Carrot Top

Yes, the garlic eggplant looked delicious. Strangely enough, the best garlic eggplant dish I ever had was in a Chinese restaurant in Roanoke, VA. Instead of having the soft, velvety texture that the dish usually has, the eggplant was cut into fat sticks about 3" long and about 3/4" wide, then deepfried (probably in a cornstarch batter) before being tossed quickly with the other ingredients. At least that is my best guess of the preparation. It was amazing. The eggplant itself had a crackly-quick texture upon biting into in, then burst into softness immediately. Amazing. And the traditional flavors of the recipe sort of swung above the eggplant rather than melding in. I really wish I hadn't had to think of that. Now the entire day will be haunted by images of garlic eggplant.

Okay, the first cup of coffee just woke me up enough to find the threads that do have some great suggestions! Seems like there are noodle shops, Vietnamese, Cuban, and barbecue all around the place. . . Thanks! And must correct the spelling I used for Holly's site. It is not Holly's Eats but hollyeats. Yes, some good things there, too!

In about four hours, I'll be headed for Orlando (last minute trip). I won't be doing Disney, but do not remember any other places from the one previous visit. There have been some suggestions for restaurants that sound quite lovely above, but as usual, I'd prefer somewhere non-white tablecloth, casual but "real", possibly ethnic. Barbecue. . .grilled fish. . .Cuban. . .that sort of thing. Will go check "Hollys Eats" (does it cover Florida?) but wonder if anyone had any suggestions here. . . If nobody has any suggestions right in Orlando, how far do you think I would have to drive to find this sort of thing? Will check in to see suggestions later tonight! Thanks! Karen

Your beautiful manners shame me, Gregg. I would also like to thank Maggie for providing the opportunity, in this forum, to just plain have a great time playing with words on food. The Literary Smackdown seems like such a wonderful thing to have available. . .it is like a playground where one can go and find others that like to do the same thing, playing with the same toys, in a very safe environment. Till next time. . . Karen

Well, okay. . .here's another question. It's a bit off the original path Jack set us on here, but so what else is new. Why is the food at church suppers in "this day and age" so absolutely dreadful? Is it due to a sinking lack of faith in Whomever/Whatever has supposedly produced the bounty, so that the act of preparing a covered dish to take to a church supper has merely become a time-consuming burden rather than a homage? Or is it just the receding lack of interest in taking the time to prepare fresh foods rather than open a can of Campbell's soup and pour it over some other glop. . .and the subsequent lack of cooking skills that are then available? Or is it just that cans and boxes are more easily found and cooked? Or is it money? Or is it that people somehow think these covered dish nightmares are appreciated, though at the end of the day you will rarely see one single dish scraped clean? Why? Sorry. . .just a mite bit cranky over this, I am. . .having grown up reading and hearing of the wonders of church suppers then actually, finally, having met the real thing.

Interesting thoughts, Chris. As usual. It seems to me that how well one will accept (or even desire) a learning experience depends on so many ethereal things. Some people love to be open to other ideas, some just plain do not. (Can that be changed? I don't know. I don't think it can be changed by anything external but that it might be changed by an internal process, but of course nobody has control over anyone else's internal processes. Grace happens, or it doesn't.) Then there is the time of day. . .some people are cranky or withdrawn at differing times of the day. There is "what happened to them on the way to work" which will affect mood and attitude. So much more. It is such a flitting thing, this ability to be open to learning. Some people have resentment towards any sort of what sounds to them like authority. If someone says "yay" in an authorative tone, one that holds a certain extending tone of sureness, they will be angered by the tone, and will then therefore say "nay" just for the saying of it. As far as how to go about sharing knowledge (or, if you prefer, not even "knowledge" but differing ways of doing things) I agree with you that there must be a sense of calm and balance within oneself to be able to do it well. As someone once said, a great teacher does not "teach". Instead, they say, "stand beside me and see what it is that I see." And isn't it wonderful when it works, for either teacher or student. Not that the roles have to remain stable. . .the teacher can become the student and the student the teacher. Everyone knows "something", everyone has something to share, don't they? But it sure as heck is not a science, this thing. Can't put it into a standardized recipe form. Just have to do the best we each can, and when it doesn't work, say "fuhgettaboudit" till the next time. Would be great if it were to be something that could be controlled, defined, set up to work for all time. But that might take a lot of fun out of life. . .certainly it would take out a lot of the drama!

