Food and dining thread

[W_L]

It seems a bit odd to me that out of our thousands of discussion threads on GA, there's very rarely any talk about food or dining.

 

I mean, I know a couple of you guys like me watch shows like Hell's Kitchen, Iron Chef, and Top Chef along with an assortment of Food Network shows in the past. So why have we never discussed food and dining?

 

For example, was anyone surprised with the results of season 8's Top Chef (FYI, Top Chef is my favorite Reality TV show and Richard Blais deserved it, but I wished Dale L did not have to leave so soon; he was my favorite gay chef. Angelo is way too flashy for my taste ) ?

 

Is Food Netowrk really going down hill with their programs? (I hate their new batch of TV shows)

 

Is Anthony Bourdain really the God of Travel and eating? (I think so, but you may disagree, seriously the man is a genius.)

 

Or something simpler like local eats, I personally hated the service of Harvard Square's Harvest Restaurant, why the heck should I eat there when the better tasting sea food of Legal Seafood is only a block away at the same price?

 

Anyone want to try out their tastes?

[BeysJoshersLepton V2]

I've never really watched any food shows but did recently go to the Spaghetti House near Leicester Square for a mates 25th before we headed for a night in Soho. Anyway the Calamari was very nice, the pizza was huge, I didn't attempt to pronounce the names as they were in Italian and knew I'd mess them up. The Chianti was also excellent if over priced however much to our humor when someone checked the bill later they forgot to put on a good £100 for the wine so we didn't all exactly run back to show them their mistake.

[JamesSavik]

Geaux Cajun or don't geaux at all.

 

 

This is a basic staple of Cajun cooking: shrimp boiled with potatoes and corn. Of course it is boiled is in mixture of spices heavy on cayenne. Cayenne pepper is a staple of Cajun cuisine.

 

 

Red beans on rice with Andouie sausage. This is an old New Orleans favorite.

 

 

Seafood gumbo is amazing stuff. It's rare but wonderful to find a place that makes their own. Don't eat it out of a can- that's just disgraceful.

 

 

The po boy is a style of sandwich that is real New Orleans. It made on sour dough bread and can be shrimp, roast beef, sausage, soft-shelled crab- all sort of stuff.

 

 

----------------------

 

A favorite lunch in New Orleans:

 

Gimme a cup of gumbo, shrimp po boy and a glass of ice tea.

[thatboyChase]

honestly dudes, food makes you fat. didn't you know?

 

james i'd eat the first meal hands down, looks good, second maybe without the rice or does rice make it gud?i need to come to the biyou and get me some cajun cookin. you'd have to do it naked, however with an apron on that says. "i cook for cocks" don't they eat crawdads too? or was that scooby doo movie a long time ago lying to me.

 

ps: i'd ditch the pepper cause im a pussy or are those mild, i forget. isn't most cajun cooking based around spice anyway or the feeling your mouth is full of lava?

 

Food TV is cool, anthony bourdain is appealing cause he eats the shit we wouldn't, like bat brain or something. best episode is when they go to like deep africa and make vodka from a tree. oh wait thats the travel channel right?

 

Man vs. food is cool, I want to know how that guy doesn't increase in size though after eating all that crazy fewd. Sometimes before I eat I watch Food Tv in hopes i am infused with some sort of inspiration to cook something but it never happens and i just make something protein rich with little to no carbs juice/water/variant of a health shake and some cleansing veggies. my culinary lifestyle is boring.

[W_L]

honestly dudes, food makes you fat. didn't you know?

 

 

Man vs. food is cool, I want to know how that guy doesn't increase in size though after eating all that crazy fewd. Sometimes before I eat I watch Food Tv in hopes i am infused with some sort of inspiration to cook something but it never happens and i just make something protein rich with little to no carbs juice/water/variant of a health shake and some cleansing veggies. my culinary lifestyle is boring.

 

 

Fat is good, you will be covered in fat one day Chase.

 

As for man v. food, I heard that he actually works out like five hours every day if he isn't filming in a city or something.

 

@James, I had me a Po-Boy when I was in New Orleans, it was the soft shell crab. Holy Shit! It was so good. I also had some alligator gumbo, when I was down there, we only have just plain rice, chicken, sausage, and roue (the roue sucks) up north at our Tex Mex places.

