Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with foodie

I'm way too sleep derived to think of a clever headline.

porpoise — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:19:55 -0800

Restaurantfilter: Downtown Chicago, dinner recommendations for a couple of grad students with a foodie bent in town for a conference. I've checked out these two previous threads on downtown Chicago restaurant recommendations.

We're in downtown proper and staying at the Sofitel at Wabash & Chestnut and the Wyndham at St. Claire & Erie. Looking for 'interesting' restaurants within a 20 minute walk tonight. Are there any places that are distinctly "Chicago-ian"/local or ignored by tourists/tourism-board?

Grad students, but willing to pony up (to maybe $60 or 70, maybe a bit more, but something around $30 per person sans drinks is more reasonable). We love food, doesn't matter what kind preferring 'good' over 'lots.'

Food is nutrition, not entertainment

arniec — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:03:34 -0800

How can I change my mindset to think of food as sustinance and not food as entertainment/reward? I've searched and was shocked to not see this question come up before, but if I missed it, links?)

I am turning 35 in a hair over a month, and I'm trying to get my life in order. A big part of this for me is losing weight and getting fit. However I have a mindset that is ingrained from the past 34 years that I need a way to get around.

I am quite the foodie. I've traveled across the US and some other countries and love to try the culinary delights there. To me, food is entertainment. When traveling, the food is part of the tourism, and when home food is part of the entertainment. Special occasion in the family? Eat out! Going to a movie? More fun with popcorn!

Worse is after a hard day at work (long hours, stressful work environment) my wife and I turn to "comfort food". This is not emotional eating, it's just that after a hard day we can relax a bit better with a pitcher of margaritas and some hot wings (for example). The enjoyable eating experience is a good amount of the enjoyment, and the relief of not having to cook and do dishes, two more chores at the end of a long, hard day, are rewards to ourselves. Instant gratification is the downfall of many an American...including us.

So yes, like dogs, we are food motivated. But to achieve our fitness goals, we need to stop thinking in those terms. How can we do that?

(And hint: as part of "getting my life in order" I'm also cutting back a lot of spending in order to pay off credit cards, so the option to replace the food reward with some monetary reward won't work).

Where to travel to on the cheap for foodies?

traceymariel — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:25:12 -0800

Where's the best place to travel to (from the U.S.) with a relatively cheap flight (definitely under $500) and good (but not terribly expensive or fancy) restaurants and other fun but relatively inexpensive things to do? My husband's friend is offering his time share for a week for free. We can basically stay for a week just about anywhere and only have to pay for the flight and food and shopping while we're there. I'm thinking that within the US or Mexico are probably our best bets for a cheap flight but I'm open to all suggestions. We mostly want to relax, eat some nice food and perhaps see some sights, but this does not have to be an incredibly cultural experience. That being said, we'd like to have enough to do for a whole week. We live in Philadelphia and have enjoyed traveling to Spain, Italy and Taos, NM together but would like to go somewhere new to us both.

Join me in the Quest for the Mexican Salad Dressing!

goodnewsfortheinsane — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 13:30:16 -0800

Help me recreate an awesome Mexican salad dressing! So I just had one of those pre-packaged salad kits, and it came with an awesome dressing. It was a Mexican chicken salad, and the dressing was a tangy, sort-of tomato-ey sort-of corn-y delight with quite a bit of a bite (but no apparent capsaicin heat). I think it or something similar would work brilliantly as a home-made dressing or cold sauce. The ingredients as listed on the packaging:

Water
Soya oil
Tomato purée
Vinegar
Sugar
Dextrose
Herbs and spices
Onion
Modified corn starch
Salt

I'll spare you the food acids and other additives, but suffice to say that, big surprise, MSG was in there (but none of its cousins in the E620-E630 range).

I believe the tomato purée refers to the concentrated kind; it definitely tasted like it (although Dutch tomatoes I feel are generally quite watery so I'm somewhat easily impressed with the concentrated and processed stuff). In fact, the overall taste held the middle between concentrated tomatoes and something corn-like, strongly reminiscent of tortilla chips (the non-cheese kind). Add a faint vinegary tang, and you're pretty much there.

It had about the consistency of common chili sauce (but as I said, no heat). It was very different from any salsa I've eaten, and completely smooth; without any onion or tomato chunks like in salsa or adobo.

