed to be light n fluffy at all times.
2. Falafel. I have never had a falafel in the United States that I've really enjoyed. The topping selection that exist in the Middle East really make the experience, but beyond that no matter how "authentic", I've just never had one right state side.
3. Tabbouleh. Has to have more parsley than bulgar wheat. Just has to.
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What toppings are not available in the US in your opinion? I will try your suggestion of tabbouleh w/ more parsley.I know that floaters are more authentic but I prefer the heavy texture of sinkers.
My ChowSnobbery is anything that contains HFCS. It took me a while to break my habit of sweet in food and now the sweet gummy taste of HFCS is nauseating. I usually take sugar out of my recipes because I think that white granulated sugar is one dimensional.
I formerly baked professionally and I cannot tolerate soft gummy breads or commercially prepared desserts in restaurants.
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Coming from a mostly Israeli perspective of the falafel stand - the amount of toppings can be really extensive. Different pickled and fried veggies, harif, tehina, Turkish salad (which is sort of like a salsa), the list can go on. There's also a difference (to me) about going to a stand and getting a falafel ball straight from the oil and sometimes placed into a pita that's been made that day.
And the parsley/bulgar ratio is one of those things that turns me into an unfortunate "it's not authentic" snob. Which I find equally unappealing as being a food snob. I know it should be just a matter of taste, but there it is. My inner snob.
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cresyd, we have a new little falafel restaurant here and the cook is Egyptian but they offer pickled vegetables on the side which is new to me! I think they had pickled turnip last time I went...and before that it was pickled cauliflower. I really like it! Plus they bake their own pita bread fresh daily.
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This mix of pickled and fried veggies makes the falafel experience for me complete (also makes a possibly healthy food into a fantastic heaping pile of not-so-healthy). Another addition to the falafel mix that is really popular in Israel is french fries.
I'm willing to admit that it's more than possible to recreate the experience in the States, I've just yet to have it. I also associate eating falafel with being in the Middle East. Also, 'authentic' Egyptian falafel is typically made with ful beans as opposed to chickpeas - but they do have both available in Egypt.
At the end of the day, I admit it makes me a snob - but I also compose my ideal falafel sandwich in such an unhealthy style I don't have it very often.
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Oooh, I missed this post earlier and posted my own thing about ME food. Yes, the tabbouleh parsley/bulgur thing! I feel that green should be the dominating color with flecks of color from the other ingredients.
(Tabbouleh, Tabbouleh, Tabbouleh...makes me shake...shake shake my booty....)
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Not-Enough-Salt really can ruin anything for me, especially sweets, since there isn't much you can do to adjust the seasoning post-baking. i've only been a cook and baker for three years, but one of the first and best lessons i learned was the importance of salt in foods that don't actually taste salty in the end.
a chocolate chip cookie with no salt? gross. THAT'll bring out the snob.
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For me, apparently it's potato pancakes. It seems as though they're either excellent or just awful. If a deli can get potato pancakes right, they usually have excellent other deli fare.
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THIS is a Sloppy Joe sandich:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/08/serious-sandwich-sloppy-joe-to.html
Not this
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/113/30...
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That's just a regionalism, though - one name used for two (almost) completely different things depending where you live. It's not like one's authentic and the other is not.
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Maybe to you...how would you feel if someone said that Manhattan Clam Chowder versus New England Clam Chowder is "regionalism."
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It is. But ours (New England) is better, of course. ;-)
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jfood grew up in NJ, lives in CT and CANNOT stand manhattan clam chowder even at some of the best seafood restaurants in NY.
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How true.
"Manhattan Clam Chowder" is not chowder. It's clam and tomato soup and I share jfood's sentiments, even though I've given it a second, third, fourth, fifth chance etc.
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One more time: despite the name, "Manhattan" clam chowder is from southern New England, not New York.
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Phippser
Jfood is indifferent of it's lineage (unlike Phipps who was the first royal govenor of Mass). Here are two links to NY lineage
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/Chowder/ManhattanChowder.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-manha...
