what are the foods you're snobby about?

Grits were great tonight, thanks. Used a local Charleston mill, there were some husks but overall brilliant. Fried some chopped Kentucky bacon, removed, fried fresh caught shrimp in the fat, added grunions, parsley, lemon juice, garlic.

Sounds great! Maybe I could become the Johnny Appleseed of grits evangelism.

like i understand why people use fresh pasta but in general i don't like fresh pasta dishes and i hate it when they substitute fresh pasta for what should be dry or vice versa

― the late great, Friday, July 6, 2012 9:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is otm, unless its like, a fresh ravioli in a restaurant in italy somewhere

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.