eating favorites and eating FAVORITES

[Guest DevonSFescort]

Once a regular client and I were walking through Times Square after seeing a show together. He started chatting about upcoming trips he might be taking, and whether I might want to join him on one of them, etc., and the subject of food came up. He asked about my favorite kinds of cuisine and I immediately replied, truthfully, that I'm really flexible about food; I like a lot of different kinds, I think more in terms of protein and carbs than anything else; I was sure that wherever he'd like to go would be fine. In his typically considerate fashion, however, he pressed the question, saying that no, he really wanted to know what my favorite dish was, and what did I eat when I was "being bad?"

 

I was a little stumped because somewhere along the line, all my sensual desire got channeled into sex and/or into visual art. While I know people who are foodies, who really experience the preparation, presentation and consumption of food as a sensual act, one that even can carry echoes or shades of eroticism, I just don't happen to be one of them. The most decadent eating habit that I could come up with is that I get takeout Pad Thai a little too often. And while I really do like Pad Thai, I recognize that it's a "favorite" dish in lower-case letters, not the kind of thing you'd want to say is your FAVORITE in all-caps. The things that tempt me just happen to occupy other corners of the sensual world. That said, I totally get that cooking is an art, and on the rare occasions I do it I've found it fairly easy to draw on my other aesthetic strengths and intuitively come up with some combinations of ingredients that worked out well.

 

I'd like to hear from people whose appreciation of this art might be a little more evolved than mine. Actually, even if you don't think yours is I'd like to hear from you.

 

What's your favorite food (lower case -- something you probably eat the most of and like) and your FAVORITE food (upper case -- what you'd order if your dream date could wave his magic wand and it would appear on your plate, prepared just the way you like it (and feel free to talk about what kind of restaurant the plate would be in)? It's not cheating if you talk about something that's such a dream dish you've never even had it yet (i.e., something that sounds incredible but it costs $400 or whatever). For the purposes of this question, human asses, genitalia and other body parts, even nipples, are reluctantly excluded as legitimate answers, although you are welcome to add them as "bonus categories" -- in other words please answer the favorite food and FAVORITE questions somewhere in your post, even if you go on to say that your REAL FAVORITE food is Rick Munroe's ass, Michael Brandon's dick, or whatever. :* (And don't worry -- I know I'm not the boss of you -- it's just a request.)

[Guest jeffOH]

FAVORITE--pepperoni & mushroom pizza (thin crust & kind of greasy)

 

favorites--

meatloaf w/mashed potatoes & gravy

pot roast w/potatoes & carrots

fried chicken w/mashed potatoes & gravy

 

Salt & Vinegar Potato chips (dipped in sour cream)

Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate chip cookies w/WHOLE milk

Yellow cake w/chocolate frosting w/milk

 

I TRY to eat fairly healthy most of the time, but I LOVE my comfort food!:9

 

JEFF

[bigguyinpasadena]

One of the great misfortunes in my life is that I LOVE food.

I am an excelent cook,and I adore eating out in fine restaurants.

I am not a snob-I adore simple country food as much as haute cuisine-as long as it is honest and well made.

Why is this a misfortune?Well I also have the metabolism of a slug,and now am faced with a decreasing level of testosterone,which means I carry way too many pounds and that is becoming a real burden in middle age.

Also,although I am a true gastronome,I do not drink.Thus my participation in foodie events is somewhat limited.

I also am the first one to yell FRAUD!!!!If some one is putting out second or third rate food and yet charging top dollar for it-I will let them know about it.A chef may be an artist-but it's my dollar and if the talent is not on every plate then he(or she)is still learning his trade and should not be charging masters prices for apprintice quality work.

There are so many foodstuffs and dishes that I adore

Barbeque,Cassoulet,Chacroute Garnie,FoieGras,Tempura(when done properly )Steak,prime rib,real panfried chicken-soaked in buttermilk,fried in an ancient cast iron frying pan in good fat,A salad that makes me smile instead of boring me after 4 bites,Fruit that is so perfectly ripe that it floods your senses(this is rare these days-thank you for farmers markets),REALLY REALLY GREAT CHOCOLATE(yes-there is a difference)lobster,crab,LAMB CHOPS,pasta carbonara,pasta al pesto,really great tomatos.

And Cheese,really good cheese served a pointe.

[bigguyinpasadena]

Jeff,have you tried JEFF'S DILL PICKLE potato chips?

