gourmet items

sf said:

Is "tres cornichons" the brand name? Pickles in pate is a
totally gross thought.

`````````````````````

"Tres cornichons" turns out to be one of the more absurd and humorous
errors I've made in a long time. The brand name is "Trois Petits
Cochons." At least, I'm pretty sure that's it. After a boo-boo like
that one, I shouldn't write unless I have the package in front of me,
and I don't like the smell of the stuff enough to bring it home.

--Lia

jacqui{JB} said:

Quoted message said:

The people who like them love them and come
into our store just for them and rave about how
wonderful it is to find a store that carries them.
Yuck.

??? "Yuck" because people are happy they've found a shop which sells
things they like? Or "yuck" because they come across as trendy
poseurs who don't know any better?

Yuck to the cavier, pate and fois gras, not the people who like them and
come to our store (nearly all of whom are people I rather like and the
few that I don't are so outrageous that the staff has a great time
talking about them afterwards).

I'll supply more answers to all these good responses to my original post
later when I've got more computer time. For now, thanks to all who wrote.

--Lia

In my view , we grow up eating bland easy to like foods but as we grow
older we need something more stimulating for our taste buds.. That's where
we turn.
Some go sweet, some bitter, some salty, ect.. It's a bit like Sex I suppose.

Peter

"jacqui{JB}" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Julia Altshuler" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

We have "tres cornichons" pates.

Is this a brand name? I'm curious about what's in them, as pates and
terrines can be made from just about anything.

Quoted message said:

Of all the items in the store, I like most of them,
or, if I don't care for it, one of the other sales clerks
does. The exception is pate. None of us can stand
it. We don't even like the smell.

It simply may not be very good pate. I'd say that, without trying
some others, don't give up on the idea of pate altogether.

Quoted message said:

This got us thinking about other fancy gourmet items.
I enjoy many types of seafood but not cavier which
I think is slimy, salty and fishy.

In my experience, *good* caviar (and by "good" I mean good quality,
which doesn't have to be the best sturgeon) is not slimy, overly salty
or overly fishy, but rather fresh, bright and slightly briny. We not
infrequently have ... err, I think it's cod roe -- I can't remember
the right Danish word, which in turn would give me the right English
word -- for dinner. Small -- much smaller than salmon roe (which is
nice too) -- bright orange eggs, spooned onto warm toast with a
sprinkling of chopped red onion and a dollop of creme fraiche. With a
glass of good, crisp white wine, and that's a very nice meal indeed.

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't go near fois gras.

Is it the liver thing or an ethical/political statement? Further
reading is encouraged:
http://www.worldtable.com/foiegras.html -- especially the sidebar
http://www.ariege.com/gastronomie/foiegras/eng.html -- especially the
last paragraph

I have no ethical issues with eating foie gras when the duck or goose
has been allowed free movement during the rather short force-feeding
period. And the fact that the birds will freely come to the feeders
speaks volumes to me.

As a foodstuff, foie gras is really something special. To me, at
least, it doesn't have an overtly "liver" flavor, and when properly
prepared has a gorgeous texture. Paired with a good glass of
Sauternes or other sweet wine (not to be confused with a dessert
wine), it's simply glorious.

Quoted message said:

Personally, I don't like olives, but others do.

I love olives which are crisp to the bite, but can't stand mushy ones,
regardless of how good the flavor.

Quoted message said:

I do like saffron which is expensive,

It is, rather. I'm not as fond of saffron as I had hoped to be. I
recently made a potato dish in which the potatoes were cooked in
chicken stock highly flavored with saffron. The taste was okay, but
the nose was ... just wrong. *shrug* I'll give it another go when I
finally get 'round to making paella, and that will probably sort it
out, one way or the other, for me. Put me firmly in the "maybe"
column with paella.

Quoted message said:

and I'm learning about wines and slowly starting to think
I can tell the difference between the good stuff and the
cheap stuff.