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Both of those links say in their first sentences that tomato-based clam chowders originated in Rhode Island. Rhode Island is in New England. You're not disproving my point.
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Huh?
First citation
"Tomato-based clam chowders came about with the new-found popularity of the tomato in the mid-1800s and the large population of Italians in New York and the Portuguese fishing communities of Rhode Island." Continued later..."Some historians say that Manhattan clam chowder was originally called Coney Island Clam Chowder and/or Fulton Market Clam Chowder. Both of these names were used in the 1890s."
Second citation:
"New England style clam chowder, which includes clams, cream, and potatoes, was quite popular in the mid-1800s, when advertisements for “Coney Island chowder” or “red chowder” began cropping up; by the early 1900s, this interesting soup was renamed for the New York borough of Manhattan."
Gotta read the whole thing big guy.
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"Portuguese fishing communities of Rhode Island."
Where is Rhode Island?
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""Manhattan" clam chowder is ALSO a New England recipe, don't you? It's a different soup with different roots, but it's also from New England"
plus
"One more time: despite the name, "Manhattan" clam chowder is from southern New England, not New York"
"the large population of Italians in New York " and "“Coney Island chowder” or “red chowder” began cropping up; by the early 1900s, this interesting soup was renamed for the New York borough of Manhattan."
Rhode Island is in New England and New York is not. Does Jfood get an A on his geography test?
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Also for (mostly) keeping your knife in its sheath.
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Certainly. I'm just puzzled why you refuse to acknowledge that the soup's roots are in the Portuguese fishing communities of southern New England is all.
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Ur kiddin' right?
Jfood posts twice with citations pointing to NY & RI.
You first give him a geography lesson of the state right up the road from him and now you state that Jfood is not acknowledging what he has already posted twice?
It is thee fair Phipps that has the issue with acknowledgment that it could be either NY or RI. Jfood couldn;t care less where crappy food comes from, he just adheres to accepting fact.
If you have a citation on the absolute geneology of the the soup please cite the site, but the schoolyard "you're wrong" did not impress jfood in the 60's and does less so now.
"Just the Facts son, just the facts." - Foghorn Leghorn
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Yes, you posted twice with citations pointing to Rhode Island, in an attempt to refute the claim that the soup came from New England, AFTER you said it came from New York. If you claim not to see the disconnect, there's nothing I can do to help you.
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Hey go for it buddy.
Jfood stated "Here are two links to NY lineage". Then posts a citation that states it is from NY and other places. If he wanted so badly to believe it was NY EXCLUSIVELY he would not have posted a URL that points to additional potential sources.And please read the second citation in which Rhode Island is not even mentioned.
If you are so caught up in Manahttan Clam Chowder comes from RI, no skin off jfood's lnees,. He has other items that occupy his focus.
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Just my 2 cents from Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food:
"The traditional RI chowder is a gray clam broth w/nothing more than salt pork, potato, and...thyme as a seasoning...the same as NYC's... some RI chowderheads speculate that Manhattan chowder is really a variant of RI chowder, the chopped tomatoes a contribution of RI's large Italian-American community, most of which hail from the tomato rich Italian south. But there are other theories, too."
He goes on to explain that his grandfather was a Professional Manhattan Clam Chowder chef-selling the stuff from a cart to bars and restaurants in NYC during the depression.
Personally, I hate M.c.c.. Ditto for RI chowder. But I have a recipe from a Long Island winery that's killer, and has white wine and dill...
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Please share your recipe!!
