If you mean the bacon is in the filling, then try frying them up in bacon bits and bacon grease. That’s one of the more common ways to enjoy them. I prefer them simply boiled, but it seems most people around here, when they think of pierogi, think of them boiled then fried up in bacon bits and grease.
Goulash is actually not unusual for German restaurants, even in Germany. It’s a bit different than Hungarian style goulash, but I kind of expect a good bierstube to have a goulasch of some sort on offer.
Yeah, after being married for almost 30 years I’ve gotten used to… ok I’ll even say fond of her version (a pat of butter helps). I’ll still take my version any time I can.
“Any time I can” is the key phrase here… like I said I’ve managed to stay married for 30 years.
You shouldn’t take offense. You are just factually misguided. The term BBQ is used to mean a few different things including any meat cooked over a fire but that is obviously and ridiculously too inclusive to be the term people are using here.
American BBQ really is Southern in origin and is also a very difficult cooking style to master. Of course you can find it outside of the South because it is excellent but it also takes a lot of time, expertise and expense to prepare correctly. If you think your uncle is making ‘BBQ’ when he throws some meat on the grill during a holiday, you are sorely mistaken.
Most of the best BBQ restaurants are still in the South and the rest of them are directly derived from the same Southern traditions that originated there hundreds of years ago. There is a very competitive BBQ tournament circuit with lots of prize money with consistent winners because it is one of the most technically exacting and exhausting cooking styles there is anywhere. BBQ <> meat on a fire despite what the Australians claim.
You could start with a simple Wikipedia reference.
"The core region for barbecue is the southeastern region of the United States, an area bordered on the west by Texas and Oklahoma, on the north by Missouri, Kentucky, and Virginia, on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. While barbecue is found outside of this region, the fourteen core barbecue states contain 70 of the top 100 barbecue restaurants, and most top barbecue restaurants outside the region have their roots there.
Barbecue in its current form grew up in the South, where cooks learned to slow-roast tough cuts of meat over fire pits to make them tender. This slow cooking over smoke leaves a distinctive line of red just under the surface, where the myoglobin in the meat reacts with carbon monoxide from the smoke, and imparts the smoky taste essential to barbecue."
If you think it is just an easy style of cooking, try it yourself and see how it works out. We will see you in 14 - 24 hours to taste the results. Don’t forget the sides. I seriously doubt you have ever had any real BBQ if you feel that way. A very large percentage of people have never had real BBQ because it is so demanding to make correctly.
Yeah, but they both have the classics: Schnitzel, Sauerbraten, etc. Both also have a lot of non-German plates, as well, which kind of makes me think that German food isn’t popular with a lot of folks. Not really that different in terms of appeal to me. If either are our destination, I’ll probably just stay home and cook.
I know - which is why I’m happy to get my opinion changed; just like your least favorite beer or bacon, it’s still all good. The only place I’ve had wet Memphis is in the airport, and it was fine but I doubt it was the best example.
I don’t know Rendezvous.
Thai. I didn’t care for what I tried, and as a bonus the coconut could kill me if cross-contamination happens. Nope.
All the commentary about German food makes me want some weiner schnitzel, German potato salad, rotkraut mit apfel, and the cucumber-and-sour-cream salad my mum made.
I love German and other Central European cooking, because I grew up on it, having a set of grandparents of Czech descent (both excellent cooks) and my Mom (not so great a cook, and handicapped by my Irish father who was only interested in steak and potatoes and was terrified of garlic).
The Ukulele Lady has a Greek Mom, and hates German food. The Greeks may be the only food culture in the world that doesn’t make a dumpling. The only crossover between Greek and Czech cuisine is a fondness for fresh dill.
That said, that menu from the German joint in Fort Worth is an affront to gemutlichkeit.. Jalapeños, my eye.
Maybe they didn’t when your kin were there, but they have koulakli manti now.
Meh, here’s the menu from the other place in town. I hope it looks more “authentic” to your eyes. It receives fewer stars on Yelp, but tastes exactly the same to me. I don’t like either of them, from what I can gather you’d probably love them both if you went there.
Again, the folks I went with that love German food think they’re good. I don’t.
I like mine with chopped browned in the butter.
That would be chopped onions browned in butter.
This menu looks a lot better. Even though I am of German ancestry, I think of German cuisine as one that needs my “I’m only here for the beer” t-shirt. Love a lot of it, but in small doses spread out over a large period of time.
Ah! Thank you!
I always thought it was odd that in a world filled with ravioli, wonton, pierogi, and kreplach, that no Greek cook ever thought to stuff some dough with a savory filling.
I’m currently sitting in a room with my 86 year old Greek mother-in-law.
Me: “Hey! You ever eat koulakli manti?”
Mary: “No.”
Me: “Ever hear of it?”
Mary: “No.”
Me: “…it’s from Macedonia.”
Mary: “The north. Pfui.”
A random point about a fair bit of “Southern” food. Yes, much of it is not particularly complicated or sophisticated or composed of exotic or expensive ingredients. I think this often causes many folks to fall into the trap that if you just make it, it will be good.
Not IMO. It still needs to be made RIGHT. Crappy assed okra fried in some half assed manner will not be particularly good. Good, fresh okra fried just right is a whole nuther dish. Same goes for many other “simple foods”, fried or otherwise.
For THAT matter, if anything, a lack of sophistication and or fancy ingredients almost makes doing it RIGHT that much more important.
I recall a Top Chief competition. I believe Carla made some dish that was green peas with baked chicken. Maybe some other simple thing. No fancy spices or technique or something else like that. Some big wig guest judge considered it one of the best meals he had ever had. The other judges seemed to agree. Or some story basically like that.
Marcel Rouff’s classic novel The Passionate Epicure (1924) features a cook-off between famous gourmet Baron Wittelsbach Von Hohenzollern (something like that) and the title character, a rural Frenchman.
The Baron’s cooks prepare lark’s tongues in aspic, frizzled snozzleberries, etc., and an array of other luxurious items.
The Frenchman makes the Baron a plate of boiled beef with root vegetables. At the first mouthful, the Baron dies and goes straight to Food Heaven.
Moral of the story: A simple dish cooked perfectly always trumps the fancy stuff.
When I think of my favorite foods, even though I have a spice cabinet with probably over 50 or 60 different spices, herbs, and blends, when I think of some of the best meals I’ve had or made in my life, most of them have been straightforward, often involving little more than salt and pepper. Roast chicken, steak, schnitzel, smoked brisket–all those I generally season only with salt and pepper. Start with good ingredients and prepare them perfectly. Even stuff like pasta and spaghettti sauce–when I was learning to cook, I was in the “everything but the kitchen sink” philosophy of making sauces. Now, I’ve long since reverted to olive oil, crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, and either a bit of garlic or onion and that’s it (ETA: oh, and red pepper flakes if I’m the only one eating it). So much better, as long as you start with good tomatoes (canned are fine and, in fact, preferred 95% of the time.)
Look at the best BBQ joints in Texas. Examine what goes into their rub, which is the only seasoning the meat gets other than smoke. 99% of the time it’s salt, pepper and the pitmaster’s hand. It’s meat and technique, not fancy add-ons that make a meal. Or a great roll in the hay, for that matter! 
Yep! The good ol’ Dalmatian rub!
I strongly dislike Chinese restaurants. Soy sauce, noodles, and the way they spice meat aren’t to my liking.
There probably is a dish or two that I’d like. But I’ve never had the patience to work my way through the menu.