I think it's useful to make a distinction between good wine and bad
versus expensive wine and cheap wine. Some inexpensive wine is quite
drinkable -- which is good, if you want to drink wine on a daily
basis. And some expensive wine is [censored].

And how ridiculous to spend a lot of money on a special vintage wine
if you're not going to serve food worthy of it. Food and wine pairing
is an art, one that I have only just begun to play around with. I
usually defer to my husband, who's a fair bit more knowledgeable about
wine than I am; when we're out with certain of his friends/colleagues,
he'll defer to them or not, depending on their wine knowledge (a few
of our friends are proven oenophiles -- it's always a treat to share
meals with them).

Quoted message said:

Most of us like the blue cheeses though there's
a preference for the milder ones as opposed to
the strong, wet authentic ones from Roquefort.

A strong cheese, carefully paired with fruit, nuts, wine, etc., can be
a joy. Sometimes they're just too overwhelming on their own. Cheese
is a beautiful way to end a meal, though.

Quoted message said:

So what's the deal with fancy French gourmet
items?

*shrug* Dunno. I don't buy things because they're "fancy," "French,"
"gourmet" or any combination thereof. I buy various foods because
they please me (and those I cook for, if I'm cooking).

Quoted message said:

The people who like them love them and come
into our store just for them and rave about how
wonderful it is to find a store that carries them.
Yuck.

??? "Yuck" because people are happy they've found a shop which sells
things they like? Or "yuck" because they come across as trendy
poseurs who don't know any better?

Quoted message said:

Those of you who enjoy pate and cavier and fois gras,
what is it about the foods that you like? Can you describe
them in a way that will make the rest of us understand?

No, I probably can't, although I've written rather a lot above (which
is what happens when you get me pre-coffee -- I'm just hoping I'm
comprehensible this morning).

But the best thing is that no law says you have to like everything.
Eat the things you do like, be bold when trying new things and don't
be afraid to say you don't like something (of course, tact is
sometimes called for, but that's an easy enough skill to acquire).
Life's too short to eat things you don't like.
-j

"Wayne Boatwright" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Thu 17 Feb 2005 10:52:43p, sf wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

Ranee Mueller said:

I love olives

The love of olives runs in my family too. My son ate so
many olives the first time he tried them (as a toddler) that
he threw up, but it didn't deter him from liking them.

I am still trying to find spanish olives... remember the
olives that were, a light brownish/olive green with darker
brown spots? My mouth waters as I think of them.

Please wear a bib, or cover your keyboard.

Wayne

PS - I like those, too.

=============

We like 'em too. DS will eat the green ones but prefers the ripe black
ones - doesn't matter if they're the cheaper ones for 88 ¢ or the more
expensive gourmet olives. The kid digs olives! Always has. I can remember
him at 10 months grabbing (!) olives out of his Pop-pop's glass of Vodka!
Determined that wouldn't happen again, his Pop-pop had cocktail onions in
his drink the next time. <shrug> Not a problem - the kid likes those too!
Pop-pop finally learned to not set his drink down. LOL

Nathan was also eating dill pickles at 9 months (diapers were interesting
then!) and still goes nuts for them at almost 6 y/o.

Cyndi
(Mother of a good eater - almost sounds like a *bad* thing, huh?)

Arri London said:

Tastes are so personal don't think it's possible to make someone
understand why a food is liked or disliked.

It's because tastes are so personal that the phenomena is so easy to
explain.

Actually it's quite a simple matter to explain the development of taste
preferences, I can do it in one word... EXPOSURE... the propensity for
ones taste prefernces are developed EXACTLY the same as is ones
propensity to favor a particular language. In fact ones native
language and native food tastes develop simultaneously, from birth...
and now there is evidence that such preferences, including intellect,
begin to develop before birth. Naturally just as many exhibit arrested
intellect developement many also have their taste in their ass, usually
those traits are inseparable. Next yoose notice that McDee sign,
notice it neglects to mention how those billions served are all
[censored], all equally devoid of intellect and taste.