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"Creamy North Fork Chowder"
(the odd language is mine in an attempt to shorten for this space)
12 servings:
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 1/2 cups water
2 1/2 dozen cherrystone clams
1 1/2 lbs. yellow potatoes, peeled, 1/2'' dice
k.salt
8 thick slices smoky bacon
1 lg. onion,minced (1 1/2 cups)
6 lg. celery ribs, minced
2 sm. bay leaves
6 tbs. flour
3 cups milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tbs. chopped, fresh dill
2 tbs. chopped flat parsley
hot sauce
1. Boil win and water in large pot. Add clams, cover & cook (med. hi heat) 'till clams open. Remove clams to bowl and cool a bit. Remove from shell and coarsely chop. Strain cooking liquid and save. Rinse pot.
2. Cover potatoes w/water and boil w/salt 'till tender. Drain.
3. Add bacon to original clam pot. Cook (low) 'till fat rendered. Add onion, celery & bay & cook 'till soft. Add flour & cook 2 mins. (keep stirring). Slowly add milk till smooth, add cream. Add saved cooking liquid (but no grit!). Simmer (mod. heat). Reduce to low and simmer 15 mins. (occasional stir).
4. Add potatoes. Add clams. Simmer till heated thru. Stir in dill, parsley, salt, hot sauce (I add Frank's at the table). Serve.
It's an unusual taste, but very good. I have served it at home and at the yacht club many times and everybody raves. Except CH chowder snobs of course!
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Thanks!!! I'm not too snobby to try it, haha. Up here in Toronto, we have no stakes in chowder, whose is better, whose is authentic, haha.
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DILL???????? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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Wow. Up here in Toronto, if you served the first concoction, we might wonder what kind of Big Mac/club sandwich combo you're trying to serve us, hahahaha. Every recipe I've ever seen for "Sloppy Joe" is the second type. So, what percentage of the population of the U.S. and Canada thinks of picture 1 when they hear the words "Sloppy Joe"?
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From what I've read, only part of New Jersey - and, apparently, Connecticut. I'm sure jfood can delineate the area more precisely.
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Basically Union, Essex, Hudson counties with some smart people in Middlesex, Monmouth and Bergen counties of NJ. Basically the eastern half of the 201 area code when there was only 201 and 609 as area codes in NJ.
CT does not subscribe to the True Sloppy Joe.
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Ever since jfood first showed that picture, I've been planning a road trip to that part of NJ. It's one of the yummiest things I've seen. And I'd take it over that other thing any or every day!
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GO W THE TURKEY AND CORNED BEEF.
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Whatever you say, oh wise one.
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that comment comes from the tongue and belly, not the brain.
Speaking of tongue, oh man jfood has not had a great tongue sandwich in a long time.
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I used to eat tongue sandwiches in SF 30+ years ago but haven't had one in that long. Sooo good.
And don't be so sure about my brain :) I didn't get to this advanced age without figuring out a few important things.
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No No, jfood's comment comes from the tongue and belly...damned NJ syntax.
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Nah, I was just patting myself on the back for being smart enough to always pay attention to you :)
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Get thee to the Hartford Super Shop &Stop, jfood! The tongues are right next to the brains- so repulsive, yet interesting...
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jfood has to go to the S&S in Norwalk on the way to work on Monday. Will check out the head-internals.
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I am so making one soon!!!
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Big question, which end of the tongue do you like, tip or back?
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I haven't eaten tongue in over 20 years, and i was practically a kid with respect to food back then, so I don't know. Why?
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major arguments growing up when buying since you could choose. Never occured to jfood's mom to ask for 50-50.
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I'm pretty sure my mom used to cook the whole tongue... Maybe I like both parts? I don't remember eating any part I didn't like.
Edit: Unless if what's normally sold for cooking is just the front. In that case, I've never had anything else...
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Is that a trick question???
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not a trick question at all. the tongue in a deli has the part that yu see when the cow sticks it out at you and the other end is down the back of the throat. the tip is much leaner than the back. when jfood was a kid he liked the tip. he is curious after 40 years if that is still the case.
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I recently had some yummy tacos and one was more back than front. I did not care for it as much, due to the extra fattiness (which some would like), but also the other tissue that was included.
