Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Battle won, war still ongoing.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

People are complicated. Love is not.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

White supremacy is terrorism.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

You are here: Home / Food & Recipes / Food / Saturday Evening Open Thread: Specialty Foods

Saturday Evening Open Thread: Specialty Foods

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Ever look at an edible creation and say to yourself “But *why*?.… “

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119Comments

  1. 1.

    Barbara

    Oh yes. I bought chocolate truffles in Tallinn with the “traditional” Estonian flavor of pine in the filling. Why?

  2. 2.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I’m that way about chocolate covered bacon.

    A few months ago I learned (by accidentally ordering it) that some Belgian beers are mixed with fruit juice. Again, why????

  3. 3.

    Wag

    Chocolate sushi.  What a concept.  Maybe you have to be a Russian who lives in close proximity to Japan????

  4. 4.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    On the other hand, you might think that mole (pronounced with two syllables) a savory Mexican chocolate sauce served on meat, would come into this category.

    But it’s absolutely delicious and I go straight for it when it’s on the menu.

    Still, I guess they’re used to gringos not liking the combo because I’m almost always asked, “You know what that is, right?”

  5. 5.

    hells littlest angel

    Since it’s Russian, I’d expect the ingredients to read: “imitation artificial chocolate flavoring.” And maybe even: “imitation artificial scallop flavor.”

  9. 9.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Urza: Really?  I’ve had mole on chicken a zillion times and it’s delish.  I.  Mean.  Delish.  Surely it was just the resto, b/c I’ve had it in every “class” of restaurant, from hole-in-the-wall to “nice wide plate rims”.

  14. 14.

    lowtechcyclist

    A friend of ours of Filipino descent made a trip to the ancestral homeland (I think she still has grandparents there) and brought back a package of squid flakes for us.  Apparently it’s a snack food over there. They can keep it.

  15. 15.

    Cmorenc

    Chocolate…scallops?  Um, no, not curious at all to explore how that tastes.  Dont care how world-famous the chef.

  17. 17.

    Ruckus

    @Urza:

    Had a neighbor who made the most amazing mole. Her mom taught her. Done right it’s freaking amazing.

    My Italian grand aunt was that good. Different style of cooking but either one was heaven.

  18. 18.

    ThresherK

    Decades ago on a motorcycle trip in Quebec I was thirsty and bought a bottle of spruce beer. I loved root beer and birch beer, right? About one ounce of it was my limit.

    On the other hand I can drink more than one ounce of Moxie at a time.

    On the other, other hand. I am old enough to remember when chicken with peanut sauce was an experiment, an exotic, rather than something you could buy frozen domesticated “authentic” versions of.

  19. 19.

    scav

    There’s a knot of mole fans here at least.  Even influenced our choice of blender for when we mass produce the sauce.  (our initial attempt outmatched the cuisinart and stained approximately every dishtowel within reach.  Resulted in sortof a cross between an overly enthusiastic slasher film and a Shroud of Turin workshop.)

  20. 20.

    Chetan Murthy

    @scav:

    There’s a knot of mole fans here at least.

    I’ve never made the sauce from scratch. But since I’m cooking some mexican shredded chicken right now [Instant Post represent!] I added some premade mole to my Safeway order.  Maybe in a few weeks I can go to the bodega, get the ingredients, and make my own.

  21. 21.

    p.a.

    Ale flavored with quahog.  Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

    (Actually it’s very mildly just ummmm… estuarine??)

  23. 23.

    trollhattan

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Honestly believe we’re done with AC season here in the Central Valley. Went to Portland this week where we were POURED on–first rain we’ve been in since…March?–and came home to a much cooler city three days later. Guess the south end of the storm system pulled away the heat and smoke here. Overnight low back to the 40s.

    Next will be the annual ritual of blessing the furnace so that it lights once more after a half-year hiatus. Fingers crossed.

  25. 25.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Because they’re good? A well-done fruit beer (Boon Kriek, for instance) is great (or at least used to be, back when I could drink real beer.)

    (There are plenty of awful fruit beers out there, though. It turned out I knew through a friend the owner of a Wisconsin brewery who made an appallingly bad cherry lager–weak, watery and with a cough syrup aftertaste.)

  26. 26.

    trollhattan

    @Chetan Murthy: ​
     Have to be REALLY cautious with mole at restaurants because some are made with peanuts, which are poison to me.

    If I can’t get a definitive answer, in English, from the kitchen folks I don’t push my luck. Stuff is good though, when I can have it!