Interesting perception, Culinista. It made me wonder for a moment to what extent the facts of what are currently considered to be popular as manners (so to speak) in any given society affects the behavior of people in terms of what they consider "evil". Today, in the US, we do not talk about religion a lot in public, for it can quickly become difficult (and adversarial, too, as such a subject does). It is definitely not "politically correct". Yet I have not noticed any of this fear or reluctance to talk about religion in friends from Europe or other places. They are generally eager to do so. (Please note, when I use the words "to talk about" I mean in a general sort of way during daily life between acquaintances. Public discussion by the press and politicians is a very active thing here, but that is media chatter. . .it is not always the same thing as talking with the guy at the checkout counter or on the airplane. . .) In the past, different things have been considered "unmannerly". Probably someone like Rogov could give many excellent examples of this, and back it up with research. The only one that comes to my mind is how, in the Victorian era in England, food was generally not something one would discuss (it was unmannerly) but social networks and family "substance" or lack of it was. As a result, good and evil were carried as points based on these things. Food. . .was sort of a "nothing" in terms of carrying good or evil. How does this affect the ways of being, and particularly of eating and enjoyment? And how does it affect the ways in which people consider "evil" . . .the content of the word as played out in real life? Do certain subject become more endowed with public potential for good or evil simply because other subjects have moved to the wayside in public discussion for one reason or another? And do the subjects which have moved to the wayside somehow lose public potential as carriers for good or evil? Something to muse about. Food, is one of the few wide-open subjects left for ardent personal verbal discussion here in the US, without any potential for being considered "politically incorrect". One can say what they want, be as passionate as they want, and be considered not only mannerly but stylish and in the vogue, too.

I think maybe what she was referring to when she said "english muffin" was the wonderful ability a bialy has to soak up butter. . .(?)

Here is an answer, from "Artisan Baking Across America" by Maggie Glezer: Bialys are more closely related to English muffins than to bagels. Dusty with flour. . . quickly baked on a hearth. . .and in need of a preprandial toasting. . . . they have a deep indentation at their center, which is filled with a smear of ground onion. . . infusing them with an oniony scent. They are much lighter and less caloric than bagels. Good bagels are slightly sweet and off-white from the addition of malt syrup. . .they have a crisp, slightly blistered crust and a very dense, chewy texture. By definition, they must have a hole through their center, about the only real feature left in the counterfeits sold today. I love bialys. As you can tell by the urgent need I had to go find this book and type out this text. (There is more on them, and on bagels, and some good recipes, too in this book). Plus it is taking my mind off the idea of crying, just like Suzie Sushi said. Those photos. Those photos. . .

Aaargh. Restaurants everywhere. Good ones. Affordable ones. Interesting ones. How can you do this to (I will say "us", the ones who live in the land of good-cheap-interesting-restaurant emptiness, but really, I mean ME) us? Please, I beg of you, somewhere along the way show a photo of a line at the post office or an overflowing trash can on the street? Please. Please.

