This is a big CStheT issue. - Slow Food is the meeting ground of cultures

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

The greatest way to be introduced to a different culture is through their cuisine. My grandmother came to America in the 20s from Lithuania and instilled in me a love of cooking and cuisine.

It has been my experience that, if you show some interest, people LOVE to share the cuisines of their homelands. The idea that an American may like the cuisines of their home can be an unexpected one for many immigrants - one that gives them intense self pride.

The food we eat and make is at the heart of who we are - it is an art form we physically consume -a form of expression more intimate than any other - we literally become what another person lovingly made.

Cooking also - for Millenia- was the centerpiece of the family and traditional dishes became the pride and joy of a family.

This country is losing this (if it hasn't lost it entirely). Fast food, eating in front of the TV, microwaves, eating while driving - all the hectic trappings and responsibilities and distractions have all but squashed the vibrancy of slow food. The huge corporations have almost destroyed farming and want to destroy home cooking and eating. - But they haven't totally succeeded in either.

I started the recipe thread because I want to kindle this meeting of our various culture's and families - reignite those cherished memories - all that schmaltzy stuff (schmaltz itself reminds me of my step grandmother's matzo ball soup and all those great passover Seders).

So fuck McDonald's - even if Joan Kroc was a philanthropist - I don't care. I want to meet and understand the various people we share this planet with (in direct opposition to the RW xenophobia and anti-intellectualism) and the slow food cuisine is the meeting ground.

>end rant!

[DS1]

1. mmm bangers and mash

can't beat it :evilgrin:

[Beware the Beast Man]

2. I agree...my wife and I

on our second date went to a fondue restaurant. It was my first time at such a place. We were there for over two hours (unheard of for eating out), and we had a blast. I think what many folks these days don't realize is that dining is a communal, social event.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

6. In many asian cuisines there are hot-pots where everyone cooks one meal

together. I love that - its the best for holidays. My stepmother is Taiwanese and introduced us to this!

My fiance and I found a little place in Manhattan that serves this kind of food (shabu shabu) and it must be tried. It creates such an atmosphere of community.

[Beware the Beast Man]

16. Man, that sounds good!

Shabu shabu? I'm going to see if any place in Cleveland specializes in this sort of thing. Thanks!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

17. MMM mmm mmm

[Beware the Beast Man]

19. Right on! I found one!

Thanks for the suggestion.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

27. Enjoy, my man

give my best to Mrs Beast Man!

[flamingyouth]

3. I'll be having some Swedish food tomorrow night

At the home of a friend. I'm very excited; that's my heritage and I find the food very comforting (with the exception of lutefisk, which downright scares me).:D

[wildeyed]

25. Have you ever actually eaten

lutefisk? My Grandfather is Norwegian, and the Norwegians eat it, too. But I don't actually know anyone other than my grandfather who has eaten the stuff. And he eats pig knuckles, too, so I really don't trust his judgment.

[flamingyouth]

30. Yes, I have eaten lutefisk

It is vile beyond words. My grandmother wouldn't even allow it in the house, so the "mens" (as she called them) had to eat it out in the garage. One year I ventured out to try it... :scared:

[Dookus]

4. I'm Irish

we have no cuisine.

[GOPisEvil]

5. horse hockey!

The Irish have cuisine! The Irish are the George Washington Carver of the potato.

Edit - Guinness is a cuisine, right? :D

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

11. The beer that eats like a meal

Guinness is good for you, laddy!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

8. Tell that to Brian O'Rourke of O'Rourke's Diner in Middletown CT

He'll beat you with a shelaylee  

[Dookus]

26. ok

I'll tell him. Boiled meat is NOT a cuisine.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

29. There is more to Irish cooking than boiled meat

http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/irish/indexall.html

A History of Irish Cuisine
http://www.ravensgard.org/prdunham/irishfood.html

[Dookus]

31. you're right

they also eat vegetables boiled to within an inch of their life.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

33. go drink a guiness and then get some sushi!

I'm done with this "debate"


Phhhthhhpppt!
:P

[eyesroll]

7. I agree with you 100%

I attended Arabian World Fest in Milwaukee this past weekend, and I realized as we were walking out that if kids were exposed to the cuisines of the world as they grew up, we will have a much less racist/ethnocentricist/etc. society.

How can you hate someone when you love their food?

