Got a Foodie Bucket List?

[Jenise]

I was eating a slice of homemade apple pie the other day--you know the one, you've all done this, where you sneak a 3/4 inch slice off the edge of the generously portioned last piece which you're saving for your beloved spouse and eat it out of hand standing over the sink--and thinking how homemade apple pie is my favorite fruit pie mostly because it's just about the only one I make. Fresh apples are easy and plentiful, and they do beautifully in the free-form crusts open-top format (with just a crumb topping) I love to bake. No recipe needed so I can throw one together, start to finish, in under fifteen minutes. But that aside, I reasoned to myself, if fresh cherries or apricots were as easy or plentiful, then either of them would be my favorite, but they're not.

At which moment I realized I've actually never had a pie made from fresh cherries. And that led to me wondering what else I'd not done or had yet, food-wise, in this short life and if I shouldn't start myself a little food-specific bucket list of sorts.

What else is on my list? Well, I must give this more thought, although the fact that I've never eaten a fresh white truffle comes immediately to mind. Two months ago having bouilliabaise in Marseilles would have been on that list, but that's now done.

What's on your foodie bucket list?

Not really. I'd love to be able to eat really good fried chicken, and fried foods. I have a method of baking the chicken in the oven with a store bought breading that we really love, but it is not fried. Maybe more home made ice cream with fresh summer fruits would be on my bucket list, if I had one. I think about it but never do it, and I know Gene would love it. I'm not a big sweets eater, so as soon as I think about it, I forget about it.

1) Dining at French Laundry
2) Perfecting Veal Parmesan
3) Making Italian sausage from scratch (need the grinder attachment on my Kitchen-Aide. Maybe Santa will bring.)
4) Making jam (of any kind!)
5) Gnocchi!!


...and oh yeah, I've eaten pie that way.

Well, just off the top of my head....

- There are a bazillion wines on the list - everything from Dauvissat to Petrus to Conterno to whatever the hell they're making in Albania these days

- White truffles, grated over fresh pasta in some little restaurant in the Piedmont

- Dinner at some high end, really serious molecular gastronomy place. I know I might not like it all that much and it almost certainly wouldn't be worth the money but it's still an experience I'd like to have.

- Cocktails at the Pegu Club with supper afterwards at Del Posto

More to come....

1) Dining at French Laundry
2) Perfecting Veal Parmesan
3) Making Italian sausage from scratch (need the grinder attachment on my Kitchen-Aide. Maybe Santa will bring.)
4) Making jam (of any kind!)
5) Gnocchi!!


...and oh yeah, I've eaten pie that way.

For #2 - I'd suggest practicing on eggplant (much cheaper)
For #3 - I've made it - be careful not to grind it too fine and make sure you remove all the gristle from the pork. I have a great recipe I can post if you'd like.

About the only thing on my permanent wish-list is soft-shelled crabs. My love for shoft-shelled crabs goes far and deep. Alas, it is the only thing on earth to which I am allergic. Allergic enough to wind up twice in the hospital and not far from death's badly hinged door.

Best
Rogov

[Jenise]

About the only thing on my permanent wish-list is soft-shelled crabs. My love for shoft-shelled crabs goes far and deep. Alas, it is the only thing on earth to which I am allergic. Allergic enough to wind up twice in the hospital and not far from death's badly hinged door.

Best
Rogov

Ooooh my. I presume your allergy is to all crab and that it's not actually possible to only be allergic to them when they're molting?

Btw, along the same lines, I shall never be able to partake a fresh porcini mushroom.

Jenise, Hi...

Indeed not to all crabs. I dine freely on many different crab preparations with no problem whatsoever. 'Tis only the soft-shelled crabs that do it to me.

I had eaten soft shelled crabs without any effects whatsoever until one night in 1968, in Aix-en-Provence I ate and enjoyed them thoroughly. Later that night I woke, my whole body swollen, a high fever and barely able to open my swollen eyelids. Thank heavens for a physician at the local hospital who recognized immediately what had happened. I was, of course, advised never to eat soft shelled crabs again.

Wisdom is, however, sometimes fleeting and my next experience was when visiting Jeckyll Island in the USA about 8 years ago. I was with several colleagues from Italy and the soft shelled crabs were served stuffed with lobster meat. My colleagues did not realize (or want to realize) that the entire crab could be eaten, so they ate the lobster meat and left me about a dozen soft-shelled crabs which I tucked into with great diligence, having forgotten (repressed?) the earlier advice.