Moira Tuscanaro’s Cue’bs for the Week From Your Personal Cheesey Astrologer Moira is here, cheese-lovers! Listen up and then bite right in! Watch out for the Moon as it enters the path of Aries this week. There could be enough fire to toast your Kasseri! (I do so hope you all took the opportunity that presented itself last week for Bacchanal picnics, so encouraged by Virgo standing still for a brief moment in the sky!) Here are your recommendations for the week to come. Remember, follow the stars when it comes to your cheese. It could change your life in drastic and unimaginable ways! …………………………………………………………………………………. Aries the Ram: Aries, now don’t get too excited, but Cabrales is waiting for you. Your equally strong and demanding characters will meld into quite a match! Be sure to remember to wipe the crumbs from your mouth as you finish eating the entire pound you’ll be buying, for your companions do so enjoy hearing you define and clarify all things in the world for them endlessly! Taurus the Bull: Taurus, if you can rouse yourself from the dreams of the nice-looking girl or guy that is across the room, take your dreamy eyes right to the cheese store and place them on that traditional 40 pound cylinder of Cheddar. This sturdy, solidly yellow, conventionally pleasurable cheese will calm you down momentarily from the seemingly endless lust for love that fills you. . .and the nice huge 40 pound size of the entire cheese will satisfy your urge for stability and freedom from worry. Gemini the Twins: Ah, twisted little Gemini! How confused can you get with all the options out there?! Stand still for just a moment and stare into the sky. Can’t you see it? Can’t you just see what the stars are telling you? With your vivid imagination, I am just so sure that you can, sweetie. “Quark, quark!” they are crying. Yes, you do hear them, don’t you? So do go straight to the store and grab a container of Quark and chow down. Little bites, please, now. The gentle softness of intelligence that Quark holds does so much to make your own intelligence glow! Cancer the Crab: This week you can prove to all your sensitivity and probity, Cancer. And at the same time show them all how very different you are from them all, all those poseurs. Gaperon is your recommendation for this weeks taste. Just hold your breath as you bite into the garlic imbued savor, and remember what is was like, on the bottom of the sea whence you came from in ancient times. Leo the Lion: Stop brushing your hair for a moment, please. No, turn this way and take that eye off the mirror, Leo, for I have the perfect, I mean perfect, just as you like it, cheese for you. Cornish Yarg. You do like the way it sounds, don’t you! Yarg. Yarg. Ah, who else would be so quietly brave as to dive into a bit of nettle-covered Yarg but you, Leo! Show your friends truly what a leader you are! Virgo the Virgin: Celestial rumor has it that you are not easily pleased, dear Virgo. Whatever is presented to you must not be too sharp, too soft, too hard, too wet, too dry, too crunchy nor too out-of-date. A cheese with a style is the cheese for you, and we will attempt to assure that it will not offend. For you sure can go on forever, complaining about things. Taleggio. Beautiful (and rich! Rich! A bonus for you!) Taleggio will surely calm your nerves and settle things down for a moment or two. Do try it! Libra the Scales: Please stop smiling for a moment, Libra. I haven’t even said anything yet and there you are with that silly grin on your face that you think will charm me. And try to sit up rather than lazing on the couch in that lazy way. Are you ready? Explorateur, darling. Need I say more? Venus Rules. Scorpio the Scorpion: Your intellectual demands require a special sort of cheese, Scorpio. One that is as different and individual in its own way as you are. Sexy Sapsago is the one. If you can find someone, anyone, to share this cheese with you, you have found a true friend and perhaps a love. Try not to be too critical of them if they faint upon the first bite. Nothing but a Scorpio’s intensity could melt this cheese. Sagittarius the Archer: Happy Sagittarius, here is the cheese that will make you stop talking for a minute! Reblochon. Find a friend or two or twenty, call them all up and share it! The party has begun, and you are the star, for sensual Reblochon is by your side! Capricorn the Goat: Contemptuous you may be of all earthy things, Capricorn, as you work conscientiously toward the higher things of life. It is good to remember that even the sturdy goat needs to be nurtured on its steady path up the mountain. I advise Vacherin Mont d’Or. Full of a quiet beauty that will beckon you closer, the herby taste will remind you of your original home on the hills between the high fir trees. Keep a stiff upper lip, Capricorn, and do give it a try! Aquarius the Water Bearer: Who cares if it sounds weird, right Aquarius? Who cares if nobody else wants to try it? You know what you want, and you don’t give a damn if it sounds like a water cooler bubbling in distress. Gubeen is the cheese for you. Gubeen. Say it loud and say it proud! Damn right, both you and your cheese are full of character! Pisces the Fish: Pisces. Pisces, I am calling you! PISCES! Stop dreaming and listen for a minute here. You will be hungry soon. You will be hungry for something sweet, something salty, something pleasant and something everything. Try to find your way out of the house and get over to the cheese shop. Write down this word before you go, so you will not forget: Gjetost. It can only make you that much sweeter than you already are. Try it. …………………………………………………………………………………………….. That is it for this weeks tastes. Remember, when your cheese fits your stars, the stars shine round you. Enjoy! Enjoy!

In my own case of fairly earnest discussion of the topic, the definition of the word "religion" that was in my mind was the fourth one listed in The American Heritage Dictionary: "A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion." Perhaps with a bit of my own overtone added of "something that would give a meaning (of sorts) to life".

