Dave the Cook

I love pie for breakfast. I learned the habit from my Mom.

I don't get cottage cheese, either. In fact, the only thing I liked about Richard Nixon was that he put ketchup on it, thereby treating it with the contempt it deserved. As long as we're in the dairy section, I don't get yogurt that's been dressed up so it tastes like pudding. Why not just buy, um...pudding?

Only if there's somebody who doesn't get it.

Dave: This would make a great After School Special. The whys and hows of sensitivity to asparagus pee. Times like these are when I yearn for The Return of the Poll. edit: emphasis

Yea, yea, yea... potato/potahto. Yes, it is asparagus pee. Broccoli is, um, also green! And... um... ..also stinks, if you overcook it! Yeah, that's the ticket!

Toliver (or anyone else who's joined eGullet since March): One of the best eG threads ever was on childhood food traditions and memories. It's well worth your time to read through it. And if you were to add a post, it would bump back to the top of Active Topics, and we would have the opportunity to capture the childhoods of a whole new group of eGulls. Click here.

I've wondered this, too, becasue I don't get the smell, either. And there are people who disdain cilantro because it "tastes like soap." But I thought it was "asparagus pee."

Mortadella I get. No problem.

I tried a bite of one when I was five. Baloney has never touched my lips since. Ever. Again, toast is the key. Plus, you have to fry the baloney. In butter. And spread on a good brown mustard. As we say down here, "it's a lot of sugar for a dime." Most processors use the same recipe for baloney as they do hot dogs. Just a different extruder.

With the tails still on? Absolutely.Interesting. They have to be doing the peeling/deveining by machine, right? I wonder how the tradition arose? I still think it is probably related to the Italian tradition of keeping the seafood as whole as possible to show that it is fresh (the same reason most vegetables in the markets still have flowers and vines and stems attached). What culinary tradition to you suppose originated this practice? I'd bet that most shrimp in the range from 26/30 to 16/20 are sold for shrimp cocktails, where the tail makes sense. Restauranteurs are by turns: lazy, ignorant or following the tradition you denote when they decline to de-tail. Certainly in high-end restaurants, where shrimp are brought in fresh, there's some reason other than lack of care. But everywhere else, if they leave the tail on as a promise of freshness, they're lying. Smaller shrimp are sold tailless, and larger shrimp are usually sold in the shell. I don't know if it's mechanical or not; I'd love to see the machine, if that's what's used. But most crab picking is still done by hand, so you never know. The shelling that really amazes me is done on these teeny-tiny, little-fingernail-sized shrimp they have in Scandinavia called Fjord Shrimp. I couldn't figure out any way to shell them economically.

It's just like the way the Italians leave the vongole, etc. in their shells in pasta dishes. It is a sign to the customers that they are fresh and don't come from a can. Correct! Peeled and deveined shrimp come from frozen five-pound bags, instead! With the tails still on? Absolutely. Edit: looky here.

It's just like the way the Italians leave the vongole, etc. in their shells in pasta dishes. It is a sign to the customers that they are fresh and don't come from a can. Correct! Peeled and deveined shrimp come from frozen five-pound bags, instead!

It's stupid and lazy, too, because the tail shells are easy to remove without losing the meat. All it takes is a little squeeze. Why go to the trouble of P&D and leave the tail on (except for a shrimp cocktail, where the tail is a handle)? I would add that puking and gagging is not the line in the sand here. It's just stuff that doesn't make sense to us. For sure, I've eaten lots of tuna salad with pickles in it (if nothing else, this thread has proven that if I'm served tuna salad, odds are I'm gonna have to contend with something pickled). I don't spit it out. I just don't think it's very good. And I don't get why one would want to make or consume something that doesn't taste as good as it could.

This one's easy. Bite off most of the meat and give the tails to Bux. He likes the shells.

As Sam alluded, there's a lot of superstition. The singer I know best, a rock and roll guy, was quite fond of a slug of beer between songs (or verses). When he realized he was an alcoholic, he quit drinking, and switched to tonic water. It was my opinion that he was still looking for the carbonation -- but also a little gin. Couldn't belt it out without at least the thought of an alcohol buzz. (Eventually, he quit the tonic, too, because of the sugar. Last time I saw him, he was on club soda.)

Sure there is.

If there's no pickle, it's not a Cubano. Unless you substitute roasted pimento, of course. No pickles in egg salad, either. Maybe it's just pickles I don't get.

The Basques serve black cherry preserve with cheese, for what it's worth (if you're seeking validation). She really didn't need to look any farther than a Sara Lee frozen strawberry cheesecake, come to think of it!

I've known a lot of singers. Admittedly, only a couple performed at your level, but every one of them had voice preparation/preservation/performance rituals that involved beverages and/or gargles: lemon, honey, tonic water, Listerine, you name it. Will we be seeing any of that in your blog?

I give you some cover, Lily. Sauerkraut. Silly, smelly stuff.

Actually, I've been told it's good on rye toast. Anyone out there tried it? I'm with you on the jelly. And preserves seem inappropriate. However, PB and honey, on (yes) dark rye toast, is very, very good.

I hate you. This popped up as I was finishing off a plate of reheated wings. Great pictures. I know porn when I see it, and this is it.

Exactly what I was thinking!

Must be a bitch to force feed penguins for the foie.

Had penguin today again. 42nd day in a row. Maybe I'll make a penguin stew tomorrow. Except I don't have any vegetables. Thus, I guess it's roasted penguin again. To drink: ice water. Sigh.