stellabella

Well, I guess I should have added the Big Mac, which I also don't eat, to my list. It's not that I don't like scrapple--it is a food for which I have many warm feelings of nostalgia, because it was so central to my childhood summers in Delaware. I ate a A LOT of it. But to me it is conceptually repulsive because it is SCRAP--and I would argue that sausage isn't necessarily scrap. It seems to me that scrapple emerged from a desire not to waste the last remnants of the pig carcass, after it had been hacked, steamed, boiled, skinned, beyond recognition. There was so little left to work with at that point, and it looked so horrifying, that the obvious solution was to add several bags of corn meal to the mess to hold it together. Scrapple also tends to leave an unforgettable taste in themouth for many hours after it has been ingested. Why? I am interested in the number of people who don't eat shellfish--to diverge slightly while not going off topic completely--does anyone avoid certain foods for religious reasons?

Diet Coke.

I forgot about scrapple. I want to eat it, but I can't won't and don't. It is the number one conceptually repulsive food of our time--and all time.

Gag me: carrot juice raw SLICED carrots in salad [grated are fine] prepackaged junk food snack cakes in convenient stores artifically flavored fruit drinks hot dogs sugar-free desserts [huh?] fresh tarragon tripe

you're extraordinarily kind--and not the first to tell me maybe it's time to weed the garden. this one's friend situation is such an anomaly--so unlike anything else i have ever witnessed--among my close friends, or kin, that is. in fact i work in public schools and therefore know just how bad it can get for so many kids--that's why it irks me so to see someone who should have more sense be so senseless. firefighter: cream cheese & jelly? you didn't say what kind--we always usedpepper jelly, either red or green, homemade. it took me a while to develop a taste for it because once when i was probably eight or nine i opened a jar of red pepper jelly thinking it was strawberry & scooped it into my mouth. & gagged. i had to be taught then that pepper jelly was not a repulsive food, but in fact a very delicious complement to certain meats and, of course, cream cheese & captain's wafers. i am now into buying "gourmet" pepper jellies--there's a jar of habanero jelly in the fridge right now. i found some really good ones at the green market in union square while visiting new york.

when i said kid, i also meant kid, not infant/teether/toddler jaymes & jinmyo, you have released a heap of self-recrimination from my shoulders. i nearly came to blows with a close friend not too long ago. i felt so horrible after that weekend i cried & cried. was told that the 2 1/2 yr-old "doesn't drink milk, doesn't like it"--stood by while he turned up his nose at every bite "offered" him, was allowed into my husband's easter basket first thing in the morning so that he'd agree to eat ANYTHING else... my stomach was in knots, and i had been firmly put in my place about passing any judgment since I am not a mom now i know that i am not crazy. sure, tommy, maybe this would make a good topic. but i think maybe your parents' strategy worked better than you think, since you're here now....? yeah, let's clarify that we're not conflating "simple" with "junk"--I tend to think that Diet Coke, for example, one of my guilty pleasures--is one of the most complexly toxic foods known to humankind. that's why i hate that i like it. anyway, hopleaf, two more thoughts: when i was 3 or 4 my grandmother got me to eat the green beans and cole slaw on my dinner plate by telling me to mix them together "like they do in fancy restaurants." so, I still mix green beans and slaw when they appear together on my plate. and was my grandmother a crazy genius or what? i miss her every day. at about this same period in my life, my dad--the classic overworked work-a-holic father of five girls:wow: liked to relax in the back yard on weekends with a plate of saltines, american cheese slices and tabasco--each cheese slice was quartered & stacked on a saltine, then liberally doused with tabasco. my sisters and i BEGGED for them--was it the chance to eat the grown-up food? a rare moment of father-daughter bonding? who knows? today i can't imagine eating this snack, but if my dad were eating it i would eat it with him just for the heck of it.

my advice is to go back to the nearest tienda and see if they have one that's already smooth!!!!!!!! we bought one for about 8 bucks--it was that bumpy volcanic stone; then the guy who coaches my husband in salsa-making told us that we could get a better one--with a smooth surface--for about $24. sure enough we looked again and got the nicer one for more money. that's the only majik i can impart, i am afraid. perhaps i am a purist. but i think my aversion to fritos vs. raw corn tortillas is SALT. i never thought about it til this moment, in fact. i may try the fritos at some point. last night i rooted through the freezer and found some roasted pepper salsa; and got some tortillas from atl. farmer's market. now i am ready to make some chilaquiles.

