Food Thread - What are you eating?

[Gorth]

On 10/17/2021 at 11:17 PM, BruceVC said:

Austrian\German food is overall better than the Nordic countries because of the vast range from authentic German fine dining like rabbit to pigeon to incredible pork dishes to normal delicious food like sausages, eisbein and normal meat dishes. Do you know  Germany   " boasts 10 three-Michelin-star restaurants, as many as Italy and more than the UK and Scandinavia combined " , taken from the article below. But Austrian cuisine is also very advanced and popular, I have eaten more Austrian food than German because of our family skiing holidays 

https://www.elitetraveler.com/features/best-restaurants-in-germany

But the Nordic countries are making huge progress and they have some unique food I have never eaten like cloud berries, fudge cheese and reindeer and other game specific to the region

 

Reindeer?... Try the Moose!

 

[Gorth]

On 10/17/2021 at 10:34 PM, majestic said:

There's no such thing as good food in the Nordics... the further North you get in Europe, the worse the food becomes.  

Supporting evidence?...

 

[majestic]

3 hours ago, Gorth said:

Supporting evidence?...

I was mostly joking, but I wouldn't consider Surströmming to be bad food out of hand. We're eating a lot of fermented stuff here too, just not fish, but when you're opening a new barrel or bag/can of sauerkraut, the smell isn't the most fantastic thing in the world either, but the food itself great.  

Speaking of Michelin stars, by the way, I'm more partial to the Gault-Millau hats, as that's just a mark of quality for the food, not anything else. Good service and a nice looking restaurant is, well, nice, but really, the best food I often got in totally run-down places, places with the most grumpy of servers (and/or owners) and fantastically tasteless furniture to round it off. The small places the locals go to eat, you know.

One of those is in walking distance, guy just recently threw out his lava lamps (no, really). He's also all nice and friendly, really, last time I was there we combined going out to eat with walking our dog, and he come in and he's like: "Who's the idiot on the leash there?" and I was like "What?" and he predictably went: "I'm talking to the dog."
Makes decent candy too.

Spoiler

 

[Gfted1]

Is that a solitary egg yolk next to the steak butter? What is the herb next to the ketchup (you barbarian )?

[BruceVC]

7 hours ago, majestic said:

I was mostly joking, but I wouldn't consider Surströmming to be bad food out of hand. We're eating a lot of fermented stuff here too, just not fish, but when you're opening a new barrel or bag/can of sauerkraut, the smell isn't the most fantastic thing in the world either, but the food itself great.  

Speaking of Michelin stars, by the way, I'm more partial to the Gault-Millau hats, as that's just a mark of quality for the food, not anything else. Good service and a nice looking restaurant is, well, nice, but really, the best food I often got in totally run-down places, places with the most grumpy of servers (and/or owners) and fantastically tasteless furniture to round it off. The small places the locals go to eat, you know.

One of those is in walking distance, guy just recently threw out his lava lamps (no, really). He's also all nice and friendly, really, last time I was there we combined going out to eat with walking our dog, and he come in and he's like: "Who's the idiot on the leash there?" and I was like "What?" and he predictably went: "I'm talking to the dog."
Makes decent candy too.

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I am glad you were joking about not recognising that fine dining and the local interpretation of food exists in all EU countries and is driven by dedicated local chefs. But its more common in countries like France, Germany and Austria

But food like  Surströmming is more a local speciality and not all Nordic people eat it but I would definitely try it but that to me is not an example of Nordic fine dining. Its the same as German sausages or UK fish and chips 

And I also never know when you joking or being serious because you have even accused me a being a fascist ....but I assume you joking 

[BruceVC]

6 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

Is that a solitary egg yolk next to the steak butter? What is the herb next to the ketchup (you barbarian )?

The secret to enjoying this type of meal is to always assume the chefs understand flavor and how the ingredients  work together because often the meal may appear to not be  normal to what we would cook or order 

And remember how much you enjoyed ordering unusual food in Mexico?

[BruceVC]

11 hours ago, Gorth said:

Supporting evidence?...

 

  I know this video is more light lighted but their  response to eating  Surströmming is exactly why they shouldnt be reviewing this type of food 

Because its well known that the smell is horrendous but the odour is because its exactly what famenting fish would smell like after 6 months of being in a can, here is the scientific reason it smells so bad 

The fermentation happens through autolysis and starts from a lactic acid enzyme in the spine of the fish. Together with bacteria, pungent smelling acids are formed, such as propionic acid, butyric acid and acetic acid. Hydrogen sulfide is also produced. The salt raises the osmotic pressure of the brine above the zone where bacteria responsible for rotting can thrive and prevents decomposition of proteins into oligopeptides and amino acids.[citation needed] Instead, the osmotic conditions enable Halanaerobium bacteria to thrive and decompose the fish glycogen into organic acids, making it sour (acidic).[7]

 

But the taste is not going to be like the smell, its like not eating a very strong blue cheese ....you would be denying yourself the experience based on a spurious sense of how we normally rate food 

[Maedhros]

@BruceVC Nordic food culture is bad, especially in my country where frozen pizzas are everyone's favorite meals.

