OT: Mediterranean cuisine

[Robatoy]

Elsewhere in this rumbling oracle of wisdom, one of our participants and regular contributor wrote thusly:

101. Lew Hodgett View profile More >>> (The Italians have hot women too.)

And most of them are pretty good cooks. (Still trying to find an Italian cusine item I don't like). Lew

------------------------- I couldn't agree more. Anywhere from around the Mediterranean, not just Italian. The Greeks know a thing or two about great food as well. I have, over the years, refined a spanakopita recipe that will blow your socks off.

But those Italians... I tell you, they can make me weep. My guests invariably suggest (beg) I make either my raviolis, my putanesca or my canellonis. When we sit down to eat, our battle cries often include things like: "To hell with the French!!"

My food-life changed when I found a bargain basement coffee table book on Italian cooking... written by two Brits...go figgur. My 1/2 dozen best dinners come from that book. (they're not afraid to throw around a little mascarpone and saffron.)

I also like a feed of Pad Thai and often crave a gumbo or enchiladas, butter chicken from India (Yum vandaloo and nan) so the Italians don't have an exclusive on good food, but if I had to pick one...... it sure as hell wouldn't be British...LOL

r

[Lew Hodgett]

My favorites:

Italian (Love a good Carbonara) Greek Chinese Screw the frogs EXCEPT for the "Country French".

And then there is Thai.

Love Lemon Grass soup and peanut sauce.

Ribs, fried chicken, and coon ass chow all get a separate chapter.

Lew

[Robatoy]

I think a putanesca, hot or cold, is my reliable favourite.

Authentic Chinese, not that Dainty garbage.

Rotten cheeses, hairy armpits, wooly legs, stinky cigarettes, ugly cars.

My oldest daughter turned us on to authentic Thai food in Toronto...really nice.

Indonesian sat=E9 with gado gado sauce... major yumm.

I expect Swingman to start talking about menudo DEFINITELY a different chapter, that.

[Lew Hodgett]

As you might guess, have some humongous Chinese available here in L/A.

different chapter, that.

Definitely does NOT make any of my lists, you can have the tripe.

Lew

[B A R R Y]

Oh, man! We have (2) Thai restaurants on my Main Street, both highly regarded by NY Times restaurant reviewers.

Drunken Noodles, 3 star!!!

Ever had Tibetan food? Fan-freakin'-tastic! Hard to find, but worth it if you can.

I work with a guy who orders Drunken Noodles so hot, we picture the chef putting on a Tyvek suit and positive pressure respirator to make it. 8^)

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[asmurff]

...and Turkish food especially the tavas which as stews.

[Lew Hodgett]

Many people are under the impression that the hot chilies come from Mexico when it is the Asian countries that really have the real bombs.

Get a Schewan dish, then take a bite out of one of those little red devils if you doubt me.

Lew

[evodawg]

Red Savina habanero pepper, the hottest in the world. Red Habanero. The Hottest Pepper Seed in the world. According to Guinness Book of World Records.

[Robatoy]

I had a Sichuan meal once which had, as a side condiment a green chili paste (not anything like wasabi) which was simply inedible. I simply touched it with my finger, no visible amount stuck my finger... then licked and fn died. That much heat begs the question: WHY? Rob doesn't get it.

[J. Clarke]

There's one from India that recently took the lead. However they all originated in South America.

[nailshooter41]

It is a proven addiction. I have it. I have eaten things so hot for so long I have actually damaged my digestive system.

Down here we have all things peppers, and in fact I just bought a couple of pounds of jalapenos and serranos to make homemade salsa and sauce for my every-Sunday huevos rancheros. Mex restaurants (70% latin population - I is a minority!) are judged a great deal by their house hot sauce.

Most have two or three available. Mex restaurants have fresh chopped peppers available on request at no charge. Like a lot of folks, I enjoy a crunchy green jap along with a burger.

But my poison of choice is the Thai restaurant I like. The two sisters that own/run/cook are from Thailand, and they make traditional dishes and use traditional Thai peppers they grow from seeds they got from Thailand. They use Thai basil, which is stronger that sweet with all its permutations, with almost a licorice taste to it. Very pungent.

For garnish on their noodle dishes, hey dry some of the peppers, roast them until chocolate colored, and then grind them to dust. The result is exquisite. The bite of the heat, the pungency, the toasty flavor.... incredible. It is my undoing.

When I eat too much (which seems to be some kind of unwritten rule) my tongue will go numb, then my throat, then my lips feel like they do when I have dental work. Since I can no longer taste the heat, I really put that stuff on.

And boy do I pay for it. But, I am down to doing that just about once a month, so I guess that's an improvement.

Robert

[Swingman]

"Robatoy" wrote

Wrong language, and we don't normally cook roadkill in South Louisiana ... but, I've had the authentic stuff, way way south of the border, and, when/if you can get it past your nose, it is indeed something a Coonass can appreciate, particularly when the margaritas, made with fresh limes, are flowing like Bayou Teche on a rainy night.