  27. 27.

    mrmoshpotato

    Ever look at an edible creation and say to yourself “But *why*?.… “

    Bud Light

    Miller Lite

    Michelob Ultra

    ?

  28. 28.

    randy khan

    I am intrigued by the sea urchin/kelp flavor (not sure you’d taste the kelp, but either way I’m game).  I am unconvinced by the scallop flavor, but I’d probably give the seaweed (possibly just another name for kelp) a try.

    And to barge in on the mole discussion, count me as a fan.

  29. 29.

    Cermet

    @trollhattan: Just be certain the batteries in your carbon monoxide detector are good – and for that matter, so is the detector (if five years or older, get a new one.)

  30. 30.

    zhena gogolia

    I’ve never been there, but the East coast of Russia is a culinary paradise, I hear.

  31. 31.

    trollhattan

    Odd food that popped into my head is candied octopus from Japanese specialty grocery stores. Certainly an acquired or perhaps not-acquired taste. But it’s odd!

  32. 32.

    Barbara

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Went to Mammoth one year when we just couldn’t resist the pull of 600 inches of snow.Re: mole — If cocoa is used as a flavoring it makes the sauce richer, but some restaurants put in sugar and the result is too sweet for a savory dish. Had an au pair who used to make baked chicken and bananas with the same kind of discordant result.  Bananas are not a substitute for plantain in a savory meat dish.​​​​

  34. 34.

    zhena gogolia

    What cracks me up is that in 1988, all the stores in Moscow always had lots of cans of “morskaia kapusta” (seaweed, lit. sea cabbage). I was never sure what you were supposed to do with them. Other vegetables, not so much.

  35. 35.

    trollhattan

    @Cermet:

    Good point. Think we’re into year two with the current ones–the old ones were yelling at us and I had to look up the weird display code to find out it was telling me “I’m dead now.”

  37. 37.

    NotMax

    As it’s ostensibly a food thread, while eating the rich may not be an option (rumor is they come out tough and stringy), eating prosperity is.

    ;)

  38. 38.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us

    When we were in Sweden summer of 2019 I was sent to get some ice cream. I got a carton of what looked like fudge swirl but said lakrids or something like that. Turned out to be black licorice flavor. Wasn’t that bad but wouldn’t have been my first choice.

  40. 40.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Going to Greece is on my bucket list, and if I ever get there it is my intention to try both ouzo and retsina. I believe the retsina is made from pine resin, and I don’t know what ouzo is, but it turns milky when you mix it with water, a reaction I’ve only ever seen with benzene.

  41. 41.

    evap

    My incredible  mom died yesterday, aged 94.  She died peacefully at home surrounded by family and friends.   Her life story is amazing:  She was born in India in 1927, her parents were missionaries.  She spent most of her childhood in India, came to the U.S. for college and then earned a master’s degree in biology/bacteriology.   She wrote a master’s thesis on botulism in canned cheeses, helping a company to find the source of the botulism.  She was invited to continue in the PhD program, but she once told me that she was scared to continue, mainly because of the math requirement.   She married my dad in 1953 and they moved to Atlanta, where she worked in a lab at the CDC.   She stopped working when my brother was born in 1956, as one did in those days, but later became interested in politics.  She joined the League of Women Voters and integrated the Jacksonville, Florida league in the mid-1960’s.   (There was a black women’s league and a white women’s league and she got them to combine into one league.)   She later became the president of the New Jersey League of Women Voters, and then a national VP.   My dad died suddenly when they were both 70 and she began traveling on her own, mainly on alumni trips.  She met and fell in love with a fellow traveler on a trip to Italy; they were both 75.  They married and lived happily ever after until he developed dementia a few years ago and her health declined.   She was a great mother, but also an incredible human being who found great joy in life and was up for anything.   I miss her so much

  45. 45.

    randy khan

    @evap:

    I am so sorry, but I also read your remembrance and think she definitely lived a full (and fulfilling) life, which really is all you can ask for.  So she was blessed.

  47. 47.

    J R in WV

    @evap:

    Sounds like she led a great life, full of accomplishments and joy.

    So sorry to hear of your loss, so glad she lived so rich and had so many beloved people with her all the way!

    Take care!!

  48. 48.

    Wag

    Mole is amazing stuff.  I have a recipe with 23 items on the ingredient list. Makes the best thanksgiving turkey ever.

  49. 49.

    randy khan

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    I’ve had both.  Retsina is . . . fine, but not something I feel a need to have every time I’m in a Greek restaurant.  (And, honestly, there are some pretty good regular Greek wines.)  Ouzo is pretty potent, but not bad.  It’s like a lot of the other anise-flavored digestifs.