Could be called that, yes, culiary bigotry. But consider this: When Adam mentioned above that the lobster was not Scottish but Australian, and that Scottish lobsters were like the lobsters "here" that I know, and grew up eating once in a while in Maine, I said to myself, (and I consider myself to be without culinary prejudices nor religious prejudices. I tell my children that people eating roasted bugs in other places is just a fine thing to do, and that if I were there, I'd try it). . .I said "Well then! I will be so happy to go to Scotland and eat a lobster, for it is what I know!" This is how it begins. With "what we know". Every human being wants to be a part of something, some group, some defining safe comforting category for him or herself. Happens with food as well as with other things, without even thinking about it too much, as just happened with me! Then there is the connection that happens with the next generation, just naturally. My children, of course, will want to eat lobsters like I eat, for they seem comforting and happy things to them, and the "others" are the unknown. One can verbally argue against this, but it does happen naturally. Here is an incident that happened in my past that made me aware of the flip side of sticking to the things one knows, and not wanting to turn away from them to other ideas or concepts. I was dating a Jewish guy whose parents had survived the holocaust in concentration camps. We were getting close to being serious about each other. I am half-Jewish, but was not raised in any religious tradition, and the Jewish side is from my father not my mother, so in Jewish traditional law, I am not really Jewish at all. We had a conversation about "where we were headed". He was worried. I could not understand why. He said that he could never marry a girl that was not considered, in all ways, to be Jewish. I thought that to be a rather limiting concept, thought it was the sort of concept that kept the world further apart and that was sort of a bigotry in itself. But then he explained further. If he were to marry someone that was not Jewish, his parents would consider it a form of betrayal. It was important to them, vitally important, that the traditions they held, and that he followed also, (as he was a good and loyal son in this way as in many other ways) be upheld. To separate himself from these traditions would be a bitter betrayal of his family, and he would not consider doing it. And considering the history of his family, I could understand this. Another way of looking at things. Now this example is extreme, and it is focused on the way family loyalty and feelings enter into something other than "food as some sort of religious icon", but it is another way of looking at things. So I say, allow people their own definitions and limitations on what they will eat or do, as long as no harm is coming to others through it. I can completely respect the ways of honor that are shown in these acts, whether small ones of what is put into one's mouth, or whether larger ones, as in deciding a path to take that may not seem totally all-encompassing of the world, but which defines a honest and sometimes sacred way of being.

Agreed, godito. ............................... And (in thinking about some of the other posts made upthread) perhaps there is something about the very essential-ness of food that makes it lend itself to this sort of reaction. After all, when a baby is born the first thing it seeks to do is to suckle, to eat, to nourish itself. You don't see it heading right out the door to buy a Jaguar. Not right away, anyway. And though a Jaguar can seem to give many benefits to one who owns it, it still can not keep one alive. Food is a very essential need and has great emotional content riding within it.

Okay, Jack. I see your drift. Two things run through my mind in response. The first is a question: Is there something in particular that made you think of this, some particular incident that was the straw on the camel's back, the impetus that brought this notion of food as religion into your mind? Just curious, you know. The second is the thought that indeed, it would be much easier to test the tenets and beliefs one has been given in terms of food than it would be in what we generally consider a religion. Much easier access to the stuff the stories and beliefs have been told and taught about, and it sure takes less time to dissect a lobster than it does to dissect any set of spiritual beliefs, (if that even can really be done). And though dissecting a lobster might be messy (let's change it to boning a chicken here so that all can participate). . .(no, wait a minute. . .let's change it to cutting a pineapple instead so even more can participate). . .anyway. The dissecting process is messy on all of these things, but not as messy as dissecting any set of spiritual beliefs! Along these lines there is something written by Gary Taubes, originally printed in The New York Times Magazine then reprinted in "The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004". It is called "What If It's All Been A Big Fat Lie?". It is specifically about the fact of how the consumer believes what they are told about what to eat to be healthy, and how and where this has gone terribly wrong in the recent past. Good article with great back-up research. ................................................. Adam, that is indeed how I imagined a Scottish lobster to look. Quite craggily frightening. Is he waving his scary little feet at the photographer in an attempt to get him to move away from his bank account? The photo reminded me of my first thought upon reading Jack's original post. Which was. . . what a great idea for a science fiction story!

Ha, ha, ha, ha! Wonderful lines, wonderful question.

