Lively Case Discussion #625 5/20-5/22/2007

[Buckeye]

Okra was so pretty in the soup....please...DO NOT steam it....real slime....my last adventure at southern cooking...

My grandmother used to cook boiled okra. It looked like snot.

Same texture too  

[Dihannah1]

Oh, I just love all this cultural discussion!  It's interesting to me.  BT, you lost me on those three itmes you listed.  But loved the Aunt and Uncle farm story.  I have some similar memories as well.  The 'good' ol' days.

[blah]

Okra was so pretty in the soup....please...DO NOT steam it....real slime....my last adventure at southern cooking...

how do you avoid the slime if you cook it in a gumbo in a slow cooker?

Sometimes it makes the slime and sometimes it seems fine and I have no idea why

[BTgirl]

haggis, neaps and taties?

Yeah - that's right! And toad in the hole, spotted dick, bangers and mash, bubble and squeak, etc.  

[Rob]

I used to live in the South and when I went out to eat they used to put this lemon peel looking thing on my plate. I remember the first time I saw it. I asked ... 'ahhh excuse me, I din't order a lemon peel, and it old looks like a really old one'...

This waitress looked at me like I landed from Pittsburgh and said ~ 'Honey that's fat-back'...

I swear I felt my heart squeeze and contract. I could feel my arteries harden just looking at it.


I used to say, 'You can live ten years longer in the South because everything is so laid back, but you will probably die waiting in line'.
   

[BTgirl]

Oh, I just love all this cultural discussion!  It's interesting to me.  BT, you lost me on those three itmes you listed.  But loved the Aunt and Uncle farm story.  I have some similar memories as well.  The 'good' ol' days.

LOL, Dihannah. The first time I went shopping in a British supermarket I was lost. All the food that should have been familiar was labeled with different names, and I felt like the space aliens had taken me to the mother ship.  

[Dihannah1]

Okra was so pretty in the soup....please...DO NOT steam it....real slime....my last adventure at southern cooking...

My grandmother used to cook boiled okra. It looked like snot.

Same texture too  

Fellow buckeye!  though you don't live anymore do you?

[casa]

Okra was so pretty in the soup....please...DO NOT steam it....real slime....my last adventure at southern cooking...

Ha ha yep okra can definitely be slimy!! Okra and tomatoes cooked together!  Yummy but okra is a tab bit slimy!  I can tell you about cooking and eating okra.  My southern roots and my grandparents garden!!!

[Buckeye]

Okra was so pretty in the soup....please...DO NOT steam it....real slime....my last adventure at southern cooking...

how do you avoid the slime if you cook it in a gumbo in a slow cooker?

Sometimes it makes the slime and sometimes it seems fine and I have no idea why

I am not the one to answer this.  I only eat it if someone else makes it.

[Dihannah1]

haggis, neaps and taties?

Yeah - that's right! And toad in the hole, spotted dick, bangers and mash, bubble and squeak, etc.  

BT,  that sounds obsene!  

[LilPuma]

Yankee cooking:  

bagels
big hot soft pretzels
deep dish, Chicago style pizza
Philly cheesesteak
polenta
anything Italian
Maine Lobster
Yankee Pot Roast


I don't think there's anything that defines "Yankee cooking", but there are things that are "northern".

no offense LilPuma, but polenta is third world gruel.

Uh, no, that would be grits.  

[Buckeye]

I used to live in the South and when I went out to eat they used to put this lemon peel looking thing on my plate. I remember the first time I saw it. I asked ... 'ahhh excuse me, I din't order a lemon peel, and it old looks like a really old one'...

This waitress looked at me like I landed from Pittsburgh and said ~ 'Honey that's fat-back'...

I swear I felt my heart squeeze and contract. I could feel my arteries harden just looking at it.


I used to say, 'You can live ten years longer in the South because everything is so laid back, but you will probably die waiting in line'.
   

Yep, we keep an ambulance parked at Cracker Barrel    

[casa]

Also you can cook okra in with your blackeyed or field peas.  Usually okra seems to be the slimest when you just boil it by itself.  If you cook it with something else or put it in gumbo it is not as slimy.

[sb]

BT I don't take chances when it comes to food and drink, that is for SURE.

