Food thoughts
Apr. 5th, 2004 05:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terrieDinner isn't ready yet, I'm hungry, and so, I am going to talk about food. It's going to be rambling and probably more than you want to read, but, hey, I'm a foodie. It's one of the few things I can go on and on about. (The other ones are dogs, pets in general and roleplaying).
One thing that drives me nuts is parents who seem to think their little Traveghstie is somehow special he or she (who can tell with some of the names today) is somehow wonderful and special because it will eat "exotic" foods. Now, I should not that I'm talking mainly about American parents. The European families I know don't do this, nor do the Aisan or African ones. Australians might, but I don't know any, so won't comment. Maybe because we're so isolated geographically. But then you look at the "exotic" foods these parents are yapping about. Half the time it's pseudo-chinese or pseudo-mexican. Trust me, people, these things are massively altered for the average American palate. Or the brats are getting chicken fingers of the kiddie menu, as if chicken fingers in a Greek restaurant are more special than the chicken fingers at Perkins. Even if the kid is eating real Greek food, real Thai, etc, what's so special about that? What do people think kids in that part of the world eat? Geez, folks, McDonald's is not a child's natural enviornment.
Maybe this one gets me up in arms, because I've always liked Indian, Thai and other ethnic foods. And I'm about as picky as you can get. Heck, as a child, I didn't like McDonald's very much because they put icky things like ketchup on my hamburger. If I wanted ketchup, I would have asked for ketchup. Hell, I only ever wanted to go there to get the toys out of the Happy Meals. Today, havign out grown that target audience, I still can't stand their food.
I have to admit, the older I get (gee and I'm soooo ancient, aren't I? All of 23) the less I like fast food. It's nasty. The flavors have a packaged, artifical edge to them and everything leaves a greasy coating in your mouth. If I have to fast food, I try to stick to Wendy's or Subway or Arbys. I'll settle for a Hardee's if there is nothing else, but I won't ever set foot in another Burger King or McDonalds except maybe to use the bathroom, or if I'm about to starve, I might get fries. Might.
I seem to be drifting towards more of a slwo foods philosphy. This is the idea that you should use fresh ingrediants that are locally produced whenever possible. Farmers markets, those sort of things. Now, true, some stuff I love (many asian ingrediants for instance) will never be avalible fresh here. But, if I CAN find fresh stuff, why bother with the less than fresh stuff? Why have carrots that have been shipped from Calfornia last week when I can have local ones picked yesterday? Slow food also means cooking for myself instead of prepackaged stuff. And, despite what many a hopeless housekeeper will tell you, it's often as fast as some prepackaged stuff, tastes better and is often cheaper. And its healthier. Win-win, right? But, I swear, some people will never believe that a 30-minute frozen dinner in the oven is slower than 20-minute soup on the stove.
One thing that drives me nuts is parents who seem to think their little Traveghstie is somehow special he or she (who can tell with some of the names today) is somehow wonderful and special because it will eat "exotic" foods. Now, I should not that I'm talking mainly about American parents. The European families I know don't do this, nor do the Aisan or African ones. Australians might, but I don't know any, so won't comment. Maybe because we're so isolated geographically. But then you look at the "exotic" foods these parents are yapping about. Half the time it's pseudo-chinese or pseudo-mexican. Trust me, people, these things are massively altered for the average American palate. Or the brats are getting chicken fingers of the kiddie menu, as if chicken fingers in a Greek restaurant are more special than the chicken fingers at Perkins. Even if the kid is eating real Greek food, real Thai, etc, what's so special about that? What do people think kids in that part of the world eat? Geez, folks, McDonald's is not a child's natural enviornment.
Maybe this one gets me up in arms, because I've always liked Indian, Thai and other ethnic foods. And I'm about as picky as you can get. Heck, as a child, I didn't like McDonald's very much because they put icky things like ketchup on my hamburger. If I wanted ketchup, I would have asked for ketchup. Hell, I only ever wanted to go there to get the toys out of the Happy Meals. Today, havign out grown that target audience, I still can't stand their food.
I have to admit, the older I get (gee and I'm soooo ancient, aren't I? All of 23) the less I like fast food. It's nasty. The flavors have a packaged, artifical edge to them and everything leaves a greasy coating in your mouth. If I have to fast food, I try to stick to Wendy's or Subway or Arbys. I'll settle for a Hardee's if there is nothing else, but I won't ever set foot in another Burger King or McDonalds except maybe to use the bathroom, or if I'm about to starve, I might get fries. Might.
I seem to be drifting towards more of a slwo foods philosphy. This is the idea that you should use fresh ingrediants that are locally produced whenever possible. Farmers markets, those sort of things. Now, true, some stuff I love (many asian ingrediants for instance) will never be avalible fresh here. But, if I CAN find fresh stuff, why bother with the less than fresh stuff? Why have carrots that have been shipped from Calfornia last week when I can have local ones picked yesterday? Slow food also means cooking for myself instead of prepackaged stuff. And, despite what many a hopeless housekeeper will tell you, it's often as fast as some prepackaged stuff, tastes better and is often cheaper. And its healthier. Win-win, right? But, I swear, some people will never believe that a 30-minute frozen dinner in the oven is slower than 20-minute soup on the stove.
