divalasvegas

Hello all, Please note that the following IS NOT a live link. I've applied for this domain name for our all things grits web page since it was--amazingly I think--still available: www.eHominy-grits.com Will let you know if they actually approve it. I hope the folks at eHarmony don't give me a hard time about this. Edited to say: special thanks to sizzleteeth for the eHominy name.

Now when talking about canned sausages, do you pronounce that as Ve-enna as in that place over yonder some'rs or do you pronounce that as Veye-nna as in the canned sausage. do we get a pickled egg to go with that martuni? ← Hmmmm, joiei I believe it would be veye-nna, as I recall. Also, a pickled egg accompanying said martini is brilliant! Perhaps a lovely quail egg. I do honestly believe that one should carefully match the various martinis to the appropriate garnish. For the down home "rail" grits martini, a cube of spam or "head cheese" on a toothpick would be just fine. For the more upscale creations, perhaps a cube of pate de foie gras might be merited. Oh boy.............. meds kicking in now ...................... look at all the pretty colors. Carry on.

That depends racheld. I mean would this be an upscale type of drink for which we could charge an outrageous amount of money? Or would it be marketed as a kind down home, aw shucks sort of drink? Would we differentiate between the type of grits used to make the drink, i.e., do we offer the customer his/her choice of "designer" grits, as is done with tequila or other liquors, or would the drink be made using the bar's "rail" grits? There are a lot of variables here that must be seriously considered. Okay, I'm returning to my padded cell now, since it's time for my afternoon meds. Carry on.

But wait there's more: Advertising a dish on a menu as "just like Mom used to make"--from what I've read on various threads in eGullet, this may be perceived by some as a veiled threat--or "down home" or "old fashioned" or whatever moniker they can come up with to sucker you into buying that dish. Only, when you order it, tuck your fork into that first morsel, open your mouth and, with nostalgic anticipation, taste this creation........well............ WTF!!! This shit in no way remotely resembles my Mom's/Dad's/Whatever relative's [fill in the blank here] recipe. This happened to me on a business trip to Miami. As a group we had a great time at this establishment because we enjoy each other's company and always have a great time whether the food sucks or not. We went to some trendy joint in Miami owned by a nationally well known chef whom I actually admire. I will not name it or the name of the chef here, but I would appreciate anyone from the Miami area who knows which restaurant I'm talking about to PM me the names of the place/chef. Well, it's name implies that it's serving up cafeteria-style or down home cooking type food. I ordered as I recalled, a dish which was called something like "Mom's Meatloaf"................ and it was ..................... dreadful and accompanied by mashed potatoes that were somewhat cold which is heresy within itself. I mean the chef/owner is lucky my Mom didn't rise from the grave and kick his ass for even intimating that this monstrosity should be called Mom's anything. As I recall, it was a big, stiff slab of a underseasoned, lukewarm beef/meat thingy with some strange herbal component to it--not traditional at all--that gave it a weird aftertaste to which I had to sprinkle on salt to make it palatable............ one never had to sprinkle salt on my Mom's meatloaf, especially since she placed slices of raw bacon on top before putting it into the oven which basted it with lovely, bacon drippings and when done gave one crispy bacon goodness on the outside of said tasty meatloaf (drool). And while the place wasn't outrageous price wise, it wasn't cheap either. In all fairness, however, I did taste some of the other dishes ordered by my co-workers and found them quite good. But [yet another rant] while the mac and cheese was good, IMHO, it is still just mac and cheese and I found it way overpriced for the amount that was served. Have to stop now. Getting really pissed off just recalling this bleeping meatloaf.

therdogg first of all, happy birthday to your son. I know you've asked for lime cake recipes, but when I read that your son loves all things lime I just wanted to share this recipe from the Food Network for white chocolate key lime bars. The pastry chef at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants made this on air and it seemed so easy to do. Maybe this could become another limey treat for him. Take care. Here's the link. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cooking/re...6_11958,00.html

Thanks so much Gifted Gourmet. It's a beautiful and fascinating website. I've added it to my list of favorites. Written "food porn" is my nickname for this site. It's even got me considering purchasing Brillat-Savarin's The Physiology of Taste. However, I did notice when I checked out their links that eGullet was not among them. Would it be up to one of our Forum managers to request a link for eGullet? Take care.

Okay I couldn't resist coming back here. I have another niche grits restaurant menu item to add: grits sushi. Same as regular sushi except you substitute grits for the rice! Ingenius huh? Hmmmmmmm, finger lickin'/chop stick lickin' good.

Please, oh please won't someone direct me to a pork pudding recipe? Also, unless I missed it, are grits native to the U.S.? If so, I nominate them/it/they/whatever for the list.

