If It Were Your Last Meal on Earth

[Adam Balic]

Who would shoot you after that lot? BANG!!! Mess every where.

[Wilfrid]

That's going to happen at some point whether they shoot me or not.

[Lady T]

Lord, Lord! Two or three bottles of absinthe and nobody'd NEED to kill you; you'd simply drop in your tracks and wake up to your eternal reward! (Are you quite certain, by the by, that Hell is the destination? The way you plan menus, I think rather that you'd end up at the right hand of Escoffier.)

[macrosan]

I'll have a take-out. Lamb chops from Babbo and I'll get Plotters to send me a bottle of his choice from his cellar

[GordonCooks]

Large bag of Ruffles potato chips and a tub of Sour Cream & Onion dip

washed down by a large pepperoni pizza

[Deacon]

They'd have to fly me to French Laundry. That's a last meal for you.

Or, alternately, I'd ask for obscure foods that would take a long time to collect: hummingbird tongues, orlolans, etc.

Or go to "Hole in One" in Manhattan. A hundred different and obscure, bizarre single-malt scotches and other whiskeys. Drink yourself to death before they get a chance to execute you. Send the bill to the governor.

Or I'd ask to be flown to Charlie Trotter's, where they keep bringing you food until you tell them to stop. Meal lasts forever = no execution. (Until they bring the firing squad INTO Charlie Trotter's and finish me off right there. . . .)

[cugel_the_clever]

If I was in Texas I'd probably opt for one (or possibly all) of T-bone steak, cheeseburger, fried chicken or Mexican as it appears that that is all that's usually on the menu!

Did you notice they're not allowed a last cigarette though??? That is just plain mean!

[Wilfrid]

I entirely agree that such a denial is extremely mean, although arguably less mean than executing the person at all.

[muon]

I'd have to choose something from childhood, made by my mother, me thinks. Well, maybe not.

Speaking of last meals, here's an interesting ditty: Condemned man picks a black olive for his last meal . And, I suppose, mystery solved.

[John Whiting]

A thousand-year-old egg, prepared from scratch.

[macrosan]

If I was in Texas I'd probably opt for one (or possibly all) of T-bone steak, cheeseburger, fried chicken or Mexican as it appears that that is all that's usually on the menu!

Did you notice they're not allowed a last cigarette though??? That is just plain mean!

Those Texans like to protect the health of their executees.

[jaybee]

Never mind all that morbid shit.

Off the top of my head, here's what I'd order:

First course- a 1/2 kilo of OOO grade unpasteurized ossetra caviar with blinis and creme frais, served with iced Grey Goose vodka.

Second course- seared whole foies gras served with 1/2 bottle of chilled Y'quem '61

Third course--whole fresh water pike poached with leeks and fresh herbs served with a Montrachet Ramonet 1929

Fourth course--grilled turbot with beurre blanc sauce Yves Culliere with potato gallette

Served with Chablis Les Clos 1970

Fifth course--Poulet vin jaune avec morilles prepared by Chez Maitre Paul with 1929

DRC

Sixth course--grilled porterhouse steak prepared by Peter Lugers with a 1929 Chateau Petrus

Seventh course-one dozen oysters flown in from La Rochelle, served with a 1988 Cristal

Eighth course--cheese platter served with bottle of 1929 Cheval Blanc

Ninth Course-Tarte tatin made by yours truly with 1929 Yquem.

[Stone]

If I was in Texas I'd probably opt for one (or possibly all) of T-bone steak, cheeseburger, fried chicken or Mexican as it appears that that is all that's usually on the menu!

Did you notice they're not allowed a last cigarette though??? That is just plain mean!

Those Texans like to protect the health of their executees.

Someone brought a lawsuit to enjoin lethal injections because the drug used had not been approved the FDA. The case went to the Supreme Court.

[macrosan]

Please don't be offended, Jaybee, but I think your choice is somewhat self-indulgent.

