Corned Beef or Pastrami Sandwiches
As I mentioned yesterday, these are Deli Days at the FLB. And while there is much to talk about, I feel compelled to talk about the single most important thing at a Jewish Deli: The corned beef or pastrami sandwich.
Please do not think that I am going to draw a line in the sand and pit the two noble meats against each other for deli supremacy. Some places make better pastrami. Some make better corned beef. Each fills a special place in my heart. Asking me to choose between the two would be impossible.
Also please do not think for a second that I am advocating putting both meats on the same sandwich. I am a purist at heart, and fundamentally believe that each of these delicious morsels needs to be appreciated on its own terms.
It is the form of the hot sliced fatty beef sandwich that is the cornerstone of the deli experience. And yes, I said fatty.
The Deli as Academic Pursuit
I haven’t been very good recently about promoting events that are near and dear to my heart. A long time ago, I put up a Facebook invite to one of the Honest Weight Food Co-Op: Food for Thought film screenings. But for the last film, I didn’t even tweet about it on my way out the door.
And I promised myself I would get ahead of the next event.
Now I have heard about a free interactive multimedia lecture on the Jewish Deli in America. Deli? Jewish Deli! And it just occurred to me how painfully little I have written on the subject of a food that is so close to my heart (and arteries).
So I will encourage all of you who are local to join me at this event. And for those of you around the rest of the country who could not possibly make it to Albany for the lecture, I will hopefully delight you with my thoughts on deli over the next several days. And perhaps several days of deli posts will motivate more people to make it out next Thursday. It is always a genuine treat to meet readers of the FLB.
My Pink Drink
I’m guessing you did not take me for a guy who would drink a pink cocktail.
And really, you would be right. I’m not ordering a Cosmopolitan, although honestly it has nothing to do with it being pink and girly. Under the right circumstances you can find me with a Mai Tai or Champagne Cocktail. When Cosmos are made right they taste brightly of citrus balanced with sweetness, like an adult limeade. But it’s just that they are seldom made right. And instead of something tart and simple, one is left with a cloyingly sweet and bland drink. Meh.
No, my pink drink is something different. It has character. It has history. It has flavor. It has gin.
Crimes Against Cheese: Cheesediggers
I am not saying YOU do this. But it is done. And it must stop.
In part this crime against cheese goes on not because people are bad, but rather they are uninformed. Nobody has ever told them there is a proper way to cut cheese. Everyone else has been too mannerly to call them out on their poor cheese manners. Well, that stops today.
There is a proper way to cut cheese.
One needs good manners when eating food from a shared plate.
These crimes are at their peak when a wedge of brie has been offered on a cheese plate.
Feeling Full
If you are just tuning in, we’ve been having an ongoing conversation about restaurant portion sizes.
Just to catch you up, the beginnings of the conversation had their origin in the tragedy of restaurant leftovers. Some people like them, but I do not.
When Mrs. Fussy suggested that most people see large portion sizes as a value proposition of eating out, I felt compelled to offer another way of seeing value in restaurant meals. Kate C. and I were having an interesting dialog on the subject. But it occurred to me that part of the problem is people’s expectations of feeling full when leaving a restaurant, and what exactly that means.
That Famous Sauce Mr. McIlhenny Makes
It feels like a long time since we have heard from the hot sauce librarian. But there has been so much to talk about.
I remember a long time ago, when the Internets were new, a bunch of marketing folks were sitting around a table talking about which brands could realistically draw people to a brand based website. I mean, why would you go to the Palmolive dish soap website? For the recipes?
As you can tell by the above example, these conversations are clearly ongoing.
But at the time, we all agreed that it was the brands with a fierce and dedicated following that would generate traffic to their web sites. Brands you could imagine people getting tattooed on their bodies. Harley-Davidson was one that came to mind. Tabasco was another.
Frankly I am amazed that I haven’t caught flack from the Tabasco cult for not mentioning their precious sauce earlier. Number three? It’s a freaking insult!
Music Sounds Like Music
Honestly, wine tastes like wine. It does.
Bet let’s not talk about wine for a minute. Let’s talk about music, because everyone listens to music. And as long as we are not talking about classical music, nobody will find this conversation threatening.
For the most part, music sounds like music. You turn on the stereo, and yep, that’s music all right. But given enough exposure to music, you can tell that this song is by The Beatles and some other song is by The Rolling Stones. Occasionally you may encounter a song or two that gives you pause, and that you may misidentify (like As Tears Go By). For the most part, though, it’s easy to do.
But even if you love the music, I’m guessing you would be hard pressed to sing the bass line of any given song without the music playing. And even if the music were on, you would have to listen very carefully to pull out Sir Paul’s contribution to the music.
And so it is with wine.
Cocktail in a Bottle
I remember in college, there was an annual celebratory event called Hey Day. This commemorated the day the juniors turned into seniors, and was generally a wild ruckus of a bacchanal. Normally I wouldn’t be into such things, but this ritual had the momentum of history and tradition. There was no choice but to go with the flow.
To assist me in my efforts I procured a 1.75 liter bottle of premixed margaritas, a giant cup, and a ton of ice. This premixed cocktail suited my needs for that day, since the mega bottle could be easily thrown in a backpack, and to the casual observer, it looked like I was sipping a soft drink.
But it wasn’t exactly the noble cocktail that was christened Margarita.
There are lots of premixed cocktails available on the market today. Some come in giant plastic bottles, some in classier glass bottles, and some in cans. I even spied a few girl drink drunk premixed cocktails that come in something that looks a lot like a purse.
Sure, you may be able to drink these. But they are all awful.
That is, except for one. And it’s been around a wee bit longer than the rest.
If you are British, you can just skip right to the comments section, because you likely know all of this.
Is All Natural Yogurt All Natural?
First I was the salmon police. Now, I’m the yogurt police? Maybe I really do need to get a job. Even I am finding this to be a bit obnoxious.
But last week, I wrote about how shocked I was to read the ingredients in mass-produced conventional yogurt. And you all loved it. Seriously, I never expected to receive so many comments about a yogurt post.
Incidentally, everyone’s favorite yogurt of the moment Fage actually does not rhyme with rage, but rather Yahweh. [Mrs. Fussy suggests that perhaps it’s a slant rhyme since the yogurt is fah-yeh not fah-weh] But given the cultlike following of the yogurt, it’s only appropriate that it rhymes with name of the guy who was widely accused of being a cult leader.
So, all of your energy about yogurt got me to do something I had been meaning to do for some time. I wanted to find out if Dannon All Natural yogurt is really all natural.
Well why wouldn’t it be?
Ask The Profussor – In Which The Profussor Reveals His Ultimate Goal
I can’t believe it has been three weeks since the last installment of AskTP. There have been so many wonderful comments, insightful points, and good feedback in the past few weeks. I have been very much looking forward to giving them the proper response they deserve.
All of my posts from the past two weeks really seem to have written themselves. This happens periodically, where I tap into some deep well of fussiness, and it all just comes gushing out. I still have a full editorial calendar through the end of this week.
Next week on the other hand remains an open book. I have a few ideas, but I may need to do something interesting this weekend to prime the pump. As far as milestones go, we have now blown past 500 comments. The FLB is averaging more than four comments per post. I’m very thankful for all your feedback. Please keep it up, and please keep talking, tweeting, and reposting links.
My goal is nothing short of having the FLB being the most influential food blog in the region. I have a big hill to climb, I know. But I think I can do it with your help. How about you?
But now, onto the questions.
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