What sort of stuff do you eat/cook in general

[huiray]

I was thinking of what to cook for lunch and reflecting on what I had in the fridge and what I had bought from the shops or farmers' markets and thought of what sort of stuff I usually eat. For me it tends to follow the rubric of:

Vegetables (includes mushrooms) - Rice - Noodles (includes pasta) - Chicken/Duck - Pork - Fish - Shellfish - ...........(and in the distance) ......... Potatoes, Beef.

Lamb and Offal (any kind) is somewhere in there but I'm not sure where to place it.

Note that I am NOT vegetarian, I am definitely a meat eater - but I follow a kind of "East/South-East Asian" diet on the whole.

What might be your (generalized) pattern?

Edited August 3, 2013 by huiray (log)

[annabelle]

French food, mainly. Heavy on the vegetables and with fruit desserts. Meats with sauces. Vegetables from the garden or fruit from the farm stands. Noodles or pasta, but mostly potatoes and rice for starch. Good bread and real butter.

I'm a child of Depression babies and learned never to waste anything so, if there are bones and trimmings: they become stock. Apple peels and cores become apple jelly. Citrus peels get candied.

[ChrisTaylor]

I tend to go through phases. As a student, for instance, I cooked a lot of Indian curries, maybe mostly because I had and still have a lot of South Asian grocers nearby. I can easily find spices and pay very little for them. Mostly using beans or cheap cuts of meat such as chicken wings. I flirted with Thai food but David Thompson's recipes were usually too costly to make on a full-time student's budget. Over the years I've flirted with Ethiopian, British (in the Fergus Henderson sense), Spanish, Sichuanese, Mexican and numerous others. I sometimes fool around with Italian and, more frequently, French (in the bistro fare sense of the word) but for the past couple of years I've been increasingly fixated on Cajun and, well, Southern food in general. I also spent a lot of time last year making things from David Chang's book. I enjoy that sort of thing so much that it didn't take much thought to just do a blind buy of a book I stumbled across online, Smoke & Pickles. The blurb told me that book would be my idea of a good time.

Curiosity is a big motivator. For a while there I was ordering bits and pieces of every native, game or 'exotic' meat I could legally get my hands on. When I hear of something else interesting being made avaliable I tend to try and get my hands on it unless it's stupidly expensive, in which case I'm happy to have an expert at a restaurant prepare it.

In general, I'll eat anything. I dislike the aroma of bananas and the taste and mouthfeel of milk but, well, they're the only two limitations I've run into as an adult. I was a very fussy child.

Edited August 3, 2013 by ChrisTaylor (log)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Heavy fusion here (we cook just about every style and often blend things to get flavour profiles that are engaging), with the realization that my family is definitely omnivorous and heavy on the veggies with main courses and fruits in snack contexts. We tend towards the following as staples:

Red and green peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuces of various types, asparagus, carrots, beets, green beans, and either cauliflower or romanesco. Sometimes eggplants when we can find them at market. For starches, a higher focus on oca, melloco, and mashua as well as potatoes; less emphasis on rice or pasta.

Almost all meats with the exception of pork (although occasionally bacon, as a big treat). We eat more chicken and turkey than we do red meats, and more rabbit and lamb than beef. However, all are represented at table.

Fresh homemade bread, good butter, good olive oil. Reasonable cheeses, because that's what's available here in Ecuador.

All fresh fruits in season. At the moment, that's oranges, mandarines, carambola, banana, papaya, white and gold pineapples, strawberries, mora (blackberries), pitahaya, peaches and nectarines. In a couple of months, mango will be added to that list, and around December the remaining stonefruits and cherries.

[LizD518]

I have no idea how I'd define my eating habits in relation to cuisine. I love to cook Indian dishes and I have a relatively high number of Indian cookbooks (5) as opposed to any other specific cuisine in my collection. But as a single woman, living alone, on the east coast of the US, my tastes are widely varied but my cooking is fairly simple. I tend to do one-dish types of meals. Tonight was a quesadilla filled with some homemade corn salsa and grilled chicken that I made a few days ago. A typical go-to meal is pasta tossed with sauteed shrimp, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives & capers or something similar. I tend not to cook separate starch/veg/protein since they don't reheat as well as one-pot dishes and I eat a lot of leftovers.