  51. 51.

    Barbara

    @evap: ​ I am so sorry for your loss! Your mom sounds like she was an amazing woman. Thanks for telling her story.

  53. 53.

    Felanius Kootea

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: They are lambics – it isn’t fruit juice. First discovered them in Paris when a friend of a friend told me to stop being boring and try a beer other than Stella Artois. Now I buy lambics all the time and have gotten into sour beers. Note: I don’t like beer.

  55. 55.

    Felanius Kootea

    @Urza: Wow!  I love mole! Have you had it in Los Angeles (still hoping it’s the restaurants you had it at)?

  56. 56.

    Barbara

    @randy khan: ​Salty licorice is a thing in Denmark and the Netherlands as well, and maybe other Scandinavian countries, I don’t know. My Danish au pair loved it. I like it mostly because I love licorice so much.

  58. 58.

    Anne Laurie

    A co-worker at my former job was excited to bring back dulse snacks from his extended family’s Newfoundland home base. He was disappointed in how little enthusiasm the New Englanders could muster for his generosity…

    (I have tried many dishes I did not care for, but my personal ‘nope’ metric was a hole-in-the-wall NYC Chinese restaurant’s version of Hong-Kong-style fried baby eels. I’m not a fan of seafood in general, and ‘ink-flavored fish spaghetti’ did not change my mind.)

  59. 59.

    Anne Laurie

    @evap: Condolences.  May the thought of her soon bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes!

  62. 62.

    Felanius Kootea

    The first time I made Okra soup with fufu, my husband almost ran from the table. Nigerians love, love, love, “draw” soups. He is a very adventurous eater because he grew up eating all kinds of animal parts (cabeza de vaca is very similar to Nigerian isi ewu) but he draws the line at Okra and Ogbono soups. I hate the word slimy but that’s what he uses to describe them. His loss.

  63. 63.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Cameron:

    @lowtechcyclist: I guess balut wouldn’t rock your world, either.

    Now that I’ve googled what it is, that would be a hard ‘no.’

    @p.a.:

    Ale flavored with quahog. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

    I’ve had ale (of course), and I’ve had quahogs. But the phrase “two great tastes that taste great together” does not come to mind, at least not in this way.

  64. 64.

    Peale

    Have to admit, I don’t really mind the salmon skin rolls at the sushi bar. But the salt egg fish skin chips that were all the rage in Southeast Asia are a bit much. I think they might have a use. Like something to place between the lettuce and tomato on a sandwich. But in their own they are overwhelming. As chips go, you can xstop at one.

  70. 70.

    Josie

    @trollhattan: ​
     Yeah, my mole has peanut butter in it, along with many other yummy things. I just made some two weeks ago for my middle son’s birthday dinner – special request.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    @evap:

    Your mother was amazing, may her memory be a blessing. My heartfelt condolences to you and your family.

  75. 75.

    CaseyL

    @evap: ​
     

    What an amazing life! My condolences; she sounds like someone it would be wonderful to know, and to be raised by.

  76. 76.

    Dan B

    @mrmoshpotato: Paraduse at Mt. Rainier gets an average of 56 feet of snow a year.  The winter of 1970 – 1971 it got 93.5 feet.  Mt. Baker ski area near the Canadian border got 95 feet in one recent winter.

    We drove to Paradise one spring.  The parking lot had vertical snow walls about 20 feet tall. I pulled the car to the bank.  Nearly broke the bumper.  It was solid ice.

  77. 77.

    Dan B

    @evap: Your mother sounds amazing and those are a lot of great memories.  Sorry for your loss.  Thank you for the bio!

  78. 78.

    Dan B

    @Felanius Kootea: I love boiled okra!  My mother, from Arkansas, cooked it whenever she could find it in our suburban Akron town.  I terrorized my brother with making the longest slime strings I could.  My partner has the same sense of disgust.  I’ll have to make gumbo one of these days.

  79. 79.

    no comment

    A few summers ago I bought some specialty sodas when I saw them in stores. They had 4-packs (and maybe 6-packs) in glass bottles with various flavors. Bought a fruit flavored one (don’t remember the flavor) from the grocery that was pretty good. And then there was the ginger flavored one I bought from Target…

    It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great either. I was expecting something like a ginger ale, with maybe a bit of other notes to it. Ginger was NOT the dominant flavor. It had a tangy taste that drowned out the ginger. Looked at the ingredients, and saw balsamic vinegar listed. I still drank 3 of them. Kept the 4th to dare someone to taste, but it went bad before I had the chance.

