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rivkaWhat's the last thing you ate? I had a banana and a cup of tea for breakfast. I considered having chocolate cookies with the banana, but overcame the urge. I considered having some whole-grain cereal to make the breakfast healthier and higher in fiber, but couldn't muster enough enthusiasm.
What's your favorite cheese? At the last drug-company dinner I attended, I had what I think was a herb-and-horseradish Havarti. It was marvelous, and briefly made me wish I was going to have a rare-roast-beef-and-herb-and-horseradish-Havarti sandwich for dinner, instead of a steak. (I got over it.)
My long-term favorite cheese is smoked gouda.
What's your favorite fish? The best fish I've ever eaten was the ultra-fresh yellowtail I had in the Florida Keys. Mostly I like assertive, flavorful fish: tuna, salmon, swordfish, mackerel. I love shellfish. Never met a shellfish I didn't like.
What's your favorite fruit? I'm allergic to so many fruits that this is not a fun question. I guess my favorite (sorry,
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trinker) is probably mango. Although once we found the most delicious, perfect, delicately flavored black grapes I've ever had in my life. We keep buying black grapes, but it's never been the same again. Those grapes I had on that distant day are my favorite fruit ever.When, if ever, did you start liking olives? I've loved green olives since I was a tiny kid. I loved kalamata olives the first time I ever had them, which was probably in college. I'm still not crazy about black olives, although I sometimes like them in or on things.
When, if ever, did you start liking beer? When I moved to Portland, Oregon during the height of the microbrew craze. Mmmmmm.
When, if ever, did you start liking shellfish? We never had shellfish at home, because my mom is allergic and even the smell makes her feel sick. When I was in elementary school, when we visited my oldest sister at college we would always eat at a seafood restaurant called The Captain's Table. They had a big bowl of peel-and-eat shrimp on the salad bar, and my father would wolf down embarrassingly large quantities. I looked down upon this practice until he convinced me to try one. It was a one-shot addiction - I never had a chance.
What was the best thing your mum/dad/guardian used to make? My mother is a good plain cook, and until adulthood, I never appreciated the fact that it takes skill to make things like baked chicken parts really tasty. (I never understood, for example, why people sometimes referred to "dry" or "sawdusty" chicken. My mother's baked chicken was always moist and delicious, with crisp non-greasy skin.)
But her desserts really shine. Chocolate cake, pecan pie with homemade piecrust, lemon bars, chocolate chip cookies - again, nothing is gourmet and complicated, and you'd never see pictures of it on a magazine cover, but everything is just perfectly delicious.
What's the native specialty of your home town? My current hometown is all about crab dishes. The archetypal version would be steamed whole blue crabs, generously dusted with Old Bay seasoning and shoveled onto your brown-paper-covered table by the dozen. My favorite version is the soft crab sandwich (a deep-fried whole soft-shell crab, with the soft shell still on, served with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise, on white bread). Or cream of crab soup.
What's your comfort food? I often crave Mexican food when I'm in need of comfort. Not gourmet Mexican food, but huge piles of melted cheese and crispy fried things and soft creamy things. There was a Mexican place in Iowa City that served chicken chilaquiles which were just about perfect for the purpose.
What's your favorite type of chocolate? Moderately dark. I love extra-dark Le Petit Ecolier cookies, but that's because the sweetness of the cookie balances out the bitterness of the chocolate. People who really really like dark chocolate often like stuff that's too bitter for me.
I like filled chocolates. Wockenfuss is my favorite brand, and I prefer creams to chewy centers. I don't like fancy filled chocolates (say, Godiva) because they usually have nuts or liqueurs in them. I guess my taste isn't very sophisticated. I do like Godiva solid chocolates.
I'm not a chocolate snob. I like Hershey's syrup. I like Reeses' peanut butter cups. I can get my chocolate fix from a vending machine without feeling deprived. Lucky li'l me.