My parents had a rule, when we went out to ethnic restaurants -- we had to order something real. We couldn't order something off the kids' menu, unless the menu went beyond chicken fingers and grilled cheese. So, at an early age, I knew tofu and black beans and lemon grass and gelato and so forth. (My dad cooked a bunch, too, from a variety of cultures.) I cringe when I see a kid in a restaurant, ordering what's probably their third order of chicken fingers that month...

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

9. Or that week - in the case of my fiance's nephew

it breaks my heart.

I had my first Indian food at 9

[ret5hd]

10. my wife cooks...a lot...from scratch...

she is vegetarian, so if i want to eat at home, guess what, i'm a vegetarian (at least for that meal).

any given week might include Indian, Mexican, Italian, Asian, Mediteranean, etc. She uses spices i had never heard of. If something comes out not that good, she asks questions of cooks, reads, and tries again.

When we go out to eat, our choices of restaurants is as varied as her home cooking.

I have never eaten as well as i do now.

[terrya]

12. Nice post, CStT. You have given us some food for thought.

Thank you!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

14. Absolutely - I agree with Eyesroll - How can you hate someone who's food

you love?

[Hoping4Change]

13. Strange I had been thinking recently about starting such a

thread.

I thought about doing so after it struck me how out of the mainstream my family was about food. Very European. For instance every dinner started with homemade soup. Salad was always made with oil and vinegar dressing and served on the same plate as the meal which always included meat, potatoes and vegetables. A basket with at least 3 different breads was always present as was a plate of pickels and olives. Desert was essential.

Most striking was that no one for no reason could not be present at dinnertime.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

21. I have started beaking bread and smoking my salmon - making things

from scratch - the love and care used is palpable - literally

We mustn't lose this

[redqueen]

24. Homemade bread is the only way to go. n/t

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

15. Somebody should have taken GW to a Kebab House in his youth

If he loved mint tea and saw people in their homes he might be more hesitant to kill them

[Radical Activist]

18. Hell Yeah!

I'm going to the Brazilian place down the street for lunch! It has lots of veggie menu items anyway.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

22. Hope this helped with your MCD's craving

Believe me - I was raised on this crap by my Mom who was raised on crap. It was my old-world Grandmother who saved me from it!

Enjoy!

[wildeyed]

20. What many people don't understand

is that you can produce a delicious home cooked meal in a short amount of time. The secret; simple recipes using quality ingredients. More satisfying both physically and spiritually than carryout. And it is often easier to cook than get carryout anyway. People have been brainwashed into thinking that cooking is hard.

My current favorite cookbook for new cooks is 'How to Cook Everything' by Mark Bittman. Well organized and easy to use, it is full of simple, quality recipes. None of that dumping creamed soup over mystery meat bs that is usually the staple of 'fast' cookbooks.

One of my favorite easy recipes, Pasta Fazool.

Saute chopped green onions with olive oil.
Add garlic and 1 cup chopped tomatoes
add cannellinni beans
mix with cooked pasta
mix in some pitted chopped kalamata olives and fresh grated parmesan

So good. Better in cold weather, though

[redqueen]

23. What a great post

You and eyesroll are so right on... now I want to start lobbying for more interesting fare in schools. Maybe schools could focus on a certain type of food for a week, and the social studies classes could learn about that culture?

It took me years to get my husband to try anything besides Mexican or Italian food... now he loves Chinese, Indian, and Eastern European. Still working on the Greek & Middle Eastern, though. :)

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

28. When I was in 4th grade we had food fares - chinese, native american etc

I advocate that in a BIG way

[redqueen]

34. So glad you posted this

School starts next week. :)

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

35. *bows humbly*

I live to serve
:)

[Deb]

32. Take heart

I found encouragement that people might be going back to slow cooking when buying new canning supplies this year. In the past I have had to resort to yard sales but this year they were easily available.

The church kitchen is also booked with families using it to freeze and preserve fruits and vegetables. :-)

[Tardisian]

36. I've done...

Christmas dinners with food from my varied cultural heritage (Irish, French, Swedish, German & Polish); a buffet sort of thing where everyone helps themselves. There's a store near my home that sells white and black puddings, Irish sausages, Irish butter and Irish cheddar. Mmmm.
Oh, great. I just got a filling done, the lips are still numb, and now I'm hungry.
Thank you for the thread, CStheT....perhaps if more of us used our cultural heritages through things like gathering for a good meal, there might be a little more peace in the world.
"Slow Food for Peace"?

:party:

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

37. I like that - Slow Food for Peace

thank YOU!
:yourock: