Foodie Craze

That was a great picture of Bun Bo Hue! We had it for lunch at Saigon City in Springfield VA the other day. We also enjoy a version which is not quite so spicy as Bun Bo Hue ... not sure if it's the same thing in a different level of heat. Do you also like the Pork & Shrimp Saigon soup -- "Hu Thieu" made with "Mi" egg noodles. Those are our favorite -- and we love the trademark of this dish -- the shrimp embedded in a fried crepe. The most wonderful thing about these soups is the combination of the hot broth and the fresh accompaniments -- bean sprouts, lemon or lime, hot peppers, fresh basil. I like Pho, but am usually disappointed in the gristly cuts of meat they sometimes use -- any recommendations there on selections?

This makes me want to start a thread about the grossest thing you've ever seen in a restaurant. Although, gee, not right at Thanksgiving. Maybe next Halloween. My wife and I were in Lao-Thai bistro and witnessed the chef making spring rolls. He licked his fingers before rolling each one. Don't get me started ...

One of the best I've seen was at a convenience store in deer-hunting country in Long Neck, Delaware where we go in the summer. The place is a game check in station and has a permanent sign that says: Free Hamburger and Coffee With Each Deer Not being a bambi stalker I had to pay for my burger.

Here's our menu ... Pumpkin Apple Soup Roast Turkey with Turkey Gravy Cornbread and Chestnut Stuffing Cranberry Chutney Sweet Potatoes with Pecan Sauce Creamy Mashed Potatoes Honeyed Carrots Brussels Sprouts with Braised Chestnuts Baked Butternut Squash Escalloped Onions Plymouth Squash Pie We found out some of our family won't be coming so we'll probably pare down the sides. Hard to decide what to leave out! Reviewing this list, it looks like we're carbo loading for a marathon, doesn't it?

My experience was an organized pre-event to a sci-fi convention back in the day when I was writing bad horror stories. Upon arriving we were all issued a bottle of cheap rum -- brandname charitably lost to the mists of time. Rained the whole time. Some guy there was a cardshark and cleaned out everyone. We smoked Dutch cigars called "Seurdieck" and called them ... well you can guess what we called them. The little event was called the Moon Con and rechristened the Gloom Con. If you were there, you remember. If you weren't, be glad.

Budrichard .. Complete turkey prep instructions are in our Thanksgiving Guide, downloadable from the website ... (navigate to the "Freebies for Foodies") page on http://www.triviacraze.com. Of the top of our head (and I guess pretty obvious stuff that most eG types already know, but I suppose there are a few first time turkey roasters out there) You may want to avoid stuffing larger birds except perhaps loosely with aromatics & herbs, and if stuffed with dressing, stuff very loosely to allow heat to penetrate. That stuffing will aborb liquid. Defrost thoroughly 2 days ahead in refrigerator. Don't trust the plastic popup thermometer if present -- discard it. They are notoriously inaccurate. Acquire a meat / poultry thermometer, in addition to an oven thermometer if you aren't sure of your oven temp. Longer cooking time presents a challenge to keep breast meat from drying -- several methods of avoiding that -- rub with butter, basting. tent with tinfoil, etc. Check out our guide for more info. Have a great Thanksgiving!

All I can say is, I'm very impressed!

Roast boar, definitely -- or at least the head. Very traditional in England, I think, going back to the Vikings! And a meat pie. And a "plum" pudding.

We have some make-ahead Thanksgiving recipes -- including a creamy mashed potatoes recipe -- in the Foodie Craze Thanksgiving Guide. Also tips on turkey thawing, etc. Go to the "Freebies for Foodies" page of our website ... www.triviacraze.com. The guide is a downloadable file, and is free for the taking. Happy Thanksgiving!

We've got an interesting and simple sweet potato recipe in our 'Foodie Craze Thanksgiving Guide,' downloadable from our website: Sweet Potatoes with Pecan Sauce It's actually an adaptation of a recipe from the early 1700’s. The Thanksgiving guide is free -- go to the "freebies for foodies" section of our site -- http://www.triviacraze.com. Some nice recipes if I say so myself. Though I don't necessarily hope to impress you eGullet mavens.

Mince pie? ← Right -- modern "mincemeat" has no meat let alone mints, mince, or mintz. But it certainly used to. The sweet kept the meat from spoiling. But that was then. I've always thought the Moroccan bistillah chicken pie -- the one with the powdered sugar on top -- would be a good dessert. Maybe do a version of that. Maybe do a riff on a Chinese sweet pork bun. I thought the toucinho do ceu (bacon from heaven) idea above was cute.

Nah, the hanger steak at Ray's. ← Where is Ray's -- I've never tried hanger steak and would love to ...

caiprissima is with rum. My mistake. ← The way I heard it is ... Caiprinha - cachaca Capirovska - vodka Capipirssima - good rum or vodka By the way - Pitu is nasty stuff. Something you would sit in to remove a tatoo. Look for Sao Francisco.

I would definitely agree with Beaujolais Nouveau. Not only does the fruit and freshness go with the Thanksgiving menu, it's also got that seasonal 'harvest' quality going for it. I don't agree entirely with the bubbly idea -- some like sparkling wine with food, but others don't. There's a section on wine choices for Thanksgiving in our Foodie Craze Thanksgiving Guide, available on the Freebies for Foodies page on the Trivia Craze lwebsite: url below.