However, Nordic food can be insanely good when done by people in-the-know. Especially sea food. If I had the choice to go to a top 10 Scandinavian, or a top 10 German/Austrian restaurant I'd recommend the former any day of the week, because of the sea food.

Edit: I'm saving up to go to Restaurant Under myself, in the south of the country. The ambience is pretty sick:

Edited October 31, 2021 by Maedhros

[Maedhros]

Double post

Edited October 31, 2021 by Maedhros

[Gromnir]

have no idea if the sauce is ketchup, which for such a meal is a condiment only appropriate for little kids and donald trump. however, the "egg yolk" is clear a slice o' parsnip and not the least bit odd. 

HA! Good Fun!

[ShadySands]

When I was in Estonia quite a few places had some kind of tomato sauce that looked a little like ketchup but wasn't. It was worse, bland. Everyone else was devouring it though. 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Short rib hash and a drink with coffee infused bourbon as the base. Not bad at all.

[BruceVC]

5 hours ago, ShadySands said:

When I was in Estonia quite a few places had some kind of tomato sauce that looked a little like ketchup but wasn't. It was worse, bland. Everyone else was devouring it though. 

How did you find Estonia, did your in-laws take you to any " famous " and cultural places that would be considered significant to their history. In SA you always arrange some interesting event for first time visitors who would not know about SA so its more about a interesting but fun way of showing any visitor something that they didnt  know about. But people are all different when it comes to their countries and I have no idea how people from the Baltic states normally would be comfortable with this type of highlighting of   things that matter to them?

Well done for not being honest  about that tasteless sauce because the truth can offend people especially if they are use to something being perfect as it is.  I have learnt about sometimes how some food from other countries is loved by local people and I will always try recommendation. But  I eat most food with pepper and extra heat and I always can have a hot sauce but I have created my own issue and expectation where I must have my food hot to generally appreciate it and I fine with that because a chilli eater will generally need to eat hot food to appreciate taste 

But I sometimes stop eating most hot sauces for 2 weeks or so and then I can eat most normal food without feeling it needs to make it taste " normal ". So what I always do when I order unusual food is ensure their is pepper in case the issue is it has no taste and then I have add pepper but I dont want to offend anyone who may think this is a reflection on their recommended dish. And you can  add pepper without anyone noticing 

[ShadySands]

Yeah, they showed me around quite a bit. Not just in Estonia but also in Russia, though that was limited to the St Petersburg area. I had the best beef stroganoff of my entire life there. 

Edited November 1, 2021 by ShadySands

[BruceVC]

37 minutes ago, ShadySands said:

Yeah, they showed me around quite a bit. Not just in Estonia but also in Russia, though that was limited to the St Petersburg area. I had the best beef stroganoff of my entire life there. 

Nice and of course Russia would have the best recipe for stroganoff ....the country of origin should be the best 

I feel like making that for dinner this week, its easy to make and I appreciate any recipe that is not strict but allows versatility which still works. I often use this website for excellent recipes and ideas and you see how many stroganoff recipes are possible 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipes/17123/main-dish/beef/beef-stroganoff/

[majestic]

On 10/31/2021 at 11:42 AM, Gfted1 said:

Is that a solitary egg yolk next to the steak butter? What is the herb next to the ketchup (you barbarian )?

No, like Gromnir already stated, that's just a lonesome slice of parsnip, the herb is a decorative piece of corn salad and the ketchup you get every time, even when you order the  candy without ketchup. Because... yeah, what else would you expect from a guy who greets some of his customers by yelling: "You're fat enough already, I ain't cooking for you."

Edited November 2, 2021 by majestic

[BruceVC]

On 10/31/2021 at 7:13 PM, Maedhros said:

@BruceVC Nordic food culture is bad, especially in my country where frozen pizzas are everyone's favorite meals.

However, Nordic food can be insanely good when done by people in-the-know. Especially sea food. If I had the choice to go to a top 10 Scandinavian, or a top 10 German/Austrian restaurant I'd recommend the former any day of the week, because of the sea food.

Edit: I'm saving up to go to Restaurant Under myself, in the south of the country. The ambience is pretty sick:

https://snohetta.com/project/428-under-europes-first-underwater-restaurant

I was reading up on this restaurant, it looks incredible and has a  menu that is based on only the available fresh food at the time  

[Gfted1]

2 hours ago, BruceVC said:

...and has a  menu that is based on only the available fresh food at the time  

You order the snapper and then watch a diver go spear it?

