Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Fressing
Seems like all we ever do on vacation is eat. Not that there’s anything wrong with eating; and from a coolly philosophical point of view, pleasure is pleasure, right? Some folks hike, some shop, some have sex with underage prostitutes. We eat.
Excuse me a second. Karen just put a slice of Key Lime pie under my nose.
True, we did the Cabaret the other night, and last night we saw Shrek 3 (meh. Better than Spiderman 3, but not nearly as fine as Exorcist 3. And Evil Dead 3, AKA Army of Darkness — now, there was a 3!) Otherwise, we’ve planned our days from one meal to the next. In brief, since all of these meals were good but none were rave-worthy, we had Italian the first night, sushi the second, Cuban/tapas the third. But I’d rather remember some meals from vacations past.
I suspect I could write a 13 on this. Hell, I probably already have.
Our honeymoon really did hit a culinary homerun. Perhaps because we were both in Europe for the first time — perhaps that made the food memories more intense. Our first night in Brugge, we had a mixed grill at an oooold place that played the Best of Lionel Richie over ‘n over again. Lots of meat that night. Too much meat. We rolled back to our pensione and crashed.
I had some of the best and some of the worst food of my life in France. The worst: steak and fries at a roadside diner. I’d swear that steak was liver, and the fries, boiled, then dressed with oil. The best: a tie between mussels at a 2-star restaurant across from the Louvre, and blood sausage in a little place near one of Da Vinci’s supposed burial grounds.
Baguettes and pate really do make for a satisfying lunch, the red table wine in Italy really is top notch, and the Germans really do know their beers.
New Orleans food kicked ass, too. Oysters Rockefeller, mmmm. And haven’t I written about soft-shelled crab swimming in clarified butter?
Ipswich clams at the Ventura Pier, the one that washed away. Seared duck breast at Hoppe’s near Morro Bay. Scampi at La Pergola’s, North Beach.
Yeah, you all knew I would never last as a vegetarian.
D.
Fressing…now here’s something I can relate to; I find that as I get older especially, one of the best things to look forward to is a good meal. One of the top priorities when I go home in June? Eating at all the places I can’t eat at here because they only exist in Las Vegas. The guacamole and chips at Zaba’s is one, and the turkey panini at Fazzoli’s is another. The worst hamburger (when I was still eating red meat) I ever had was in Scotland; it was little more than a dried hockey puck.Food in England was bland, bland, bland. But Haggis(did I spell that right?) in Scotland? A major big YUM!
Mmmmm food. We just buy organic now. Have you thought of that?
As for France, the food is spotty just like any place else. Good in some spots, horrible in others.
M
Sis, the only meal we ate in England was at Heathrow Airport. Not very memorable, I’m afraid.
A vote for haggis, eh? I’ll have to try it one of these days.
Michelle, we are indeed buying the no-antibiotic/no-hormone beef. Tougher question is chicken & pork, given the melamine scare. That affects farm-raised fish, too, but with wild-caught, you need to fret about mercury!
For my birthday, we indulged in a meal at The Herbfarm last night… Wow. Just… wow. I’d love to do that again, but it won’t be any time soon.
Organic chicken & pork should also be melamine free, shouldn’t they?
I don’t know if there’s a set definition for ‘organic’. I can imagine a situation, however, wherein livestock receive no hormones or antibiotics, yet are fed melamine-tainted food (pet food sweepings, for example).Organic or not? It gets maddening after a while.
And Happy Birthday! Nine course meal, eh? (I checked the website.) Sounds like our French Laundry splurge, which we did for our 20th anniversary. At the end, they brought by chocolate truffles — a real “You have GOT to be kidding” moment.
IIRC, California has a pretty strict definition for organic, as does Oregon. Pet food sweepings would only count if they were also certified organic… But yeah; it’s pretty crazy.
Yup, 9 courses over almost 5 hours. It was in-fscking-credible. The finishing touch consisted of a plate of sweet nibbles (almond lavender cake, raspberry gel, salted chocolate caramel, etc.) served with no more than a few cc’s of 1912 Madeira.
Highly recommended.
Actually, London is a pretty good place for top-notch food. The reason? Aside from fish ‘n’ chips -there really is no such thing as “english” food, and consequently they’ve admitted defeat and imported the best from around the world.
I’ve had good Thai, Indian, Italian, Russian and even French food in London. Just stay away from “pub” food.
PS, French Laundry was much the same. Funny thing is, I remember the experience better than the food. Of the food, all I remember is liking the combo of caramelized pineapple and mascarpone cheese, and NOT liking foie gras. I also remember wanting to heave at the mere sight of those chockies at the end.
Whitenoise, I imagine you folks have topnotch Indian and Pakistani food (I wonder if Pakistani food differs much — I’ve never had it). Russian surprises me a bit. That cuisine is absent from all but the biggest cities here in the States.
You’ve probably come closer than you realize; many Indian restaurants in the US are North Indian, from the Punjab.
Us folks ‘n Ta-ranna, Ontario? yeah, the Indian food ain’t bad here. Not as good as London, tho.
I stayed in France right upstairs from a bakery, and the smell of fresh bread from 4am mad me fat, Seriously just the Smell! Never mind the eating. We had the best stone baked pizza ever, in France. I also was envious of the vegetables, they are far and away better than what we get in the UK and cost half the price. Never had one meal drowned in sauce. Did have my first nasturtium salad – was wonderful! So easy to grow in the garden to, in fact they take over a garden, and you can eat all of it – leaves, seeds, tuber and flower.
I’d eat my nasturtiums, except for the fact I know what our neighborhood dogs do on ’em.