Monday, February 18, 2008

Culinary Perfection

Subtitle: Lazy and Looking for Easy Comments

I regularly read Diners Journal a “blog” by the New York Times food critic, Frank Bruni. Last week he did an article in the paper that described his lunch at the newly reopened Second Street Deli with Ed Koch, the former Mayor of NYC, Nora Ephron, the writer and Laura Shapiro, a “culinary historian” (whom I’ve not heard of). It and several follow on posts talked about deli foods: what was good, what was bliss and what should not be tolerated. What are proper condiments, which are the great delis and what is truly kosher.

It got me to thinking about blissful food and drink. What they are must certainly be as personal as what or who is beautiful, what is transforming, what is inspiring, you get the idea.

So I throw the floor open. Tell me about blissful food and/or drink. No rules. No limits on your examples. Restaurant, home, childhood, all are fair game. What food or what drink are you thinking about right now having had the question posed to you? That’s what I’d like to hear about.

I’ll throw out two of mine.

1997 Beringer Reserve Cabernet. I’m not much of an expert on wines. I know what I like when I’ve tasted it. I can’t do the descriptive stuff like woody and fruity. The "nose" escapes me. But, the glass that I had was one of the best things that I’ve ever tasted in my life. Were I to be good at the words, there would be too many to use as the sensations kept changing, a flavor, then another, then a hint of another. Wonderful. Don’t ask what it cost. I won’t be having another glass in the near future.

Paella made by Jorge’s wife, whose name escapes me, years ago when I lived in Miami. We had an office Christmas lunch with everyone bringing a dish. Jorge brought a big pan of his wife’s paella. There are tons of recipes for it. This one had various shellfish, fish, rabbit and sausage. Then there were the wonderful herbs and spices over saffron rice. Again, not much of a description, but I can remember the exploding tastes, now decades later.

Your turn. Oh, and I have a bet with myself that this may screw up. More comments from women than from men will be forthcoming.

15 comments:

Posol'stvo the Medved said...

Dave -- Mood and current state of satiety (Is that a word? It is now!) play a major factor into this. And there are different foods in different categories. But, here's a few.

Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout (were I still an imbibing dude); a proper Fillet Mignon from a proper cook; Alligator Tenderloins, breaded and fried; James H.'s Shrimp Fritters with the side of cholesterol emergency sauce...

I was sure I'd have more, but I just finished dinner and had a few cookies for a snack, and am a bit weary from being up till 1:30 AM watching "There Willl Be Blood" last night. The brain's a bit soft right now.

Anonymous said...

My Grandmother was one of those great country cooks that never measured or used a recipe and her chicken and noodles was to die for. The first thing she had to do to make it was catch the chicken and it just got harder after that. Fortunately, I have learned how to make homemade noodles just like hers and refinded the catching of the chicken so whenever I feel like "going home" I make chicken & noodles. Sonja loves too them and I hope some day to teach her how its done.

Dave said...

SM, I fixed the double thing. I'm assuming the chicken is stewed. My Mom made something similar that you got me remembering stewed chicken and dumplings. The only drawback was that she always served sauerkraut with it, something I hated as a kid and love as an adult.

Pos, I'll accept satiety as a synonym for satiation (sp?). On second thought I'll go with your word, I can spell it.

molly gras said...

Anything my mom or her mom cooked.

Specifically, my mom can make a mean, meaty, full-bodied, spiced-up, loaded with both bold and subtle flavors red beans and rice that would have you crawling back to the table for third or fourth helpings.

Both descended from the old school of country cooking where there's always a main dish, two side dishes (a combo of either a fresh, multi-vegie salad, or cooked fresh vegies, or a "relish" tray of in-season sliced vegies) and a pan of piping hot, fresh from the oven bread (usually corn bread).

Growing up, we ate very well. As a kid, I never appreciated how good the eats were; as an adult, I fall terribly short in continuing this culinary heritage and miss experiencing it terribly.

SonjaB said...

Ummmm, really good Mac & Cheese. Kraft Mac & Cheese used to have a recipe on the box for baked M&C.

Basically you made the box product (with the cheese goo, not the powder) then you added sour cream and more cheddar cheese and baked it. Oh my stars it was bliss.

SonjaB said...

I just read the comments and yea my mom's chicken and noodles is also bliss.

Jeni said...

So many foods, so little time! That attitude, which is pretty much mine, explains a lot of the expansion that has taken place in my body I guess. Well that and not near enough movement to burn of 10 calories much less maybe 1,500 to 2,000 a day at times. I love just about any kinds of pasta as well as most Asian foods too - General Tso's Chicken is one of my favs -with extra spicy flavorings added to it too please. Cheesecake, pies of almost any kind are higher on my list than cake or even cookies, though I do like me some good cookies too and prefer them to be home baked from scratch, not from a refrigerated roll or some such like that. Every now and again, my daughter and I will get a hankering for a Swedish dish - really just a simple plain baked custard (called Panakaka) that my Mom and Grandma used to make. It's a great all-purpose dish -serve it as part of your meal, or for dessert; for breakfast - cold or fried in butter -plain or with fresh berries, butter, jelly or syrup. Yeah, we love it! But I think my all-time favorite thing has to be fresh bread, right out of the oven, with ice cold pats of REAL butter slathered thickly on the bread slices! Now that is heaven to me!

Posol'stvo the Medved said...