That is a very beautiful way of looking at it, Abra. Another idea came to mind in terms of this. This sense of high imagery and detailed ritual that Jack speaks of. . .two factors also seem to be in place that might answer for parts of it. The study of gastronomy and the ability to practice it on a daily basis have become much more easily available to many more people due to better distribution of fine foodstuffs "everywhere". . . and the economic conditions that would allow more people to partake of this world of fine food are also in place. Add to that the fact that this study and life is new to many people. Their families did not do this before them, nor did they live in a culture where the majority of people viscerally lived it and knew it (again, I am speaking of the US here). This seems to me to perhaps be part of the answer, for when I look at people who have known fine food as part of their lives in a visceral, quiet way. . .going back to their upbringings. . .they do not seem to have the attitude of chatty reverence that others may have to whom the whole thing is "newer". People I've known whose families have had the ability to experience fine food as a daily part of life, who have grown up with a good knowledge of fine food and wine, don't fuss about it as much as the ones I've known who are just learning it now. Doesn't really matter whether we're talking about perhaps old-money people who dined at Lutece at Daddy's knee from the age of four on upwards, or whether we're talking about people who grew up in an atmosphere of growing and producing and cooking the bounty of the land in their family homes, without pretense. And this thing of formalizing and giving more importance to a subject when "newer" is natural. When learning a new subject, most people have to try it on this way and that, forming postures that they hope will work for them along the way, then maybe discarding them and trying on another. Learning something new can be awkward, usually is awkward, and because of that sense of awkwardness even more rules and rituals and fussiness can seem to be inherent in the practice of the new thing. If this is a part of the whole idea that you are talking about, Jack, then I imagine it will wear off somewhat as people become more comfortable and settled in their ways with fine food and gourmandism. Anyway, just another thought.

Do you think perhaps, Jack, that the current and burgeoning interest among people that live the US, (and perhaps in Britain too). . .both places where food has not traditionally held such interest as opposed to some other cultures and places. . .do you think this interest has become a sort of substitute for the traditional religions that have supposedly lost followers? I might agree with this if so. . .but then again, I don't really know. Somewhere recently I read that membership in organized religion of all sorts is growing in the US. Maybe we are just hungry for all sorts of things that might be fulfilling. That certainly has always been a great tradition in the US, its hunger for more and better. And one might say so of Britain also if one goes back to considerations of the British Empire. We do live in an age where anything that is thought of, or created, as an idea. . .must be hyped to be successful. A quiet idea is an unknown idea. Media makes reality, and the bigger and bolder the better seems to be the motto. Food is no longer just a personal thing we partake of in our homes every day. It is emblazoned across our culture in bright and bold colors to create excitement, and we define ourselves by whether we dine at McDonald's or at El Bulli or at "wherever". Perhaps this need to be big and bold leads to the translation of food into a quasi-religious sort of thing, at least superficially. It seems to me that many things today have taken on this semi-religious quality in our lives. Everything is named and defined. We are straight or gay, and often seemingly religiously so. We are "this" political way or "that" political way, and again, seemingly religiously so. It is not a quiet nor a subtle time in history. Perhaps food is just one of a variety of things that have taken on this look and feel. I do think I know what you mean, though. There is not much of the understatement about it any more. And that makes one think of bible-thumpers or their ilk. P.S. I have tried in this post to stay away from the specific things that are banned on eGullet in terms of writing on these subjects. I hope I have done so. It has been difficult to even attempt to answer what I think Jack was writing about without skating rather close to the edge, though, as this IS the connected subject.

If you believe, as Jean-Francois Revel wrote, that "To as great a degree as sexuality, food is inseparable from imagination", then the suggestion that you are making could certainly hold aspects of truth. Personally, I can not think of anything else in the world that people become so consumingly and definitively sure of how and what and where they want for themselves, than food. And of course, staying alive requires that we eat. So the ritual must be played out each day, unendingly till. . .well, till the end comes. Indeed, I cannot think of a single subject that rouses people's passions as much as food. Except maybe politics and football. And religion, as you say. I do subscribe to Revel's idea.