Has anyone ever made anything like this? Any pointers? Thanks in advance, guys!

Low Stress Vacation

BrotherCaine — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:33:03 -0800

Where in Northern or Central California is a good place to vacation in late April/Early May with swimming pools, ~~movie stars~~, hot springs, massage, day hikes and/or B&Bs with vacancies? My wife and I are thinking of taking a road trip this year from eastern SF bay area to somewhere between Cambria and Mendocino or inland with the aforementioned amenities. We like to travel cheap, but with hot showers. Three stars at two star prices kind of thing. 7-10 mile day hikes would be fun, below freezing nights less so. Also, extra bonus points for B&Bs with hosting pets, small towns with cozy used book stores, and restaurants with at least one vegetarian (not vegan) item on the menu.

Unusual, exotic, interesting chewing gum?

groovinkim — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:03:32 -0800

I quit smoking after 15 years. Now I'm looking for suggestions for some unusual, exotic, interesting chewing gum. I quit smoking in April 2008 after 15 years. I have no desire to ever begin again but I still periodically crave... something. So I've decided to take up chewing gum. However, the normal brands at the grocery don't taste very interesting and a lot of them contain all kinds of awful chemicals to boot. So I'm hoping to find more exotic kinds of gum to special order online. It'd be ideal if they were natural/organic. I've tried glee gum but it disintegrated too rapidly. I love spicy and strange flavors and am not at all concerned about it being a "traditional" gum flavor. Google pulls up a lot of links and blog posts about creative stuff (often Japanese) but finding it for sale online hasn't been as easy.

I say oysters and you say ersters...

TungstenChef — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:45:04 -0800

I'm visiting Portland this weekend and would love some food tourism suggestions. So far, my plan is to stuff myself to the gills (heh) with seafood. My sister-in-law lives in the area, and already has the following activities planned:
-winery tour
-tasting menu at a very nice restaurant (I don't remember the name unfortunately)

Other than wineries, are there any other types of food producers we should visit, like oyster beds for example? What local seafoods are in season right now? Any suggestions for hole-in-the-wall types of places where we can get some great seafood on a budget? Any secret places I should know about if I want to eat an obscene amount of oysters? Finally, we're driving to Eugene to catch our flight out on Sunday, is there anywhere along that route that's worth taking a few hours to check out?

Thanks!

First time in London, help!

griffey — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:21:32 -0800

First time in London, help me plan my perfect trip! Lots, lots more inside. So, in 2 weeks (Dec 1-5) I'll be in London for the first time. I'm going under the auspices of speaking at the Information Online conference being held at the Olympia Grande the 2-4th, so I'll have that area as my "home base". I'm staying at the Hilton London Kensington, which appears to be reasonably close to at least a couple of tube stops.

I'll have 2-3 days to actively explore, and my list of "must see" touristy sorts of things are scattered. I have to visit the British Museum, and Westminster (want to see Poets Corner and Darwin's grave). I have been told not to miss the Tower of London, and would love to see the Tate Modern. But aside from that, I'm interested in just exploring London.

My interests: I'm a huge foodie, and would love any suggestions on amazing food experiences, especially those in proximity to my hotel. I'm also a huge geek, so anything in the geek pantheon (tech, games, comics) would be interesting.

What shouldn't I miss, Mefi? Anything happening that week that I should know about? What's that area of London like?

One beet, two beet, canned beet

parmanparman — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 20:42:53 -0800

After months of diligently shopping healthier, I have come to the realization that I just cannot get through the fresh vegetables I buy in a timely manner. Having decided to go back to cans (except for cabbage and onions), tell me what I should be on the lookout for, in terms of great-tasting things to try.

Foodies: ID this soup!!

CreativeJuices — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:35:18 -0800

Foodies: Please help me ID this soup!! Also, what are some of your all time best soup recipes? Foodies, help me ID & find a recipe for a pea soup I had in Paris last year. It was the best soup I have EVER had! It was like agreen pea soup with a fried egg and bacon floating on top. It also had some sort of diving nectar (maybe great quality balsamic vinaigrette??) What is this? Just a ritzy French version of pea soup? If you can, point me towards a recipe!! On 2-for, what are you fav soup recipies? Thanks!

