Text 11734, 74 rader
Skriven 2007-02-12 19:32:12 av Ian Hoare
     Kommentar till en text av BURTON FORD
Ärende: Re: ELECTRIFYING 40
===========================
Hi Cuz Burt, 

 le/on Mon, 12 Feb 2007 15:59:12 -0500, tu disais/you said:-


>I owe you a few marks on you American Slang score..... the above paragraph
>reads as pretty good AS....... and I don't mean in a derogatory way

Thanks!! Praise indeed. To paraphrase RAH "Call it protective coloration in
action"


>Agreed.  But as I read the combo list I was struck with one thing ...see
>end of list  

>Argan oil,boletes, and Bresse chicken are so rare, to me, that I don't
>remember *hearing* of them before.

Argan oil is an oil used in the Maghreb (french name for the ex french
colonies in North Africa). There's something slightly bizarre about it -
like oone of the expensive coffees, the ????? of which it's made it has to
pass through the digestive apparatus of some animal before being pressed. Or
maybe I'm entirely wrong. I may get round to looking it up before pressing
the "send" button. 
 
Boletes is the mycophage's word for fungi of the Boletus family, the best
known of which is the Bordeaux cepe, AKA Porcini in the USA and Italy. There
are quite a few members of the family, some of which are even better than
the standard porcini, IMO, while some are almost entirely without interest.

Bresse Chickens are raised around the town of Bresse in Burgundy. There are
several factors which combine to make them expensive and - claim the
producers - exceptionally good. They are a special breed which takes much
more time to fatten, so they get to be far tastier during that raising
process. (I can vouch for the advantage of 120 day chickens over the rubbish
that is sold after being force raised for only 40-60 days). They are (iirc)
given a special diet to fatten them up. And there's also something about the
slaughtering which is special, again iirc. I don't think I've ever had a
Bresse chicken, so couldn't say whether the astronomical price is justified.
>A good example of the huge chasm between our experiences in eating.  And
>yet, I feel I have had more, and better, experiences than the average run
>of people in my social strata.

I'm sure you have, Burt. However, (and this isn't meant in any way as being
"kindly condescension") I'd argue that all three of these (porcini perhaps
less so) are very much part of an European tradition of food, and it would
not be realistic to expect yourself to have had as much contact with such
food as someone like Michael who comes to Europe relatively frequently or me
who lives here. 

I can enumerate at least a dozen food items that are considered expensive
exotica here in Europe (or in France, anyway) which are completely
commonplace for you in the (northern) USA. I put in the parentheses, because
I'm not sure for example, if conch meat ever makes its way north. 

I could possibly produce a similar sort of list of items which are of mythic
status here in Europe - and which would be incredibly hard to get, if
possible at all, but of which you might wonder why they had even been
considered for inclusion. 

Where I am quite extraordinarily lucky is that I've visited with quite a lot
of the good folk from this echo, and from other forums, where people have
made an effort to introduce me to good food from "home". So not only do I
have a wide experience of European food (and some small experience in some
Asian cuisines too) but also I've a far wider experience of eating good
USAian food than the majority of my fellow french residents.
 
-- 
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website
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