An interesting topic, Nullo Modo. What fascinating responses are being written from different places! In thinking more about what defines the rural romantic food experience, for me, it would be simplicity and lack of pretension. Along with the food being native in some way to the region. I can think of two sorts of places that still offer this on the East Coast of the US, at least. Lobster shacks in Maine would be one. You can still find a lobster shack that has been open for years with the family operating it, with boats bringing the lobster to the dock each day, with only a few things on the menu, with picnic tables to eat at outside. Of course these are seasonal, and generally found in areas where tourists or vacationers will be coming through, for the native population can not support it. Barbecue in parts of the South. I know of two good barbecue joints within an hour and a half drive of here. . .one in Hinton, WV and one in Beckley, WV. Again, basic menu (and yes, they offer greens sometimes, with pot likker!). Both these places are set on the side of roads leading to town, roads littered with strip-mall sorts of stores. ............................................................................... When I lived in the countryside and had time on my hands, naturally one of the ideas that came to me was to open a restaurant. For I was hungry for good food. Good food that I didn't have to make myself! Nobody in (the very small) town where I lived expressed any interest in the idea of any sort of ethnic food. Some had not even eaten Chinese food before, and had no urge to do so. The idea of an upscale sort of place that offered different tastes, was ridiculous. That idea was an anethema to anyone that I mentioned it to. They had to try hard not to roll their eyes at me in exasperation at my nonsense. So. How wonderful to start a barbecue place, yes? There were people around that knew how to do this, how to barbecue a whole cow or pig, or parts of. . .but two things came up in conversation and in doing research about whether this would be possible and desireable. First, the guys that knew how to do this would not want to leave their jobs in the armory an hour drive away or the plastics factory half an hour away, for there was sure not the small financial security they had there, offered to them in a barbecue joint on the side of a road in a small town (a small town that they had grown up in and seen so many attempts at small businesses of all varieties start and die lingering deaths, small businesses started by locals themselves, not even by newcomers. . .). And second, there were a lot more restrictions and problems inherent in the operations and business parts of opening such a place, than would have been if the place had been started-up some number of years ago which would then allow the ability to grow into the factual demands of operating a food business today. One example: (Remembering here that I am trying to be authentic to the foods of the region.) If I had chosen to have pigs as the main staple meat of the menu, I would have to find someone that still raised pigs. Nobody in the areas did anymore, everyone had gone to steer. But did people mostly want to eat BBQ beef? No, they wanted pork. And then, even if I had found a pig farmer, it would not have been possible to get the pigs butchered by the local slaughterhouse, for due to the lack of pig business, they did not "do" pigs anymore. I was told that there were a couple of old guys over the other side of the hill (which means about at least a half hour away) that would butcher pigs, if I could find them. They weren't often available by phone, for they didn't bother with answering machines and sometimes had their lines turned off for non-payment. And of course, the financial demands of building a place where one can serve food to the public have risen astronomically over the years due to tighter and tighter codes in all areas. . .construction, health codes, etc. You just can't pull out that 50 gallon drum and fire it up, washing your hands from the pump out back, as so many really regional, country places started up many years ago. On a shoestring. Now, the shoestring needs to be a mariner's rope. And the intellectual demands require encyclopedias and lawyers. ...................................................................................... I guess the best thing to do, for one who has that attraction to (ha, ha! I love this line) rural romantic soulful bosomy areas, is to get there as often as possible, travel there as much as you can. They need the support, lots of them.

That is nice of you, Michael. . .but my own background in food in rural areas only began as an adult, so. . .well, I probably could make something up and that would be fun, but I'd rather read "the real thing" as in your stories of Malaysia. Beyond that, the food of my childhood (which was spent in suburban areas till I left home for New York at 14) was made by my mother who thought cooking a chore and food something that had to be eaten at regular intervals to stay alive. She made simple, quick meals from cans and boxes, and she had no ethnic or cultural food memories to carry on. (My mention in the post of "some of us have memories" was meant in a global way. I didn't want to spoil the idea of the thing by mentioning that I in particular did not have these memories!!) I wracked my brain for some ancient food thing that I could share that would show change, and the only thing that came to me was my mother's voice telling me that I should not take my children out for french fries at McDonalds because "You could save a lot of money by making them for them at home". And by that she meant, buy the frozen fries and pop them into the oven till heated. Her culinary philosophy was obviously not about how things tasted. . .but more about not wasting money on frivolous things like this! (Growing up in Maine at the time she did can do this to a person, I guess. . .) So. Anything since my own childhood food has been an improvement. McDonald's french fries included! Actually, going back to the theme of romantic ruralism, the thing is that for a rural person, the idea of having a McDonald's "up the road a piece" can seem like quite a romantic thing to them, so I guess part of this whole thing is perception and "where you're coming from"!