As far as ingredients: tomatoes, corn, & eggplant have been big this summer, as well as cucumbers and zucchini, which are always big. I don't tend to buy lettuce or make salads - I get enough of them at work. I've been eating less proteins this past 6 months or so, but they tend to be mostly chicken, sometimes I'll splurge on beef or shrimp. Occasionally fish (salmon) or pork. For starches I tend to go with pasta and sometimes rice. I almost never buy potatoes.

I'll eat anything and everything when I'm out.

[Tri2Cook]

My menu is pretty much identical every day from wake-up to post-work. All Bran Buds with 1% milk before work. Fresh fruit or vegetable every couple hours while working. Lots of water. I'm not suggesting it's exciting but it keeps me energetic. Dinner is usually something that doesn't require a lot of work if I'm cooking. So I guess what I cook in general, other than for work, is... not much. If someone else is cooking, I eat whatever they cook.

[gfweb]

American, Western European (Italian> French > German), Chinese, Japanese mainly, whether cooking in or eating out.

[Porthos]

Eating out is all over the map.

Cooking:

For dinner: more rustic than anything else. An animal protein seasoned and either sauteed or BBQed, brown rice, noodles, beans, barley or occasionally couscous for a starch (I avoid potatoes even though I love them), and either a steamed veggie or canned fruit. I lean toward western European and Mediterranean-inspired seasonings. Breakfast is eggs and toast made from a good grainy bread. Right now I'm on a French omelet kick.

I enjoyed cooking from Julia Child's books for a very long time but as I have aged I have found I appreciate more simply prepared foods than in my youth.

[huiray]

Interesting, everyone. Thanks for the responses.

Panaderia, I was intrigued by the starches you cite as more common in your diet - oca, melloco, and mashua. Interestingly, mashua is also said to be a putative anaphrodisiac. Do the menfolk in your area avoid eating it or do they gobble it up just the same? :-)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Oca and melloco are more popular than mashua, in general. However if you look at the other aspects of the Ecuadorian diet, you'll find that the aphrodesiac-type foods heavily outweigh the anaphrodesiacs, so people generally eat mashua with impunity. The three tubers mentioned are the three traditional highland starches - they're also rare outside of the highland Andes, and from what I can glean my province is one of the biggest producers worldwide.

In my own opinion, I like the crunch and spice that orange mashua provides when it's lightly cooked and then chilled and added to salads (or just dressed with avocado). Oca have a texture similar to potatoes but are both sweet and oxalis-y (if that makes sense), and melloco have a sort of jelly texture when they're cooked perfectly, with a bit of crunch to the rinds.

[huiray]

Oca and melloco are more popular than mashua, in general. However if you look at the other aspects of the Ecuadorian diet, you'll find that the aphrodesiac-type foods heavily outweigh the anaphrodesiacs, so people generally eat mashua with impunity. The three tubers mentioned are the three traditional highland starches - they're also rare outside of the highland Andes, and from what I can glean my province is one of the biggest producers worldwide.

In my own opinion, I like the crunch and spice that orange mashua provides when it's lightly cooked and then chilled and added to salads (or just dressed with avocado). Oca have a texture similar to potatoes but are both sweet and oxalis-y (if that makes sense), and melloco have a sort of jelly texture when they're cooked perfectly, with a bit of crunch to the rinds.

Interesting! Thanks for the details.

What are some of the other common aphrodisiac-type foods consumed?

Edited August 11, 2013 by huiray (log)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

For men, white pineapples, carambola de sal (green starfruits), borojó, ishpingo bark (which is chewed), and I'm sure I'm forgetting the specialty meats.

For women, carambola de dulce (ripe starfruits), mango chupadora (Ambassador type mangoes), gold papaya, borojó, guava, star anise (chewed), and I'm sure I'm also forgetting the specialty meats.

