Jinmyo

Um. Is it a cube of demi-glace? It's kind of shivery and translucent. Or is it...

Um. Sigh.

Well, I use that for when cats nap by the heater after snarfing back their stuff. Or for a bit of a jaunt after lunch. Or even heaving oneself up to do the dishes. Is this bad? Didn't know. Oh well.

Uh. Never thought of shabu shabu (an onamatopaeia, actually) in connection with boiled beef. And never had boiled beef that wasn't boiled for hours. Boil a tenderloin? Too good for it, sez me. But with the right sauces... and mebbe as shabu shabu... Some use after all.

Yes. Very sorry. I meant just a one sentence comment, actually to encourage examples because I am interested. Let's get back to the original point: What foods do you eat when you feel "blue" or "in the dumps"?

Clickety. Not that it will do any good.

jhlurie, Spam can do all that and more. Kind of like insomia and sleeping sickness simultaneously. Not pretty.

True. I didn't realize how delicious celery was until about twelve years ago. I thought it was just an annoying thing in the soup and a very lame crudite. Now, I slice the stalks one way, the hearts another, and always include the leaves. Roasted with huge bread crumbs, good olive oil, some pecorino it's fantastic. Braised in sake or wine, it's superlative. Yay!

"All Manners of Food" by Stephen Mennell. Just ordered it from Amazon. Thanks.

Hm. I love roasted or braised celery. The smell of mire poix sweating in olive oil makes me smile.

But damn, a ploughman's lunch is good. Great stuff. Excellent hard cheeses. Sure, a bageutte would be nice but the bread works with the cheese. Some pickled onions and such. I'm sure it was pretty tasty to the ploughman back whenever. And the pies have always been bloody great. In the Renaissance, the Italians and then the French had much better culinary arts. But the basic English food was basically good. Industrialization brought great disruptions to the land and the folk and many Londoners had drippings and bread for tea. And then American Spam and Marmite (which I like on toast) and all that. I've seen the cookbooks my mother had from the War and it was indeed pathetic rationing stuff. And I had more organ meats with sproingy bits sticking up from the gravy than I care to think of. (Primarily because of how I would prepare them now.) But there wasn't much about. She impressed on me how pigs saved English lives ande made me eat every gristly bit and suck marrow throughout the 1950s. Now the strikes and riots of the 1930s occur to me. Just a mess, that 20th C. But a ploughman's lunch has always been a good meal. And always good pies.

Oh. Thanks.

What is a "chicken brick"? Spatch-cocking the chicken and weighting it with a brick?

I think this is widely true. I have noticed that when people try to "economize", one of the first things to suffer is the grocery basket. I don't understand this. It's one thing if you can only afford to eat dry ramen out of the packet because you have no bowl and nothing to heat water with. But when people prefer to spend their money on renting videos or going to sports events and such than to eat devently, I'm confused. :confused:

If I'm bummed out it's because I've burned the rice. So I make a new pot.

Uh. By not buying or eating chips (crisps)? I just walk by that and the soda pop aisle too. And the potted meats.

Based on Simon's description, I'm pretty certain that Nagina's in Ottawa makes these. Again, no good to Suvir or anil but perhaps to someone...

Ack. I didn't mean to interrupt this thread. Sorry. Please post here people. It's an interesting thread.

Sorry, "tommy". I've known about these for about ten years having read about them in a book on chiles. I haven't been down the "chip" aisle in a grocery store in a long time but I'll look for some Fritos the next time I have a chance. Okay?

Well, the physiological and psychological are entwined but there can also be vast divergences. The physiological effects of eating/not eating/what is eaten are understandable and basically clear. The psychological can be almost infinitely specific. Food is good, eating is good. I have wept at great flavours and textures. But there's no consolation to be had from chocolate in the mouth or foie on the fork or champagne in the glass. They weren't the problem, they're not the solution. To me a "comfort food" is something I recognize irrelevant associations with, that are amusing or not so much, and that might or might not influence whether I cook or eat it or not depending upon a wide array of other factors. To look to food for comfort instead of enjoyment makes me unfomortable because there's just food there. Which is great because food is good. What I've eaten over the last seven years is here as me and is shedding into the air as I type. Mebbe I just don't get chocolate. Probably the problem. It makes my teeth hurt, my head ache, and want a nice coffee instead.

Good food is good so I feel good when I eat it. Bad food is bad so I don't eat it. Unless it's really good although it's bad. If I feel bad, I probably have gas. Bad food. Oh well.

Wow, Holly. Thanks. An Oki-Dog. Sounds more esoteric than a "hot dog". Pastrami will improve many things.

When I eat a hot dog it is generally just that: one hot dog. I find that the right proportion of meat and/or stuff (sauerkraut, for example) for me is attained with a flour tortilla wrapped tightly around it. Usually though its just a slight swipe of Maille Dijon. I use the President's Choice label from Loblaws, all beef. Fried (if I'm going to do onions as well) or just micro-waved.

Ha ha. Yes, I understand buffalo wings. And I understand why people like them. I can understand them cheering you up if you had been wanting some ("I gots no buffalo wings. Sigh.") and then got some ("Hey! This is great!"). And I understand that eating can shift the biochemistry so that one has a sense of well-being, especially if one is worn down. But eating to feel better doesn't make sense to me. Unless one feels better because one is reminded of the actuality of one's life through tasting and chewing and all of the experiences and mechanics of eating and the transience of moods no longer seems significant. But I don't understand seeking out a particular food when one is "blue". I know that many people do this. I just don't get it.

I've never understood this.