Fifo said:

Julia Altshuler said:

I enjoy many
types of seafood but not cavier which I think is slimy, salty and

fishy.

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't go near fois gras. Personally, I don't like olives, but

Quoted message said:

others do. I do like saffron which is expensive, and I'm learning

about

Quoted message said:

wines and slowly starting to think I can tell the difference between

the

Quoted message said:

good stuff and the cheap stuff. Most of us like the blue cheeses

though

Quoted message said:

there's a preference for the milder ones as opposed to the strong,

wet

Quoted message said:

authentic ones from Roquefort.

To appreciate caviar you need vodka. Chill it in the freezer, make some
blini, put the caviar on top, bite a blin sip a gulp.

To get me to eat caviar it would be "chug a fifth of vodka,
put caviar on blini, top with habanero salsa, close eyes,
and swallow whole. ;-)

Quoted message said:

After enough
vodka move on to the pete and have it with a good bottle of wine -
depending on the pete. After some vodka and wine you can then proceed
to the fois gras,

Now pate, that's delicious, long as there are no
truffles in it.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?
[email hidden]

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

The love of olives runs in my family too. My son ate so
many olives the first time he tried them (as a toddler) that
he threw up, but it didn't deter him from liking them.

Our kids love olives also. We never treated it like strange food, or
grownup food, so they just ate it as they ate anything else. However, I
wish they didn't love them so much, as we often give our share to them!

Regards,
Ranee (whose inlaws lay the root of their weekly olive budget at my
feet. I introduced them to many different kinds during our engagement
and wedding)

--
Remove Do Not and Spam to email

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

See my Blog at: http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Olives I don't care for. Something about the combination of taste and
texture that just does not appeal to me. Bleu Cheese... that's a "no"
on my palate. But I love Brie and Camembert. I am one of those people
who wishes the "goat cheese in food" craze would hurry up and pass,
already. I can't STAND the stuff!

I'm not fan of bleu cheese, however the stuff I had in my salad the
other night was not so bad. I wouldn't say I liked it, but it was
tolerable, and I only passed a little to my husband when I was finished.
I love goat cheese, though. Not a huge fan of camembert.

Regards,
Ranee

--
Remove Do Not and Spam to email

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

See my Blog at: http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

In article <[email hidden]>, Kate Connally

Quoted message said:

Now pate, that's delicious, long as there are no
truffles in it.

Oooh! I really despise truffles, the fungus kind. I don't like any
fungus, but I can eat dried mushrooms, rehydrated, as they aren't as
squishy and gross in my mouth.

Regards,
Ranee

--
Remove Do Not and Spam to email

"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

See my Blog at: http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/

In article <[email hidden]>, Julia Altshuler

Quoted message said:

This got us thinking about other fancy gourmet items. I enjoy many
types of seafood but not cavier which I think is slimy, salty and fishy.
I wouldn't go near fois gras. Personally, I don't like olives, but
others do. I do like saffron which is expensive, and I'm learning about
wines and slowly starting to think I can tell the difference between the
good stuff and the cheap stuff. Most of us like the blue cheeses though
there's a preference for the milder ones as opposed to the strong, wet
authentic ones from Roquefort.

You forgot snails! Do you sell them? Do you like them?

--
Dan Abel
Sonoma State University
AIS
[email hidden]

Ranee Mueller said:

In article <[email hidden]>, Arri London <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Probably depends somewhat on what one has grown up with. Personally I
find 'peanut butter and jelly' sandwiches and 'oatmeal cookies' as
revolting as you find 'fancy French gourmet items'.

Why? Is it mouth feel, taste? I'm curious what can be so bad about
oatmeal cookies, especially.

