jfrater

What was your family food culture when you were growing up? Standard middle class New Zealand (with fairly heavy Scottish/Irish influence) Was meal time important? Yes. We all had to be at the table at the same time every night or we would be in very big trouble. Was cooking important? Yes. Mummy is a housewife and she would start cooking as soon as the kids were at school and the chores done. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? No penalty - just a firm reminder. None of us put our elbows on the table. Who cooked in the family? Mummy and Daddy both (Daddy always did the Schnitzel, french fries, and mushroom sauce on a Saturday night). Any one of us kids could cook on a Sunday if we wished. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? Not for anything. We never ate out. Special occasions were an opportunity for Mummy to cook something special - we usually got to pick what we wanted for our birthday dinner. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? Yes. We were expected to be as well behaved there as at the main table. When did you get that first sip of wine? When I was toddler. Wine was never forbidden though obviously quantities were very closely watched. Was there a pre-meal prayer? Always. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? Yes - roast mutton every Monday, schnitzel and french fries every saturday. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? Very much so. I demand that we sit at the table every night and we still follow the same rules as we had to (plus a few more I have picked up over the years).

firsts: Foie Gras - 2006 Oyster - 2005 Mussel - 2005 Prawn - 2005 Bird Spit - 2005 Paua (abelone?) - 2005 Caviar - around age 12? snail - age 20 black pudding (blood sausage) - right from eating solids Liver/Kidney - right from solids Sweetbreads - right from solids Tongue - 2005 Crab - 2004 Truffles - from around 25 I think (when I started going to better restaurants) Wine - from early childhood Spirits - 14? Crocodile - 2005 Emu - 2001 (or was it ostrich?) Pigs trotters and pigs head - from solids Macaroons - 2006 (La Duree!! Yum yum!) Things I am still waiting for: Brains, seas bass, tripe

Megan: haha - I presumed it was an American term for something! I should have realised -- Jamie

That looks very tantalising! What exactly are cukes?

A few weeks ago I made a Bresse Chicken Salad (from the Larousse book). The ingredients are boiled eggs (rare), asparagus (not tinned!), lettuce, chicken boiled in stock and chopped, and red and green capsicum peppers thinly sliced. You dress the lettuce with vinaigrette and lay them in the salad bowl. Then you spoon all of the other ingredients into the middle. The chicken (after chopping) should have some vinaigrette mixed into it. I also sprinkled some Paprika on top to make it look prettier. The eggs are my favourite way of hard boiling - rare The blob in the centre is an egg rich mayonnaise. And here you have it: I am sorry the photo is so close in to the salad - I took it before I even knew this site and thread existed -- Jamie

Hi all, this is my first post! I haven't tried it myself, but I have heard that Sea Urchin (commonly called Kina in my home country of New Zealand) is repugnant to smell but regarded as a delicacy. The worst thing I have eaten is Bird Spittle Soup (made with melted birds spit and almond milk). I had it at a very fancy restaurant in Hong Kong and it was (sorry for the grossness) like eating snot in almond flavoured water. Things I don't like but use if needs be: Coriander (cilantro to the American's I think?), Carraway seeds (revolting), and dill. I will eat pretty much anything put in front of me (I ate half of the bird spit). Blood is lovely - black pudding is a favourite breakfast food of mine. I think the French use cock blood to thicken coq au vin (traditionally - I presume this would be when they had a cock as opposed to a hen, which I think is what the original recipe was intended for).