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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2009 7:44:56 GMT
Some of us have great affinities for the food of our own country or of one or more of the other countries that we have discovered. But, ignoring for the moment what your favourite food style might be in general, what is the origin of your very favourite savoury dish?
Tell us something about it if you want, such as how it came to hold this place in your culinary pantheon.
Two replies are possible to reduce excessive existential torment.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2009 17:17:14 GMT
I will put spaghetti with meat sauce at the top of my list: I love pasta and I love tomato sauce. The other ingredients can be varied with ground beef, mutton or even chicken, mushrooms may be added, variable quantities of onions and garlic and bell peppers, and it can be spicy or mild. Perhaps my favorite thing about this dish is that it is one of the dishes that tastes better and better every time it is reheated.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 20, 2009 18:57:27 GMT
Whew. Hard to narrow it down, but I used the criterion of favorite thing ever and came up with crawfish bisque. That meant my home country of the US got the poll vote.
Crawfish bisque is a melange of cooking influences -- certainly French and African, and who knows what else. It's the richest, most complex soup imaginable, with a deep shellfish taste and the interest of all the finely chopped sauteed vegetables and the tang of tomato. Of course there are shelled whole crawfish tails floating in it, then the messy fun of the stuffed heads at the bottom of the bowl.
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Post by imec on Aug 20, 2009 19:20:01 GMT
I'd find it very sad to live without Pizza. Thick, thin, Napoli style, Sicilian style, pizza rustica, California style, New York style.... I love it all.
We typically make pizza once a week - some of my favorite combinations are Shrimp with sundried tomatoes, red onions and basil; Spicy Chicken (with mushrooms, peppers, green onions, cilantro, tomatoes - a Wolfgang Puck recipe); Capicola, hot sausage, tomato and Mushroom; Reuben (TI dressing, swiss cheese, good corned beef or pastrami, sauteed sauerkraut and onions) - I could go on for pages...
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Post by lagatta on Aug 20, 2009 20:05:31 GMT
Hard to think off this offhand - certainly agree with spaghetti and pizza, and oddly enough I was going to indicate "fish soup" in general - the meal type of fish soup, anything from bouillabaise to something akin to bixi's crawfish bisque, though alas I have never had the pleasure of eating that one. Lots of good fish soups in Southeast Asia too.
I have a hard time with the countries. Italy of course, but a lot of these foods are eaten through out the Mediterranean, so I just marked North Africa (Maghreb) and Middle East, though I could just as well have marked (south of) France or Greece and Turkey, or even parts of the Balkans.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2009 20:16:34 GMT
Yes, I know that the country selections are not ideal, but I was hoping that people would find the country that inspired the original dish. For example, most American pizza has nothing to do with the original pizza from Naples, but I still hope that people who prefer pizza will understand that it originated in Italy, even if all of the ingredients and preparations have changed over the years.
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Post by lagatta on Aug 20, 2009 20:31:55 GMT
True, but bixa has to mark "United States" for her choice, because Creole cookery combines at the least French, African and Spanish/Caribbean influences.
Pizza definitely originates in Naples, (the kind with tomato sauce), though tomatoes are originally Mexican, or in any case American, but such flatbreads are common to the entire Mediterranean basin, since Biblical times.
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Post by hwinpp on Aug 21, 2009 8:18:25 GMT
Don't laugh.
My #1 favourite dish is a t- bone steak with French fries. I marked America for that.
My #2 favourite dish is a dry mutton curry, preferably with neither yoghurt nor coconut milk. I marked India/Pakistan though it's available in all countries between Pakistan and Indonesia.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2009 19:27:36 GMT
I considered a T-bone steak as a reply, not necessarily with french fries.
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 21, 2009 19:43:22 GMT
My soulfood is from the Indian subcontinent. That's where I turn to anytime.
So I had a lot of trouble with my second choice.
Chose Italy for risotti, pasta /the tomato stuff... but i could have chosen Greek/Turkish for all the mezze or Switzerland for cheese and air-dried beef.
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Post by livaco on Aug 23, 2009 18:04:01 GMT
I certainly like many foods from many of those choices but my top two were definitely Indian and Italian..
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 16:58:10 GMT
I am seeing a consensus that probably involves something about pasta and tomato sauce.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2009 17:49:01 GMT
I am seeing a consensus that probably involves something about pasta and tomato sauce. My # 1 was Italian for the pasta,any pasta. #2 was Greek/Turkey |
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Post by hwinpp on Aug 25, 2009 8:43:08 GMT
Hmmm, Turkish would be a very close third for me, I think.
Funny, I didn't think of anything Chinese or Thai or Indochinese...
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Post by bazfaz on Aug 25, 2009 9:18:46 GMT
I had to vote for France since I consider a well made pork terrine to be marvellous. And I am curious that K didn't vote for SEA.
On my visit visit to Thailand in 1985 I got off the international flight, went to the domestic terminal and looked to see what flights were available. Chiang Mai. Right. On board the plane I was greeted by the hostesses (no flight attendants, please) and noted with surprise the little spirit house with its offering of rice. And then the lovely girl served food. It was only a snack, little crispy pastry cups with wonderful fillings. I was hooked from the first mouthful.
