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Does your food need a fancy name?

Started by Dave Shepard, November 13, 2007, 09:11:08 PM

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Dave Shepard

I have been debating food with my sister lately. She likes meals that take a lot of time to prepare, hopefully with some rare, nearly unobtainable ingredient, a fancy name, and a low probability of being edible. She asked me what kind of food I liked. After careful consideration, I  replied "Glop". This is a food catagory that she doesn't like to venture into. Glop, to me, is not low quality food, but food that lacks complexity both in manufacture, and consumption. A food that that is dependable, consistant, and reliable. So, where do you stand in the Glop vs. (potential) Flop debate?


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

Dan_Shade

i'm with you, Dave.  I'm a meat and potato guy.  in fact, I turn up my snoot at "fancy" food.

Woodmizer LT40HDG25 / Stihl 066 alaskan
lots of dull bands and chains

There's a fine line between turning firewood into beautiful things and beautiful things into firewood.

Engineer

I tend to occupy both ends of the glop vs. not-glop spectrum and most everything edible in between.   Hamburger Helper or Kraft mac and cheese works for me just as well as filet de boeuf en croĆ»te or grilled diver scallops with lemon and herb butter, a good bouillabaisse or risotto, or anything else fancy you can think of.   I am picky when I expect the food to meet a certain standard - like when I'm payin' market price for it in a good restaurant.  Otherwise - keep it simple.    Be just as happy to eat some peppers 'n eggs in the AM as I would eggs Benedict, and you can keep the asparagus too.

Dave Shepard

If I can't pronounce the name, I get nervous. ;)


Dave
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

sawguy21

Quote from: Dave Shepard on November 13, 2007, 09:11:08 PM
I have been debating food with my sister lately. She likes meals that take a lot of time to prepare, hopefully with some rare, nearly unobtainable ingredient, a fancy name, and a low probability of being edible.
Dave
:D :D :D That is one of the funniest posts I have ever read. She will not get on well with this group.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Woodcarver

Yep, meat and potatoes, maybe a garden salad on the side.  Dishes with a fancy name just spell hunger to me.
Just an old dog learning new tricks.......Woodcarver

ScottAR

Can't spell it...  Not eating it...   ;D

I'm not terribly bright some days but I can spell words like "Steak."   ;D
Scott
"There is much that I need to do, even more that I want to do, and even less that I can do."
[Magicman]

Paschale

I'm an equal opportunity eater.   If it's tasty, I eat it.  ;D  One of the most memorable meals of my life was a bologna sandwich when I was a Boy Scout doing my Order of the Arrow.  I hadn't eaten all day and was working up a huge appetite doing all kinds of work.  When they finally gave us half of a bologna sandwich, it was one of the tastiest things I've eaten in my life.  I've eaten at a four star restaurant and had a meal that I'll remember the rest of my life too.  But then sometimes, nothing tastes better than the first corn on the cob of the summer.  I appreciate good food , from a great hot dog at a ballgame to gourmet food at a fancy restaurant.  I like the full spectrum, so I'm with Engineer on this one. 
Y'all can pronounce it "puh-SKOLLY"

Roxie

I'm on Dave's side.   :) 

Recently, some friends of our's went to an upscale "Inn" for dinner.  They told us that it cost $200.00 for the two of them for dinner, dessert and a bottle of wine.  As we were driving home from visiting them, Cowboy Bob looked over at me and said, "I sure hope you got no idea's about ME paying $200.00 for one meal."  I said, "Heavens, no!  Two hundred dollars is two weeks worth of groceries for us!" 

We both were wondering what kind of food costs a hundred a person.  CB said that maybe it was the wine, which got me to calculating my Riunite Lambrusco at $12.50/gallon...for $200.00, I could have 16 gallons and one heck of a party!   :)
Say when

flip

As a guy said, "If it's slower than me I'll eat it".  Goes for me with a very few exceptions.
Timberking B-20, Hydraulics make me board quick

Tom

Roxie, I'm with you and Cowboy Bob.  The quickest thing a cook could do to ruin my appetite is give me an unreasonable price.   The food costs only so much.   That means that the cook prides his touch by the rest of the bill.

My Grandmom could put those "Chefs" to shame with a miniscule amount of the fanfare.   That's all high priced food is, Fanfare. 

The best I've eaten was "hoppin' John", boiled greens with fat-back, corn bread, biscuits, homemade cane syrup, fried ham or porkchops or fish or a beef potroast with carrots and potatoes and onions and a plate with a stack of green onions to dip in a pile of salt and lima's cooked with a hambone or smoked pigs knuckles, or back-bone and rice, or neck-bone and rice or a green garden salad that contains a surprise, like chips of apple or a raisen or two and doused with oil and vinegar on salt and pepper to my taste at the table. 

I'll go for left-overs made into a soup, thick or thin.  I enjoy fruits, in season, prepared such that I can get a helping for dessert without having to prepare it myself.  I want a refreshing drink and finish with a cup of coffee.  I don't want some guy interupting my meal every 3 minutes wanting to know if I want my water glass filled.  Just fill the cotton picking thing and get out of my face!  Water can't be that expensive or different from pitcher to pitcher.  I want to talk with my partner at the table, not the help at the restaurant.  And... if the restaurant really wants to make my day, pay your help so I don't have to do it.  An hourly wage is good enough for the rest of the world, why should someone benefit percentage wise on my special evening out?

You want to make me happy? bring me an affordable, good tasting meal in qauntities suitable for a growing boy or working man. Do it with a smile and I'll be back over and over and over again.


metalspinner

Some people consider food as art.  And it is a great privilage to be able to sit down and eat it.  ::)  The same reason a Picaso painting cost millions and my son's second grade art is worthless.  Or a George Nakashima coffee table cost many, many thousands and mine doesn't. :(  However, in both of these cases, I would take my son's art over Picaso and my wife would want my table over George's.  And of course I would choose my wife's chicken and rice over any high falutin' restauraunt dish. ;D
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

thecfarm

We ate Zola's at Washington,DC.Stepson was up in mangement there.He picked up the tab,I paid the tip.The tip was $60 for 4 people.Food was good but not $400 good.A very nice place.We had probaly 6 people waiting on us and probaly a stepson saying them are my parents,treat them real nice or else.I had some sort of steak.I felt safe with that.His girlfriend's Mother had some salmon steak that was half raw.I may eat my steak that way, but not my fish. The napkins was cloth,or course.I had black pants on and little did I know there was a guy watching me to see where I would seat. Soon as I sat down the white cloth napkin was taken away and a black one was in it's place. They did not want any white lint to get on my black pants. Seems like the more you pay, the less food you get.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

metalspinner

QuoteThey did not want any white lint to get on my black pants.

Maybe they didn't want any black lint to get on their white napkins. :D :D
I do what the little voices in my wife's head tell me to do.

Kcwoodbutcher

Seems to be, the fancier the name, the smaller the serving.  Food doesn't have to look good to taste good ( that's for all you grits fans out there ). If I get a meal at a restaurant and I can see the plate under the food, it ain't enough food.
My job is to do everything nobody else felt like doing today

thecfarm

If I see grits on my plate,that ain't food.  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

sawguy21

Now ya dun it, just you wait till Tom gets back. :D :D
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

thecfarm

Tom was probaly the one that came up with thecfarm brand grits.  ;D
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

scgargoyle

Quote from: metalspinner on November 14, 2007, 09:16:29 AM
Some people consider food as art.  And it is a great privilage to be able to sit down and eat it.  ::)  The same reason a Picaso painting cost millions and my son's second grade art is worthless.  Or a George Nakashima coffee table cost many, many thousands and mine doesn't. :(  However, in both of these cases, I would take my son's art over Picaso and my wife would want my table over George's.  And of course I would choose my wife's chicken and rice over any high falutin' restauraunt dish. ;D
I believe that food is the ultimate fine art- The only one that can appeal to all of one's senses. That being said- art is in the eye (or palate) of the beholder, and I've been impressed with good ole comfort food far more times in my life than fancy stuff I can't pronounce. The most expensive (and worse) 'food' I've ever had was caviar. I like to cook, and I'm good at it. But my meals don't have fancy names- I just call it what it is. There's a lot of music, art, etc. that I don't think much of either, so just because it's 'art' doesn't mean it's good!
I hope my ship comes in before the dock rots!