Where did my tastebuds go?

schroedinger — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 06:05:26 -0800

I want to go from goat to gourmet. Having taste buds that are happy eating MREs all day long has its advantages, but it would be nice to enjoy the finer things in life. But I can't spend all my money on high-end restaurants. How do I become a pescetarian foodie on a college budget? I was raised on an All-American diet of white pasta, grocery store brand cheese, slightly overcooked vegetables, and PB&Js. This left me with an inability to tell the difference between "bland", "good", and "fantastic." Box wine and the finest merlot are all the same to me, the sushi from a five-star restaurant and the prepackaged stuff in a dining hall fridge case are virtually indistinguishable, Ghirardelli and Hershey's are twins, and I've been known to continue eating the lentil-bean monstrosities I make long after their due date because the, um, ripeness adds tang (no, really, it does!). I think PowerBars taste good. PowerBars.

I try cooking to widen my palate, but I'm terrible at it and my tastebuds are so insensitive that I can't actually taste the difference anyway.

I've heard the way to counter this is to just buy high-quality food, but I don't have the money to shop at Whole Foods every weekend. So what to do? My lack of taste is more than just embarrassing--it contributes to unhealthy eating as I can eat large quantities of the most unimaginably processed crap without compunction. What's the solution?

Finding nonhomogenized milk in a city?

cmiller — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:25:11 -0800

I live in a medium-sized city in the US. Where can I find cow milk that's not homogenized? I want to make fresh mozzarella cheese, and homogenization destroys some essential quality of the milk. Pasteurization is fine, and I prefer all the germs killed, so I am not looking for "raw milk", which is often illegal or at least shady.

I live in Orlando, Florida. That's large enough that there are no dairy farms nearby, but small enough that it's not obvious to me where I can find the right kind of milk.

To make the answers interesting to everyone and not be Orlando specific, is there a general source of such milk?

How to date a picky eater

rorycberger — Mon, 20 Jun 2005 15:03:30 -0800

I want the tasting menu, she wants plain chicken and mashed potatoes - how can my girlfriend and I eat out and at home so that we are both happy? About me: I am a 23 year old SF bay area food lover who grew up trying new foods all the time and is an aspiring home cook. I'll try anything at least once and I like to cook elaborate, exotic, richly flavored meals. Though I'm not rich, I'm happy to pay good money for great meals, and want to try everything the bay area has to offer (e.g. chez panisse, french laundry, gary danko, etc.). I love my girlfriend and would like to share these fine dining experiences with her (who else would I take out to a $500+ dinner in Napa?).

About her: She's always been a somewhat picky eater, and recently found out that she has Gastroparesis (a stomach condition that stemmed from her diabetes), which further limits what she can eat. For those unfamiliar with the condition, it essentially slows down your digestive system to a near halt, and thus you must only eat easy to break down foods (i.e. low-fiber, low-fat). Combined with her personal preferences, this means that she won't eat almost any vegetables, raw or cooked, and can't eat anything fried or covered in a fattening sauce. She likes everything plain, or with only simple flavorings. She loves me and is willing to slightly push her limits and occasionally try new things, but it takes some coaxing and I know she's only doing it for me. We've already had a couple of occasions where I've picked a restaurant that I thought was relatively safe and she's been unhappy and unable to find choices that she likes.

My questions: Has anyone dealt with a situation like this, where your partner has seriously different eating preferences? If so, how did/do you make it work? Also, I'm curious about how high-end restaurants would react to her eating habits (e.g. can I seriously ask Thomas Keller or Alice Waters to cook without fat or anything green)? I know that they accomodate for food allergies, but is this too extreme? If you think they would accomodate us, how and when do I tell them? Any other tips?

Help keep me from starving during my business meeting in Anaheim

desuetude — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 16:12:09 -0800

I will be at the Anaheim Convention Center for a week. I do not hear good things about the culinary possibilities within walking distance. Unlike this thread I will not have the opportunity to get away from the convention center. Please help me find food. That's not mass-produced. See, I'm not attending a meeting, I work for an organization that is holding a meeting. A meeting of meetings. Meetings with which I will be tied up from early to late with a side order of exhaustion. And yet, I need to eat sometime. Oh, except that I hate fast food and can barely tolerate most chains.

Do any of the nearby hotels have particularly disgusting food? Any of the hotels have a halfway decent restaurant? Are there any gems within walking distance of the center? (I like every ethnicity of food. I love everything from highbrow to hole-in-the-wall. I just don't like chain-restaurant-food.)