August 18, 2002

2:34 PM

Ah, inspiring food and good writing. Recounting "first taste" experiences of Sea Urchin, Hearts of Artichokes à la Isman Bavaldy, and Cock in Wine, the perfect Pastrami sandwich, the sweet memory of honey and green mangoes, and about the late-onset cook, THE DOMESTIC MALE.
posted by semmi (11 comments total)

Green mangoes with salt and chili powder is my favorite food ever.
posted by rushmc at 3:05 PM on August 18, 2002

(If this doesn't get lots of posts maybe you could have a poetry of food thread?)

Best bit, for me, about moving to a new country (apart from the weather), has been the change in food. But if I had to write a column it would feature breakfast - freshly brewed coffee and toast. For three years I worked from home, in a small room at the back of the house. Each morning I'd creep up the stairs, carrying plate, cup and saucer (I started early, Pauli would still be asleep, or just be getting up). Login, start up a browser, and get crumbs stuck in the keyboard. Me, alone at the start of day, sipping my coffee, peering out over that huge network...
posted by andrew cooke at 3:06 PM on August 18, 2002

Now I'm hungry. Great links semmi, I particularly enjoyed reading Julian Barnes' "The Domestic Male".
I always used to help my mother around the kitchen, peeling potatoes and whatnot, but it wasn't until I began university that I really started to cook. Back then I lived in a hall with one big communal kitchen which made the food preparation pretty competitive. We were three guys who tried to impress the girls with more and more extravagant food ("hey, you comin' to the student union tonight? Nah, can't, spent all my money on shellfish"). All very fun, and one of us actually succeeded - he made an elaborate stew for one of the girls and they've lived happily ever after.

Just thought I'd share.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 3:20 PM on August 18, 2002

I will share my favorite dessert in the world. I'm just waiting for some American Chef to "discover" this. I couldnt find any English recipes.

Tejocotes en Miel
(Tejocotes in Honey)

Tejocotes look like small apples and have a tangy taste somewhat like apples and pears but their taste is distinctive. Some people say they are more like a plum.

1. Boil the tejocotes
2. Peel them and then add either caramel or honey.
3. Sprinkle cinnamon if desired.
posted by vacapinta at 3:35 PM on August 18, 2002

Talking of male/American chefs... we were round at an American friend's house the other day and for pudding (desert) he had baked apples with sugar, butter and curry powder. (Tasted very nice!)
posted by andrew cooke at 4:29 PM on August 18, 2002

I've had the Alice B. Toklas cookbook for years, but like the author in the second link, I have found it much more fascinating as a book of memoir than useful as a guide. After reading this, I might have to go back and try the coq au vin, though. (For whomever might be interested, the straight dope on the infamous Alice B. Toklas brownies here.)

Andrew, regarding a poetry of food thread - not a bad idea, actually! Celebrated food writer MFK Fisher (nyt, sorry) once said "When I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and it is all one."
posted by taz at 12:49 AM on August 19, 2002

Great reading semni. Luckily, I had a fridge full of leftovers. I'm a domestic male with a healthy interest in food, always looking for another 'first'. Last year, visiting Bangkok for the first time, I skipped the whole traditional sight seeing notion, after I tried a bowl of noodles from the vendor outside my hotel. I spent my holiday looking for the next meal. I had many sublime experiences eating streetfood or in small restaurants. But since I don't speak Thai or Chinese, (BKK Chinatown is da bomb) I simply pointed at the dishes I saw other people eating. I didn't know what the dishes were called or what most of the ingrediënts were. The result: now I'm craving meals, I am not likely to eat again, I don't even know what the hell it is that I want so much. Life can be so unfair.
posted by ouke at 2:17 AM on August 19, 2002

Lately, my seven-year-old boy and I have shared a lot of male-bonding quality time in the kitchen making pancakes. We fixed my wife dinner last night, in fact.
posted by alumshubby at 4:37 AM on August 19, 2002

Actually, the articles *not* available on line are even better, including the tale of a New Yorker writer who set out to profile celeb chef Mario Batali and got so intoxicated by the life he ended up volunteering to work in the kitchen at Babbo for months.

If you dig excellent food writing, this is one New Yorker worth your $3.95.
posted by sacre_bleu at 6:54 AM on August 19, 2002

alumshubby: Keep on keeping on your excellent approach to fatherhood!
posted by taz at 10:09 AM on August 19, 2002

I don't even know what the hell it is that I want so much.

Ah, my own personal tagline....
posted by rushmc at 2:25 AM on August 20, 2002