I have "done tongue" and if you spend the time you can remove a lot of it if you wish. I've never done anything other than a whole tongue.
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As Tonto said to the Lone Ranger when attacked by a hoard on injun, "What you mean we, white man?" Hey I cooked one in red chile at su casa; remember? Every thing is better cooked in red chile.
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I'm sure I've only had the tip then because it was very lean.
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a little rye, a little mustard a little dr browns cream soda....the start of a perfect lunch
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WTFDIK? I'm a Texan and it's #2!
#1 looks a lot better/far more interesting though, since #2 sure as hell ain't "Q".
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Hey, Scargod, what do you mean when you say #2 ain't "Q"?
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Q, short for barbecue.
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I thought maybe that was it; up here in Toronto, there isn't much barbecue, and it's not an obsession of mine (though I know there are many here who are passionate about Q, haha), so it's not a criterion by which I judge whether something is good or not!!! Let me taste it, and if I like it, Q or not, I like it.
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What Bob said... If you are arguing that a "Sloppy Joe" IS barbecue then I think we need to step outside...
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I'm not arguing one way or the other, hahaha, since I don't know how either of those was cooked... But, don't you need to step outside for good Q anyway???
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At least to get it out of the smoker!
AIR, sloppy Joes are like coarse ground meat (even regular ground meat), and catsup-like sweet stuff. That's it. The #1 looks like mystery milfoy!
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I was of the understanding that Sloppy Joe's originated at Sloppy Joe's bar in Key West (quite a place!) so don't know why anyone would mistake them for Texas Q anyway.
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You're right. I humbly apologize. Looks like chili burger.
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Which reminds me that I've been meaning to ask, why is that called a "chili size" in some places?
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Appears to come from signs stating what "size" you wanted when an open-faced hamburger was covered in chili.
http://www.chilicookoff.com/History/H... says, "Mr. Beck tells me that chili was once called “size” in the town known to him as Lil-ole-ell-ay. “Size” came into usage by way of one Ptomaine Tommy, once proprietor of the largest and best known chili parlor in the city. Ptomaine Tommy served straight chili and an epical Southwestern variation, a hamburger smothered with chili. He had two ladles, a large and a small. When a customer ordered straight chili, he got out the large ladle. When he wanted the other, he usually said “Hamburger size.” So Ptomaine Tommy put up one sign that read HAMBURGER SIZE 15¢, and another that read CHILI SIZE 20¢. Other chili joints followed suit and before long chili was know throughout Los Angeles as “size”. They’d say, “Just gimme a bowl of size.”
Seems it also refers to a bowl of chili...
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Wow- jfood send me to a place i never new existed. Those of us raise by housewives from the '50s and '60s, I'm willing to bet only about one in a thousand, if that, has ever dreamed of a sloppy joe looking anything like that. Would it be criminal to have double corned beef?
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since you called it "corned" beef go for it. These were served at Jfood's Bar Mitzvah and Jfood's brother's Bar Mitzvah. Yeah, yeah he knowns, meat and cheese.
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being not Jewish, I'm not kosher, so no judgement there, I'm glad for the direction. Like I said, it's a window on a new culinary world.
Muchas gracias, jfood.
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And Shalom and good eats to you EWS
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I'm sticking with YOUR Sloppy Joe rather than that gushy, soft thang on a gushy, soft bun. BTW, 12 years of parochial school. Did you hear the Catholics and the Jews are starting a school: Our Lady of Perpetual Guilt?
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The Sloppy Joe recipe the Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls looked nothing like your first link. That looks more like an English tea sandwich a la Dagwood. :)
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Here's a thread that talks about the origins:
http://www.creativehomestyle.com/arti...
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The difference in the SJ and an English Tea Sandwich is like two countries separated by a common language. An English sandwich is quite small, with liitle filling. The SJ is quite tall, since it is a triple decker.
Jfood doubts that anyone who orders and expects one and receives the other will be amused. >95% will utter WTF.