[BruceVC]

1 hour ago, Gfted1 said:

You order the snapper and then watch a diver go spear it?

Almost, the snapper is caught in the morning 

[Gromnir]

made home fries. am s'posing we also made poached eggs and a béchamel, but were little more than an excuse to make home fries. we like home fries, particular in duck fat. yum. the thing which occurred to us is we has seen folks make home fries and they near always add an extra step (or a wrong step) which is complete unnecessary, requires extra cleaning efforts and is time consuming, and who wants extra cleaning?

recommendation: the microwave oven is your friend.

ordinarily our microwave does little work in our kitchen. popcorn and boiling water? the thing is, the microwave is the perfect tool for getting your potatoes prepared for home fries. no par boiling. no pre baking.  cut your tatters into whatever size you believe is right for home fries, then place in a microwave safe container with whatever fat you intend to use for cooking (duck fat is best, but avocado or even olive oil is fine as long as you are careful once you add the olive oil coated spuds to a hot skillet,) seasonings and a teeny bit o' water. shake container so potatoes is coated, then vent container and place in microwave on high for 'bit less than two minutes for a single medium russet, depending on size o' your potato pieces. more potatoes does not require an additional two minutes-- each additional spud requires proportional less time. is not science but art, but am confident y'all can figure it out with a bit o' practice. regardless, after cooking, take tatters from microwave and remove lid and allow steam (water) to escape. fork tender is goal. toss your preseasoned and fat covered potatoes in a hot skillet. 

we do recommend fully cooking whatever vegetation, meat and/or garlic you might wanna contribute to your potatoes before adding the potatoes to skillet. remove veggies + whatever and then cook spuds separate. near end o' cooking, return veggies to the skillet so everything is warmed through. may be heretical, but this is also a reason why we sometimes use garlic powder 'stead o' garlic for home fries. overcook garlic is wasted garlic. garlic powder is gonna be a bit more robust and if you season your fat/potatoes with garlic powder before you cook 'em, the garlic flavor will not become burned/overcooked garlic flavoring. if you cook your garlic with your veggies, then you are imparting all that wonderful garlic flavor to a mass o' slight caramelized onions and whatever but not genuine to the potatoes.

regardless, don't par boil. don't pre bake. save self from the hassle and cleaning. microwave your spuds is an ideal time saver which does not affect end result taste whatsoever.

downside is home fries remain nice and hot for what feels like no more than a few seconds once removed from skillet. like french fries, home fries is capable o' going from mouth scalding to room temperature in in the blink o' an eye. ideally, if you do not mind being viewed as a savage and are willing to risk burning yourself, eat outta your skillet is probable the best approach. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

[ShadySands]

Boiled chicken drumsticks, couscous, and blistered grape tomatoes.

I know, I know boiled chicken but I find if you over season the broth a little it comes out marvelous. I then quickly pan fry it to crisp the skin and serve it like that. I then cut that broth with water to make the couscous. Super quick and super easy.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

1 hour ago, ShadySands said:

I know, I know boiled chicken but I find if you over season the broth a little it comes out marvelous.

I wouldn't call any boiled chicken marvelous, but I'd give it a shot with a small chicken I have. What seasonings did yall use?

[ShadySands]

I like Better than Bouillon and used that as my base and then threw in onion, thyme, black pepper, red pepper, bay leaf, parsley, some seasoned salt, and a few splashes of Maggi as is my way. Whatever sounds good to you and you have on hand and like I said before, I over season the water because boiling meat. I've also never done anything other than thighs or drums so dunno how that will turn out. 

[Gromnir]

5 hours ago, ShadySands said:

I like Better than Bouillon and used that as my base and then threw in onion, thyme, black pepper, red pepper, bay leaf, parsley, some seasoned salt, and a few splashes of Maggi as is my way. Whatever sounds good to you and you have on hand and like I said before, I over season the water because boiling meat. I've also never done anything other than thighs or drums so dunno how that will turn out. 

am almost always having homemade stock in the fridge or freezer, but better than bullion is an ez and effective shortcut to kinda turbocharge our stocks.  we made chicago italian beef sandwiches the other day and we did indeed have homemade beef stock, but a nice dollop o' better than bullion added instant depth. no different with chicken recipes, though am gonna note better than bullion may be a bit salty even if you choose the low sodium variety. regardless, we have a tendency to be a bit snobby 'bout food, and particular 'bout using stock, but better than bullion is a kitchen staple for us and gets frequent usage, although is more supplementary than foundational. 

HA! Good Fun!

[BruceVC]

Its Sunday and once again one of favorite days for several reasons that include ..English Breakfast time 

Today Im cooking fried eggs, bacon, cheese grillers, toast and homemade potato rostis