Later, quite alone in my hotel room I was in the bath and realized that I was beginining to "itch" and that my fingers were looking rather odd, especially the ring finger because the flesh had so swollen that the finger was already turning blue. A thoroughly modern ambulance manned by a doctor, a single injection and all was well. Two too close calls. I shall not repeat the error again.

Best
Rogov

About the only thing on my permanent wish-list is soft-shelled crabs. My love for shoft-shelled crabs goes far and deep. Alas, it is the only thing on earth to which I am allergic. Allergic enough to wind up twice in the hospital and not far from death's badly hinged door.Best Rogov

Just one word, Daniel: Maryland.
Let me know when you're within 50 miles of DC and we'll put something together just for you. We'll stop at the hospital and get everything we need for your allergic reaction before you have one!

Jon, Hi.....

S'truth!!! I remember fabulous feasts of soft-shelled crabs in Annapolis and the surrounding area.Paper spread on the table, the crabs on sandwiches between two slices of generously buttered white bread and you knew that God was in Her Heaven and all was well on earth.

Best
Rogov

Oysters. No problem in soup, but I just can't do the raw ones. One day I hope to work up the nerve.

Ok this one:

- White truffles, grated over fresh pasta in some little restaurant in the Piedmont

A real pizza in Naples
A Fiorentina steak in Tuscany
Freshly made pasta bolognese in Bologna (duh)
A good, honest, bouillabaisse in the South of France.
Hand-pulled noodles in Beijing.
Belon oysters and moules mariniere in Normandy or Brittany.
A freshly caught and grilled sea bass on a(ny) Greek Island.

Funny how the food and the location go hand in hand.

Ater seeing Noel's recent post on the wine forum and remembering some of his other posts, I think I'd like to add having dinner with him and his friends to my bucket list!

Mine would also probably be making a "perfect pizza", whether in the heart of Italy, New York or Chicago...

It's not so much that I would even dare try to make one myself but, rather, would just like to watch and learn how the finest of all three are made from scratch to finish, the romance and passion that goes into each style and why each one is the "best" for what it is.

I also feel that pizza is one of those perfect artistic foods because it literally is built on a "blank canvas", so to speak and there truly is no right or wrong way to make one necessarily. Unless you just simply burn it...LOL.

However, like most foods, I've never dared to make a (serious) one myself. It seems I'm more attached to the great ones made by true pizza people that actually know what they're doing! This isn't to intentionally knock myself or say that one
can't learn, but some foods (especially something like pizza) always seem ideal to me when enjoyed at places "of their origin", rather than something I should be attempting to "re-create" in my kitchen.

I don't want to sound TOO romanticized or silly but I do honestly feel that there must be something in the air, in the soil, or in the water of certain places that are known for certain foods. That combined with the surrounding atmosphere or people of places as well. There's just something about hot dogs at baseball games, on a Chicago (or New York) sidewalk, pizza in Italy (or Chicago/New York), bordeaux in Bordeaux, champagne in Champagne or name your location and terroir
of preference. These are all things I feel un-confident if not downright silly trying to re-capture under the assumed "talents" of my own chef hat.

However, having a chance to participate/watch/learn how all those are made IN their locales and environments would be very fun and magical I think. It would be like having a free pass to see how the originals do their thing. Then you could bask in the delights of the creation under a Tuscan moon (or a New York moon etc), knowing you are enjoying the best of its kind in its home, surrounded by a true love and the people and atmosphere that makes it what it is.

I guess that would be my kind of food bucket list, as opposed to me just making something untried myself. Which, again, without knocking myself seems a lot less "romantic", enriching and foolproof than the above...

Jeff

About the only thing on my permanent wish-list is soft-shelled crabs. My love for shoft-shelled crabs goes far and deep. Alas, it is the only thing on earth to which I am allergic. Allergic enough to wind up twice in the hospital and not far from death's badly hinged door.Best Rogov

Just one word, Daniel: Maryland.
Let me know when you're within 50 miles of DC and we'll put something together just for you. We'll stop at the hospital and get everything we need for your allergic reaction before you have one!

You took the "claws" out of my mouth Daniel, that's exactly what I was going to tell Rogov. It's those west coast and european soft crabs that are trying to kill him. He needs a fix of Maryland soft crabs....hell, those critters will probably cure any affliction he's got!

Drew

Ok this one:

- White truffles, grated over fresh pasta in some little restaurant in the Piedmont

A real pizza in Naples
A Fiorentina steak in Tuscany
Freshly made pasta bolognese in Bologna (duh)
A good, honest, bouillabaisse in the South of France.
Hand-pulled noodles in Beijing.
Belon oysters and moules mariniere in Normandy or Brittany.
A freshly caught and grilled sea bass on a(ny) Greek Island.