How do you like your steak? Medium rare, and with as little visible fat as possible. I like the surface to be well-seared, but not charred. (Some of the higher-end steakhouses, like Ruth's Chris, serve steaks that taste burned to me. I don't care how perfectly medium-rare the middle is, if I have to scrape off the surface and leave it on the edge of my plate.)
How do you like your burger? Grilled medium (pink in the middle), with sauteed mushrooms and cheese.
How do you like your eggs? Poached or over easy. The yolks need to be liquid enough that I can dip my toast in them.
How do you like your potatoes? How don't I like my potatoes? Potatoes are good. If I could only have one kind of potatoes for the rest of my life, I would want them to be mashed with garlic.
How do you take your coffee? I don't. I used to love coffee with just a hint of milk and sugar, but I can't drink it anymore - it's too hard on my stomach.
How do you take your tea? Black, and moderately strong.
What's your favorite mug? We have a pair of handmade pottery mugs that my mother gave us. They're fairly large, vase-shaped (a wide lip that narrows and then bells out again), and a soothing pale grey-blue with abstract blue flowers. I love them.
What's your biscuit or cookie of choice? Extra-dark Le Petit Ecolier cookies, as mentioned above. Also variations on the same: Carr's Dark Chocolate Imperials, or Dark Choco-Leibniz.
Although I will say that the Prince George's Hospital cafeteria serves the best chocolate-chip cookies ever. I have one for lunch every Tuesday and Thursday, and it's one the best parts of my day.
What's your ideal breakfast? The Paper Moon cafe serves smoked salmon benedict - smoked salmon piled on the two halves of a toasted English muffin, topped with poached eggs and covered with Hollandaise sauce. Served with extremely tasty home fries. Unfortunately, a couple of years ago they jacked up the price to $12, and I haven't felt comfortable ordering it since. $12 seems like too much to pay for breakfast.
What's your ideal sandwich? Roast beef with melted smoked Gouda is pretty darn good. I used to order turkey, bacon, and avocado subs from a place in Portland.
What's your ideal pizza (topping and base)? My current favorite is from the Egyptian place down the street: a tomato-less pizza with smoked salmon, caviar, and boursin cheese, served with mango chutney on the side. They also do a grilled marinated lamb, roasted red pepper, and black olive pizza that's pretty damn heavenly. My most enduring favorite: Cream sauce on a sourdough crust, topped with spinach, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and feta and mozzerella cheese.
What's your ideal pie (sweet or savory)? Chocolate. Ironically, I've never made one. Visions of my older sister's one attempt at chocolate pie (ladled into bowls, eaten with spoons) flash through my head every time I think of attempting it.
What's your ideal salad? No iceberg lettuce, no raw onions. Beyond that, I'm not picky.
What food do you always like to have in the fridge? Dijon mustard, bacon, butter, seltzer.
What food do you always like to have in the freezer? Big bags of frozen shrimp or scallops, suitable for taking out a handful to cook. Frozen lemonade. Corn.
What food do you always like to have in the cupboard? Thin linguini, rice, canned chicken broth, cookies.
What spices can you not live without? Garlic, black pepper, ginger, cinnamon.
What sauces can you not live without? I don't cook with a lot of prepared sauces, but I couldn't do without dijon mustard.
Where do you buy most of your food? At the Superfresh (mega-grocery store) for serious shopping, Eddie's (small neighborhood grocery) for "we need to pick up something for dinner," and occasionally at Whole Foods (for special treats).
How often do you go food shopping? I try to get to Superfresh once a week, but don't quite. Eddie's, probably twice a week.
What's the most you've spent on a single food item? Not very much. I may have spent $20 on steak or a lamb roast.
What's the most expensive piece of kitchen equipment you own (excluding 'white goods')? I don't own any expensive kitchen equipment. Probably my George Foreman grill, when I replace it, will be the most expensive piece of equipment in the kitchen - not counting the major appliances, which belong to the landlord anyway.