Frickman

I'm like alot of you, I've eaten in four-star restaraunts, and I've eaten in farmers' wives kitchens. I'll take the latter any day.
If you're not broke down once in a while, you're not working hard enough

I'm not a hillbilly. I'm an "Appalachian American"

Retired  Conventional hand-felling logging operation with cable skidder and forwarder, Frick 01 handset sawmill

Pretend farmer when I have the time

CLL

Depends on where your from what things are called, and how fancy the place your eating at.
Sweetbreads in fancy places, mountain oysters in the country. Risotto -fancy, plain grits in the country.    :D :D
Too much work-not enough pay.

WildDog

Dave this thread is dear to my heart or at least stomach. I favour a basic meal, meat, spud and garden salad preferably on the B-B-Q, or pan fried fish and stir fried chicken and veges.

Last week I was in a country town about 10 1/2hrs drive away called Forbes on a plague locust course the Pub we were working from cooked a massive T-Bone steak they called the 'Red Steer", pepper sauce french fries and side salad for $15, it was one of the best meals I have had away from home. The next night travelling home we stayed in a town named Coonabarabran we decided to eat at the motels restaurant, what a mistake :($28 for a tenderloin fillet steak 2inchs diameter and 1inch thick with 6 french fries, layed out in some artist design  :-\I rarely eat desert but I was starving so $9 later I had a piece of apple pie and ice cream.

Not sure what you guys pay for a basic steak and veg meal over there but $15 to $20 usually pulls it up down here. When we are away with work they give us  $175 per day for accomodation and food anything not spent can be kept so we like to spend as little as possible.
If you start feeling "Blue" ...breath    JD 5510 86hp 4WD loader Lucas 827, Pair of Husky's 372xp, 261 & Stihl 029

asy

I don't care what it's called so long as it's cooked well and at least mostly identifyable, and... most importantly...  NOT SPICY.  >:(  I figure if ya gotta put so much spice in it that you can't taste it, you either can't cook, or should have used a better quality of ingredients in the first place.

I love cooking. One thing I really miss (Because my BBQ is out of commission at the moment) is Kangaroo on the Barbie. But it's gotta be done right. It's just succulent and delicious.

With regards eating out, we were taken out for dinner last week, by my boss and her hubby, and we went to a place called the Breakfast Creek hotel. I had the "Petite Eye Fillet" and salad. And it was cooked by a chef who actually knew what "medium rare" is!!!  It was the BEST bit of steak I've had in a LONG time. Simply delicious.

Whilst I like to try different things, I'd be in the "farmers kitchen" camp anyday.

asy :D
Never interrupt your opponent while he's making a mistake.
There cannot be a crisis next week. ~My schedule is already full..

Don P

A rose by any other name  :)
So long as its good eatin I don't care if I can pronounce it or not. When we were courting my future wife was trying to woo me with recipes from the "back to nature" group. I was raised to ask for seconds if the first helping didn't kill me and to smile while doing it. Well she tried out a tofu cheescake on me one night. I guess my poker face fell flat. She tried a forkfull and we laughed on the way to the back door. About a year later she got a job in a gourmet food store. She learned how to prepare some pretty awesome dishes. Her boss gave us an expensive bottle of wine as we headed out the door for a camping trip one Christmas. The main thing I remember about that bottle was not the taste which I've long ago forgotten, but having to sleep with that cold thing the first night to keep it from freezing. From experience I knew Jack could survive all by his lonesome .

I still think the butter is the best part of snails though.

aigheadish

Digging this thread up from the past because I searched for Eggs Benedict. 

I've, a few times, gone out for a nice meal and I like to do it, but most of the time I find it unworthy of the cost. Dayton, it seems, has decent food but I haven't found anything that was like a meal I ate on my first marriage's honeymoon, at St. John in the Virgin Islands. It was the first time I'd been to a legit fancy restaurant that overlooked the bay and several other islands. I think we spent in the neighborhood of 200-250 bucks and this would have been in 2004, I think. I don't recall even what I ate I just remember it being unlike any food I'd previously eaten with flavors and textures I didn't know could go with food. 