Considering all of the different opinions involving said corn based product posted here, perhaps it would be beneficial to have some type of "match making" service - all of your products could be prepackaged and vacuum sealed in plastic bags that come ready to boil - instead of browsing and choosing a product - you fill out a profile that asks you questions about your background and matches you with the appropriate grit products based on that information - these products are then shipped to you via FedEx and the spoon is sort of like the gift you get for signing up and $10 off coupons to Dollywood. It could all be online - and - (I wholeheartedly apologize for this in advance) - could be called eHominy. ← OMG, That's it!!! Edited to add: I apologize for being remiss by not saying earlier that your last line where you give the proposed grits restaurant/empire a name--eHominy--is absolutely the funniest thing I've seen or heard all day, actually probably all week!

we kept most of the really nasty items out of the reader mailbag. but here's a sample: ← Well, jbonne all I can say is and at least you're a good lookin' lame, dumbass liberal!!! Keep 'em coming and we can all laugh at these knuckleheads together.

Great ideas Lan4Dawg and joiei, but what shall we name this fine eating establishment and soon to be empire?

I'm actually surprised that no one here has thought to take this idea all the way. By that I mean a grits restaurant--maybe a chain of restaurants, if the idea takes off--located in distinctly "unsuspecting gullible Yankee" territories. These restaurants would follow in the footsteps of those niche restaurants that only serve variations of crepes or rice pudding or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Why, I'll bet we can get folks to eat grits with just about ANYTHING on top or on the side. Besides the most common toppings/sides mentioned above we could offer: grits and natto, grits Marguerita (basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella), grits and Haggus, grits on a bed of foie gras "foam" with caviar "air," deconstructed grits--bring a box of grits, salt, and boiling water to the table and let them figure it out--and bananas foster grits brulee for dessert. And don't forget to charge an obscene amount of money for these dishes. Oh, the possibilities are endless.................. Once this idea has taken off we could then capitalize on Lan4Dawg's idea by offering an entire line of the appropriate grits tableware, sold on QVC or Home Shopping Network, perhaps with a guest spot on Food Network's Food Finds or The Best of or Roker on the Road. I can see a grits empire in the making.

Gorgonzola AND Lobster in the same dish SuperLuckyCat? Euwwww!

Wait a minute I just noticed one glaring omission of a "food" used to make all sorts of American delicacies............. MIRACLE WHIP!

jim chen I think you've really brought this topic full circle. When I started it, I just wanted a safe place to vent about why delicious dishes were rapidly disappearing from a lot of menus and being replaced by pale imitations of the original. Notice I said replaced. As in you have to go on some kind Indiana Jones expedition to find the original, and to find it well executed. I have definitely been enlightened in this thread as to why this happens and the many good reasons restaurants have for not having the "classics" represented on their menus. It's not that you or I want to ban (or maybe we do) the toffee banana moonpie strawberry short cake fudge ripple fluffernutter creme brulee--wait a minute; sounds like a concoction that NulloModo may actually like --from a restauranteur's menu. It's the disappearance of the classics in favor of their "kitchen sink" cousins. Actually, I do have my own favorite kitchen sink creations, so no slight to those who favor those types of dishes. As for ribs, I made my own spareribs on 4th of July weekend and they were pretty damn good if I may modestly say so myself--using a lot of tips/info. from eGullet members. Report on that experience will be posted in the appropriate thread.

we said in the intro that we didn't want to spark a battle about BBQ, mostly since i'll be doing a BBQ item for Labor Day. as someone who lives with a lifelong Austin native, and who has been told under no uncertain terms that no greater food exists than Texas brisket, i wouldn't dare to pretend that BBQ doesn't make the cut. [edited re: chile verde] ← Mercy, jbonne! Sorry to hear about the "utterly nasty responses." Said it before, say it again: great article. However, being nosey, I really would like to see some of those nasty responses. Are these located in the feedback section of the original article? I'm always curious to see just how worked up people can get over things, especially food since I'm not a particularly opinionated person myself.

Since I have a twisted mind and I'm trying to avoid stuff I actually need to get done around the house, I've been pondering this earth shattering question. I was thinking that if one had a griddle that covered two burners, one could melt butter and put on the humongous Cubano and then put a sheet of aluminum foil on the top half and weight it down with a couple of small cast iron skillets (or another griddle), maybe with a large can of tomatoes in each pan. Heat would be on low-med, when bottom is toasty, then butter the top half, flip it over, and do the same thing. When that side is toasty, maybe wrap it up in some heavy duty aluminum foil and put in the oven at a low temperature until heated through. Where the Hell is Daniel when you need him? I seem to recall pictures of his own huge f*#@*%* sandwich. As you can tell I will do ANYHING to avoid unpleasant chores.

Thanks. Jason if one wanted to make a sandwich like that but with the intent of melting the ingredients inside like for instance a humongous Cuban Sandwich with a toasty buttery outside how would that be accomplished by the home cook? It would be too big for any George Forman Grill or Pannini maker I've ever seen.

