what are the foods you're snobby about?

Remy, I like the different flavors of different vinegars, have about 7 or 8 different ones in the pantry, and try to take care to use the one in a dish that matches best with the other ingredients. I guess that's a little snobby instead of a lot snobby?

i guess i'm snobby abt vinegar cuz someone gave me a small £10 bottle of aceto balsamico di modena which seemed altogether excessive, but rly it was EXCELLENT even if i only ever used it on fish and chips and supermarket bags of rocket salad

Was thinking about this thread as I fell asleep last night, and really I'm snobby about everything, even though I'm willing to eat crappy food in between the great, carefully planned meals. I'm judgmental about every bite, just not judgmental enough to try to make every meal omg wonderful. Sometimes I just need to shovel some coal into the furnace because I've got too much non-food stuff on my mind.

I guess I'm snobby about soy sauce in the way you are about vinegar, WmC. I'm not sure that I know - academically – the differences between the types, but I'm very aware of their different flavors and relative usefulness in recipes of different stripes.

I once had pizza covered in nettle (With JBR and Treppel and Ned, maybe?) and didn't like it. It *tasted* great, but it just seemed a waste? Pretentious? Over-wrought? That may have been the bridge too far – the moment I found out exactly how much I /do/ and /don't/ appreciate haut cuisine.

That sounds like the kind of pizza you'd be forced to eat in a Grimm Bros story as punishment!

pseudy pizza with random things on it ≠ haut cuisine

I was sorting through a pantry shelf (looking to see if we still had the bottle of Datu Puti coconut vinegar) the other day and came across an unopened bottle of Healthy Boy Soy Sauce I had completely forgotten buying.

falafel and hummus are two that for the most part i have to make myself. what i find in and around town just doesn't do it for me.

i don't get why a nettle pizza seems random or pretentious. kinda seems like something chez panisse's cafe could have on the menu (i.e. local/seasonal ideas)

I'm not snobby about any food, but I'm snobby about the price of food. A $5 pad thai has to be pretty bad for me to hate it. Meanwhile, a David Chang ramen dish just makes me SO MAD why would you pay such a stupid price when you can get A+++ ramen for way less.

Have a lot of vinegar, too; apple cider for cooking, unfiltered raw apple cider for medicine, white vinegar for french fries, champagne vinegar for salad dressing, expensive balsamic vinegar for strawberries and ice cream, umeboshi vinegar for everything, rice vinegar for adobo

What soy sauces? I only use cheap Chinese light, cheap Chinese dark and one nice Japanese one. My inlaws (Filipino) prefer my cooking when I use cheap soy sauce, or, best of all, Maggi.

Maggi is excellent. I've got a Viet soy/fish sauce blend that I buy in a bottle that has no English on it. It's my go-to for anything fatty, but it's too acid for poultry and seafood, or anything with coconut milk. I'd recommend it, but I can't read the bottle and I just buy it b/c of the nice red cap.

I went to someone's house once and they were serving sushi with chinese dark soy sauce, I just about gagged

i'm like wmc in that I have strong opinions about tons of food but I will eat just about anything

falafel and hummus are two that for the most part i have to make myself. what i find in and around town just doesn't do it for me.

This is a good reminder that I'm really snobby about pesto. A big 'no' to store-bought, esp. with how easy it is to make.

oh hell yes, pesto's so easy to make and to riff on (like adding/subbing tarragon or arugula or whatever). and canned pesto shouldn't exist, period. blech.
i could prolly make a big list, but winter tomatoes are another one i kinda can't stand with VERY few exceptions. same with goddamn berries shipped from South America in the winter/spring

try to take care to use the one in a dish that matches best with the other ingredients. I guess that's a little snobby instead of a lot snobby?

xxpost: to me that's just good common sense....

I'll eat jar pesto but only the Sacla brand, anything else is always adulterated with cheap veggie oils or too much of something or shitty cheap walnuts or the pinenuts are in chunks.

I could make my own, but I never get round to it.

We've talked pesto before. Some people have gardens, the rest of us have to get jars.

Yeah, Maggi is so good. When it used to contain MSG it was the best, I grew up putting it on everything (scrambled eggs especially, holy crap so good). I'd be interested to see this Viet fish thing

i just make a big batch of pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays, then put the little blocks into ziploc bags.

Oh, weirdly: I'm very snobby about vegan and vegetarian food. If it's bland or badly cooked I get real annoyed, as if it's an affront to vegetarians, confirming carnivores' accusations.

WmC how do you make good grits

butter, cheese, salt, pepper, hot sauce?

i'm snobby about po boys

Ówen, it's all about getting good product. Bill Kte'pi recommended Nora Mill and I didn't care for them -- too many husk remnants. (I still have 4 1/2 lbs. in the fridge that I might as well just toss.) I get the yellow grits sold in bulk at the Dekalb Farmers Market whenever I go to Atlanta. I doubt they grind their own, and they don't ID the source, but these grits are really good. "Quick grits" are crap, obv.