Okay. Seriously. I think it is easier (no matter what one's income level) to find a good variety of good-tasting things to eat in any city that is large enough to really be called a city. Once you know the byroads to follow for your own tastes and pocketbook, the places are there. They may fail, or they may move, or they may be uneven sometimes in performance, but they are unending. The city grows itself. It is always moving. On the other hand, rural areas. . .the attraction about true rural areas to both those that live there and to those that visit is their unchanging quality. The sense of time standing still, the sense of the earth and the sky and the people who have lived there since forever. It's both romantic and true, if you can find the romantic truth in it. This is easier to do when not living there, though. When I lived in rural areas, certainly I found great romance in things that were considered everyday sorts of things, for they were "different" to me and had a charm of their own that appealed to me. But as far as finding great places to eat? Serendipity can provide these, but I do not remember too many people who learned to cook at their mother's knees running restaurants with great food that was provided by the kitchen garden and the pigpen out back. Wish I did. That would have been something to see. And to eat. Unfortunately, most of the people I met did not enjoy cooking, just as they had no real wish to go out and feed the cows every morning. A nice job at a auto parts store desk would be much preferable to that, and a nice frozen quick and easy to make dinner preferable to them, too! Most people, I say. Not all. And why not? Romance is where you find it. . .or make it. Romance, to them, was not inherent in rural life, for the most part. Rural life was just what they knew and lived. The best place I can think of, of the sort that you are describing, in the area of southern West Virginia where I lived. . .was actually a "dairy bar". Ballard, West Virginia. Nobody has any reason in the world to go there. Most people don't. At the bend in the road, the Dairy Bar is open in the summer. White clapboard building on the corner of town (town consists of the Dairy Bar and a gas station with a game checking station and a country store) across from. . .a deserted old ranshackle house on one side. . .a Christian Church of some variety of Baptist with dire warnings about where you would end up if you didn't show up there on Sunday posted on its half-falling down billboard in the dirt front yard on the other side. . .and the country store right in front of it, with garden-fresh dirt covered vegetables in bins in front of it and customers who pulled up in pickup trucks with barefoot children who would run into the darkness of the store to hopefully get an ice-cream pop or a chunk of the wheel of orange cheese that sat usually half-uncovered on a wooden block to the side of the white bread rack. The Dairy Bar offered burgers which tasted like. . .I don't know. They tasted like Ballard, West Virginia. Oh, no. Not fancy at all. Probably frozen too. And they offered fried oysters, of all things, which were also pretty good. Place your order, wait for your name to be called, then chow down on the picnic tables stuck under what looked like a garage roof behind the place. Once, on a hot summers day, I asked the lady that owns the place for an iced coffee. Honey, I made her day! She had never heard of such a thing, and wanted the recipe in detail. She didn't dare to try it herself, though. How I would have loved to have seen that place serve some of the more "authentic" country foods we read of, of that some of us (as you have) have had in our past with our families. I didn't find too much of that, though. So, yes. I think you are being romantic. But why not? It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!

Rural cooking? What IS that, Nullo Modo? Tell us more. What was that you said? Something about romantic and. . .was it idealism. . .both in the same sentence!? P.S. I am smiling. And wait a minute. You even ended up with something about soulful bosomy areas. Heh heh. ............................................................ Nullo Modo. Write a menu for what this food, this idea, is to you. As a starting point. This is fun. Please. Imagine a menu that would fulfill this wish?

I've heard that Paris currently can offer some decent regional African food, and do remember having had excellent Indian food while living there, as my neighborhood had a good sized Indian population. I wonder whether the Arabic or Moroccan food is decent. . .and also wonder about Vietnamese. . .