[Stone]

Never mind all that morbid shit.

Off the top of my head, here's what I'd order:

First course-  a 1/2 kilo of OOO grade unpasteurized ossetra caviar with blinis and creme frais, served with iced Grey Goose vodka.

Second course- seared whole foies gras served with 1/2 bottle of chilled Y'quem '61

Third course--whole fresh water pike poached with leeks and fresh herbs served with a Montrachet Ramonet 1929

Fourth course--grilled turbot with beurre blanc sauce Yves Culliere with potato gallette

Served with Chablis Les Clos 1970

Fifth course--Poulet vin jaune avec morilles prepared by Chez Maitre Paul with 1929

DRC

Sixth course--grilled porterhouse steak prepared by Peter Lugers with a 1929 Chateau Petrus

Seventh course-one dozen oysters flown in from La Rochelle, served with a 1988 Cristal

Eighth course--cheese platter served with bottle of 1929 Cheval Blanc

Ninth Course-Tarte tatin made by yours truly with 1929 Yquem.

Peter Lugar? Bah. And with a 1929 Chateau Petrus? Wrong. You deserve to be put to death.

[jaybee]

Please don't be offended, Jaybee, but I think your choice is somewhat self-indulgent.

Self indulgence, like masturbation, (as Woody Allen says) is like sex with someone you love. But I would be happy to share my meal with my mate.

[Wilfrid]

One of Jaybee's wine choices reminded me of a perfect meal chosen by John Arlott back in the Fifties. Wouldn't be so bad on this occasion either:

Fresh sliced prosciutto crudo with a modest Italian red

Lampreys a la Bordelaise. Cheval Blanc 1929

Paella. Rioja, Paternina - he didn't specify the vintage

Single Gloucester cheese. Chambertin - he did specify a vintage, but I've forgotten

Tokay Essencia

Burp.

[John Whiting]

Jaybee, your menu has the enormous advantage that, after supplying it, the State could no longer afford to hire an executioner (let alone Star Wars).

[jaybee]

I figure if they're gonna off me, I ought to stick it but good to the taxpayers. But I did limit my choices to things I would enjoy eating. Nothing frivilous, mind you. I was going to add Lauren Bacall and Calvin Trillin for dinner mates, but the topic only asked for the food and drink.

[GordonCooks]

Sixth course--grilled porterhouse steak prepared by Peter Lugers with a 1929 Chateau Petrus

Pour moi ? - 1929 Chateau La Tour

[Nick]

A taste of reality from Texas -

Final Meals

[maggiethecat]

I was going to say: Bacon and eggs, grilled tomatoes baked beans and toast. But Jaybee has completely the correct menu. Yeah...let's bankrupt the State of Texas so the electricity is cut off, and they can't find the juice to fry me.

I want a cigarette with my coffee. Hey, Jaybee, I'll eat with you.

[indiagirl]

More than a month ago, I came across this site while searching for something on Google:

http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/finalmeals.htm

It is the website of the Texas Department of Corrections and I stayed there, I must confess, trapped by morbid fascination and horror, for far too long. The page lists the last meal requests of prisoners on death row. Besides the obvious socio-political context of the page and the issues it raises, that site has stuck with me for a couple of reasons.

The format of the page is such that you see the meal requests immediately but you have to click on a link before you see the crimes - it made me wonder what the Texas Department was trying to convey with that layout. Was it something to do with food? Or was the page just the product of an unthinking bureaucracy?

Also, it made me wonder, if I had no constraints, what would I ask for as my last meal? Would I seek comfort? nostalgia? luxury? What would you? The answer seemed to me to be connected somehow to the meaning of food in my private and social life.

edited Amazon to Google

Edited March 22, 2003 by indiagirl (log)

[indiagirl]

Apologies for the incomplete Description:

What do they mean? What would you seek?

[indiagirl]

oh dear. thanks yvonne. i did a search on last meals before i posted this ......