Haines His Way

Now all we need is 30 more to get to page 4

Ah, the French!  Now, are we talking about Classic, Provincial, or Nouvelle?

Because Nouvelle went passe real fast, although it did give a kick in the pants to what is now called Contemporary.  I like contemporary, when the chef has some idea of what he/she is doing.

Classic French, with it's emphasis on sauces and presentation, can be heavy, I admit.  I find the hauteur of the staff at classic French restaurants the real turn-off, the deservedly ridiculed snobbery that keeps the diner at arm's length.

Provincial cooking, on the other hand, can be delightful.  Coq au Vin is a good example, with the veggies blended in the bird's own juices, and the defiance of standard rules that red wine brings to the dish.  Steak Frites, with a herbed butter on the perfectly grilled cow, is bistro cooking at it's best.  And an omelette, done right, is simple good food that makes any occasion special.

I don't much think about food as being "exotic" any more.  All I care about is whether I enjoy it or not.

As for duck, one of the best dinners I've had in the past year was on der Brucer's birthday, at La Vie en Rose in Brea, northern Orange County.  The duck breast was still rosy and almost rare; it was served alongside the leg, done as a confit, but for once not overbearingly salty.  Simple potatoes and veggies alongside, and I was happy as a goose!

And Crepes Suzette for dessert, tangy and sweet.

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Jose, may the vibes and the antibiotics make you feel better soon!

Der Brucer, I want a full report and review of ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE after you have watched it!

JRand53 how was the closing show?

RLP, Chittlins are actually quite tasty when they are freshly cooked and served. I don't know from Rocky Mountain Oysters.

Panni your exotic foods are the most interesting of all.  I remember when German, Hungarian, & Russian foods, along with Indian & Thai, both of which I love, were considered exotic. Non Jewish friends thought what we ate exotic foods.

I also enjoy Ethiopian food and am game to try almost anything, as long as it’s vegetarian.  

Most exotic foods, hmmm...   Growing up, at least once a month we had fried rabbit.  At the time I didn’t think it was unusual.  Keith, with horror, swears he never had any but he did since we had long before learned to tell friends it was chicken.  I got drunk once in order to taste snails.  I wasn’t drunk enough nor could I ever be.   My mother would eat anything and a favorite of hers was brains.  One day, while I was screaming, she forced some down me.  Since the spoon she used had dog food on it, I guess that makes two exotic foods I tasted at once.  I did escape tasting the frog’s legs.  Years ago I enjoyed Armenian food with an Armenian co-worker but we ate mostly lamb dishes.  God I’m grossing myself out.   I want my tofu.

A favorite French food we often had at home, and my favorite, was Duck a la Orange.  Now it is just a good napoleon, which is difficult to find for my fussy palate.  I also like Madelines, but not the ones from Starbucks.

Thanks for asking, MBARNUM.  We had a 3/4's of a house and the audience enjoyed the show very much.  Carried home all of my Lucille Ball stuff in several shopping bags and said Goodbye!

Seems we just get started and before you know it.....

I meant it was exotic in New Jersey, a shock to us moving from So. California.  Another shock were the avocados from Florida which tasted strange.  We made guacamole for company & couldn't eat it ourselves.  The company, not knowing any better, enjoyed it very much.

Jane, I guess "exotic" is in the eye of the beholder. I used to eat brains all the time when I was a kid. Didn't consider it anything special. Jello, on the other hand...

My exotic food story:

The first time I ever went into a Greek restaurant was when I was living in Washington, DC.  Can't remember the name of the place, but they served a menu option called "taverna", which was lots of samples of many of the dishes on their menu.  The small plates came, and there were many savory treat upon them.  

One of the plates I found especially delicious, and I gobbled up the entire plate, noticing that Kim and Chistian didn't go near it.  I had no clue what it was, and asked them.  They told me that I didn't want to know what I'd just eaten and enjoyed.  A few days later, the did tell me what it was that I'd eaten.  And they were right.  I didn't wanna know.  

My big weakness is for spicy food.  I simply adore spicy food.  Unfortunately, I've eaten far too much spicy food in my lifetime, and I get indigestion pertnear every time I indulge myself.  

And if you've never tasted Finnish food, well, you're not missing much.  A blander palate has never been concocted.  The rare dish that isn't blander that beige is so salty it's like a sip of seawater.  There's a reason you don't see many Finnish restaurants out there, people.  (Though I quite like Rhubarb pudding and Krupkraker.)

I should have something "exotic" for lunch - boiled chicken feet with calves' brains and banana jello for dessert.
   Yummy.

One exotic treat I passed on was in the Philippines.

I resolutely refused to eat a balut.

Baluts are gross personified.  I promise you will get a hit if you google it.  Look it up.  I won't disgust myself further by trying to explain it.

Welcome seventeen GUESTS!  Come have some exotic fun with us.

Two more GUESTS gone with the wind, two more users have joined them.  Fascinating.

In the meantime, I'm happy to continue doing my monologue.

We have gone from seventeen GUESTS to eight GUESTS in the blink of an eye.  We have gone from eleven USERS to six USERS in the blink of an eye.

One user is STILL replying to a post, and the other user who was replying to a post and then previewing the reply never posted.  Cue Twilight Zone theme.