me, too, but lately i have been met a couple times with the "you don't have kids and don't know what you are talking about and you don't understand so shut up" fanged barb--and am therefore hesitant to say much. all i can do is point to my own upbringing. or the way my neice is being raised. or the way all the other responsible parents i know are raising their kids. for example--some friends adopted an 18-month-old--they were in their late 40s at the time, very good cooks both and appreciative of fine foods. within months of her arrival that baby was eating off her mother's plate at indian restaurants. at parties she was into the cheese platter--and it wasn't velveeta, trust me. one night i remember her picking the mushrooms out of a tapenade--she was finally scolded until she stopped. since her first appearance here she has always eaten at table with the rest of us, and i have never seen her throw a fit. i think kids do go through stages, and they do have less developed and more sensitive palates. that said, they should still be required to "try" everything, period. when i take my neice on trips i make sure she tries everything on my plate. last week we took her to a taqueria and turned her on to horchata. she thought it looked awful, but then she liked it [it's sweet, of course]. isn't it all in the attitude? food is an adventure. good foods make us feel good. cooking is an act of kindness, if not love. rachel's point about the dieting mom--that gives me chills. i look around and see small children developing neurotic relationships with food and it makes me furious, too.

my husband is the one who makes these sauces--i am more likely to assemble the actual meal. haven't tried the chilaquiles yet as have not been able to get tortillas yet --maybe over weekend? anyway, the standard tomatillo salsa de la casa calls for almost EVERYTHING to be raosted. it's incredible. here goes: on a lipped oiled baking sheet spread 24 large tomatillos, 3 large garlic cloves, 6 serrano peppers roast til collapsed, cool, remove skins from garlic, stems & seeds from peppers & put in blender add two SWEET raw onions & two bunches cilantro pulse eat ahh * here is where my husband and I will sometimes have one of our famous tifts. i am a texture person, and he has this bizarre obsession with his Vitamix. I think it turns everything into paste. We have a beautiful mocajete that i prefer to use for salsas & guacamole--I actualy use the pestle to grind the ingredients together. I like varying chunks in my salsas. if you prefer texture don't use a blender, or at least only PULSE it. every sept. we spend a weekend with friends in a cabin in north georgia. a few years back one couple brought their entire habanero harvest. during the afternoon, as we all sat around drinking beer & basking in our indolence, my husband and the male half of said couple engaged in a dueling salsas competition. we had our mocajete, they had theirs--the race was on: the remainder of the group assembled around the coffee table, bowls of ships positioned between every two or three persons. we waited anxiously for each concoction. the guys were using whatever was at hand. the winner that day was the banana/lemon curd/pineapple/cilantro/ habanero salsa. how does that sound?

children can hang our hat on is a more heightened sense of taste. I remember my first sip of Coca Cola when I was 12 (!!), it was one of the sweetest tasting things I've ever ingested. Another big no-no was sacchrine-sweetened anything (cuz it causes cancer in laboratory rats, of course); the first taste of TAB was interesting, especially in comparison to that first sip of Coke. You're right on, stella. We're better off now because we ate a more...um, natural (for lack of a better word) diet. It was difficult to see that when I was in third grade and I had the strangest looking lunch: pork sliced from last night's roast (nice and garlicy) with mozzarella on caraway rye with a mound of romaine and tomatoes, plus a plain yogurt (which I still eat every morning to this day) and a fruit juice. A far cry from my neighbors bologna sandwich on gummy white bread with American cheese (I've since found the joy in American cheese, especially with grilled cheese 'wiches), and yellow mustard with a side of Jays potato chips and a Coke. To what degree do you think that this experience has been the root of your culinary appreciations. You say that you and your sisters have a hearty appetite for good food, but is that because your tastebuds weren't killed by Fruit Loops and Chef Boyardie? I think it's very telling that your sweet tooth is more turned on by a well-made dessert. Maybe that's it in a nutshell, a solid foundation of healthy eating has given us discerning tastes. first b edulis's bathroom--now your third-grade lunch-- i'm totally plotzing again understand, this doesn't happen to me often and i need....to....catch....my... ....breath....ahhhh... i think about this all the time--and i didn't get it all in in the first post. well, as i said, we ate what was put on the table. so we ate what our parents ate--that's one thing--kids who eat what adults eat seem to be more adventurous eaters. another thing--my mom's parents were farmers, as in real farmers, as in cattle & corn-raising, tractor-driving farmers. my mom took us all up to delaware every summer, sometimes for most of the summer. every night we sat down to table, and in july we might sit down to fried tomatoes, clam fritters [from clams we'd dug earlier in the day], sliced fresh tomatoes, squash & zuchini cooked with butter, onion & tomato [i still like it this way], sliced cukes & onions, green beans--ubiquitous green beans-- boiled potatoes, and a HEAPING PLATTER OF SILVER QUEEN CORN--our pop-pop's affection for each one of us grandkids grew in direct proportion to the number of gnawed cobs we left on the plate. so, there was the variety factor, the fresh factor, the family gathered rituallistically around the table factor, the watching my mom & grandmother cook all day factor.... the cleaning up factor and i forgot the fresh blueberry pie from berries picked by my grandmother that morning factor or the peach & cream pie factor or the perfect pie crust factor--i still can't do it butmy grandmother could--and she thought being able to make a ie crust was far less interesting or important than, say, being able to solve calculus problems. *sigh* here is what i have secretly thought for many years, and i hope this doesn't come out the wrong way-- i think that, looking back, the fact that we got fed so well might have meant that --in some srange way-- we were loved a little bit more, or a little bit better, than many other people, and i feel grateful for that, a little embarassed by that, and determined to continue spreading that kind of "love" around as best i can. i enjoy hearing about your daughter's emerging eating habits, too. it must be so wonderful to experience first-hand.