Owen -- you are like -- my hero. My ritual... - Run hot water to warm coffee press and cups - Heat fresh cold water until it JUST boils -- don't allow to boil long (filtered in our case -- Northern VA water has a chlorine smell) - grind French Roast beans in my Kitchen Aid burr grinder - gently warm milk (2% or full fat) in a stainless steel saucepan - when water boils, set microwave timer to 4 minutes - deposit 3 coffee measures of freshly ground coffee in press; steep 4 minutes - Use frother to froth milk - Timer goes off; plunge press - pour milk, then coffee; skip drawing designs in froth (too groggy)

Wait - wait. I completely forgot Brazilian rum. If you consider cachaca (pinga, aguardente de cana, etc.) a rum ... after all it is made with sugar cane, although doesn't have that same brown sugar savor of rum. But neither does Sailor Jerry I'll bet. Anyway, it happens a lot in Brazil. You're in Sao Paulo or Rio or Belem at someone's home, and they bring out a bottle of clear stuff, no label or cork. And they say, you have to try this, it's really good. One whiff -- it smells industrial, like solvent, like paint thinner. And it gives you a high beyond alcohol. Has anyone tried pisco? A bit like that. The worst of them are unlabeled, but so are some of the best! Pitu is pretty bad. Sao Francisco is one of the best, has a mellow light brown color. They generally mash it in a mortar with lime and sugar to make Caipirinhas. Some Foodie Craze Libations trivia: The three classes of "Caipirinhas:" Lime mixed with Cachaca - caipirinha Lime mixed with Vodka - caipirovska and with good rum - caipirissima. By the way the Portuguese word "Caipirinha" means "little country girl." A caipira is a a person from the country -- more or less translates to 'redneck'

But wasn't Pusser's originally intended to mix with water to make Grog? 150 proof for shipboard use, originally invented by British Navy Admiral Vernon -- actually the person Mt. Vernon was named after. (They called him Old Grosgrain, because of his "grosgrain" cloth coat, which was shortened to "Old Grog") I vaguely remember a very drunken day in London's suburbs -- Shepherd's Bush, where one of those explosions went off recently -- leaving a pub and going to the home of a new-found friend where we drank too much of that stuff. The worst rum, though, is the one you drink way too much of, when you're drinking not to have a good time but to avoid the rain on a tiny island smack in the middle of a seven mile bridge down in the keys. Pigeon Key. Bad weather makes bad rum.

I'm wondering what people think of serrated carving knives. I thinkthey shred and ruin poultry. What do others think?

By the way, before we get too gross: do you know what they call pot-luck in England? An "American Dinner." Just a little foodie trivia, and perhaps food for thought. Some of the responses above appear to confirm the notion!

Interesting thread! I really believe many of us became foodies in rebellion against the bland flavors of our youth. In 1967 our family moved from New York City to Tulsa, Oklahoma. While the family was still temporarily residing in a motel, my father and I went out to find some Chinese takeout. I’ll never forget the look on my father’s face when he was asked, “What kind of bread do you want?” Fresh from ethnically diverse New York and a world traveler, he had eaten feijoada in Rio, focaccia in Brooklyn, and fabada in Argentina, but he had never been offered bread — sliced grocery store bread from a plastic bag no less — in a Chinese restaurant. It was as though we had been transported to another culinary dimension. At that time, America was nearing the end of an era when vegetables were overcooked, choices were limited, and a “meat and three” was the main staple. Ethnic foods were rare. John Steinbeck, in his 1962 best-seller Travels with Charley, wrote of America’s In that dark, benighted middle age a few culinary outposts were defended by foodie pioneers, metaphorical arrows (asparagus spears?) in their backs. A few of the notables were Chuck Williams, Julia Child, Alice Waters, and “Trader Joe” Coulombe. Chuck Williams had opened Williams Sonoma in ’58 to sell gourmet ingredients and equipment he’d seen in Europe during the war. In ’61, Julia Child became a gourmet phenomenon, at once demystifying and glamorizing French cooking for a generation. In 1967, “Trader Joe” Coulombe changed the image of his convenience stores to compete with an upstart called “7-Eleven.” He decided to go upscale, and offer wine and gourmet items. In ‘71 Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse, spearheading the “California cuisine” movement. But even as late as 1975, food service had remained an unglamorous and low-status profession. That year, chef & author Tony Bourdain decided to attend culinary school after a formative commercial kitchen experience in Provincetown, Massachusetts. On his show “Cook’s Tour,” he says that telling his parents he intended to attend CIA — Culinary Institute of America — was “roughly the equivalent of saying, Mom and Dad, I’ve decided to become an arsonist.” He adds, “Today, being a chef is an honorable profession.” This is getting a bit long -- you can download more of this. Some of this is quoted from my article FOODIES IN AMERICA: GASTROPORN, CHOWHOUNDS & BLOGS available on this web-page [url=http://www.foodiecraze.com/whatsa_foodie.html]http://www.foodiecraze.com/whatsa_foodie.htm