I like unfancy food too. I consider myself a decent cook but I get a little frustrated when going to a nice place to find that I can make something better than they can. My wife and I went out a few weeks ago to one of the higher end joints in Dayton and I got a $37 steak. Unfortunately for my wallet a week or two earlier I'd made 4 steaks that were better that I'd bought from the store for like 24 bucks. 

When my grandma used to get mad at my grandpa for not taking her out to eat he'd say something along the lines of "why would we go out when you cook better than anything we can get at a restaurant?" I think of that often. 

I still think it's a treat to go to a fancy place but I still long for that initial joint on St. John. Even the highest end places in Dayton don't seem to come close to matching it. 
New Holland LB75b, Husqvarna 455 Rancher, Husqvarna GTH52XLS, Hammerhead 250, Honda VTX1300 for now and probably for sale (let me know if you are interested!)

Raider Bill

We eat out twice a week. Pizza shop one night and a seafood place the other.
Never get a steak out as I'm always disappointed.
It's very rare I fund a steak that beats what I cook for 1/4 the price.

The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Machinebuilder

I'm more of a simple food person.

I have been fortunate enough to eat at some extremely good restaurants, and some quite expensive that weren't that good.

The best steak I've ever had was at Smith and Wolenskys in Chicago, dry aged prime ribeye, rare.

IMHO the best places to find are the small hole in the wall mom and pop place on a back road with a full parking lot. or a seafood shack on the fishing dock.

one of my favorite sayings is "slow food is good food"
Dave, Woodmizer LT15, Husqvarna 460 and Stihl 180, Bobcat 751, David Brown 770, New Holland TN60A

gspren

Some of our favorite restaurants have a sign out with the towns name and Diner after it.
Stihl 041, 044 & 261, Kubota 400 RTV, Kubota BX 2670, Ferris Zero turn

sawguy21

We found some great mom and pop places on the roads less traveled, they depended on the locals repeat business for survival. If it had a full parking lot chances were good. I like to experiment with new dishes although if they tried to impress me with a fancy name I tended to pass.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Ianab

We eat a pretty wide variety of dishes, I cook most of them.  My observation is that a lot of "fancy" dishes are basically "Peasant food" from somewhere else. Means it doesn't actually need exotic ingredients and exacting preparation, although you might have to modify things a bit for local ingredients. Getting a handle on the different spices (and what the family likes) helps, you can skim a recipe and get an idea of what it's going to taste like. 

Making a beef stew is an example, it's a basic dish most Western folks would recognise. But it's no easier or cheaper to make than stroganoff / chilli / bolognese or even a basic curry recipe. Somewhere in the world those are the equivalent of beef stew, and might get served with potato / rice / pasta / noodles, which are all simple and cheap.  

Restaurant will of course name them in the foreign language to make them seem fancy.  ;)
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Texas Ranger

I like the fancy named stuff, French Toast, spaghetti, shrimp an grits, eggs benedict, steak an eggs, etc. boudin, deer meat (some folks put a fancy name on it, venison).  In short, food is food, put any name on it, just make the food recognizable.  8)
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

WV Sawmiller

   This thread reminds me of a vacation we took in February 2008 from Norway to Cameroon in West Africa and had to lay over one night in Paris. We went to a nice French restaurant and I was hungry and ordered the biggest steak on the menu. It was probably 3-4 ounces, tough as shoe leather and pretty tasteless. The waiter seemed highly offended when I asked for steak sauce (I think he went back in the kitchen and actually cried on the cook's shoulder) and they finally found a bottle of watery catsup for my fries - excuse me - my Pomme Frites. The plate looked more like a painting to hang in a gallery with all the fancy colorful sauces connecting the tiny dollop of something (I'm still not sure what) in each corner of the plate. When we were done eating I think we ordered a pizza to take back to our room.

On the contrary about a week later I had the best fish meal (Fresh caught Tilapia with heads on, scaled, gutted, rubbed with local made peanut oil and a local Maggi seasoning) I have ever eaten to this day. It was cooked outside on the street in a remote Cameroonian village over a charcoal fire on an upturned car wheel with a heavy piece of concrete reinforcement wire for a grill and when cooked the lady handed it to me on a piece of torn off used cement sack. It cost between 25 and 40 cents and I went back and ordered 2-3 more as well as several for my wife and guide. My wife had me buy her a couple of fresh tomatoes from a nearby vender that we wiped the dust off before eating and washed it all down with a lukewarm 2 liter Coke.

