Poll: Your Favorite Meals Have Mostly Come From...

I thought this might be fun to innocently ask since there's no "wrong" answers. Which I always like...

I readily confess to not being a seasoned or worldly food connosieur. I basically just have foods I enjoy and some I do not and try to appreciate and re-visit the ones I do. That's about it.

An exciting philosophy I know...

Personally, when I think of the greatest and most favorite foods/dishes I've had, a good bulk have been from family and loved ones. In particular, my great aunts and grandparents. They came from the Depression era and thus had/have a magic for making wondrously delicious yet basic foods. They didn't strive to be artists in the kitchen or even thought of themselves that way. They simply had a natural KNACK for whipping things up. I think it was born out of mere necessity and a daily routine. I still can taste some of the comforting yet truly unrivaled foods I was blessed to enjoy from them growing up - Swedish Meatballs, omelets, you name it. Surely a lot of it is natural sentimental attachment yet I also know that few to any professional made foods have ever topped them for pure comfort or deliciousness in my eyes. And surely never will.

While several of the greatest meals I've had such as steaks and filets have been in nice restaurants, family is still the single source of predominant pleasure and memories I have when it comes to foods.

Let the fun begin!

I can't possibly vote yet ... I'll have to think about it some more.

The meals that stand out in my mind .... my mother's rolled roast beef, with roast potatoes, mashed carrots and various other greens ... the baked barramundi with green papaya salad from Tongue Thai'd, a luridly decorated and funky Thai restaurant on the other side of town ... a divine entree of chicken, avocado and walnut that I tasted once only and have longed to re-experience ever since .... the first time I ate rare roast beef, cooked for a group of students by one of our lecturers ... salmon for breakfast in North Eastern Scotland in a tiny guest house overlooking a fishing harbour ....

Seems to me that outstanding single meals have happened mostly in restaurants, but favourite meals that I was able to experience over and over again mostly came from my mother's kitchen.

Actually a combination of family meals and recipes handed down through the generations and my own cooking. I have fond memories of being in the kitchen with my Portuguese grandmother who made comfort foods, polenta, beans, and lots of it. She and my grandfather had a huge garden and raised chickens, rabbits and goats. We had lots of eggs, veggies of all types and I think that is where I grew to appreciate the love of gardening. My aunt was the gourmet cook, also with a huge garden all year long, and I loved her magic food, that tasted so wonderful. My mother was a great cook, as well, doing mostly comfort foods; her tamale pie was to die for, but when she had time, would venture out to some really great meals.
I love my own cooking because I cook what I want to cook, and what I feel like eating or experimenting with. My food is made with love in my heart for the people I am serving. Gene tells me I cook better than anyone, even the restaurants. We are not world travelers, so our expertise is very limited. However, we eat well, with lots of variety...using in season foods, sourced locally, whenever possible.
A few restaurant meals have been memorable, but certainly less of those than what we have had at home. Funny story is that one of the most memorable in the last two years was a hamburger we had at a neighbors and very good friends of ours one summer night in their backyard. It was the best burger I have ever had. I've questioned her many times about why it was so good, where she bought the beef, etc. All she says is, "it was just plain old beef". Well, that plain old beef was certainly memorable. Maybe it was just the great company and a beautiful summer night in a beautiful backyard!

Voted for "other" because most of our favorite meals came out of cookbooks, albeit some published by restaurants, famous chefs, etc. A lot of our baked stuff comes from a fraternal grandmother, and several friends.

[Jenise]

"Favorite" is a very unprecise word, could mean best as in most impressive/highest swoon factor, or meals which in memory are enhanced by sentimentality. Your intro weighs the two and decides, for you, sentimentality ranks highest, and that's not unexpected given everything else we know about you.

I went with the other choice which is a combination of quality, delight and that almost elusive en place phenomenon in choosing 'other countries' because the meals I most enjoy recalling took place abroad. Even Bill's annual terrine dinners which rank fairly high among home-made gustatorial events, in which I also participate in preparation, actually take place in another 'country' even though it's only 45 miles from my home.

salmon for breakfast in North Eastern Scotland in a tiny guest house overlooking a fishing harbour...

Sounds great. One of my favorite food memories is eating crab on a beach in Northern Hokkaido, looking out at (and smelling) the ocean with Russia in the distance. I ate many more elegant meals in Tokyo restaurants, and have many fond memories. But none as deep as that ocean-side crab!

"Favorite" is a very unprecise word, could mean best as in most impressive/highest swoon factor, or meals which in memory are enhanced by sentimentality. Your intro weighs the two and decides, for you, sentimentality ranks highest, and that's not unexpected given everything else we know about you.

I went with the other choice, and chose 'other countries' because the meals I most enjoy recalling took place abroad. Even Bill's annual terrine dinner, which ranks pretty high among home-made gustatorial events in my life, actually take place in another 'country' even though it's only 45 miles from my home.

That works Jenise.

Ironically, I almost used the term "best" in place of favorite but I thought "best" was the one that would be too undefined!

