In the excellent and hilarious movie, THE TRIP, two English gents visit a lot of restaurant in northern England, where virtually every meal is similar to this.
Or similar to this description: a single scallop on a English spring pea puree topped with a slivered radish marinated in a balsamic vinaigrette. Not much is made of this repetitious cuisine in the film and it's one I see on the Food Network (not my viewing choice, ahem) night after night. When is this sort of cuisine going to fade away?
It relies too heavily on exotic combinations for my taste. And I am not so sure piling things on top of each other is all that pleasing to the palette.
I'm not saying I want to return to the cuisines of the sixties and seventies but geez, can anyone get excited about this stuff anymore? What's your favorite eatery serve? And what happened to regional cuisines. You can get this sort of item anywhere in the world.
NOTE: Many wonderful bloggers have given Megan's new book a push, Jack Bates, a local writer, wonders if the Oakland County Child Murderer of the eighties in Michigan, influenced the book. I have to admit, I don't know. You can see his piece here.
20 comments:
I'm basically a pizza guy. I could eat it every day since the Buffalo area has dozens of pizzerias that make very different kinds of pizza. The high concept cuisine always leaves me hungry.
But you enjoy watching TOP CHEF still, right? Or has that lost its charm.
If I have to pay for it, I want a proper meal! I love fish, but also a good steak. No one in this house would dream of going vegetarian, but though I grew up in potato´n´gravy land, I do like a nice salad or homemade bread with my meal.
George and Jackie are in sync here as she's said she could eat pizza every day. We never eat at these so-called "nouvelle cuisine" places and never would. Italian, Chinese, other ethnic restaurants (won't name them all) or just normal American food.
I never watch those Food Channel shows, only Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and others like it.
Jeff M.
Shows like "Top Chef" and "Iron Chef" do focus on intricate presentations and imaginative (some would say bizarre) combinations of ingredients, but by and large the Food Network shows feature pretty basic recipes and ingredients and lots of "kitchen porn" equipment and decor (I want a combination of Ina Garten's and Paula Deen's kitchens).
I live in Louisiana and we have lots of local cuisine (crawfish, jambalaya, gumbo, po'boys, beignets--the list goes on). I like to cook and I like to eat--and I'm willing to try new recipes if I can find the right ingredients. My favorite thing to cook is lasagne--my kids tell me it's "the world's best," so I'm not bragging on myself--ha-ha.
If I had my druthers, which I don't thanks to being overweight, with Diabetes, I rotate: Pizza, next day big ol' cheesburger & fries, next day Mexican, next day fried chicken & mashed potatoes, and start over again. Yes, I like a good salad now and then, and in reality the foods listed are the occasional treat. I also really, really love fruit (the strawberries and the fresh cherries are tremendously delicious just now). Oh, and an occasional stack of pancakes. And steak, did I mention that? Yes, steak, for sure. As for haute cusine, no, thank you.
I'm with Jeff: I pretty much watch DINERS, DRIVE-INS, & DIVES on THE FOOD NETWORK and that's about it. I'm getting weary of TOP CHEF on BRAVO.
I don't watch the food network, but I have to admit, I thought the food in THE TRIP looked pretty mouthwatering (except that I'm not that fond of scallops). I also really liked Rob Brydon's comment about the server's lavish descriptions of the food: "That's a bit optimistic, isn't it, to say they're 'resting' [on a bed of greens]?"
What I would really like to find around here in DC (and I welcome recommendations) is a good Greek place--I miss the old Detroit Greektown. And in Boston, it seemed like all the Greeks, of which there were many, only owned pizza parlors--you couldn't get a good saganaki Opa! for love or money.
The place matters as much to me as the food. I like unpretentious places, those hole-in-the-wall restaurants with simple food you can eat with your hands :-)
Like Olivia, I love good Greek food, but it's hard to find here in Colorado too.
Off subject but I love your current taste in reading. :)
Give me mashed potatoes, pork chops, and apple sauce and I'm happy camper. Haute cuisine is for special occasions. I can't get too excited about it and it never satisfies a real hunger. But it is fun to try and cook like that. We get pretty experimental in our kitchen every now and then. Creating goofy garnishes for our attempts at gourmet cooking satisfies my dormant artist side.
I like pretty much every ethnic food I've tried, but much as I love me some chicken tikka, nothing tops a perfect steak with either baked or mashed potatoes. With a good Scotch first.
George up top is a man after my own heart ... first for being from the Buffalo area (Go Bills) ... then for being a pizza guy. Pizza is my downfall dieting ... I can eat pies (post lapband) within minutes (8 slices) ... pre lapband, forgetaboutit ... but none of that designer crap they sell in Manhattan. Pizza, no toppings, extra gravy (sauce to yous nons), well done ... madonna mia.
I love variety: I'd want to eat something different every day. I love sauces, too: I realise that's why Indian food is my fave, all those different, flavorful sauces. But when I am away too long, I get a longing for a simple Sunday pub roast with mushy peas and a Yorkshire pudding. There's a grocery store near here where you can get a can of mushy peas, but it costs $5! And it's not the same as eating in a pub anyway...
I'm with Naomi and K. A. about Indian food, though we rarely eat it here.
Growing up we were subject to my father being a meat & potatoes guy, so only ate differently ('fish' for us then was fishsticks) on nights he worked late.
Fortunately we've changed since then (so has my father). I was a horribly picky eater as a kid - I was one of those who could not have the peas touching the mashed potatoes or meat on my plate (my mother - "It's all going in the same stomach!"), whereas now I'll try almost anything.
Jeff M.
Sorry, I draw the line at mushy peas. We did have some excellent fish & chips (hold the m.p.) on our trip to London in March.
Jeff M.
I'm with Kate on variety. I would like to eat something different every night. Luckily Phil likes to cook something different every night. About the only thing I don't like is liver.
Oh, yeah. Gotta vote with you on liver, Patti.
Yum. Love liver, with fried onions & potatoes.
Jackie would sooner stick a fork in her eye. Same goes for tongue.
Jeff M.
Charlie and I are helpless pizza addicts. Also, just to make things really impossible, Buffalo is hosting WINGFEST (Sept. 3-4), a two-day orgy of eating 100 different varieties of chicken wings (33 tons of wings served last year!). Yikes!
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