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Hahahaha!!!! An English tea sandwich, that's funny. I'm imagining a proper English tea, all the ladies and gentleman engaging in polite conversation when jfood makes his entrance, carrying a silver platter laden with..."sloppy joes"!!!
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and if ANYONE knows the name of a hotel in London that will do that please post.
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Vegan cheese - it's an abomination that should never be graced with the name "cheese".
Salad dressings in packets
Frozen Yorkshire puddings
Margarine
Crappy tea
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Steamed lobster w/butter. Crawfish and Crabs in the traditional "boiling" spices. Raw oysters on the 1/2 shell (w/searingly spicy horseradish,ketchup, lemon squeeze and dash worcestershire.) Do. Not. Use. Any. Other. Preparations.
I just can't stand these foods in any other way.
I'm from Maryland (crabs) live in Connecticut (lobsters) and lived in New Orleans (crawfish). Hmmmm. Maybe you have something w/the regional thing...
But then again, my son says "plain cheese pizza" only. Ever. And he's from CT.
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A few things:
Jajangmyun - Korean style. The sauce can not be too greasy, the noodles must have the right amount of bite (but I feel that way about all noodles), and it must contain pork, zucchini, onions, carrots, potatoes and fresh cucumber on top.
Pho - the broth must be able to stand on it's own with no accoutrements. But there should always be bean sprouts, jalapeno slices, basil, sriracha, hoisin, sambal and lime (not lemon!) available.
Korean bbq - please please please give me lettuce to wrap my bbq in! As much as I love those rice noodle wraps, daikon slices and the marinated salad, in my heart of hearts, when I think of Korean BBQ I want grilled meat, rice, fresh garlic, a jalepeno slice, ssamjang all wrapped up in a red lettuce leaf. With kimchee on the side, not inside.
This is all when I'm feeling particularly snobby, but in general I can see the good in almost any dish.
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Have you found a lot of jia jiang myun at restaurants with potato? We've always had potato in ours at home but have found some difficulty finding it with potato when I've eaten it out.
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Yep. All the ones in my city (Seattle) seem to put potatoes in it. I remember the first time I tried making it at home and asked my dad if there was potato in it and he yelled, 'OF COURSE'!
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Oh lucky you that you've encountered a lot of potatoes! A few hounds in my neck of the woods (NYC) seem to be miffed when they see potato in their jia jiang myun. Don't know if they're Korean or not -- I don't think they're aware that potato is a common ingredient.
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Is jalapeno considered traditional?
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I guess jalapeno is generally a recent addition (say last 10 yrs), but even before that, we'd have some korean peppers somewhere on the table (though not necessarily in the ssam). Jalapenos seem to be the norm now in Korean cooking, possibly due to their ready availibility, but I've seen my mother use hot red peppers since I was just a wee thing.
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Sounds like you had some pleasant culinary experiences Soypower. I enjoy jalapenos with many foods, but have wished for birds eyes, ornamentals and other peppers I don't know the names of when eating Asian foods. In Chicago, they get into a lot of Thai food. Knowing that someone with your experience enjoys them with Korean food may help me be more accepting of them.
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It's funny I read this post today. At work, a couple of managers decided to make breakfast burritos for the employees as a reward. My first thought was that is was going to be horrible, as they really have no cooking abilities. My second thought was, well that's not very nice, give them a chance, at least they're trying, quit being a snob!
They started cooking at 7:30 and didn't finish until after 10 for 40 people. They cooked everything to order, except is wasn't cooked. The hashbrowns were still cold and the bacon was raw. They tried to make green chile, but it tasted like olives with a really bad after taste. I managed to take about 3 bites before I threw it away. I thought, I'd rather go hungry than eat this crap! So that's when it dawned on me that bad tasting food or badly prepared food brings out my inner snob. (whether eating at a restaurant or eating something prepared by someone else) Especially when I know I can make it 100 times better myself. Thanks for trying, but really, no thanks, I'll pass!