Funny how the food and the location go hand in hand.

I'll have what he's having!

However, like most foods, I've never dared to make a (serious) one myself. It seems I'm more attached to the great ones made by true pizza people that actually know what they're doing!

I don't want to sound TOO romanticized or silly but I do honestly feel that there must be something in the air, in the soil, or in the water of certain places that are known for certain foods.

I think you're more than a bit romantic here.

I understand your logic and feel the same way about certain baked goods and things like croissants.

But as a fellow pizza lover let me tell you that it is RIDICULOUSLY EASY to make at home.

Sure you could spend years perfecting the dough recipe and all the cooking mechanisms. But even the most basic combination of flour and yeast placed on a pizza stone will be better than 90% of the crap sold in public. Sure it might take you a while to duel with the elite pizza makers. But it's well worth doing IMHO.

This is a great question and I've been trying to think of an answer but nothing has come to mind.

Having a full-on white truffle meal with prime specimens is probably one thing I'd like to do at least once.

But other than that it's not necessarily ingredients on the list. Instead, I probably think about places.

So I'd like to return to Japan to eat fish and I'd like to go anywhere in the tropics for fruit. Those are taste memories etched in my brain that can't be repeated at home.

For new experiences, I've always wanted to eat in India.

[Jenise]

Ater seeing Noel's recent post on the wine forum and remembering some of his other posts, I think I'd like to add having dinner with him and his friends to my bucket list!

You know what, I could go there.

[Jenise]

Funny how the food and the location go hand in hand.

They DO. It's how we've romanticized the experience from afar. So yeah, white truffles in Piedmonte and sushi in Tokyo would be at the top of my list. But chefs matter also: and on that score, I'm with Carrie on the French Laundry, also Le Pied Corchon in Montreal. And like Mike I'd like to do a molecular gastronomy meal and why do less than El Bulli as long as we're dreaming out loud? But some foods are humbler than all this and equally deserving of a quest, like fresh pretzels in Pennsylvania, street food in Havana and a perfectly ripe peach warm from the sun just picked off a tree in Georgia.

Ater seeing Noel's recent post on the wine forum and remembering some of his other posts, I think I'd like to add having dinner with him and his friends to my bucket list!

You know what, I could go there.

Me too, me too!!!!!

Best
Rogov

But as a fellow pizza lover let me tell you that it is RIDICULOUSLY EASY to make at home.

Sure you could spend years perfecting the dough recipe and all the cooking mechanisms. But even the most basic combination of flour and yeast placed on a pizza stone will be better than 90% of the crap sold in public. Sure it might take you a while to duel with the elite pizza makers. But it's well worth doing IMHO.

Absolutely, and I've done my share of home made pizzas, using regular flour, using bread flour, tipo 00, using cannned San Marzano, fresh tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fior di latte, you name it... I've also eaten pizza in some of the best places in NYC, the ones that claim to outnaple Naples. And I still think that eating one in Naples will be something special.

Same goes with the rest of the list, where I've had white truffles imported from Alba three days before, I've had hand-pulled noodles in Chinatown in NYC, I've had grilled fish in great Greek restaurants. I would still love to go to the source for all of these.

You right, Rahsaan, I guess that's a romantic bucket list, not a foodie one.

Absolutely, and I've done my share of home made pizzas, using regular flour, using bread flour, tipo 00, using cannned San Marzano, fresh tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fior di latte, you name it... I've also eaten pizza in some of the best places in NYC, the ones that claim to outnaple Naples. And I still think that eating one in Naples will be something special..

Yes. Like many people with good sense, I would love to eat more in Italy. (Somehow I left that off my list!) I've never been south of Florence and am still pining away for pizza in Naples after I had to cancel a trip at the last minute a few years ago.

But I too have made homemade pizzas with all kinds of flours and recipes. I only started using tipo 00 last year and I do notice the difference. But I wasn't exactly complaining/suffering before

Dining at Guy Savoy again (or maybe...having enough dough and spendthriftness to dine at any French 3-star again!)
A Hong Kong or Shanghai restaurant crawl with a foodie insider
Eating at a top quality tempura bar in Japan
Doing a real lobster/clam bake on the beach, with terrific white wines chilling in the tide pool
A slow trip down the Loire following Friedrich's and Wade's guides
South African wine country
A gastronomic tour of Mexico with a foodie insider
Learning how to judge how well-done grilled/broiled/seared fish or meat is, just by look and touch