As of this morning, I would like to add Biscuits and Gravy - the good kind, not the wallpaper paste tasting variety they served in basic training - to the list.

(As of now, it looks as though your prediction will come true.)

Anonymous said...

You've rekindled a boyhood memory that I can taste right now even after nearly 40 years. My mother was a basic meat and potatoes cook, well schooled by her German heritage. But the one meal that always caused anticipatory drooling had no potatoes, but instead substituted buttery noodles as the complement. The meat for that meal was cow's tongue. I know, anyone unfamiliar with that delicacy is gagging and choking on the gross factor. But let me assure you that there is no greater treat than the savory smoothness of a slow-cooked cow's tongue. Whenever she would prepare that meal, the aroma wafting out of the kitchen had us hovering nearby hoping to be first at the table when suppertime finally arrived. My sisters and I would wage cutthroat battles to be the first at the table and thus the happy recipient of the very tip of the tongue. The cooked tongue would be presented on a platter surrounded by those aforementioned noodles and a sauce so sinfully buttery that I always felt the need to go to confession afterward. The cold tongue leftovers of that meal made for unbelievably decadent sandwiches for a couple days afterward. It's been twenty years since my mother died and another twenty before that that I had the joy of eating her masterpiece, but I am sitting here now nearly drooling at the memory. Thanks for invoking that memory. I think I will head now to butcher shop and see if I can scare up a tongue to cook in her honor. I know I will never be able to duplicate her masterpiece, but, damn, I just have to try.

Dave said...

Hi Bob, thanks for stopping by. I can't say I've had tongue; but, contrary to 99% + of the people in the world, I like liver. I'll have to give it a try sometime.

Jim Donahue said...

The first time I had steak at Peter Luger. It was like tasting beef for the first time.

Gypsy at Heart said...

It seems like I'm about the skew the numbers even further in the women's favor. That makes you lucky at betting games Dave.

As to the question at hand, Posolxstvo had it right. Mood is a factor in great eating remembrances. Another one is place. The confabulation of both plus memorable dishes brings about the following list for me.

1982 - I was twelve. My family and I ate seafood paella after closing hours at a rinky dink looking restaurant in Montreal, Canada. A friend of my parent's had taken there around 11 o'clock. We were dead tired, starving after a long day of tourism and we were served the best seafood paella I've ever had in my life. That's saying a lot when you consider that my own mother is a master of this dish. People fight for invites to eat her paella.

1990 - We arrived, after an extreme early morning drive, at the country home of a friend of my father. It was 6:30am or thereabouts. Under a thatched outdoor bohio (like a hut) there was a table piled high with breakfast delicacies from my country. Yellow corn tortillas (not like the flat Mexican ones but thick, fried and piping hot) with fresh made white cheese. Carimañolas (imagine a soft on the inside crispy on the outside type of patty filled with ground beef). Liver filets sauteed with onions and fresh tomatoes. Newly baked bread. Grapefruit juice freshly squeezed from the grapefruits in their orchard. Heavenly. I repeat myself but this one is in the breakfast category. Best breakfast I ever had.

You reminded me of two liquids I once drank that I remember as singular at first sip. One was a 1980 Marques de Riscal Gran Reserva. The other a very old port I had in Portugal while my father let me have puffs of a Cohiba Siglo V he was smoking. I don't know what it was about the mix of the cigar and the port but I, like you lack fancy words to describe what about the both of them made them just so darned great. I still remember both experiences to this day.

Lastly, my mother's Chicken Kiev. When she was on point with this one, you could cut through the ultra tender and breaded chicken to a heart of melted tarragon and garlic butter. An amazing mouthful. It is still my favorite dish.

Oh oh! Wait. I love Chinese dim sum. How could I have forgotten this. They say that my country (Panama) has places that serve dim sum to rival that which is served at the very best Hong Kong restaurants. I believe it. We've got a thriving and old Chinese immigrant community to give the credence to this claim. My taste buds will attest to how good Panamanian/Chinese dim sum is. I can't vouch for the Hong Kong ones.

I'm sure I could come up with a couple of things more but my fingers are tired and I'm sure I've used up the remainder of your comment space. Before I go, I too thank you for helping me to remember some lovely food, lovely meals and great eating moments.

The Exception said...

Interesting and challenging. I like food, but there is very little that truly stands out as your readers and you described. I remember a fabulous and very simple sanwich I had in Sydney. Amazing fresh peaches bought from a farmer's market in Toulouse and a breakfast of cheese and bread and pastries in Berlin that was... amazing.

Perhaps I like the more simple tastes I guess... the vine picked produce and fruit straight from the trees. Give me a fresh Caprice salad any day of the week... I am happy!

I will add - I must add - that there was a popular cafe type place in my home town frequented largely by women and only open during the summer. She served a shrimp and avacado salad that was absolutely amazing.

I ate there whenever I was home.

Kathleen said...

A really good IPA is my beverage of choice these days. I discovered Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Snaps recently and they are to die for. I've made it my mission in life (for now) to pass along this message.

I'm always very fond of garlic mashed potatoes. I'd like some asparagus tempura sushi sometime soon.

Kathleen said...

Oh yeah, koshari...had it in Egypt back in 1995 and want to go back just to eat it again. My mother just got back from Egypt and is also a convert to koshari, which is surprising because she's the pickiest eater in the history of the world.