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You're so right.
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Any restaurant/ria that allows canned mushies to be served on their pizza.
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For me it is the use of "american" or velveeta cheese where cheddar, swiss, or any other natural cheese could be used... The one exception is in Chili Con Queso! Mom made it with velveeta, so I do! Lol!
Also, "fake" guacamole... If you can't afford real avocados, just don't even bother offering it!
Finally, bad caesar salad dressing... When I order a caesar salad I want real caesar dressing... Not a "glorified ranch"
I am through ranting...Thanks!
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I often use pre-made guacamole (usually TJs) because having perfectly ripe avocados on hand for a particular meal can be challenge. More than once I've had to toss an avocado because it has turned black and stringy. I haven't tried the frozen halved avocados that TJ sells.
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My bugbear is bad Chinese food. Office mates: "Want to order Chinese food for lunch?" Me: "No - way" (insert intensifier). Life is too short to eat the bad stuff, when the good stuff is easily accessible on weekends.
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My inner chow snob is not really triggered by the food although i have a discerning palete its the company i am with and the manners of the company and service staff nothing ruins a meal for me faster than someone not showing good common courtesy and good table manners.... something just ought not be done at the table!
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What are the things that trigger you?
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well there are several here are my top 10
raised voices by anyone, drunks in public, being served from the wrong side, people picking off each others plates, eating or drinking noisily, ill-considered dinner conversation, service staff that are overly involved with dinner conversation, cell phone use at a table, talking with your mouth full , and the peeve of all pet peeves someone that wolfs down their food as though they have not eaten in a full month!
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Hahaha, wow, it's a good thing you at least generally enjoy whatever food you're eating... Do you have kids?
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Kids ? Noooo that is #11 people that think everyone should enjoy dining with their little darlings
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Were you ever in the military?
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:)
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Have you ever decided not to eat with someone again because their behaviour is unbearable? Do your dining companions generally know of these triggers?
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he he no not military just someone that appreciates good manners... and yes i have declined invitations from persons that i find unbearable to eat with ... why would i dine with someone whom creates discomfort in me and in others for that matter... my dining companions would not be aware of my discomfort by their behavior because pointing out their bad manners ... is ... well bad manners
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A teacher? I don't think so. We have 20 min. to eat, often helping a student or preparing like mad for the next class, and use the "facilities". We joke that our non-teaching friends ask us, "Why do you eat so fast?"
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necessity is different then sitting down at a dinner meal in a lovely restaurant with wonderful ambiance and watching your dinning companion wolf down a meal so quickly you have barely finished your salad and your companion is asking for the dessert menu
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I think you fail to see the point that people get into the habit of eating certain ways because it is ingrained in them because of an occupation or training. Some have to sit with their backs to a wall, too.
This isn't something you can turn off like a light bulb. Nor can you stop the nightmares and flashbacks from certain occupations.
If you lump everyone into your perfect manners category (or within the context of your self-imposed rules), I hope you have someone to dine with.
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Scargod; you have described my husband to a "T". I remember our first date and being amazed that anyone could eat that quickly without sounding like a hog at a trough or looking like hamsters were wrestling in their mouth! He had/has excellent manners. I later learned that once upon a time ago in boot camp they only got three minutes to eat from when the last person sat down. 18 years later and a secure seat is still paramount. So between the two of us (I'm a plate picker) we would drive KitchenKitten insane, but she'd miss some great conversation
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i have many to dine with and they do not slurp their soup, shout at the server across the restaurant, they do not pick off my plate if they want to share they ask and get a plate and remove the item with a utensil, they do not sit at the table talking on the cell or discuss unsavory topics... they in short they behave civilized ... i know some excuse the lack of basic courtesy on their vocation or i have even heard some claim it was classiest to expect good manners however when it comes down to it ... its about respect .... if what i said upsets you there is nothing like self improvement to make you feel good about yourself
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Uh oh - I have that bad habit of picking off of others plates!!
