Food Fun! Your stories about eating out, searching* for less easy to find foods, cooking et al

[electric_blue68]

(I need another distraction 😁 )

I was a very picky eater so LittleMe would be horriffied
by FoodieMe now. 😂
Finally in my teens I began branching out. Luckily I had Chinese American friends who helped me beyond soy drenched take out! From there another friend was introduced by her friend to Indian food, who then introducd it to me. 👍 A life long love affair started.

•I'm half 2nd Greek American. When I was a kid Greek food was sort of "exotic". Feta cheese, taziki were things you'd only find in a Greek Deli. Luckily because a fair amount of Greeks (not as many as in Astoria, Queens) settled in my neighborhood so we had a Greek Deli about less than a mile from us.

•Living in NYC we went to the '65/'66 World's Fair in Queens. Among the things they had was the International Section where in some pavilions you could eat new foods.
In the Indian Pavilion we had a mild chicken curry, but it was the Nan bread I fell in love with!

Well, my dad off and on for like ?5+ years whenever he was doing the shopping; would when he saw it because it was slowly becoming more common in general supermarkets - he'd bring home Pita bread thinking it was Nan bread.

"No, Dad, this is not Nan bread" for the x'd time. 😄
It was really sweet of him.
My problem, and it was sort of weird as a visual artist who had also a strong tactile sense; WHY I couldn't describe the difference. I'm pretty sure I had remembered otherwise why would I be so insistant!

Anyway those are the 2 stories that I've never forgotten.
I'm sure I have a restaurant, and cooking story somewhere, too.


What are your stories? 👍


*(Food searching is often easier once on line stuff really got going, still there must be stories)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. I discovered very Americanized Chinese food when I was

perhaps about 20. I slowly branched out to better Chinese food, although to be honest, were I ever to go to China, I do not think I would like the authentic stuff.

One time I was on a date, the guy took me to a Chinese restaurant, wouldn't let me have a fork. Since then, I only use a fork for Chinese food if chopsticks are not available.

[electric_blue68]

7. I've eaten ...

fried chicken feet. That is probably the most authentic thing I've eaten

🤔 Although I'd say maybe Sticky rice with lotus leaf is on the authentic side. My friend in HS her mom would make them using a banana leaf. You hardly ever find them out of Chinatown and this NYC!

I love them, and a lot of dim sum! 🧡

As far as chopsticks fo I learned well by my late teens. I use both western utensils, and chopsticks.

[elleng]

2. Thanks Thanks Thanks,

and So SORRY I forget where ALL the pavilions at the World Fair were located, for lunches, as I worked there as an 'information' person, but it was a great job!

(THEN went off to England (and points east) for my jr. year of college. THANKS for the memories, blue!)

[electric_blue68]

8. Aw cool! ...

We loved the World's Fair!.
We went 6xs each the 2 Summers it was on.
.I still have the guide book!

Glad to bring back fun memories for you. 👍

Ty

[elleng]

12. You still have the guide book!

WOW!

[electric_blue68]

14. A little worse for wear but bot bad.

They kept the park, The Unisphere, the NYC Pavilion is now the ?Queens museum.
.
But they kept the 🥰 5 Borough scale model Cityscape! The moving ride above it is gone you walk around it You can take your time .
And they still Update the buildings and structures!

The NYS building us bedraggled but some hope they can fix it ane make a new colored glass ceiling

[elleng]

15. Well, I sure haven't seen any of them since I left NY, after college,

but do like seeing the Unisphere in photos.

[grumpyduck]

3. Not about searching for food, but

when I was a kid in the late 50s early 60s it was an unwritten rule that you ate what was on your plate. My Mom was a great cook, but there were still occasionally a few things I didn't like.

So one day I hit on a genius idea: I would eat what I didn't like first, and then take my time with everything else. Worked like a charm for a while.

Until one day one of my aunts was visiting. We were having lunch and my Mom put something on my plate that I didn't like. So I ate it first and moved on. My aunt saw me, said wow, look how much he likes [whatever it was], and heaped another helping on my plate.

Back to the drawing board. [sigh]

[electric_blue68]

9. Oh noooes! And this all about different fun experiences w with food.

Although in your case Oooops!

Ty

[Kali]

4. being from the US Mexico border region, it was always a search for Mexican food

and usually finding it too. even in Okinawa, Japan in the mid 70s. my folks even found Mexican food in Siberia in the 90s!

it is the corn tortillas that you really crave. we used to mail home made tortilla chips to people in the midwest and Alaska.

[grumpyduck]

5. I was in Dubai for five weeks back in 97,

and one day for some reason I decided I wanted to make tacos.

I found everything, like everything, at the local supermarket.

[electric_blue68]

11. Love it! Ty

[electric_blue68]

10. Siberia?! 😄 Wow

Good to know about the corn tortillas. 👍

And home made ones! Kindness

Ty

[highplainsdem]

6. When I first moved to NYC (I lived there twice, in my 20s), to Manhattan, I could

not believe how many restaurants/delis/bakeries there were, offering so many different kinds of food. Loved all the variety, from Beef Wellington at L'Etoile to the tiniest ethnic restaurants. Loved one club where you could get a great hamburger and a pitcher of sangria at 3 in the morning. And another place I'd sometimes go to just for dessert because one dessert there was a chocolate crepe that covered a plate.

But then when I flew home for the first time in months, the first thing I did at O'Hare was get good ol' Midwestern BBQ, which tasted like heaven. Hadn't realized how much I'd missed it.

[electric_blue68]

13. Well I'm glad you had such food explorations & fun in my city! ...

Totally understand the craving for home foods!

[highplainsdem]

16. I remember getting incredible moussaka and souvlaki at a Greek restaurant

there. Tried making moussaka myself years later, but mine was inedible.

[electric_blue68]

17. Oh, dear! ...

Luckily I learned to eat a lot more Greek foods in my early mid teens

I had taramasalata (fish roe w cream, garlic, a bit of olive oil? , lemon juice and ?) at fancier Greek restaurant extended family dinner. And I liked it enough so became a fan as I started to go out more to restaurants.
There's a place that makes some of the best for decades. Hopefully when covid goes back to low levels I'll get there.

I've made my own tzaziki. But that's not hard.

The one that I felt missed was lamb sheesh kabob. An uncle made it every summer but I didn't like it. Occasionally another would.
When the first uncle died I'd just begun to like it - I was oh, no more of that.

But one aunt & uncle, kept doing it and her and her daughter ( later) also did roast leg of lamb with orzo pasta in the pan that soaks up juices and gets crispy. Oh, boy! 😄

Plus more gyro restaurants, or full Greek restaurants opened. We have a few favorites! Some are gone pre covid but our 2 favorites that I can afford to go to with my sis (she can afford more) are still here. 🧡👍

[highplainsdem]

18. I hope your favorite restaurants that are still open will stay open. We lost way too many

restaurants the last couple of years.

[electric_blue68]

19. Thanks! We sure did. Hope you have still have some favorites, too