[+ Lucky]

For those of you who haven't met the big guy from pasadena, he is a big guy, but very classy, even distingusihed looking, and he carries himself very well. Don't be fooled by his modesty!

[guyinsf]

There are too many to list just one. Here are some of my favorites:

 

A ripe, juicy peach. It doesn't get much better than this.

 

Most flavors of Haagen-Dazs.

 

A well-prepared, traditional Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, stuffing, etc).

 

Many varieties of grilled fish, preferably a little "under-cooked" and with an interesting salsa/chutney on the side.

 

For a basic favorite food, though, I'd have to say a burrito. I think I could eat your basic meat/beans/rice/salsa dish almost every day of my life and not get tired of it.

[+ Axiom2001]

"...But I love my comfort food, too!" Jeff, hun- I can see that you do! When I read your list, I was slightly aghast, but your comment about trying to eat in a healthy manner appeased my first impression!:9

[+ Oliver]

RE: favorites & FAVORITES

 

Anytime: Spaghetti & meatballs

Meat: Veal picatta, PRIME RIB (medium rare)

Vegetable: mashed potatoes, ASPARAGRAS

Dessert: Crème broulee (sp?), WARM PEACH PIE

Snack while reading: sourdough rye bread and cheese :+

 

Oliver

[Prime Muscle]

Watermelon! Definitely watermelon.

 

http://www.imagemagician.com/images/gig/roller2/0011.JPG

 

http://members.shaw.ca/qqsv5/mb238.jpg

[Prime Muscle]

... but if watermelon is not in season, how about a hot dog

 

http://tranzine.democlub.com/13/hotdog.jpg

[+ Hoover42]

Nice body!

 

However, can someone fill me in on the attraction of the watermelon; this is third watermelon shot I've seen in as many days.

 

Watermelons are supposed to be cold, wet, and messy; I can't imagine that it feels all that great.

 

Wouldn't a hand be much nicer?

 

...Hoover

[bigguyinpasadena]

Awwwww,thank you for your kind words Lucky.

And for those who have not met Lucky.his is an incredebly fit guy with very muscular arms and a terrific body.

Match that with a wonderful sense of fun and humor.

[Spida]

Hey Bigguy, I understand your dilema, I LOVE food.. However, lately I have been good most of the time.. -50 pounds!! Whoo hoo.. Anyhow enough about me.. Food!!

 

I would say my favorite food is Italian Food just about anything the only problem is NOBODY makes it as good as my MA. So most of the time when I go out it is something else.

 

I used to live in Memphis so I am a HUGE BBQ fan, great ribs that are falling off the bone slow smoked oh so good now I live in Boston so those are harder to come by, good mashed potatoes or dirty rice and some collard greens.. Maybe some sweet potato pie with REAL whipped cream for desert.

 

I also LOVE LOVE LOVE Chocolate! Good Chocolate, when I went on a trip to Europe I ate soooo much chocolate it is sooo good over there I think I bought my weight in Chocolate in Belgium (and that is a alot!)

 

But my all time FAVORITE food is Lobster with drawn butter especially if someone else cracks it open! Corn on the cob and some steamers of course with more butter! Fortunately I live in Boston so that is easy to come by! Also my second favorite (of course all this is besides Italian my mother makes) Is good good Mexican food or anything really spicy! I used to also Live in Texas and the Mexican food is sooooo good there! I love REAL authentic enchilada's with beans and rice.. OH Man I am hungry now!!

[+ deej]

>Watermelons are supposed to be cold, wet, and messy; I can't

>imagine that it feels all that great.

 

They're not cold if you get them direct from the field, where they spend days baking in the sun. (Or so I'm told. ;-))

[Trixie]

Devon you are sooo right, food is an art form, also a sexual surrogate, a cultural idiom, and I suppose, in hindsight, a way to nourish the physical vehicle (one would think oxygen and good intentions would be enough!)

I am a sloppy eater. I do not pay attention nearly enough to what I take in, simply because I am usually too tired at the end (and too busy in the middle) of the day to cook a balanced meal. Thus I rely on tv dinners, canned soups, frozen pizzas, Top Ramen, etc. WAY TOO much.

But that is not to say I do not understand or cherish the ART of food... I simply don't frequently have the time or energy to go out searching for it.

Some of my favorites, in no particular order:

1) ANYTHING Mezze wants to serve me (Mezze is an Oakland restaurant that puts all

those over-priced SOMA boits in the

City to shame)

2) A good medium rare hamburger with lotsa mayo, ketchup, grilled onions, etc.