Start with 4 parts liquid to 1 part grits. (Breakfast: half milk, half water. Savory, like for shrimp & grits or something: 3 parts water, vegetable broth or chicken broth, 1 part milk.) Bring the liquid and a bit of salt to a simmer and whisk in the grits, then drop the heat to low. Since good grits are a bit more coarsely ground than grocery store junk, they'll try to stick, so whisk often and don't leave them unattended.

After about 15 minutes, start taste-testing for doneness, and you can also adjust salt at this point. If they are really thick but not tender yet, whisk in a little more water, starting with 1/4 cup or so.* When they're done, you can whisk in a bit of butter and/or cheese if you want cheesy grits. Cheddar's good; a mix of cheddar and parmesan is great. If these are going to be savory grits as the starch underlying grillades, fish or shrimp, a squirt of Sriracha or several squirts of Tabasco are definitely called for here.

*Final ratio for me is closer to 4.5:1 liquid to grits.

Thanks WmC I will try it. I'm in shrimp country next week and can do the scrimp just great but my grits haven't been so hot

If you'll be anywhere in the Carolinas you should be set on finding A+ grits from a local mill. But again, I can't recommend Nora Mill.

spices, not so much snobby about freshness, but I always buy them at the Indian grocer for like 2 bucks for a boatload as opposed to mccormicks thimblefull for 5 bucks or whatever

I'll be in Charleston SC. You'll see me next week on the "too effing hot" thread for sure

Yeah, Maggi is so good. When it used to contain MSG it was the best,

?? is this a varies-by-country thing? mine still has msg in it (thank god)

I am an outdoor cooking snob, which is not to say a BBQ bore. A well-grilled sausage or hamburger or piece of fish is always good and no science and you will get props from me for it regardless. But I will have to try very hard not to feel superior to you if you serve me any grilled goods with store-bought sauces or which came pre-marinated, I will lecture you if you precook anything before throwing it on the grill or if you never stop moving that poor steak for even a second, and I will mock you if you own a really expensive gas grill.

And I do become a barbeque bore on the subject of ribs, especially in Europe.

Yknow, I guess I am a snob about octopus/squid. It has to be really good, and accompanied just so; I won't accept lesser substitutes. Once you've had the best, it's kind of hard to go back.

That sounds particularly snobby because I'm talking about such a comparatively novelty food item. Oh well. It's not really that expensive or exotic or even difficult to cook. It's just difficult to get it just right imo and I value that highly. Snobbily.

I am a snob abt tea and also pasta; not so much brands of pasta but rather cooking it. I find myself thinking cruelly condescending things abt people who cook it past al dente and/or don't salt the water, or like people making a pasta-based casserole like baked ziti or mac & cheese who cook the pasta to eating-doneness before they even bake it.

I don't even care how you dress the pasta; I will probably seriously respect you more for cooking it right and putting butter/powdered garlic/sprinkle cheese on it than cooking it to mush in unsalted water and topping it with a homemade lamb ragout

I will lecture you if you precook anything before throwing it on the grill

what about potatoes???

Yknow, I guess I am a snob about octopus/squid. It has to be really good, and accompanied just so; I won't accept lesser substitutes. Once you've had the best, it's kind of hard to go back.

― nicest bitch of poster (La Lechera), Tuesday, July 3, 2012 2:09 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

that reminds me, deep fried octopus/squid is only ever good one it's at one point of texture on the spectrum between chewy and rubbery

Right, which is why I mostly prefer it grilled. I have only had one or two instances of fried calamari that was truly delicious and worth eating. Otherwise it was chewy material ensconced in "fried" which is not desirable.

I'm at a loss as to what would be precooked before going on a BBQ grill anyway (except, as D says, potatoes I guess maybe). Surely no one would precook meat?

Some folks slow-roast pork ribs and finish them on the grill, otherwise, not sure what.

A lot of sparerib recipes involve doing most of the heavy lifting in the oven and just finishing them on the grill to get a sticky saucy glaze. xp

I tried grilling potato slices once, sliced 'em really thin, the surfaces bubbled and the starches burned before the insides got cooked

Yup, am mostly talking about ribs and potatoes, but was once served weird crispy rubbery flavorless chicken pieces by someone so paranoid about undercooking that the pieces were boiled first.

Potatoes don't like direct grilling much, and don't even try if you don't have a lid on your grill, but very small new potatoes if well-oiled can work out ok. Indirect grilling work better, but keep the potatoes small, the fire relatively hot, and your patience intact. I like smoking bigger potatoes, or just putting them directly in the coals, with or without foil. Big baking potatoes into the coals get taken out when they are black and ugly, then scooped out and mashed: yum. I am currently looking into getting or building a tandoor or something like it (real charcoal tandoors are expensive as hell and not great quality for the money; a Big Green Egg is even more super-expensive but well-made and much more versatile) -- I think that's where I'd be doing my potatoes!