 

Crawfish is one of those things I eat deep fried, I like steamed seafood , but I just prefer it fried.

 

And finally to the trendy SoHo guy, (I haven't been there in a years, not my thing really):

 

Every time I hear Chianti, I keep getting Anthony Hopkin's line in my head "with Fava Beans....hiss"

 

As for Pizza, I am set to two settings, thin crust that is crispy or deep dish that you got to handle with care. I don't get why New Yorker get so hyped over the Deep Dish Pizza issue, you can eat it with your hands just be careful with it?

[Canuk]

I must admit to never watching cooking shows - not the "best chef" variety anyway - I can't stand the brutal competitiveness and the spurious reasons people get thrown off the show. In addition while I love well cooked and inventive food, eating to me is as much about the social occaison as it is about the food and drink.

[BeysJoshersLepton V2]

I think thats the first time I've ever been called trendy thank you , as for pizza I've always prefered deep pan something easy to pick up without needing to be careful.

[W_L]

I think thats the first time I've ever been called trendy thank you , as for pizza I've always prefered deep pan something easy to pick up without needing to be careful.

 

Your welcome !

 

hehe, you should really try a nice deep dish that is not made by UNO's. Layers of cheese, sauce, vegetables, and meats all going on top of each other with a traditional crust that is tasy.

[PrivateTim]

I am not a fan of Bourdain's mostly because I find him insufferably arrogant and for no particular reason he doesn't have a particularly impressive restaurant resume, he is know more for his acerbic books. When I first saw Gordon Ramsey on TV, I thought "who the hell is this arrogant bastard" and then I saw HIS resume, Harvey’s with Marco Pierre White, Albert Roux at La Gavroche, stints with Guy Savoy and Joël Robuchon, head chef at La Tante Claire, head chef and partner at Aubergine and went on to win his first Michelin star fourteen months later. He was with Aubergine until he finally opened Restaurant Gordon Ramsay that eventually gained three Michelin stars and the rest, as they say, is history. The man has deep chef creds, he can swear and throw all the pans he wants, the man knows his poopoo.

 

I don't know that the Food Network is going down, but it is tough to keep it fresh and innovative. I HATE the cupcake shows, that awful trend is already passe and I miss Rachel Ray's "On $40 a Day" and I think THAT is a show that is badly needed these days. I like Triple D and even Man vs Food, but Man vs Food bugs me in the sense that it really glorifies mediocre places with gimmicks.

[Mark92]

I do a lot of cooking, with stuff I grow and breed, the monthly shop does good for the stuff I cant grow. The only food progs I watch are things like River Cottage and sometimes Jamie Oliver. My biggest liked chef is James Martin, mainly cos he's hot and comes from my part of the world.

I'm always quoting the five senses, well taste is high on that and sight, if it looks good it usually tastes good.

Simple wholesome food can taste as good as something bought in a restraunt, If its prepared and cooked right and looks good on the plate.

[W_L]

@PrivateTim: Anthony Bourdain is well respected for his taste, rather than his cooking talent. People expect critics to be jerks with a soul for their field. (Although, I do concede and wonder how his excessive cigarette habit has affected his taste buds, but hey, he's the only man on TV right now who is not promoting health consciousness or paying lip service to the idea that he doesn't believe in. I give him tons of credits for being honest.)

 

As for Gordon Ramsey, I like Kitchen Nightmares more than Hell's Kitchen, both the US and UK versions. According to other chefs, he's supposedly more real in these shows to who he is in life rather than Hell's Kitchen reality TV hypes of his brash personality.

 

@Mark92: What do you grow and breed? Are you a year round farmer or just seasonal?

 

I don't have much of a green thumb, but I enjoy the fresh produce at a farmer's market (and the lower prices than the supermarkets in volume ).

 

Do you grow your own feed or do you buy it for your animals? Does feed really make different in the end on how the meat actually taste or need to be prepared?

[Y_B]

I liked Dave Lieberman's shows when they were on. Maybe they still are but I don't think I've caught them.

 

Top chef is interesting.

 

Honestly, my favorite food shows would have to be those where someone travels all over the world and tries out all sorts of local food that we don't see often if at all. I'd love to do that myself one day

[Westie]

Nigella Lawson rules. enough said.