But you guessed correct in that I was assuming that people would weigh whatever factors have been most memorable for them and pick whichever they choose based on that. In a nutshell, if you were to sit down and write down, say, 15 foods/dishes/meals you love the most and which you would not want lost from memory or re-occurance, where do the majority of them come from?

Jeff

Funny story is that one of the most memorable in the last two years was a hamburger we had at a neighbors and very good friends of ours one summer night in their backyard. It was the best burger I have ever had. I've questioned her many times about why it was so good, where she bought the beef, etc. All she says is, "it was just plain old beef". Well, that plain old beef was certainly memorable. Maybe it was just the great company and a beautiful summer night in a beautiful backyard!

I especially loved reading this part Karen!

Being a burger guy, I know that many of the best isolated "meals" I've had seem to magically involve burgers! Of course I'm biased in my love and consumption of them so that probably isn't surprising.

I also think you bring out a good and curious point in how some of the most memorable foods we have sometimes come out of simplicity or even LACK of intention by the creator! Maybe it's the old idea of if you look or try too hard, you don't get what you're after but sometimes when you don't expect things, they fall in your lap! I know that some of the finest burgers/steaks I've had just came as an "off the menu" item at a restaurant that didn't even specialize in those items! That's the beauty I guess - you just never know...

Jeff

I think I probably have a couple of favorites within each of your listed categories, Jeff. On the family end, it would be the meals we had around my Italian grandmother's table. The pasta, the meatballs, the braciole - these things really defined a great meal for me when I was young. Later, it was Christmas meals at my parents' place, one of which offered me my "first-growth Bordeaux epiphany".

For restaurant meals, it would be the French Laundry. I hope to have a restaurant meal as good as what I had there someday, but it's likely I'll never be able to afford to eat anywhere else similar to it. It's my benchmark.

For meals with friends, there are the annual New Year's Eve dinners we have at some friends' house up in the Sierra Foothills. This event has become an institution in our lives, with its own traditions. It's the kind of thing our kids will post about in similar threads thirty years from now (should discussion boards still exist then). And the food and wine are always excellent.

For stuff I've done myself, there have been a couple of whole pig-related incidents that I will never forget.

I guess the "chefs I know directly" is the one that I fall short on. The only people I know who truly qualify for that title are people I know through this board, and they've never cooked for me.

For meals in a foreign country, there would be an amazing meal my wife and I had at a place in Toledo (the one in Spain) that was a parade of flavors and textures I'd never had before along with much time spent chatting with the young sommelier. We walked out feeling like visiting royalty.

And where does the stolen lunch hour with sandwiches, a bottle of wine, and a woman I was crazy in love with fall in? That deserves a category of its own to be a favorite in.

Unfortunately, I can't really rank the above. My answer therefore has to be "All of the above".

I like this 'one of each' approach Mike. Good thinking!

In my family, there has always been somewhat of a split between what my mother and I like to eat and what the rest of the cousins/uncles/aunts like to eat. So when we get together for big family celebrations, I was not necessarily very excited about the food. But, I was always very excited about the family and nothing quite comes close to the magic of being a little kid and having everyone mill around the dinner table/living room during Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Not sure if I could choose any one restaurant meal. There have been so many delicious ones. Perhaps I'll go with that crab eaten on the beach off the north coast of Hokkaido that I mentioned earlier in the thread. It was sort of a 'restaurant'. (We went into a building where we chose our crab and then they cooked it for us, plus supplied us with beer).

Lots of good times with friends. The best ones are usually the slow and relaxed meals that seem to exist outside of the normal time span. I have some particularly fond memories of those kinds of meals with a couple that lives in Paris. She is Japanese and he is French, but she cooks a wide range of types of food and all very well. One of the best times was when I was in Paris for Christmas, a bit sad to be away from my family, and she hosted a meal with a bunch of friends that lasted all afternoon. Perfect!

Not sure any one meal that I've cooked would stand out. But the weekly ritual of pizza is pretty darn fun. And it comes around so often!

And where does the stolen lunch hour with sandwiches, a bottle of wine, and a woman I was crazy in love with fall in? That deserves a category of its own to be a favorite in.

Definitely! I think that simply falls in "the memorable and special meals" category (or post) - meals that are loved and special just for THAT reason in themselves - simply being with the love of your life and the bottle of wine. In other words, the food isn't the key subject there. Let's hope..

With this thing, I was just pondering where those favorite sandwiches come from (in the case of that example...).

That was a great and varied list though! I enjoyed it!

Jeff

With this thing, I was just pondering where those favorite sandwiches come from (in the case of that example...).

Jeff

I remember that the wine was a Clos Pegase sauv blanc, but I don't remember if I made the sandwiches or if we bought them somewhere.

Considering how often I cook at home, and considering that I am a better cook than most "chefs" in my town, it's not even close. If I want to experience better cooking, I almost invariably have to do that on the road.

I voted for "other" because I had to combine two categories - "Favorite Restaurants" and "Other Countries". In other words, most of the most memorable and "best" meals I have had were when either living abroad or travelling abroad and those in restaurants I have come to know well over the years.