In any household, at least half of those things are on the menu in any given week - the fruits in particular.

[rx6006]

For men, white pineapples, carambola de sal (green starfruits), borojó, ishpingo bark (which is chewed), and I'm sure I'm forgetting the specialty meats.

For women, carambola de dulce (ripe starfruits), mango chupadora (Ambassador type mangoes), gold papaya, borojó, guava, star anise (chewed), and I'm sure I'm also forgetting the specialty meats.

In any household, at least half of those things are on the menu in any given week - the fruits in particular.

That's very interesting that a dichotomy exists between produce preferred by men and women. Are meals eaten as a family made from the same components or do the different genders in the family build their plates differently as well?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

For men, white pineapples, carambola de sal (green starfruits), borojó, ishpingo bark (which is chewed), and I'm sure I'm forgetting the specialty meats.

For women, carambola de dulce (ripe starfruits), mango chupadora (Ambassador type mangoes), gold papaya, borojó, guava, star anise (chewed), and I'm sure I'm also forgetting the specialty meats.

In any household, at least half of those things are on the menu in any given week - the fruits in particular.

That's very interesting that a dichotomy exists between produce preferred by men and women. Are meals eaten as a family made from the same components or do the different genders in the family build their plates differently as well?

Family meals come out of one pot, same thing for everyone, and then individuals decide whether/how much aji and salt to add. Meals are typically rice + some other starch (potato, plantain, heirloom tuber, corn, noodles) + meat + salad. Salad has a slightly different connotation here as well: it may be lightly boiled beets, cooked veggies of some sort (also usually boiled), or rarely fresh greens soaked in lime water with encebollado (a quick pickle of sliced red onion, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice). Fruits and the spices I mentioned are rarely components of main meals.

You'll notice that most of what's listed there is fruit, which shows as a wider influence in what people choose as juice or to eat out of hand, especially away from home. The basic daily juice in most homes across the country is tomate de árbol, a type of tomato-ish fruit, which is neutral insofar as aphrodisiac/anaphrodisiac qualities. You also know for a flat fact that the guy sitting next to you at the juice bar in the market, drinking a borojó shake and chewing ishpingo is in trouble with his wife/girlfriend/both in the bedroom department.

[Hassouni]

Japanese, Chinese (usually Sichuanese or Sichuanese-inspired), are my go to cuisines for daily cooking, often a stir fry, quick stew (jjigae or nabe), soup, or whatever else, with rice. When I have more time then it's Middle Eastern or Indian (as the stews and curries take much longer than the East Asian stuff). Occasionally I'll do Thai or Mexican (though since I'll be moving into my own place soon, the Thai will probably increase - current dining companions can't handle my level of heat).

wanting to make Iraqi food and learning how to make a killer curry were what got me into cooking seriously, and I went through a period (mostly in college) where I made either Indian food or Thai food nearly every night. Indian because it was cheap and delicious (I kept it mostly vegetarian, and would knead chapati dough while I watched TV), Thai because it was relatively cheap to make and very intense in flavor (that's when I built up my herculean chile tolerance).

Any time I'm on a reduced budget (say, while living in Dubai as an unpaid intern!) vegetarian Indian covers about 75% of my cooking

Edited August 18, 2013 by Hassouni (log)

[rx6006]

For men, white pineapples, carambola de sal (green starfruits), borojó, ishpingo bark (which is chewed), and I'm sure I'm forgetting the specialty meats.

For women, carambola de dulce (ripe starfruits), mango chupadora (Ambassador type mangoes), gold papaya, borojó, guava, star anise (chewed), and I'm sure I'm also forgetting the specialty meats.

In any household, at least half of those things are on the menu in any given week - the fruits in particular.

That's very interesting that a dichotomy exists between produce preferred by men and women. Are meals eaten as a family made from the same components or do the different genders in the family build their plates differently as well?