Hopleaf--how thrilling to read your post. I too was a sweetened-cereal-soda-candy-junk-food-deprived child. As my sisters and I got older, and as my dad's practice became more lucrative, we tended to get more frequent food treats, but when we were little we sat down to the table for supper every night, ate what was put in front of us, and the biggest damn deal was when my mom would make banana pudding from scratch with meringue. I have been longing for that pudding for years...... I will say this--as adults all over 30 and one over 40, my sisters and I have all become relatively slim and active adults, all of us with hearty appetites and a varying appreciation for good food. And none of us likes junk food--so when we were finally set loose in the junk food aisles, we tried it for a while, but, like you, eventually ragained our senses and found that more nutritious food was what we ultimately craved. Have I said that I am GRATEFUL to my parents for making sure we ate well and avoided the junk? We felt so deprived at the time--EVERYONE else got to eat crappy food--but now we're better off for it, I think. Don't get me wrong--I have a sweet tooth and love a well-made dessert--but give me salad over potato chips ANY day. Great post.

malawry--what a beautiful cake and what a beautiful gift for your true love i was also thinking about cabrales's earlier thread about food-scented beauty prodcuts--maybe a ganache facial--just kidding...maybe...

interesting. sandwiches are one of the many "little things" i love about london/UK--one of the many small ways in which the culture differs from that here in rural GA. i visited paris for the first time in feburary, and i had a HORRIBLE baguette from a shop near Sacre Coeur. but that seemed like an anomaly--perhaps not. at this time nothing has yet come close, for me, to the italian trattoria, wax-paper-wrapped focaccias stuffed with fresh mozzarella and tangy greens, roasted peppers, etc. appreciate all the comments about the new prets, too--i am definately going to give it a try when i get a chance.

I often wonder about this myself. These days I get weepy when I eat in Central American restaurants--they've all become hybrids in the Atlanta area--serving various favorite Salvadorean/Mexican dishes, for example. Before spending time in Mexico I never gave a second thought to the lone male diners at the corner booth staring dazedly into space, drunk, perhaps. Now I read a loneliness/longing/homesickness into those empty stares. I think the average American totally misses this. These people often give up a great deal to be here, in the land of opportunity... No...I won't get up on this soap box right now. Your daughter's email is wonderful and I thank you for sharing that! Is she studying? How wonderful that the family shares a passion for Mexico.

Considering the pains to which I've gone to create my own beautiful, warm, inviting kitchen, of course I always want the same in any restaurant. But of course "attractive dining space" is so subjective. I love the "dining room" in my fav Irish B&B, Netterville Manor north of Dublin, near Slane--an old Victorian Manor Home with tall ceilings, exposed dark beams & white-washed rough plaster walls. A pot-belly stove in one corner. Mismatched ironstone plates & platters on the hearth. A long rough-hewn dining table with benches for all the guests [which included only the four in our party]. Our breakfast was probably very basic--eggs & toast--but memorable because of where it was eaten.

From this week's [or last week's? or next week's?] New Yorker--a funny little piece about the attempt to grab a share of the Manhattan lunch market. I have never eaten a Pret sandwich in London--I find the whole steel/lights/neon facade off-putting & chintzy. I can't imagine, then, actually eating one in New York. Others' opinions? I will say this, though: I love the British approach to sandwiches--the prepackaged but fresh and often very tasty quick snacks to go from Marks & Sparks & other such places. Especially while touring the countryside, it's nice to be able to grab a quick bite when peckish but not quite ready to stop for lunch. I don't want sandwiches every day, but I will say I'd rather have a fresh sandwich over a McD's burger ANY day.

