The food and drink thread

Worldly and otherworldly topics
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TeresaJ
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by TeresaJ » Tue Mar 09, 2021 2:12 am

Well, it is Monday.... *shrug*

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Madrigal
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by Madrigal » Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:49 pm

You guys are making me eat beans again. Or at least I will be eating them, I just bought canned beans for the first time (if I have to soak and then boil the beans for 3 hours I'm never going to actually eat beans again). Does anyone have a preference for cooking their own or buying them cooked? I think I'll make some moros con cristianos.

Also, on the drinks front, I read this thing in the NYT that's making me cut the wine nights down to 3 per week. :ph34r:

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Ferrus
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by Ferrus » Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:33 pm

Madrigal wrote:
Fri Mar 05, 2021 10:52 pm
Sangre de Toro
It is made by the Torres winery in Vilafranca del Penedès. It is a pretty standard Penedès wine - one of the two big D.O.Ps in Catalonia along with Priorat wines near Tarragona - from a big company that exports a lot, as a chain they also own a bunch of vineyards in other parts of Spain such as Rioja, Galicia, as well as abroad in California and Chile. You find it in the UK a lot, especially the Viña Sol brand that my mum drinks. It is considered a pretty bog standard wine, something you'd bring along to a party but nothing special.

I actually went to their vineyard once as part of a visit to Villafranca - it is a fairly standard Catalan well-to-do provincial town, there is also a viticulture museum there and a typical Catalan Gothic church - they had a tour of the winery and afterwards a wine tasting session, and I tried must for the first time.
Madrigal wrote:
Sat Mar 06, 2021 10:27 pm
Nothing that sophisticated here, I'm happy to have found a couple of decent pizza places in the new neighborhood, although nothing compares to the Argentine one of course. :p
All the Italians I know consider the South American style fried base pizzas an abomination, although no where near not as bad as what counts for a pizza in the US, like Hawaiian or Chicago deep pan pizzas.

At one of my companies I worked for an Italian guy actually have a presentation of what toppings are 'legal' on pizzas in Italy. Apparently if you are seen with pineapple on a pizza there you will basically be regarded as a degenerate misfit for the rest of your life.
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Madrigal
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by Madrigal » Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:39 am

Ferrus wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:33 pm
It is considered a pretty bog standard wine, something you'd bring along to a party but nothing special.
Yeah, it's a wine you can find just about anywhere, and often the only foreign one. It's easier to find Sangre de Toro than an Argentine malbec at a supermarket in Chile. I did notice it must be a regular table wine since I could drink it like water, but I have fond memories of my parents buying that wine in Canada, mid-1980s, and my and my twin sister fighting over the plastic bull toy that dangled from the top.
I actually went to their vineyard once as part of a visit to Villafranca - it is a fairly standard Catalan well-to-do provincial town, there is also a viticulture museum there and a typical Catalan Gothic church - they had a tour of the winery and afterwards a wine tasting session, and I tried must for the first time.
Nice! I haven't tried that. I did get to see a winery here and it was great to get the tour and explanation of the stages in wine-making. It was at a sauvignon blanc vineyard.
All the Italians I know consider the South American style fried base pizzas an abomination, although no where near not as bad as what counts for a pizza in the US, like Hawaiian or Chicago deep pan pizzas.
The pizza I tried in Rome was a measly thin crust with a tiny scrap of cheese looking lost in the tomato sauce, I think a couple of basil leaves tossed on top. So miserable. I think Argentine pizza is closer to southern Italy's but that's just something I heard. If you eat pizza in Argentina you should be prepared to eat about half a pound of cheese. That's the good stuff. I would probably love Chicago deep dish pizza.

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Senseye
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by Senseye » Thu Mar 11, 2021 3:08 am

Ferrus wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:33 pm
All the Italians I know consider the South American style fried base pizzas an abomination, although no where near not as bad as what counts for a pizza in the US, like Hawaiian or Chicago deep pan pizzas.
Interesting. I've only been to Italy once (back in my early 20's) and I was on a low budget, so never ate in any non-bargain restaurants, however, I must say any of the pizza I had in Italy was about the worst I can remember. As such, Italians are in no position to criticize when it comes to pizza IMO.