Family meals come out of one pot, same thing for everyone, and then individuals decide whether/how much aji and salt to add. Meals are typically rice + some other starch (potato, plantain, heirloom tuber, corn, noodles) + meat + salad. Salad has a slightly different connotation here as well: it may be lightly boiled beets, cooked veggies of some sort (also usually boiled), or rarely fresh greens soaked in lime water with encebollado (a quick pickle of sliced red onion, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice). Fruits and the spices I mentioned are rarely components of main meals.

You'll notice that most of what's listed there is fruit, which shows as a wider influence in what people choose as juice or to eat out of hand, especially away from home. The basic daily juice in most homes across the country is tomate de árbol, a type of tomato-ish fruit, which is neutral insofar as aphrodisiac/anaphrodisiac qualities. You also know for a flat fact that the guy sitting next to you at the juice bar in the market, drinking a borojó shake and chewing ishpingo is in trouble with his wife/girlfriend/both in the bedroom department.

That must make for a rather simplified experience when trying to pick up a date...avoid the borojo and ishpingo devotees. The idea of neutral hand fruits versus those with, or without, aphrodisiac qualities reminds me of Medieval European cooking that strove to compliment and balance the various humours in the body. Fish were considered cold and wet food, and as such were to be served with hot and dry food such as a roasted boar or something similar.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

For men, white pineapples, carambola de sal (green starfruits), borojó, ishpingo bark (which is chewed), and I'm sure I'm forgetting the specialty meats.

For women, carambola de dulce (ripe starfruits), mango chupadora (Ambassador type mangoes), gold papaya, borojó, guava, star anise (chewed), and I'm sure I'm also forgetting the specialty meats.

In any household, at least half of those things are on the menu in any given week - the fruits in particular.

That's very interesting that a dichotomy exists between produce preferred by men and women. Are meals eaten as a family made from the same components or do the different genders in the family build their plates differently as well?

Family meals come out of one pot, same thing for everyone, and then individuals decide whether/how much aji and salt to add. Meals are typically rice + some other starch (potato, plantain, heirloom tuber, corn, noodles) + meat + salad. Salad has a slightly different connotation here as well: it may be lightly boiled beets, cooked veggies of some sort (also usually boiled), or rarely fresh greens soaked in lime water with encebollado (a quick pickle of sliced red onion, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice). Fruits and the spices I mentioned are rarely components of main meals.

You'll notice that most of what's listed there is fruit, which shows as a wider influence in what people choose as juice or to eat out of hand, especially away from home. The basic daily juice in most homes across the country is tomate de árbol, a type of tomato-ish fruit, which is neutral insofar as aphrodisiac/anaphrodisiac qualities. You also know for a flat fact that the guy sitting next to you at the juice bar in the market, drinking a borojó shake and chewing ishpingo is in trouble with his wife/girlfriend/both in the bedroom department.

That must make for a rather simplified experience when trying to pick up a date...avoid the borojo and ishpingo devotees. The idea of neutral hand fruits versus those with, or without, aphrodisiac qualities reminds me of Medieval European cooking that strove to compliment and balance the various humours in the body. Fish were considered cold and wet food, and as such were to be served with hot and dry food such as a roasted boar or something similar.

I'd date a guy with ishpingo on his breath - it's got a lovely flavour. For those who are wondering what the hooey an ishpingo is, it's the dried floral bract from the Ecuadorian cinnamon tree. The flavour is like smoked cinnamon with a hint of cloves; I discussed it in my first foodblog, in the post dealing with Colada Morada (of which ishpingo forms an important part of the spice bundle).

Balance of humours is still very much alive and well here. Fish (cold, wet) will almost always be paired with plantain (hot, dry), and encebollado (hot, wet) to balance it out. Same goes for something like Seco de Chivo, which is kid goat or milk-lamb stew depending on who's cooking. It's hot and dry, and so it's normally served with cucumber salad (cold, wet). I've had some really fascinating conversations with the grannies that run the comedores where I eat about this - the theory is behind the balance of flavours and accompaniments in almost all Ecuadorian tipico.