Pho.
Oh, yes! I knew I forgot a major one.
Pizza. Hands down. The wife agrees.
Dungeness crab.
Lobster roll with melted butter.
That French ham that delis in Paris serve thinly sliced.
And speaking of ham, prosciutto de Parma.
Fat naval oranges from southern California at the peak of the season (like now).
Ditto those creamy but slightly grainy Comice pears.
Roquefort cheese (served with the above-mentioned Comice pears).
Japanese lasagne
Chicken tikka masala
Krispy Kreme bread pudding
Oh, yeah!
What’s Japanese lasagna?
Uni is good, if you wonder what it looks and tastes like when Bugs Bunny gets pneumonia and they have to suction his lungs. I could understand serving this in prison, if it were constitutional, but why people eat it on purpose I’ll never understand.
Perfect foods:
-Steamed mussels
-Lemon-and-seafood pasta (a homebrew dish)
-Rabbit punch cookies (chocolate chip cookies with Turkish-ground coffee added to the dough, another homebrew dish)
-Really good chocolate truffles
-Really good hamburger–as in, grilled over charcoal, a little bit raw inside, served with summer vegetables like garden tomato and lettuce.
if you make it at home, use the cheaper fatty cuts of meat. It’s a way to make a cheap cut good. Pound it and season well. Ground beef is fast food.
I’ve made it twice at home and yum.
<Dammit, I shoulda had that before midnight! I gave up beef for Lent!>
Lobster
Crab Legs
Scallops
Mussels
Fresh tomatoes
Fresh corn on the cob
Anchovy-stuffed olives
Lightly breaded and fried morel mushrooms!!!
…same with squash blossoms
I think I could eat traditional thin-crust Chicago style pizza every day. Some other top favorites are: fresh, still warm bread with butter, ham (the nice, expensive, spiral-cut type), peanut butter cookies, pineapple.
Right now, my kids would say America’s Test Kitchen home fries. I think I’m making them every night.
Philly cheesesteaks
Mashed potatoes (mine, because nobody else does them properly)
Chicken fried steak w/ cream gravy
Homemade Chex Mix
And a nod to White Castles.
Lemons.
They can be sweet, they can be sour, they are a perfect additive, they are delicious by themselves*, they are great for you, and they are practical.**
*It takes practice, but it is worth it
**Greasy fish and chips? The lemon is a great flavour additive, and it cleanses your hands after.
I’m going to go with:
-Strawberries
-Raspberries
-Blackberries
-Mangoes
No sugar or sweetener, just plain. Yuuuum.
Fresh baked bread warm with sweet creamy butter and cheddar cheese. Drool
Chocolate
I went to summer camp in Vermont one year and the wild strawberries and raspberries that grew around there were out of this world, and I don’t really like strawberries or raspberries.
If you are ever in Austin, Texas and are really hungry, the burgers at Casino El Camino are excellent. And huge.
Rob
I wouldn’t know where to start.
Food is ace.
My perfect meal:
Oysters for starters. Specifically Scottish Rock Oysters, or from Kent if not. Served with tabasco, chopped onion and lemon.
For a main I’m torn between Gyros Pita and crispy duck in pancakes (I seem to like rolled up meat!).
Dessert would have to be the mango my Dad bought me in Nairobi market when I was 15. No other mango has quite lived up to it.
Alternatively I’d just go for a hybrid Greek / Turkish / Lebanese meze and skip all this courses nonsense.