Have gotten into long barbecue bore arguments with Euros who insist that my smoker is all well and good for American barbecue, you cannot get crispy-but-edible-and-not-burnt ribs without precooking and then direct grilling -- these arguments usually end when I serve them ribs done at relatively high temperatures (compared to my smoker, anyway) indirectly on the Weber.

LL, the best squid/octopus I've ever had was the wood-grilled octopus at Taxim (Greek place) in Wicker Park. I found the restaurant as a whole to be hit-or-miss, but that dish is fantastic.

I had no idea big green eggs were so expensive!

There are less expensive kamados out there, but some of them have serious quality issues. I have also heard interesting things about the Broil King Keg (http://www.broilkingbbq.com/grills/keg/landing.html) which is significantly less expensive and supposed to be good...

somebody's selling a used one about an hour away from here. I suppose one day I'll luck out and find someone has left one on the curb next to their trash.

Can't think of a single food I feel this way about.

That's really sad!

i cook potatoes (either wedges, half fingerlings, or thin round slices) on the grill in a foil packet. works fine.

Beer comes close. But I'll drink damn near any beer, not just the best stuff.

Wait, I'm a Popsicle snob.

i use the cheap imported

formulated for very salty pasta water and the timing on the bag is properly al dente

what brand

barilla for me

durum semolina

dececco and barilla are relatively cheap ($2-$5), same price as domestic organic

rustichella if spendy or on sale

i'm not super picky - fuck a chittarra or trenne - but i find bucatini makes a big difference

i just found a cheaper brand of bucatini by delallo that was as good as rustichella. their penne and basic noodles are pretty good too.

i think the toughest to pull off (and least necessary to use) are fusilli and orecchiette, i try to go large or go home if i need to use those

orecchiette - my fav type :D

they are tricky though

bread, pasta, rice, grains, oatmeal (cereal) - i'm a carb snob. also have attitude wrt fruit in season & abhor jarred tomato sauces

orecchiette are fabulous w/ peas and spring onions. not sure what else you'd make em with, anything roughly pea-sized i guess

bread, pasta, rice, grains, oatmeal (cereal) -

i think w/some of these it's cost that makes me semi-snobby; the same with tea, i think it's bad economics to skimp on something you get so much out of, to buy the cheaper kind & take a hit on your next forty cups. rice is pretty cheap in the scheme of things, even nice thai jasmine or w/e, so splashing out for something that's <£1/serving is weird (obviously unless you totally have to).

i'm not into artisanal (hate that word) grains or anything i just hate indifferently prepared white rice. living in nyc i shop around for snob bargains

Is Barilla really better than like Ronzoni or Rienzi or any of those?

De Cecco > Barilla > Ronzoni, imo. Ronzoni lasagne noodles are OK

marcella hazan says that italian-made pasta is better than american-made because they use metal rather than teflon to make it so the texture is rougher outside and whatever you put on it sticks better. i like the whole foods pasta.

I always get Barilla.

yes, it's better

i do orrechiette carbonara sometimes

i think i generally buy italian stuff already i guess?

i make carbonara with the fat bucatini tubes because they're made to catch the egg cheese and fat and stiffen

for tomato sauce perciatelli noodles (hollow bucatini) are fun because they slurp up the sauce for you like straws

thats good for bolognese too cuz chunks get stuck in there

mm want to make pasta now

depends how chunky you like it

if you're really chunky you want rigatoni

I do get annoyed how p much every pasta brands shapes are different. Some stuff they call rigatoni is v slightly wider penne

Gemelli rules and is v under appreciated. Excellent chew.

I really hate buccatini, it stays all dry and sauceless within! I'm American, damn it. I like sauce more than pasta.

Pretty much almost always buy De Cecco. I know there are non-mass-market brands that cost £££ but I've never ventured in that direction, maybe out of fear that I will get hooked and go broke that way.

depends how chunky you like it

if you're really chunky you want rigatoni

― the late great, Monday, July 9, 2012 12:54 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i always ask my butcher to grind the meat on the extra-big setting

rowr

Man I need a local butcher. Also rigatoni is the best and I never would have known if not for out very own best beloved surm

I thought you were a vegan for some reason. huh.

I was for a while but then I stopped like maybe a year and a half ago and the "Wait aren't you vegan??"s haven't stopped since

Oh, sorry. I didn't realize.

being snobby is not something to brag about

who's being snobby now

who's snobbing who?
take another look now, baby
who's snobbing who?

Snobby about beer, olive oil to an extent, see no need in using horrible supermarket sea salt as opposed to maldon, when a box of maldon still lasts me a year. Always try to have good soy and fish sauce.

I am snobby about meat and fish but don't have a non-supermarket butcher or fishmonger that is handy for me.

if it's dinner time, i basically have to have perrier. even if i'm eating like top ramen slathered hot sauce, i still want perrier on ice.

also i'm a pickle snob.

I just finished lunch -- two tomato sandwiches -- and thought snobby thoughts as the juice ran down to my wrists.