Regards,
Ranee (who hasn't met a cookie she couldn't eat)

While I do use unsweetened 'natural' peanut butter for cooking, I didn't
grow up with it being a bread spread. The first time I was offered a
PBJ, the first bite nearly got spit out! It's partly the 'raw'
combination of sweet and savoury tastes, with no balance or blending.
Might be a little of the mouthfeel and having the peanut butter sticking
to the roof of my mouth LOL. Not to mention I despise grape jelly full
stop.

Most American cookies/biscuits are too sweet and too soft for my taste.
The texture of oatmeal 'cookies' is unpleasant although I do like cooked
oat porridge (unsweetened).

sf said:

Arri London said:

There are so many pates around, you might want to try a different one.
Naturally if you don't like liver you won't like a lot of classic pates.
Neither will you like foie gras of course :p But there are other pates
not made with liver you might just like if you like meatloaf.

My favorite is duck pate with truffle. What's yours?

sf

Must say I haven't met a well-made pate I *didn't* like! There's a
venison pate I used to get very occasionally in London that was tasty!
Generally I like the Brussels or Ardennes pates for daily use and nearly
any well-truffled pate for special occasions.

D.A.Martinich said:

Arri London said:

Tastes are so personal don't think it's possible to make someone
understand why a food is liked or disliked.

This is so true. Food and wine snobs, for the most part, deny this
basic biological/psychological fact. I'm continually amazed that
individual journalists (like R. Parker) can sway so many readers to the
point where it affects price and availability to such a great degree.
The phrase 'sheep like behavior' comes to mind. I'm convinced that
caviar and champagne are bought and consumed by large numbers of people
who actually have never liked the stuff. (Of course, some of you
really do like it- I just wonder how many.) OK, now that I've had my
little rant I will say if you're having fun with it (and can afford it)
go ahead and have a ball. Just don't try to lay your rap on the rest
of us. It Is soooo boring!
I wish you all good eats!

D.M.

Hey I never turn down a Roederer Cristal or a Dom Perignon or any decent
caviare when offered! It just doesn't get offered all that much LOL.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ranee Mueller said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

The love of olives runs in my family too. My son ate so
many olives the first time he tried them (as a toddler) that
he threw up, but it didn't deter him from liking them.

Our kids love olives also. We never treated it like strange food, or
grownup food, so they just ate it as they ate anything else. However, I
wish they didn't love them so much, as we often give our share to them!

Regards,
Ranee (whose inlaws lay the root of their weekly olive budget at my
feet. I introduced them to many different kinds during our engagement
and wedding)

I grew up with pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives (okay) and canned
California olives (bleah!!!). The scales fell off my palate when I
discovered good green and black olives. This is probably what happened
to your inlaws.

Cindy

--
C.J. Fuller

Delete the obvious to email me

sf said:

Is "tres cornichons" the brand name? Pickles in pate is a
totally gross thought.

Ewwww! IMHO, the only thing in pate that belongs in pate is truffles.
Hmmm, will redefine that to say that my *favorite* pate includes
truffles. Period. Unless someone would like to proffer an alternative
and ship it to me for taste testing :-)

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
AAC(F)BV66.0748.CA

"If the soup had been as hot as the claret, if the claret had been as
old as the bird, and if the bird's breasts had been as full as the
waitress's, it would have been a very good dinner."

-- Duncan Hines

To reply, replace "spaminator" with "cox"

"Peter Horsman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In my view , we grow up eating bland easy to like foods but as we grow
older we need something more stimulating for our taste buds.. That's where
we turn.
Some go sweet, some bitter, some salty, ect.. It's a bit like Sex I
suppose.

Peter

As we grow up, we lose most of our taste buds. I suspect "bad" flavors like
bitterness become more palatable as we age just because they feel more
muted.

-T

Julia Altshuler said:

The brand name is "Trois Petits Cochons."

OKAY! Now I know what you're talking about. My ex-SIL (who
likes in NYC now) uses that brand for all of her parties -
it's very, very good. Do you sell it in those individual
pate loaves or is it slices cut from a big loaf?

