The Virtual MetaBanquet

March 29, 2003 10:02 PM

The Virtual MetaBanquet: Eat, Drink And Be Merry! Any class which includes A.M.Bowie's stimulating "Thinking With Drinking" paper in the bibliography, has to be worth taking but John Porter's The Ancient Symposium/Convivium course description is full of wonderful links to all that is classical wining, dining, conviviality, friendship and other forms of philosophical and physical cheer. Brush up on your Plato and Xenophon!
...Which, together with the Cooks' Thesaurus linked yesterday by plep led me to imagine a glorious Sunday MetaFilter Banquet...[More inside.]
posted by MiguelCardoso (11 comments total)

If we all could hold today an enormous MetaGathering and each user were required to bring one foodstuff (dish, delicacy, snack food) and one drink which represented their hometown, state, country - or even their posting style, gastropolitical stance or current nutritional/philosophical mood - what would you bring?*

What sort of a banquet would MetaFilter be? What kind of picnic, pub crawl, cocktail party or formal dinner party would we be looking at? Would there be a dress code? Would it be breakfast, supper, luncheon or tea? The mind boggles; the stomach rumbles; the whistle waits to be wetted...!

*Rules: Only one food and drink per poster. (Though indecisive asides are welcome). Price is no object. Links to menu items from restaurants, delicatessens, liquor stores, take-aways, online recipes etc. are allowed and appreciated. Brief explanations of choice - and how they tie in to your region, personality, tastes etc. - are humbly solicited too, but not essential. Even these rules are to be willingly broken, of course. Hey, it's Sunday...!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:03 PM on March 29, 2003

Irn Bru (I don't care if its Scotland's national drink, I'm taking it for my own) and Jaffa Cakes (couldn't find a link)
posted by Orange Goblin at 1:29 AM on March 30, 2003

"Gastropolitical". Heh.

A good working definition of local cuisine seems to be what you can buy not only in restaurants but in little stands along rural roads. In Wisconsin, that would be cheese curds, I suppose, with fresh sweet corn and cranberries fighting for second place.
posted by Inkslinger at 2:14 AM on March 30, 2003

You are cruel to hold us to just one choice Miguel! It might have to be Tortelli Of Butternut Squash with Brown Butter and Sage by Todd English - a meal fit for kings, and an exquisite repast after a long day meandering through New England towns during foliage season, the prettiest time of the year. And while waiting for dinner, a nice crisp cosmopolitan made with local cranberries. If you chance on just the right day in harvesting season, you won't see a more colorful sight. That would be my choice - some might argue otherwise.
posted by madamjujujive at 4:39 AM on March 30, 2003

Even though I'm in the process of moving from CT to NYC, my food pick would have to come from Super Duper Weenie off I-95. I'd have me two dogs with chili, bacon, mustard and sauerkraut and some fries with salt & pepper*. All ingredients are made from scratch, the relish is made from pickles made from cukes he(owner Gary Zemola) grows himself and dogs are grilled to absolute perfection.

This was of course a tough decision. A pulled pork plate from Shorty's BBQ in Miami or a Pastrami on rye from Katz's Deli and in the breakfast division salmon fritters, eggs over easy and grits at M&G Diner in Harlem which also has a phenomenal jukebox if you want some Sam & Dave with your morning meal. Then there's the burgers at Paul's on second ave,a half-pound of delectably greasy beef best topped with bleu cheese and bacon. But the weenies win out.

For beverages, the nod goes to Monster Ale from the Brooklyn Brewery packs a potent punch, but still has a delectable flavor. La Fin Du Monde from Quebec is a close second.

In the non-alcoholic division, a Cherry Lime Rickey from Peanut Butter & Co is always a treat, as are the banana milkshakes at the Ridgefield Ice Cream Shop. For coffee, the house blend at 71 Irving Place is head and shoulders above all else.

Dessert would be either a fried Mars bar from A Salt And Battery on Second Ave downtown or frozen custard from The Custard Cup in Champaign, Ill.

There's just too much good stuff. But the dog and the Monster ale gets the nod.


*although the fries at Cafe de Bruxelles are the world's best bar none.
posted by jonmc at 6:30 AM on March 30, 2003

Of course, a good ancient banquet [+ ]requires armies of slaves to wait upon the free citizens of Rome. I suppose the Internet assumes that role for we postmoderns.
posted by hairyeyeball at 7:09 AM on March 30, 2003

chatfilter.
posted by crunchland at 7:23 AM on March 30, 2003

I guess I would have to bring some soulfood to represent the South, but in my vision we would sit around in circles passing mellow and sipping coconut cream bubble teas from Teaspace. Then we could find out who can really chat the shit.
posted by oh posey at 7:40 AM on March 30, 2003

As I was scrolling down the front page, the thought occurred to me: "That's GOTTA be a Miguel post"...and sure enough, it was. There are so many choices here...I live in New York, and share jonmc's enthusiasm for Katz's pastrami. Other good New York dining experiences are the pan roasts at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal, and of course no discussion of New York food and drink is complete without a well-made (and very cold) egg cream.

As oh posey points out, there is no end to the wonderful soul food in the South. I grew up in North Carolina and lived in Atlanta for four years after college, so I've been lucky enough to enjoy fried chicken and pot likker with cornbread at Mary Mac's in Atlanta, not to mention a Yankee dog and F.O. at the Varsity Drive-In, also in Atlanta. (The Yankee dog is so named because of the "yellow streak" of mustard across the chili.)

It's not quite traditional southern, but I love Sunday brunch on a fine spring day in North Carolina...Foster's Market if I want to do it downscale, Fearrington House if I want to pull the stops out.

Incidentally, the best barbecue I've ever had was at City Market in the tiny burg of Luling, Texas...home of the Watermelon Thump Festival each June. I'm not all about the regional cooking -- I had one of the top five meals of my life last month at this place in Southern France. Astounding!

But what I crave most right now isn't food from places I've lived...it's my mother's chicken crepes with Gruyere. Not sure where to find a link to the recipe, as she has it on several soiled index cards...but I think it may be from the ultimate nerve center cookbook: Julia Child's and Simca Beck's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. (Though I like to cook, I've never attempted this one on my own; it sometimes pays to have a former food writer for a mother.) The recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon farther down the page is also really really good and my other favorite dish from home.

As for drinks, that's another post, and I'm already late for work. It's spring, though; uncork a nice Riesling.
posted by Vidiot at 8:37 AM on March 30, 2003

I cant decide between Freedom Fries™ or Freedom Toast™???

I Guess ill just go With Pancakes!!!
posted by Dreamghost at 8:41 AM on March 30, 2003

A really big pot of coffee, and squash cookies with chocolate chips. Everyone here always needs a lot of coffee, and I just love squash cookies.
posted by stoneegg21 at 11:46 AM on March 30, 2003