Many years later we vacationed in Ethiopia with my wife and our daughter. I was happy with Tibbis - braised meat with spices and ate it nearly every meal, but the ladies wanted other dishes. The food was so poor at every meal they got to where they each routinely ordered 2 complete separate meals in hopes one would be edible. Fortunately the cost of such meals was cheap.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

sawguy21

A friend and I went to an upscale French restaurant, according to those in the know it was THE best French cuisine, but like you we were sorely disappointed in the small portions and it wasn't cheap. Apparently they eat four or five small meals instead of our normal three.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

beenthere

Years back I was a guest in a French family's Paris home for dinner. It was a 6 course meal that lasted about 4 hours. Was told that it was a daily thing but just one meal a day. Used to remember each course, not anymore. A different wine with each course, complete change of tableware, and done in a particular order. Recall the salad course was to "clear the palate". Everything served from the cheese to the different foods was excellent.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Texas Ranger

Spent some time in France, and on occasions all I can say is the French do not cook for GI's.  Usually good, but small, and on occasions it was good to not be identifiable.   But wine, oh yeah.
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

gspren

I'm planning a fancy gourmet meal and need some advice, what is the proper wine to serve with baked possum?
Stihl 041, 044 & 261, Kubota 400 RTV, Kubota BX 2670, Ferris Zero turn

newoodguy78


Texas Ranger

The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

WV Sawmiller

Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Raider Bill

The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Andries

LT40G25
Ford 545D loader
Stihl chainsaws

beenthere

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

sawguy21

@beenthere If you are washing possum down with muscatel I'll pass on both! My parents were not wine connoisseurs, they found it palatable and cheap so that's what they bought. It might be good with Screwit, a local dry red that is really quite nice.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

Don P

A fine platter of bandicoot might be accompanied by a sampling of Miss Annabelle's of the Verdant Springs.
Before, during, and after  :D

kantuckid

Quote from: Raider Bill on July 29, 2022, 12:08:07 PM
We eat out twice a week. Pizza shop one night and a seafood place the other.
Never get a steak out as I'm always disappointed.
It's very rare I fund a steak that beats what I cook for 1/4 the price.
My few steaks are markdown Walmart meat. If I got there earlier in the a.m. I'd buy it more often. Yesterday I scored two NY Strips and two Angus sirloin tenderloins and a big pkg of ground sirloin. Not that we eat much steak, seriously.
We might eat out twice a month if you count pizza carry outs.
Fancy food names- does Saturdays supper of Grandpa Bishop pole beans & a BLT count? I had a nice Dester heirloom mater on my sandwich (also a banana pepper, not lettuce) and in my bowl of green beans I had what's called a "dogs mess " here bouts. It's beans cooked down with pork meat and maters & onions and cukes piled on it. 
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

K-Guy

My wife made a new dish this weekend, basically it is mac'n cheese with cooked hamburger and a few addons. It turned out well so I decided it should have fancy name.

I call it " Glop" patent pending :D
Nyle Service Dept.
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
- D. Adams

Texas Ranger

Our local grocery stores have the out of date bins my wife and I call "used meat".  She came in with two small fillets date expire that day, Walmart, best most tender steak we have had in years.  Over the years have used a lot of used meat. 8)
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

Raider Bill

We call that "green" meat cause it sometimes has a green tint if you hit it right in the light.
I prefer to call it aged. I get the roasts and big cuts to grind up for burger meat recipes.

The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Ianab

Ditto on the "reduced for quick sale" stickers at the local supermarket. The difference between full price and "reduced" is basically 24 hours. So if you bought it at full price, and didn't cook it till the next day, it's the same thing.  ??? Just it "Aged" in their fridge, not yours. We have a decent freezer, so I just stock up on the bargains, and have a selection on hand as needed. 

QuoteI call it " Glop" patent pending :D
Now if you translated "glop" to a foreign language, it might sound "posh". Unless they also call it "glop",  :D
I think a recipe like that came up on my Youtube feed, under the currently popular, "being able to afford to eat" sort of channel. It's the modern version of "peasant food". Not fancy, but cheap, nutritious and actually quite edible.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

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