What's the last piece of equipment you bought for your kitchen? A marinade brush, I think.
What piece of kitchen equipment could you not live without? My big wooden cutting board. I used to think I couldn't live without my Foreman grill, but it's been broken for months and I haven't replaced it yet. Summer's coming, though, so I'll have to. (It gets too hot in my kitchen for regular cooking.)
How many times a week/month do you cook from raw ingredients? Probably about four times a week.
What's the last thing you cooked from raw ingredients? Last night I browned some boneless pork chops, took them out of the pan, browned some quartered red potatoes with the skins on in the same pan, added chicken broth and strips of roasted red pepper, put the pork chops back in on top of the vegetables, covered the pan, and let it simmer until the potatoes were done. It was good.
What meats have you eaten besides cow, pig and poultry? Lamb, goat, and buffalo. I've eaten a lot more different varieties of fish than meat. Edited to add:
hobbitbabe's entry reminds me that I've also had venison and caribou. And does "wild boar" count as "pig?" Oh! And I've had rabbit. lapin au moutarde.What's the last time you ate something that had fallen on the floor? I don't remember.
What's the last time you ate something you'd picked in the wild? Oh, gosh. I became allergic to blackberries in the summer of 1994, so it was probably right before that.
Place in order of preference (greatest to least): Sushi, Italian, Chinese, French, Thai, Indian.
Place in order of preference: Whisky, in the form of single malt scotch. Brandy, if it's high quality. Rum, mixed with hot spiced apple cider. Other liquors: no thank you.
Place in order of preference: Garlic, Lime, Ginger, Basil, Mint, Caramel, Aniseed.
Place in order of preference: Fruit I can actually eat raw, in order of preference: Orange, banana, pineapple, watermelon. Fruit I can eat cooked, and would eat cooked: apple. Fruit I used to like, but lost my taste for when I became allergic to the raw version: cherry.
Place in order of preference: Food, Sex, The Internet, Movies, Sport (but only baseball), Fashion. It would help if you could imagine "Fashion" being about a mile behind the rest.
Bread and spread: Real butter on artisanal bread. Our local supermarket sells a delicious rosemary-olive oil bread. The co-op in Iowa City used to sell a fabulous parmesan and cracked pepper bread.
What's your fast food restaurant of choice, and what do you usually order? Subway. Six-inch turkey on Italian herb, no cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, green pepper, black olive, and dijon horseradish sauce.
Pick a city. What are the three best dining experiences you've had in that city? Baltimore: here, here, and here. Tough choice, though.
What's your choice of tipple at the end of a long day? Three seasons: red wine, probably from South America. I like malbecs, merlots, shirazes, and cabernets. High summer: Cold beer, preferably something fairly assertive with a touch of bitterness.
What's the next thing you'll eat? Hey look, it's lunchtime! I guess I'll mosey over to the hospital and see what they have. They've just opened up a nice Greek fast food place there - Monday I had a rotisserie chicken breast and a big Greek salad, and it was cheap and tasty. But Subway is cheaper, and comes with cookies. Decisions, decisions.
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Date: 2004-03-24 10:00 am (UTC)(I wish I liked mangos. It would make my life easier.)
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Date: 2004-03-24 10:47 am (UTC)And you and Michael and I need to figure out when we're going out for crabs. I know
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Date: 2004-03-24 10:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-24 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-24 10:58 am (UTC)And yes, we absolutely need to go out for crabs this year. How about in late May? It's usually warm enough to sit outside by then.
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Date: 2004-03-24 11:13 am (UTC)Yay!
(I should also figure out wedding dress shopping/porn watching/latke making with you.)
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Date: 2004-03-24 12:36 pm (UTC)I think of them as "training olives" - a gentle way to introduce children to what, in its more sophisticated form, is a mighty tasty fruit. When we were kids, we loved sticking them on the ends of our fingers and nibbling them off.
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Date: 2004-03-24 08:22 pm (UTC)