I have been back to Thailand many times; and on another occasion in Chiang Mai did a 5 day cooking course. The Wok restaurant has some good food. I love the Galloping Horses (though Mrs Faz loyally says my effort is better) and their roast duck curry.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2009 9:29:24 GMT
Because I said this in the opening question:
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Post by Don Cuevas on Sept 13, 2009 12:19:36 GMT
Almost impossible to decide: a good hambuger?
A great bowl of chili con carne?
Spaghetti with garlic? (Rarely make spag w meat sauce these days. I almost never order pasta in a restaurant.)
BACON!
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Post by lagatta on Sept 13, 2009 14:42:56 GMT
Mmm, "aglio, olio e peperoncino"... yumm. I never make spaghetti with meat sauce; find it far too heavy. Idem lasagne - always with vegetables, no meat.
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Post by fumobici on Sept 13, 2009 19:55:32 GMT
Ask me twice and you'll get two different replies but today spicy Dungeness crabmeat enchiladas and beer sound perfect and I'm always a sucker for tagliatelle and truffles with red. I can't make a meat sauce for pasta the way I like because the local butchers can't/won't grind meat fine enough to make a proper ragu' Bolognese and I don't have the equipment to do it myself. A good ragu' has an almost silky mouthfeel I don't think I've ever experienced outside of Italy. Some of my favorite meals aren't really meals at all per se but just collections of various cold meats, cheeses, fruits and the like that can be leisurely grazed upon. A good antipasto, charcouterie or cheese plate is pretty hard to top. How many is that now?  |
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Post by BigIain on Sept 13, 2009 20:20:11 GMT
I adore Arrepas and quesadillas (both spelled wrongly?). Easy to make and fantastically rewarding. Pity there are no great street vendors of this stuff in Scotland!
I am assuming that cheap red wine does not qualify as a savoury dish, right?
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Post by lagatta on Sept 13, 2009 20:22:01 GMT
A lot of British people I know make what they call a bolognese, or "spag bol", but it is nothing like the real Bolognese type. Yes, that is good, but it is also very rich.
I love crabmeat just about any way (prefer it to lobster). My "no meat" caveat didn't apply to seafood - there are many types of seafood I like with pasta.
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Post by hwinpp on Sept 14, 2009 8:53:57 GMT
Is there a bolognese recipe in the recipe section? I used to make it with one of those instant Maggi or Knorr sachets but I can't get them here. Tomatoes, OTOH, I can  I could even make a green spag bol! |
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 14, 2009 14:38:46 GMT
HW, there are two (look under Potatoes, Pasta, & Pizza in the recipe list). No reason you shouldn't start a thread on bolognese or other pasta sauce recipes though. Green spag bol? Do tell!
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Post by tillystar on Sept 14, 2009 14:49:11 GMT
Yes, we really need to know more about green spag bol.
It’s not a dish, it’s a whole load of dishes but if I had to live on one meal only for the rest of my life it would have to be an English Christmas dinner. Oh yes.
For my second choice I will go Indian food. When it’s good it’s the best. Oh spicy delicious things that make your mouth pop please! I have found a magic place near my work that does great a lunchtime dosa menu which I am currently loving.
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Post by hwinpp on Sept 15, 2009 10:24:53 GMT
I don't know if it works but I can get ripe green tomatoes here. Wouldn't the result be a green spg bol?
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 15, 2009 15:49:48 GMT
Ripe green tomatoes?! Really?!!! Can you get a photo, please? Ask the vendor about the variety, too, if possible, okay?
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Post by lagatta on Sept 15, 2009 17:44:10 GMT
We have ripe green tomatoes here at Marché Jean-Talon. They are very tasty - not very large, round and green with darker green stripes. I'll try to find out the variety, in which case it is easy to find a photo.
In Italy, there are larger tomatoes that are mottled green and light red when ripe. They are good in salads - not used to make sauce.
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Post by hwinpp on Sept 16, 2009 4:19:48 GMT
Ripe green tomatoes?! Really?!!! Can you get a photo, please? Ask the vendor about the variety, too, if possible, okay? Ok, I'll lug my huge, heavy, old camera to the steaming market and take some pics just for you  You'll need a bit of patience though, the final Pchum Ben days are starting on Friday and I won't be online again until Monday (which normally is still a public holiday here, just not in Europe...). Ours are similar but without the stripes. I like 'em too and sometimes they're the only ones you can get. |
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 16, 2009 4:46:17 GMT
Gosh, it must be so uncomfortable taking pictures in that hot, steamy climate! I'm so jealous. Here -- in the land that invented tomatoes -- there is no real variety. It's almost all plum tomatoes, with some hydroponic round ones or little heirloom (but not terribly good) cat-faced ones. |
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Post by fumobici on Sept 16, 2009 5:19:31 GMT
We can now get many interesting heirloom varieties of tomatoes in season locally grown at the weekend farmers market here. I have yet to see those lobed green and red mottled ones that are so common in Italy here though, which is a shame as they are excellent.
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