Pork pudding? I am intrigued, what is this pork pudding you speak of? ← Pork pudding, as I recall from dim memories, is a type of sausage, but not in texture, only in the sense in that the mixture is stuffed into pork casings and shaped into a big ring. The texture was smoother, almost country pate like and the color was frankly kind of beige. I think it was a mixture of "variety" pork parts, rice (I think the rice was mashed or crushed, not whole grains) and seasonings, and maybe some pork stock. The final product had a ring or horseshoe shape. To prepare it, you would just it's had slice off a chunk--can't remember if it was floured it first--then cook in a frying pan of hot grease until it was all crusty on the outside and creamy and porky on the inside. Being that this was natural casing it would kind of flatten out and since the ends of the piece were open, unlike regular link sausage, some of the insides would ooze out into the grease creating extra crispy pork pudding at each end. I know that may sound totally unappetizing to many her, but I'm drooling as I write this. My mother told us a story about how she was craving her mom's pork pudding and made the mistake of buying it "up north" from a grocery store. She said became deathly ill from that fraudulent pork pudding. And when her mom/my grandma heard that, she got on a train from little ole Lone Star, South Carolina all the way to DC to bring her baby girl "real" homemade, pork pudding. That's all I can remember NulloModo.

That looks incredible and delicious. What kind of bread did you use? Also, I think a Muffaletta on that type of bread would be over the top!

I think Ronnie Suburban offered to sell Daniel one for his roadtrip, you should PM him ;). You simply must drop everything, find a place you can order some online, and get some now. Picture this - all of the great spicey flavors of sausage, the crispness of overcooked bacon, the creaminess of the interior of foie gras, and that subtle hint of organ meats.... all for less than the price of chuck steak. Man could live on scrapple alone if the need arose. ← Oh NulloModo and MizDucky STOP, STOP, STOP taunting me. I want scrapple now! I'm now officially seriously craving piles and piles of scrapple, along with South Carolina style pork pudding--which I'd love to nominate, but you can't even find it anymore--and maybe some bacon. Another nominee: fudge. Behold: "A Brief History of Fudge." http://www.woodstockcandy.com/fudge-recipes.html

Close, it was En Vogue who sang this song, with help from S&P.. ← Oh no, thanks adegiulio . And I would like to nominate another alleged uniquely American dish and one that I love, but know that makes others want to hurl: scrapple. The perfect marriage between cornmeal and select pork parts which has it's origins in Pennsylvania. Fried until crispy, with a couple of eggs over easy, hash browns and hot buttered toast. As defined at Culinary Sleuth: Must add that on my mother's side of the family this dish was made after hog butchering in the fall along with another alleged uniquely American dish: pork pudding.

Thanks jbonne. As I said when I started this topic, I thought the article was very well written especially your historical research. Knowing the criteria you had in mind when you selected these items is most helpful in understanding why you chose those particular foods (fantastic list by the way). By starting this topic, I wanted to hear from others as to what makes a particular food American to each of us, not necessarily which food you like the best. I debated with myself about whether to refer to the article as a top ten list or not, just wasn't sure. Definitely felt that your list went far and above those run of the mill lists where the criteria seems to be "because I really like it or it's momentarily really, really cool." As for, To "all of you" I say, "What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man." (Source: Rap Divas, Salt 'n' Pepper)

I came across this article online on MSNBC's website. I think it is very thoughtful and well written, and the author says right upfront that it's not meant to be exhaustive. For me the article did not seem to want to provoke any regional tensions or vigorous debate, but was meant as an acknowledgement of wonderful and distinctly American foods. What came to my mind is, What exactly is American food, What makes it American? Is it the origin of the raw ingredients or method of cooking or new twists on cooking styles which may have their roots in other countries? I think the author did a good job of explaining why each food chosen was uniquely American. My main criticism of this article is that it is pretty squishy on how "they" selected these ten particular foods, although the author briefly touches on why certain foods were not considered. You can barely turn around these days without bumping up against a "Top 10 List" on just about anything, which I usually find both boring and irritating, I mean whose top 10? I was glad that, at least IMHO, while this is a top 10 list, it is also a homage to wonderful regional foods. There's even an area where people have sent in their own favorites for honorable mention. I'll chime in with the person wrote them about steamed Blue Crabs from Chesapeake Bay (with Old Bay Seasoning, of course). And one I didn't see: the humble half smoke, which I believe was deemed Washington, DC's signature food by a poll taken by the Washington Post (please correct me if I'm wrong on this). The reason being is that when you get outside of the DC-Metro area, nobody has ever even heard of a half smoke (at least not the name, since I'm sure there are similar sausage-on-a-bun concoctions all over the US), so it's uniquely a DC thang. Here's link. Happy Independence Day! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8392312/

No, the meat will not take on as much smoke if you cook it first. However long you smoke it, that stage should come first. =R= ← Thanks ronnie_suburban for the advice. That will definitely be the way I proceed. Gee, I'm getting really excited about this! Note to self: Get out more often.