I do agree that pineapple (or any other fruit) has no business on a pizza though.

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Spartan26
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by Spartan26 » Thu Mar 11, 2021 5:29 am

Madrigal wrote:
Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:49 pm
Does anyone have a preference for cooking their own or buying them cooked?
I'd much rather have dried soak overnight and then cook them a good 3-5 hours before digging in. Time doesn't generally allow that so I will get canned beans and bombard them with spices and eat them within the hour. All depends on when I think of them in relation to other foods I'm preparing. There have been times I've had rice going and then remember some cans of black beans that would be good but the rice was going to be done in under 10 mins. Even though the steamer would keep it warm for hours, I just couldn't be bothered to try to whip some beans up so fast. When really, I'm not so sure canned beans that have only cooked for 45 mins are demonstrably better than those that have only been on the stove for 10 mins. Psychologically, it's a huge difference but I'm not sure I could tell the difference if just eating blindly.

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Spartan26
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by Spartan26 » Thu Mar 11, 2021 5:41 am

Food cooked on a cast iron skillet just tastes better. I fixed a couple of burgers this evening and I'm so glad I used my cast iron skillet but I hate the cleanup. It's usually a couple of hours, if not overnight, that my dishes would rest in the sink before I wash them. Cast iron does not allow for such laziness. In fact, I sometimes can't really enjoy my post-meal bliss cuz I'm thinking about hardening grease and other charred items sticking to it that makes me want to clean it right away. I'll fill the bottom with water to soak but then worry about it getting rusty. When I use it more the cleanup is usually easier but I'll generally weigh convenience over quality. I really shouldn't. It's never not worth it.

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Madrigal
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by Madrigal » Thu Mar 11, 2021 7:42 am

Spartan26 wrote:
Thu Mar 11, 2021 5:29 am
I'd much rather have dried soak overnight and then cook them a good 3-5 hours before digging in.
I think I would too (though I've never cooked them for longer than 3 hours). I'm not sure it's worth the hassle though. Canned beans seem on the verge of disintegration, they're so soft, and I'd rather have more texture, but eh. It's not like they taste bad.

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Ferrus
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by Ferrus » Thu Mar 11, 2021 11:05 am

Madrigal wrote:
Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:39 am
The pizza I tried in Rome was a measly thin crust with a tiny scrap of cheese looking lost in the tomato sauce, I think a couple of basil leaves tossed on top. So miserable. I think Argentine pizza is closer to southern Italy's but that's just something I heard. If you eat pizza in Argentina you should be prepared to eat about half a pound of cheese. That's the good stuff. I would probably love Chicago deep dish pizza.
From what I remember in Naples the pizza is pretty similar. Throughout Italy pizza means thin crust and slices of mozzarella not stuffed with mozzarella. Maybe in the south they put more cheese on it, but it general it is not like pizza elsewhere. Roman pizzas - or pinsa - are also slightly different from elsewhere. There is an Italian restaurant near the Sagrada Familia that does pinsas like this which is pretty good. (Italians and Argentinians are probably the biggest group of expat nationalities living in Barcelona.)

As for Argentinian pizzas, I am well aware of their nature. :D There are several places in BCN that does them, a Uruguyan restaurant owned by Luis Suárez called Chalito and Pizzería Av. Corrientes near the Nou Camp stadium where Barcelona play. On top of that I had more than a few fugazzetas in Argentina. I also went to Güerrín in Av. Corrientes (the street, not the restaurant :P ) where there was about 1000 options. I had fugazzetas with shellfish which my wife didn't understand. :ph34r: I do like a diavola, or - despite the huge number of unsophisticated haters - anchovy pizza too though.
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Utisz
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Re: The food and drink thread

Post by Utisz » Thu Mar 11, 2021 4:13 pm

I had pizza in a random restaurant in Naples once with one of those pizza stickers on the door (whatever it meant, I didn't know). I think it was quattro formaggi. I don't remember much except that I was starving, and it was very good.

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