PLEASE don't shut up! Yes, I'd like a chilaquile recipe. My husband and I have all of Bayless's books and one called A Cook's Tour of Mexico [Nancy Zaslavsky]. So far I've only made a chorizo stew from this one. My husband and a friend of his have gotten into salsa and mole making in past years. Our freezer is full of ancho pastes and whatnot. The best by far is tomatillo salsa [which is what I prefer in my chilaquiles]. We have even grown tomatillos in recent years, but with mixed success. M & J were on a kick for a while and came up with a great potato & tomatillo dish: layer sliced raw potatoes in a greased casserole, pour tomatillo salsa generously over all, then add a good amount of heavy cream ["crema" is better if available], crumble asadero cheese over all, then bake til bubbling. I recommend. Anyway, my husband and I just have a mutual passion for Latin America. How can I explain it? Neither of us speaks Spanish as well as we ought, and we have decided that next May, and we mean it this time, we are going to a language school in Cuenca, Ecuador. I am an ESL teacher and I used to work with adults, mostly young men from Mexico in later years, and I loved them passionately. The first time my husband and I visited Mexico, I cried as we landed, I was so moved to be there. Before we go I always do a little reading up--Mexico is not the place to go and be totally spontaneous, though I do love to travel this way. Our frist trip together we HAD to go see El Museo del Mumia in Guanajuato; in addition I had read about this little funky Michoacan town, Patzcuaro--it is by far our favorite place, though my husband has also been to Oaxaca and loves it and that's our next destination. Our last trip to Guadalajara was not my favorite, but my husband really valued the Huichol museum and shop north of the city. We collect folk art--I guess you could say it's our primary interest, but we also just love BEING there. It's so hard to explain, unless you're one of us--I just love the colors, the music, the people, the food, everything. Since 1998 my husband has been taking college students to Ecuador to learn about "societies in transition" with a heavy emphasis on "nontraditional medicine", ie SHAMANISM. Now we are both passionate addicts of Ecuador. The other day I found a website advertsiing properties for sale in Ecuador. We could buy a house for about 15K--maybe not a great house, but a house. I have this nagging desire--this would be the best place to retire. Anyway, when we are in the rainforest we are always served a sort of "ceviche"--it is ususally [FRESH] heart of palm and tomato finely minced and marinated in a little vinegar and sugar. It is so good. The raw marinated seafoods and camarones coctels are among my favorite foods on earth, but alas I can't overcome my fear. Your tips on how to get the cleanest food are excellent--it sounds like you are very at ease with the language, too. I am not at all derisive of your method--you are smart. I've seen stupid tourists doing really stupid things in my travels and I've seen them pay dearly for it. What's the point? Good point about the giardia, too. I think the risks exist everywhere, but I've had the worst maladies in the second and third world. So I try to be open-minded and cautious and still enjoy myself. Since we are returning to Ecuador so often and getting to know any number of local people better and better, I find we are eating much more adventurously, not to mention deliciously. I posted on the South America board about eating armadillo and drinking chicha in the hut of some Shuar people, but the post got lost. Oh, well. Thanks for your tips!

Steve, honey-- It doesn't bother me that you men are always looking at her breasts. Isn't it clear that we are ALL looking at her breasts? At her very ample whole self? If we were all having this conversation in person, I might take away very different inferences. My reading here is that her breasts somehow make her less credible. Her breasts are incredible-- oops. Now you've got me thinking about Dressed to Kill, darn you, and that Commander Cody remake with lyrics about everybody truckin & f*ckin--which reminds me, I need to go check out the Mexico board.

Jaymes, GREAT post. It reminded me of a few things. I haven't seen enough of the entire country to notice real regional differences--our travel has been in Jalisco, Michoacan, Taxco, DF, Guanajuato. And my husband and I eat pretty conservatively. But one of my favorite snacks is sliced tropical fruits, watermelon and papaya, sprinkled with CHILI. The best breakfast is chilaquiles [i like green] with extra tortillas and a pot of chocolate caliente. At the Mansion Iturbe in Patzcuaro, Michoacan [i love staying here--it makes me feel rich], breakfast is served with glasses of pureed mango pulp, and tiny crusty toasted pan slices with fresh mango marmalade. A couple times I've drunk the juice out of coconuts through a straw stuck into a macheted puncture. My husband and I buy bananas and papayas and mangoes in the markets and eat them in our rooms, slicing into them with pocket knives. It was really fun to read about Miss J's food adventures in Yucatan. In 1995 my husband and I visited his brother in Panama and we ate LOTS of ceviche. With reckless abandon, really. That was my first trip to Latin America and I wasn't really taking food precautions. On consecutive trips we'd eat at food kiosks in the markets and pretty much consume everything except obviously raw salads or already peeled fruits. But then on our honeymoon in Guatemala we both got giardia, and we were very sick for about two months. It's not the little bouts of Moctezuma's Revenge that scare me. It's the more enduring critters that enjoy symbiotic relationships with the human GI tract. Now when we travel we don't even look at the food in open air markets. This is very sad, but it seems prudent. I wonder if any other readers have had experiences they'd share and also talk about how they cope with sanitation issues in developing countries? One of the main attractions of Mexico is the food, but, alas, it can make one very sick.