Yikes!
Sometimes I can't help myself!
I did it the to my DH the first night we ever met (he was eating a most delectable dessert!)
Later on in the relationship he said that habit of mine drives him nuts, and I allways say "you knew it about me from the very beginning - so you can't really complain!!"
Cell phones at a table drive me insane. Hate it
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lol its odd i have heard many say they pick from one anothers plate ... i am not adverse to sharing just having others touch my food
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Oh dear, never visit the restaurant kitchen when they're prepping your plate, hahaha! We have a friend who eats unbearably slowly!!! He loves to talk, and the food moves at a snail's pace to his mouth, so that we are long finished and ready to move on and his plate is still 2/3 full. I always think he's not going to finish it, he mustn't be enjoying it... But he does... I generally just like to think of it as one of his quirks, and that way it becomes endearing to me.
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My wife has a scar from a fork wound on the back of her right hand from a boy friend in college 38 years ago, He learned her good! She has impeccable manners.
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I was prepping potatoes to cook, as a 10 YO, and my younger brother tried to steal some of them to eat raw. On the second grab, without thinking, I popped him on the hand with the knife and cut his finger...
It did stop the thievery.
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I won't use La Choy soy sauce and I like my hot dogs (and lobster) on New England style frankfurt rolls.
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Thai food. I am a Thai food devotee and feel very passionately about it. Bad Thai food or Thai food that's deviated so far from authentic that it's no longer recognizable gets me very upset.
Also, I'm definitely a snob when it comes to certain products like spam and low-quality canned tuna. I wouldn't touch them, and I can't help it: I look down on the consumption of them.
Oh... hahaha: improper soy sauce use also really upsets me. I know many people who insist on cooking all Asian cuisines with Japanese soy sauce, and I can feel my skin prickling at the mere thought of it! Thai soy sauce is very different from Chinese soy sauce, which is extremely different from Japanese soy sauce, etc. I can understand using Chinese soy sauce for Thai food if one cannot locate the Thai product, but using Japanese soy sauce for Chinese or Thai food or vice versa is an unacceptable abomination.
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I grew up in Bangkok--I generally don't seek out Thai food in the US because it's so far from the real thing. There is a burger place in Harlingen, Texas with a Thai owner--if you ask, you get real Thai home cooking. Inconvenient, since I live in New Hampshire.
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Last month The Splendid Table interviewed the owner of Pok Pok, a Thai restaurant in Portland OR
http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/listings/091024/
http://www.pokpokpdx.com/
He talks about trying to be authentic, choosing dishes that 'very accessible to most people', without having to tone them down. Sounds like the big difference is that he avoids the dishes that are heavy on the fermented ingredients that Americans don't like.
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Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made with any other jelly than Welch's grape. Jelly, not jam.
so yes, I guess my snob level is pretty low.
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Mine is Middle Eastern food. I was raised in a heavily Arabic city where amazing Middle Eastern food is available on pretty much every block. Where I live now, the few restaurants that claim to serve Middle Eastern or Mediterranean food are basically gyro joints with some hummus, falafel and greek salads also on the menu. Pita is always from a package and, while it's toasted, it's definitely been shipped in off the Sysco truck.
This is hard for me coming from a place where restaurants pride themselves on freshly baked pita that melts in your mouth with your meal and the menu is several pages long.
I've had to adjust my standards to distinguish between what is good based on my hometown level and what is just acceptable based on a rest-of-the-world level.
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What city did you live in and where do you live now?
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Dearborn, Michigan. I now live in Columbia, Missouri.
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Good to know should anyone be in Dearborn Mi. Good Middle Eastern.
Thanks.
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Well, I just gotta pipe up here for a restaurant that recently opened in our area called Falafel Grill...owners bake their own breads which include pita...a rarity, I know...but it does happen sometimes! And I love the place!