Best
Rogov

Funny story is that one of the most memorable in the last two years was a hamburger we had at a neighbors and very good friends of ours one summer night in their backyard. It was the best burger I have ever had. I've questioned her many times about why it was so good, where she bought the beef, etc. All she says is, "it was just plain old beef". Well, that plain old beef was certainly memorable. Maybe it was just the great company and a beautiful summer night in a beautiful backyard!

I especially loved reading this part Karen!

Being a burger guy, I know that many of the best isolated "meals" I've had seem to magically involve burgers! Of course I'm biased in my love and consumption of them so that probably isn't surprising.

I also think you bring out a good and curious point in how some of the most memorable foods we have sometimes come out of simplicity or even LACK of intention by the creator! Maybe it's the old idea of if you look or try too hard, you don't get what you're after but sometimes when you don't expect things, they fall in your lap! I know that some of the finest burgers/steaks I've had just came as an "off the menu" item at a restaurant that didn't even specialize in those items! That's the beauty I guess - you just never know...

Jeff

In our neighborhood, a doctor and his wife used to have our daughter baby-sit thier kids. I'd bring her dinner, and when the Dr. and his wife came home, the wife always wanted to eat her leftovers. She told me once how she loved what I brought Kendra to eat and that she could never have me over for dinner because I was just too good a cook. I've had other people tell me this and my standard answer is, "so make me a hamburger...I love them". It irratates me because basically I cook simple foods using the best ingredients I can buy. Well, I call it simple food, I suppose when one has cooked as long as I have, it becomes simple to do.

Karen, Hi....

You think you have troubles? Because I am in addition to being a wine critic, I am also a restaurant critic most people are terrified of having me to dinner.

My brother-in-law has found the ideal solution. Mediterranean basin country-style stews along with fabulous sausages and cheeses.

If only more people would realize that a fine steak or hamburger or even good meatballs can be a delight so long as the person at the stove/grill knows how not to overdo the meat. And to realize as well that as psychologists to not attempt to "analyze" their friends and/or hosts, neither do we critics sit down to make mental notes on the food we receive, the company being far more important to the succes of the evening.

Best
Rogov

I've thought about this poll and tried to find a way to respond. I finally figured out that I don't really have any favorite meals, but I do have favorite flavors. Dishes (especially sauces) that have mustard or vinegar as an ingredient is sure to be a hit with me. I like the perfumes of SE Asian cooking (lemongrass, kaffir lime, coconut) the pungent tanginess of Mediterranean cooking (yogurt, feta cheese, lamb (marinated in rosemary, lemon garlic and olive oil) and teh spiciness of North African and Indian cuisines. I'm not a huge dessert eater, but when I do eat desserts I need to be able to smell and taste butter. Therefore almost any kind of French pastry with a crumbly texture is considered a perfect ending to a meal. In my hands, that is usually going to mean at least one tart on my dessert table. Good poll!

One eminently memorable meal was in Riquewihr, Alsace, in a small inn called Le Tire Bouchon. It was terribly cold and miserably wet out. The plate below of a stew of quail, foie gras and root vegetables was, at that time, sheer perfection.



I had many wonderful meals in Alsace - in Michelin starred restaurants and simple restaurants over a hundred years old - but that stew in Riquewihr was the most memorable of them. I made it a point to go back to the same place for my last dinner in Alsace before heading back to Burgundy.



A couple of little pitchers of the local pinot gris to go with the stew certainly didn't hurt either.

If only more people would realize that a fine steak or hamburger or even good meatballs can be a delight so long as the person at the stove/grill knows how not to overdo the meat. And to realize as well that as psychologists to not attempt to "analyze" their friends and/or hosts, neither do we critics sit down to make mental notes on the food we receive, the company being far more important to the succes of the evening.

This is quite heartening to know, Daniel.

I cook, having learned when I was very young from my late mom - I recall the day vividly - my brother and I couldn't play outside because of a strong typhoon. There was a power outage so we couldn't watch tv or listen to music. My mom was baking a pie and I was watching her in the kitchen. She turned to me and asked "Do you want to help?" and the rest is history.

Now, as I said, I can cook - I make pretty decent steaks, racks of lamb, pasta vongole, etc. and make absolutely certain to use the best ingredients available and do not over-cook things - but I'm certainly no true chef - far from it.

Thing is, I have several friends who are professional chefs and some have repeatedly asked to be invited to dinners cooked by me as they have heard about my dinners from mutual friends. I have always refused for fear of their possible/probable criticism.

Having read your above-quoted post, I'm thinking now that perhaps I should just do it once and for all....

N

Hi, I haven't fallen off the planet or carried off by aliens - just busy with other endeavors. I voted "other" because my most memorable meals come from many different sources. Mom didn't cook fancy, not because she couldn't, but because no one would eat or appreciate fancy back then. Still her food was always wonderful, and I would love to have her cooking tonight. Other great food experiences come from restaurants, other relatives (two aunts made killer apple pies), some recipes from here take top awards, and some of my own creations have rocked my world. I think it's the wide variety of food and dining experiences that shape us food-wise.