A Taste for Something Different “No, I absolutely refuse!” Susannah quietly responded, trying to keep her temper under wraps. “When I started this company, it was about being the best at what we did. . . it was about creating something beautiful. . .something that could command respect, something that would be pure and wonderful! What you are suggesting is sheer paltry kowtowing to profit. I won’t agree to it. It can not be done!” The seven board members kept their eyes on the fine polished table, some doodling on yellow pads mindlessly, others twisting slightly back and forth in the soft black leather chairs on hidden wheels, making them look somewhat like a group of four-year-olds, made to sit at lunch a bit too long by some strict kindergarten teacher when really they just wanted badly to go out and play. “Listen, Susannah, this is it.” Jeff, sitting at the end of the table with his tousled brown hair and small rectangular glasses, wearing a Ben & Jerry’s T-shirt, spoke. “This is the end of the company unless we make this change now, today. We should be glad that Reuben came up with the idea, really! Because otherwise it is the end. No more cheese. No more company. No more jobs for everyone we’ve hired over the years. The budget is kaput, the profits are flat, and there is nowhere to turn. Susannah’s Kaese, as a company, is done.” “And you want me to agree to rename the company “Susannah’s Sexy Shmears”? You want the product to be re-developed into these two lines of “Grrrrrr Gorilla Grappling Cheese” for men and "Shhhh Shivers Sassy Cheese” for women?! It not only won’t work, but it is against everything we ever aimed for!” Susannah stood up and threw her pencil on the table, barely missing the tofu dip that was placed there, surrounded by pita chips and mini-veggies. “You guys are a bunch of idiots. I refuse to agree!” And with that, she stormed out of the room, her long grey-blond hair swinging angrily. Jeff cleared his throat and wiped a spot of dip off his chin. “Sorry, everyone.” His voice was tremulous as he looked around at the others, who were all, like him, in casual attire, and who now were also chomping on veggies and tofu. “But it is time to vote, as you well know. Susannah will have to live with it. I am sure that she will see that we are right.” …………………………………………………………………………………………….. The launching of the new gender-specific cheese products was a publicist’s dream. These products appealed to such a wide market. . .it was difficult to find anyone that did not want a piece of what they offered in a bite of cheese. What marvelous properties they could confer! An aura of sexual confidence. . .a claim to be an independent thinker. . .and the aspect of being knowledgeable about fine food. Susannah finally had to admit that the company was doing better than ever before, and that their audience seemed well pleased. She had taken to traveling around the country doing cheese parties (for groups that could afford the very high booking fee) and the Ben & Jerry’s t-shirt had been replaced with Prada from head to toe. And why not? She told herself. This was what she had wanted to do from the very beginning. . .make people happy! One thing bothered her, though, but she tried not to think of it very much. The recipe for the new cheeses had never been known to anyone except certain key people in the factory who were bound by law not to speak of it by Jeff. He claimed to have developed it based on his scientific research into pherenomes and did not want his secret recipes to be reproduced by anyone else. She put her worries out of her mind, though, as she slipped into the newest pair of shoes she’d just picked up on Madison Avenue. ……………………………………………………………………………………… Just how the truth about the recipes leaked out nobody ever really knew. Everyone involved had a different story, and none could be confirmed or denied completely. But it had leaked out, and it spelled doom for the company. Why? Because it turned out that there was absolutely no difference between the Grrrr Gorilla cheese and the Sassy Shivers cheese but for a bit of hot red pepper and some cilantro in the first and a hint of mint and fenugreek in the second. There was nothing at all in either of the cheeses that had to do with pherenomes. It was all a marketing hoax. After the Wall Street Journal reported the story on its first page, with a drawing of Jeff and Susannah looking unconcerned, sales fell drastically and class-action lawsuits were considered by at least fifteen different groups. As Susannah entered the same room with the same group of men sitting around the table today, they did not look happy, again. The same men, now dressed in close-fitting clothes from Milan, now doodled with their Tiffany pens on their leather-bound notebooks. But the feelings were the same, the attitude was the same, and it seemed again that Susannah would be the same, for she was angry. “You bunch of flibbertigibbets! You dawdling apes! What on earth made you think you could pull this off?!” This time she did not speak calmly but she shrieked, as is appropriate when clothed head to toe in Prada. “This time, it will be my way. This time, you will see truth win out and our company will be saved!” The men nodded unhappily, for nobody else had any ideas, besides to file for bankruptcy, of course. “We will call our cheese Earth Cheese” she continued. “It will speak to all the good things of the earth. People will think of great pastures of golden grain, of mountains capped with clear white ice, of streams glittering with dancing fish, and all this will lead to thoughts of happy cows and to cheese that will yield health and good nature to whomever eats it.” And so it was done. The company’s future was secured with Susannah’s idea of Earth Cheese, just as it had almost been broken before with what at the time was the tremendously popular Grrrrr Gorilla cheese and Sassy Shivers cheese. The world had been united in its hunger for this new cheese and in its adoration for the idea of it and for its taste. What was the taste? That recipe was never revealed either, but strangely enough, nobody has ever been able to tell the difference between it and the usual yellow “American” cheese slices. Go figure.