3) Moroccan cuisine

4) Indian cuisine, and specifically Breads Of India, on Sacramento in Berkeley.

5) Cashews!

6) BBQ pork and duck over rice from a Hole-in-the-wall place in Oakland Chinatown.

7) Crawfish Etouffe, in New Orleans

8) A good Gruyere (Fondue or not)

9) Bacon, eggs and toast, and coffee at a 24 hour greasy-spoon at 2:30AM. With

Friends.

10) Chocolate, in it's myriad forms!

 

I could think of others, but it's making me hungry! Viva las Taste Buds!

 

La Trix

[arthur]

I grew up in Chicago, and I love CHICAGO HOT DOGS. I think only someone from the Windy City can really appreciate why they seem so special to us. (They don't travel well. Whenever a restaurant here in New York offers "Chicago Hot Dogs", it's never the same because they have no real understanding how to go about preparing and then serving them.)

For a more "serious" meal, I would opt for a quality medium rare T-BONE STEAK broiled over an open fire accompanied by a baked potato, an unlimited supply freshly-toasted garlic bread and a extra large blue cheese salad with lots of slices of beefsteak tomato.

ag

[Guest niceguy]

Hey Devon

 

Food! People who realy love food - I mean really love it, are the best. I am sure it is like the best sex; just let yourself go, take in all the senses and wow - you are in love.

 

Growing up in an Italian American family started it all for me. Everything centered around food. Shopping was a social outing for my family. Squeezing melons and smelling them was my first real sensual experience - way before puberty. My Dad took me to an Italian bread baker every Sunday. We went to the back, into the kitchen. The baker gave me a hunk of warm bread with sweet butter - melting, dripping, mmmm. I ate Baba au Rhums - my favorite pastry as a kid; the rum syrup runing down my face... mmm. Summers meant tomatoes from the garden that I ate like apples. Then there are the smells of fresh basil and garlic... wow.

 

Devon - imagine those moments - when you are in a trance - painting (your work is great by the way), writing those wonderful diary pieces (you are a great writer) or in bed - breathing deeply - holding on, reaching out, enjoying every sense, touching, licking, moaning out loud because you just don't care it is that good, maybe even yelling out "yeah, yeah, give me more, yeah" ... now just replace the scene with a you and a big bowl of homemade linguinie, fresh tomatoes fragrant with virgin olive oil, basil, garlic and the best damm parmesan reggiano.... yeah man!

 

Bon Appetit to Devon and all you great people

niceguy

 

 

PS to bigguyinpasadena - wow man, I am impressed; you know food - choucroute, cassoulet - cheese a pointe; I would eat dinner with you anytime!

[Guest DevonSFescort]

Thanks for the great responses -- loved the vivid, even poetic words from bigguy, la Marquese de Trix, and niceguy. You are true sensualists, and even if you're not necessarily at the weight you'd prefer to be at, nevertheless I am aware that I am missing out on something you're well in touch with -- in other words, bigguy's "curse" is very much also a blessing. You, bigguy, would, I think, enjoy meeting one of my best friends down in SoCal -- a world class foodie who, in fact, works in food distribution, so her job involves constantly getting to go sample the best imported extra virgin olive oil, or gruyere, etc. at trade shows and the like. She's as well suited to it as an escort who likes getting laid!

 

And bigguy -- like you she can't accept poorly prepared food. It's a matter of principle for her. More than a few times I've been in restaurant with her, and she'll taste the food, and this look of regret darkens her face, as she notifies the waiter that she simply can't eat it. It's like it's not even her making the decision; she unfortunately has no choice but to honor her conscientious objection to the food. And when she's preparing a meal it's so sensuous for her that I almost feel like I should leave the room.

[Guest lookin4lust]

When I was a kid in San Antonio, TX in the 60's, before most people worried about cholesterol, I used have a sunday breakfast consisting of fried bacon, fried potatoes, fried eggs, refried beans, homemade flour tortillas, and salsa. Once or twice a year I get the urge to fix this type of breakfast. It is one of my ultimate comfort food meals. I'd probably make it more often, if I didn't have to make my own pinto beans. I hate the canned stuff. I normally make fat free pinto beans, but I have to add salt pork or bacon to make them as good as my grandmother used to. In fact the smell of beans with pork slowcooking on the stove is a powerfully evocative reminder of her. She always had a big ceramic pot, olla, filled with beans simmering on her stove.