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I will second the list of Usual Suspects:
Powdered mashed potatoes
Minute rice
Non-real maple syrup
Gravy and sauce mixes in the foil pouches
Mayo with boiler chemical preservatives
Fake mayo, aka "salad dressing"
Bottled salad dressing with their preservatives, gums, and sugar.
Almost any form of prepackaged food.
Velveeta and any other "cheese food products"
Most canned veggies. Canned corn will do in a pinch and canned tomatoes are a must in the winter months.
Ice cream with gums and extenders.
As someone of Russian/Polish descent, I have to add:
Commercially made Pierogi, especially those with filling not found in Poland (Think Mrs. T's jalapeno). Bopcha would roll over in her grave if she knew about them.
Generic sausage that calls itself kielbasa. Hillshire Farms in no more kielbasa than Oscar Meyer hot dogs are.
Whew! I feel better now.
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Hey Stashu, who stole the kiska? I'm w/ you on the kiebasi and perogie. Kapusta too; commercial saurkraut too is, well, just too sour; lacks deep cabbage flavor. Commercial xren, horseradish too; lack knock down power, but what a grating experience fresh is!
My matuska would say gov(b)na!
Shenkooya
Passadumkegsky
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Pizza. If you want me to yell at you order a ham/pineapple or a BBQ chicken pizza or one of those bastardizations the chains serve in front of me.
Flavored potato chips. No, not even BBQ or sour cream and onion. Nothing wrong with potatoes and salt. If you want to get a different flavor make dip.
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Oh, man. No jalapeno or salt & cracked pepper chips? I.. no. Just, no. I will happily and willfully accept your disdain.
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With you on the potato chips, no flavor, please. Ditto tortilla chips.
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Thirded. Although I can handle salt & vinegar potato chips, which don't taste as fake-y as, say, guacamole-flavored tortilla chips (the horror).
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Or bean, guacamole, jalapeno and sour cream flavored Doritos!
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Did you ever notice how the original chips, fritos, cheetos, etc. are always better?
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The exception that proves the rule (at least for me): Fritos Scoops. Love to get my tongue in that particular declivity!
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Depends on how you hold it... Could be an uphill battle for your tongue!
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Sides slope down to a pleasant curved center.
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LOVE Fritos Scoops. Particularly with queso dip, mmm ...
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Or seven-laye bean dip, my sister-in-law's piece de resistance.
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<Or bean, guacamole, jalapeno and sour cream flavored Doritos!>
Yes, deconstructed nachos are so OVER. I want everything contained in the chip.
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totally agree!!
I hate crappy pizza and I hate flavores chips - gross!! (although i will make and exception for salt & vinegar!)
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I can't believe no one has mentioned "The Green CAN" of parmesan cheese!
Ughh - I think that it is for me...I'm pretty easy going - but I just can't take the green can!!
It's Parmigiano Reggiano - or Nuthin'!
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Try raising 5 kids w/ a lot of spaghetti and the green can is pretty good.
Yes, we prefer the "good stuff", but gotta cut corners somewhere, and the kids don't know the diff. They have matured into pretty good hounds. the "green can" does have its uses.
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" the "green can" does have its uses."
HA!
Not for me it doesnt!!
:)
(Well the title of the post IS about food snobbery!)
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owners and managers of any espresso bar where a "barista" who does not know what a ristretto pull is or what makes a decent espresso. it apalls and infuriates me when i crave an espresso and all I can find providing them is people who don't care about what they're selling and have no pride or care of what they're hawking.
i'm never rude to a sub par barista, but oh how i'd like to tell off an ignorant owner/manager - they should be ashamed of themselves.
i'm from portland, so maybe it is a regional thing. it can be very difficult to find a decent espresso when i'm not in portland, and there's plenty of them there, too.
and processed cheese products in ANYTHING. especially mac and cheese yes even a little bit I CAN TELL.
and iceburg lettuce.
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Gochujang is neither Japanese nor hot spicy miso paste as one certain mooncalf with glasses said!!! *sighs*
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