So all this time I've been drinking "Caesars"? Last night I served bloodies as appetizers before a dinner party. Here's our procedure, and I am told I make the best damn bloody anywhere, and you can , too, if you're well stocked with spicy condiments: 1] Rub glass [we often use British pub pint glasses ]rim with lime and roll rim in a plate of Lawry's Seasoned Salt, to coat thoroughly. 2] Fill glass 2/3 full with ice and measure in a jigger of vodka--I actually make mine slightly weak. 3] Here's where it gets fun. I put all the condiments out and let guests mix their own. Last night I put out Ecuadorian aji sauce, prepared horseradish, Worcestershire, Tate Farm cherry chipotle dipping sauce, and two miscellaneous bottles of fiery hot sauce [we have an extensive collection with names like "Road to hell" and "Ass-Burner."]. 4] Squeeze in a lime quarter and spear jalapeno- or garlic-stuffed olives on swizzle sticks [i like the Santa Barbara Olive Co olives best]. 5] Fill glass with Clamato and swizzle. 6] Drink. Repeat. Drink. Repeat. Miss J, good point about alerting drinkers with shellfish allergies--never occured to me. But once I described the recipe to some ardent vegetarians, who shrieked, "Clamato? Does it have CLAMS in it?"

BPC-- This was posted before I saw his video footage or his photos--he didn't tell me that EVERYWHERE they went musicians were assembled singing and dancing. And the Yaruba people. And, and... In spite of how depressing it sounds, it looks intensely beautiful and insanely unlike any other place in the Western Hemisphere. We haven't tried out our cigars yet, but we've been enjoying the rum with coke or over ice with a little lime zest.

Last night my husband returned from 12 days in Cuba with 4 bottles of Havana Club 7 years. We're neither of us rum connoiseuers, but it tastes pretty good to us. He was hoping that this would be a sort of "scouting mission" after which he'd take me and some of our friends back down for a good time. But his trip sounds rather depressing, and I am not sure if I could enjoy myself participating in the "apartheid tourism"--he said that the Cuban people have nothing, have access to nothing, and they refuse to speak candidly. My husband is a sociologist who's been to equatorial Africa, for example, where people don't own shoes, and he said Cuba was the strangest place he's ever visited. Anyway, aside from lounging on beautiful beaches sipping rum cocktails, there doesn't appear to be a great deal more attraction for tourists. And the Cuban masses are largely prohibited from entering the tourist hot-spots. Sad, but good rum. Good cigars. Very friendly people. Just thought

good question, cabrales-- basildog--theft of anything? dishes, salt/peppers, creamers, flatware, toilet paper [from the loos]? i always wonder about this. especially at the places that serve their coffee in fabulous chunky mugs, for example--i once had tea after my meal at a trendy atlanta diner--tea was served in the most incredible little syracuse teapot with blue tipping. did i ever covet that teapot! since then i've been on a quest and never have found one, even at the syracuse china outlet. i didn't steal it but i seriously considered it--i am being honest here--i mean, it was so beautiful. but i am not that tacky. or desperate. do you ever have diners/clients offering to buy your dishes, etc., from you?

cross your fingers that i can get my gear through security and then through customs next month

edemuth--i love your reminiscences about ice-cream making i too have the fondest memories of summers at the grandparents' in delaware, waiting with sisters and cousins like ravenous dogs for the paddle to be laid out on the counter--what i could never figure out was why they made so little ice-cream for so many people? last night i was served lemon and basil sorbet that hadn't quite set--but we spooned it up with relish nonetheless--it got me and my friend moll wild with anticipation, thinking about what's growing in the yard right now: lavendar, mint, combinations of thyme and oregano? i am going to try to make a lavendar sorbet for husband on our anniversary this week--i am searching for recipes and will report back to you on what happens.