  84. 84.

    Don K

    I absolutely love stuffed artichokes, but my first thought was, “whatever possessed somebody to try this as a food?”

  85. 85.

    Ruckus

    @evap:

    So sorry about your mom.

    Sounds like she had a great life, both in getting and giving. Living to the fullest is satisfying and often hard to accomplish. She sounds like she did it with ease.

    May your memories remain and your pain fade away.

  86. 86.

    Ruckus

    @Don K:

    Hey, when you are hungry…..

    Mom made stuffed artichokes and I loved them. Of course it’s a lot of work to eat them but even unstuffed they are good. Maybe the good makes up for the work….

  88. 88.

    MagdaInBlack

    My local grocery has half an aisle of eastern European and Russian chocolates. I have not seen those flavors, but I’ll double check tomorrow. Not that I want to try them, just to see if they have them.

  98. 98.

    Another Scott

    @evap: Condolences to you and yours.  Thanks for sharing a bit of her life with us.  Remember the good times – she will always be with you.

    Best wishes,
    Scott.

  103. 103.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    @Another Scott: ​  it’s bad. I follow english footie and weeks ago a number of ballers began to document how they can’t use their cars anymore cuz of what they call “petro” is all gone.
    The sick thing is Engländers seem to be happy because even though their machines have stopped at least they no longer have to consort with Pols and Czechs.​

  105. 105.

    Ruckus

    @schrodingers_cat:

    I’ve actually tried it made in a number of ways. None of them suited me.

    It’s possible it’s just me, but then I’ve met a lot of people for whom okra is even less delightful than for me.

  107. 107.

    catclub

    @Josie: ​
     

    my mole has peanut butter in it, along with many other yummy things. I just made some two weeks ago for my middle son’s birthday dinner – special request

    .

    Can you mail me some?

  108. 108.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Steeplejack: Khwaja is Persian/Urdu for Lord.  This qawwali is an ode to Moinuddin Chisti, a Sufi saint from Delhi. Akbar was a devotee

    mere’ == mine

    Khwaja mere khwaja == Lord, my lord..

    Also khwaja == maalik == master

  109. 109.

    JaySinWa

    @Urza: More than a few american mexican restaurants don’t do mole from scratch, one admitted to (warned me actually) using canned sauce. It was awful. OTOH mole is one of those things with several unique recipes and has regional trends. Some taste harsh to me and others quite smooth and rich.

  110. 110.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Ouzo is an anise-flavored liqueur & shares the add-water-turn-milky with others of that ilk (Pernod, anisette)**. If you don’t like anise flavor, you won’t like ouzo.

    Retsina is something of an acquired taste – which the Greeks acquired centuries ago when they used pine tar to seal their wooden wine barrels. If you want to try “easing on in,” look for a Greek wine called kokkineli, a rosé with pine resin added – it’s a bit more accessible to the non-Greek palate. I haven’t seen it for years, but I haven’t looked…

    BTW, you shouldn’t have to wait til you get to Greece: Ouzo, retsina and kokkineli (however that last is spelled) can probably be found in package goods stores in the Greek part of town (e.g., near the intersection of Eastern Ave and Ponca Street in SE Baltimore), and the first two would certainly be served in Greek restaurants with liquor licenses.

    ** NB I used to make bay scallops in a cream sauce with leeks and shallots served over rice. (One of my go-to dishes for impressing sweet youngish things I’d invite over for supper.) The recipe called for a splash of Pernod in the last minute or two to add flavor as the ethanol boiled off. Sounds strange but was very tasty. I always used ouzo instead of Pernod.

  111. 111.

    Barbara

    @Uncle Cosmo:  A local – no longer operating – French restaurant had a shrimp dish flavored with Pernod. It was so good I remember it all these years later. Plus the made to order souffle served with creme anglaise.

  112. 112.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @mrmoshpotato: Yes, Mammoth measures the base in feet, not inches. Usually once or two per decade they get enough snow to last long enough to do July 4th skiing.

    It is admittedly extra snowy because storms get funneled through there, thanks to the terrain. But it’s routine for large parts of the Sierras to get tens of feet of snow each season. It’s why the Donner Party got trapped and couldn’t make it out

    @evap: My condolences. May her memory be a blessing.

  113. 113.

    Sister Golden Bear

    I’m today years old when I learned that there’s such a thing as tater tot casserole.

    I’m told it’s the hot dish of champions. This native Californian find it oddly fascinating, but Midwest peeps, please explain.

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