Pan

Kouign Aman, a point of order: For the purposes of this challenge, are peanuts considered a legume?

Why? The last 2 times I went in there it was full of Japanese? ← They say that it's the McDonalds of Japanese ramen. It doesn't taste right and at least one of my friends finds it upsets his stomach. Keep in mind that you'll see lots of Americans in McDonalds, too! Doesn't mean it's a great place for American food!

No, but partly an act of traders, seeing as the ragu includes tomatoes, and tomatoes were brought to Italy directly or indirectly from the Americas.

The best meals I had in 2006 were at Al Di La, Chinatown Brasserie, Franny's, Hearth, Spicy & Tasty, Skyway, Congee Village, Katz's, and Taksim - all in New York (Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn).

Japanese friends of mine hate Ajisen.

We fancy ourselves a meritocracy, but there's a strong anti-intellectual streak in the USA. Those that are "too smart" are sometimes seen as more elitist than the wealthy. Being a "gourmet" is the food equivalent of the ivory tower academic or the pointy-headed intellectual. ← " We fancy ourselves a meritocracy, but there's a strong anti-intellectual streak in the USA. " How do you figure? Looking at the most successful Americans, across the board from differing backgrounds, it seems that those individuals who are smart enough (or have the intelligence, if you prefer) to figure out how to do anything that is worthwhile faster, better and cheaper, are rewarded. Please expound.[...] ← I think that the life and times of Adlai Stevenson, the "egghead" who therefore couldn't be elected President, constitutes the clearest example of anti-intellectual bias among the American populus. Also, consider the fact that Francois Mitterand, President of France, considered himself a writer first and a politician second. Could anyone like that be conceivable as President of the United States?

Garlic is "bawang putih" ("white onion") in Malay.

There are many, many countries that make curries. Do you also consider Malay, Thai, Cantonese, and Japanese curries "theft"? And also keep in mind that couscous has been declared the most popular "French" dish.

Bawang in Malay means "onion." Not so in Tagalog?

I've always found Aphrodisia terribly overpriced. By what factor are things more expensive there than at Dual (ex-Dowel)? 5? More?

[Raises hand] Me! Whether I have wine or not is pretty much according to my whims and also how alert or tired I am.

Then you'd be wrong. As I explained earlier (in parentheses), as far as I'm concerned, either you're not an adult and can't be drafted or serve in the military, can't be tried and sentenced for crimes as an adult, vote, serve on juries, or drive, or you should be able to legally drink. So if you really think people under 21 are irresponsible, I think you should amend the U.S. Constitution to turn 18-year-olds back into minors. But I'd argue that the real mistake here is not to allow 18-year-olds to drink, but to allow them to drive. And addressing that problem would require a very different kind of public transportation system than exists in most of the United States outside of metropolises (metropoles?) like New York City - and this is a topic largely beyond the scope of eGullet, but does go some way toward explaining why there would be differences in enforcement of the drinking age in New York, by comparison with the situation in all the places where there is a "love affair" with the automobile.

What on earth is a fresh jujube?? Jujubes come in a box, are sold in theaters and stick to your teeth. A 10 cm jujube would pull out an entire jawful of fillings!! ← Google image search result. Or just look at the "Chinese dates" nakji's been eating.

Nakji, how big are the fresh jujubes?

All of the languages of Nusantara/the Malay Archipelago (Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines) also most commonly use the Roman alphabet.

Water spinach. Domestic Goddess, it's called kangkung/kangkong in Malay, too. I'm guessing perhaps that's a Hokkien or Hakka name?

"Dish 4: crab "roll", black bean, mint, pickled gin paired with Blanc de Morgex et de la Salle 2005" Pickled gin? Interesting, also, that they used wood sorrel, which is tasty but a plentiful weed.

What time line? My mother and grandparents were eating Chinese food in the 1950s and probably earlier. Katz's Delicatessen was founded in 1888. And how long have foods of German origin been part of the American diet?

Gochujang is Korean hot sauce. You will find it in any food store catering to Koreans.

I've read that Prohibition was not aggressively enforced in New York City, but that's probably off-topic for 2007.

Lotus seed is more conventional for Chinese desserts, but I suppose seeds don't count as vegetables? If they do, note the use of besan (chickpea) flour in many Indian sweets (e.g., besan burfi).

Again, it depends how it's presented. Don't you think many New Yorkers would be unsympathetic to people who can spend $200 on dinner?

Of course they are! And what passes for "bagels" in parts of the Midwest is a monstrosity! But all that indicates is that "foreign" "ethnic" food has been incorporated into the mainstream. Doesn't that contradict the claim of "xenophobia"? Yes, I think that the great majority of New Yorkers (I'm talking about New York City here) have embraced one or all of the following "foreign" "ethnic" foods: Bagels, pizza, Chinese takeout, pasta, if not more. And as for Long Island, I went to Stony Brook for grad school, and there were two edible Chinese takeout places within reasonable distance of where I was living, plus a good, upscale Italian place. Let's not talk of Long Island as if it were some kind of wasteland of tasteless food, because it isn't. There's a sizable Indian community in Kings Park and environs, a Mexican community in Patchogue, among other places, and a bunch of dining choices in Huntington. Etc.

How about because they could get a lot of publicity for busting a high-end restaurant? I'm sure you can imagine the New York Post and Daily News headlines. ← Yes, and it would be extraordinarily negative publicity. Whoever was responsible for the decision to send an undercover, underage cop, and a second officer posing as his mother, into EMP, spend $300 of taxpayer money for a couple tasting menus and a bottle of wine, and then shut down a New York Times three star restaurant for serving alcohol to an accompanied 20-year old, would be pilloried in the press and most likely forced to resign.[...] ← The argument would be that the law applies to the rich as to the poor. I'm not sure that someone making that kind of populist (or faux-populist) argument would be forced to resign.

John, define "relatively new." When I was growing up, I ate in Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Arab, and Indian restaurants, among others, as well as patronizing Jewish, Italian, Viennese, and Hungarian bakeries, again among others. This was in the 70s. And when my parents were courting in the early 50s, I know that they ate at a cheap Greek restaurant and an Indian restaurant (though to be fair, that was one of only two in the city, they say). How widespread are pizza and pasta? Chinese takeout? Greek diners? Tacos?