[Bilbo]

Food, like any other sensual art I suppose, can also be enjoyed vicariously. As in, I know little about wine but one of my favorite collumns in the newspaper is the wine reviews. As in, I simply had to bump this thread up to the top again so that I could roll myself in someone else's wonderful fantasies some more. Well, fantasies for me, since my husband is allergic to citrus, can't handle things that are too sweet, makes sure that he does all the cooking because, for one thing, I use too many spices, won't go with me to ethnic restaurants other than TexMex and Asian.

Oh, God, Trixie, yes, Moroccan!!! Unfortunately the local Moraccan restaurant here is no match for my memories of Mataam Fez in Denver. Is it still there and still to die for?

And my love does know that one of the easiest ways to make it up to me when he does something wrong is to take me to one of my favorite Asian restaurants. And I love the fact that my favorite one now has pizza, too. My love loves cheese, but only real cheese, which translates as that which his Mama send him from Wisconsin.

And my lower case favorite food, my ultimate comfort food is ... well, cereal almost makes it, but I have that for breakfast nearly every morning. And donuts, almost any kind of bread or cookie.... but the one I save for the special times is Nabisco Honey Made Graham Crackers (yes, it has to be that brand) crumbled into a cereal bowl and covered with milk. (I used to add sugar, too, but our tastes do change as we grow up.) (Sometimes.)

Surprisead my Mother once by liking vegetables so much. Like sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts.

Oh, Heavens, let someone else talk before I bore you all. (I know - too late already!)

Love!

[FrancoDiSantisxxx]

Food For Thought

 

One of the enjoyable things about living in San Francisco was being with so many friends and a community that cared about food, where fresh baked bread was a staple good even at small corner grocery stores, where one could also find a drinkable bottle of wine and other last minute staples necessary for an necessary ingredient to an enjoyable time: food.

 

Growing up with an Italian/Corsican mother, food was and is a very central part of my life. The one purchase I always put front and center is quality, healthy, fresh and tasty ingredients. For example, the current crop of wine, particularly Shiraz from Australia, Pinot from Oregon and Merlot and other reds from Washington and California is extremely good, so I have been purchasing wine, much of which gets put away for future consumption.

 

However, I do not think expensive equates quality.

 

A basic favorite I like is a chicken burrito from Baja Fresh, the closest thing to fast food that I regularly eat. It is a high protein, low in carbs, well prepared and freshly prepared food item. I usually have it with filtered water.

 

Baja Fresh is a casual dining chain which will likely spread across the country, similar to Chipolte, which I noted in D.C. and Chicago, except Chipolte is a chain owned by Mickey D's, and their salt and fat content is higher.

 

I snack frequently on nuts, pistachios, cashews and almonds, roasted and unsalted or raw and unsalted.

 

I often make soups in the winter and salads in the summer, hitting the farmer's market for what is seasonal and fresh. Roasted veggies in the summer are also a great treat, with fresh grilled fish (often shark, ahi tuna or sword fish). Contrary to popular belief, I do eat red meat and I guess one comfort food for me would be a great piece of tenderloin marinated in red wine with garlic mashed potatoes. I allow myself that about three times a year.

 

All caps "favorites" would include risotto, polenta, champagne, well made cheesecake and anything well made with chocolate.

 

However, I would not say I eat any of them with any frequency. I love Thai food, Indian, and will try anything new. My clients tell me, except for my mild hypoglycemia, I am very easy going about food. My friends find me to be picky, but then they spend far more time with me.

[Guest TorontoJared]

RE: Food For Thought

 

My favorite food has always been homemade blackberry pie fresh out of the oven. In fact, that's what I've always had for a birthday cake instead of a cake (well, everyone else had a cake so why not have something special on my birthday?).

 

My favorite type of food is definitely seafood. I recently went to a wonderful restaurant with a client and had one of the best grilled calamari that I've had in a long time. I also enjoy French food, Italian food, and many others. Clients have always said that I am very easy to please when it comes to going out to eat. I guess that's because while I do have my favorites I also love trying new things to eat. I've never understood the people who eat the same thing everyday.

 

Of course the one weakness with food that I've always had is cooking or, more correctly, my lack of ability to cook. As my friends have always said, when it comes to cooking one it's one of the few places where I live up to being a blond. I guess that after blowing out a fuse while cooking toast, having eggs explode while trying to hard-boil them for Easter eggs, and many other dissasters it's good that I am not studying culinary arts at University.