A few years back I was in Laredo, Texas and had the chance to walk across the bridge over into Mexico. They have a big market area there where you can buy souvenirs and trinkets and the like, and they also had a little shop that made frozen ice drinks from all kinds of exotic tropical-like flavors like Mango and Mamey and all the stuff you associate with south of the border. I wanted one of thse sooooo bad but I remembered walking across that bridge and looking down at the Rio Grande which was the approximate color and texture of pea soup (and probably would have glowed in the dark) and thought about water supplies and sewage and sanitation and Montezuma and so forth, and did not partake. NO WAY.

[BTgirl]

haggis, neaps and taties?

Yeah - that's right! And toad in the hole, spotted dick, bangers and mash, bubble and squeak, etc.  

BT,  that sounds obsene!  

Okay, toad in the hole is a sausage in batter; spotted dick is raisins in a pudding; bangers and mash is sausages and mashed potatoes; and bubble and squeak is cabbage and potatoes fried together.

See - not too embarrassing!  

[Dihannah1]

Oh, I just love all this cultural discussion!  It's interesting to me.  BT, you lost me on those three itmes you listed.  But loved the Aunt and Uncle farm story.  I have some similar memories as well.  The 'good' ol' days.

LOL, Dihannah. The first time I went shopping in a British supermarket I was lost. All the food that should have been familiar was labeled with different names, and I felt like the space aliens had taken me to the mother ship.  

It's funny, because my company has a center in the UK and we've had people travel, though, I've not.  One girl said she barely ate the entire time she was there.  She said EVERYTHING had a funny, but same taste to it.  She was so excited when she found a McDonald, but then it tasted the same too.  She said she thought it was the oil or something they cooked with.  Now I'm afraid to go!    

[Buckeye]

Okra was so pretty in the soup....please...DO NOT steam it....real slime....my last adventure at southern cooking...

My grandmother used to cook boiled okra. It looked like snot.

Same texture too  

Fellow buckeye!  though you don't live anymore do you?

I am a Hoosier, now.  But, I do have relatives in Columbus.

[Sam]

Hi Monkeys,
Anna, blah, BTgirl, casa, Dihannah1, IBE, IndyDan, klaasend, LilPuma, NM, sb, sharon, tcumom, Tibrogargan, Tiger, AZ Sunny and Art Colley and any others I missed.

It looks like from looking at the post below here I am a page behind already. Art I want to know more about your ESP type things.

SB I do not know if anyone answered you or not about fiddleheads.
Fiddlehead are like a fern. In Maine early spring time when they start coming thru the ground they are all curled up. That is when you want to pick them before they are opened into the fern. You cook them by steaming. So good. A little different in flavor than other things.
Does not taste like chicken.LOL

   

Not sure what those emotions mean Blah. Just in case you did not understand my last comment in bold. The other night folks were talking on some other foods. I can't remember what right now but there was alot of talk about tates like chicken.

I agree Robots, Fiddleheads are delicious.

[BTgirl]

Yankee cooking:  

bagels
big hot soft pretzels
deep dish, Chicago style pizza
Philly cheesesteak
polenta
anything Italian
Maine Lobster
Yankee Pot Roast


I don't think there's anything that defines "Yankee cooking", but there are things that are "northern".

no offense LilPuma, but polenta is third world gruel.

Uh, no, that would be grits.  

LilPuma - Both sides of my family tree have lived in the south since the 1700s, so I'm as southern as it gets, but I will NOT eat grits.  

[LilPuma]

BT I don't take chances when it comes to food and drink, that is for SURE.

A few years back I was in Laredo, Texas and had the chance to walk across the bridge over into Mexico. They have a big market area there where you can buy souvenirs and trinkets and the like, and they also had a little shop that made frozen ice drinks from all kinds of exotic tropical-like flavors like Mango and Mamey and all the stuff you associate with south of the border. I wanted one of thse sooooo bad but I remembered walking across that bridge and looking down at the Rio Grande which was the approximate color and texture of pea soup (and probably would have glowed in the dark) and thought about water supplies and sewage and sanitation and Montezuma and so forth, and did not partake. NO WAY.

Gotta head down to Little Italy and get some Italian Ice.  mmmmmmm Good!