I'm going to email her right now that 3 pigs pate is
available in Berkeley too... she's thinking of moving back
here and I need all the ammunition I can find to get her out
here.

🙂

sf

On Fri 18 Feb 2005 10:00:58p, sf wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

On 18 Feb 2005 06:02:44 GMT, Wayne Boatwright <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

On Thu 17 Feb 2005 10:54:09p, sf wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

My favorite is duck pate with truffle. What's yours?

sf

Not sure I have a favorite; I like too many! I like those both with
liver and without. I have a slight preference over "country style"
pates that have a coarser texture. Also like those that are studded
with pistachios.

Ahhh, we differ big time in that respect.

I don't like country style (unless I make it myself, because
that's the only kind I know how to make). LOL! I prefer
smooth pate... and I prefer to eat pistachios by the
handful.

🙂

sf

LOL! At least we like the same ingredients, either together or separately.
:-)

When I'm lazy or have no time, I'll settle for quick batch of chopped
chicken livers. Only trouble there is finding the schmaltz. I'm too lazy
to make it myself.

Wayne

I'm responding to everyone in this thread at once.

I've thought more about my question on what it is about these gourmet
itmes and realize that y'all are right. It is all a matter of what you
like and what you don't. I knew that. I guess I'm musing on the whole
nature of how some items reach that snobby gourmet status while other
don't and wondering what makes the difference. For example, cavier is
rare and therefore expensive; it is considered a gourmet item and an
acquired taste. Duck eggs, pigeon eggs, flamingo eggs and the eggs of a
dozen other birds are rare too and would be expensive if one could find
them at all, but I don't see anyone raving about how magnificent they
are. It is the same with pate. I like a number of similar meat items
like sausage and salami that aren't expensive and don't have that
gourmet panache.

Since I started working at the wine and cheese shop, I've started
learning the differences between wines. I've adored learning. I'm glad
for the knowledge. I see it as no different from learning to appreciate
better literature or enjoying music or artwork. Of course, we all have
our own likes and dislikes from the start, but it helps to have someone
teach us differences and nuances and help us appreciate Jane Austin so
we're not stuck thinking that Danielle Steele is all there is. That's
where my question about the pate comes from. I realize that I don't
have to like it just as I don't have to prefer Jane Austin, but when you
see such a fuss made over a food, you start to wonder if maybe you
really are missing something.

Goat cheeses are a good example. I love them. I didn't love them as a
child, but I got intrigued at some point, and now I enjoy them and can
tell the difference between a number of them.

When I was talking with a co-worker about how neither of us can stand
even the smell of the pate, he suggested, in a joking manner, that my
tastes were bourgeois. Perhaps he's right.

We don't sell snails. I've had them served in restaurants and have
liked them smothered in garlic butter. I'm not sure what I'd think of
their flavor plain. I'd like almost anything smothered in garlic
butter, anything except cavier and pate, I think.

Consistency was never a problem. It is a FOOLISH consistency that's the
hobgoblin of little minds.

We used to sell the Trois Petits Cochons pate in the individual loaves.
I thought they were cute and prefered them that way, but they weren't
selling, and we had to throw a bunch of them out. Now we get it in the
larger loaf and cut and weigh slices of it for the customers.

--Lia

Wayne Boatwright said:

On Fri 18 Feb 2005 10:00:58p, sf wrote in rec.food.cooking:

LOL! At least we like the same ingredients, either together or separately.
:-)

When I'm lazy or have no time, I'll settle for quick batch of chopped
chicken livers. Only trouble there is finding the schmaltz. I'm too lazy
to make it myself.

That stuff is to die for! I used to have friends (sisters)
who made it superbly. They gave me the recipe and I watched
them make it many times, but I could never replicate it
perfectly.

I'm trying to remember if they used schmaltz - they weren't
orthodox, so I'm inclined to think they used butter.

I make rumaki instead.

🙂

sf