Un/Underrepresented cuisines

Burmese and Cambodian -- fairly easy to find in the Bay Area, for example, but not here.

Non-tapas Iberian, of all ilks.

Indonesian rijsttafel restaurants like in Amsterdam.

Anyone know where to get authentic haggis?

Pizza.



( )

hattyn wrote:Very funny.Or do you specifically mean East Coast style pizza?

H:

I'm afraid that no matter how I answer that question, there will be blood shed (and likely mine).



Let me change my vote to the rijsttafel.


A

this is more an item that a cuisine, but i know of no place in chicago where i can get a double chili cheeseburger (a la tommy's in l.a.). in a town having a ton of delicious but terribly unhealthy food, this absence mystifies me.

JeffB wrote:Non-tapas Iberian, of all ilks.

Catalan, yes.

Although, I'd be happy with good Tapas.

Egyptian and Japanese "home cooking" have come up in other recent threads.

Does rijsttafel refer to a particular region of Indonesia, a style of eating (akin to buffet, smorgasboard, mezze, etc), a specific (even if broad) selection of dishes, the entirety of Indonesian cooking, or something else entirely? Definitions I've seen hint at all of the above. But, yes, I agree: more Indonesian is necessary. My exposure is unfortunately limited to a few joints Los Angeles.

In the tradition of checking the dentistry of gift horses, I really wish Veracruzan restaurants were part of our bounty of regional Mexican restaurants.

rien

Eastern North Carolina barbecue, Maryland style steamed blue crabs, and a good coney dog.

Swiss!--I need my rosti fix!

rien wrote:I'd be happy with good Tapas.

I'll second that--I've tried a number of places and they're generally ok but never as good as I hope.

Belgian. I enjoy the Hopleaf's menu, but there's a lot more to Belgian food than that.

I'lll second the vote for Maryland stone crabs - there's nothing like cutting your hands up, getting the spices into those cuts, and spending the rest of the meal somewhere between food ecstasy and incredible pain.

Georgian - I know there's a Georgian place on Devon (and one in the 'burbs, I believe), and I have eaten there, but it doesn't come close to the homemade Georgian food I've been lucky enough to eat.

I'd love to see some Beijing streetfood, but alas, that's a dream that I KNOW isn't going to come true...

AnneVdV wrote:Belgian. I enjoy the Hopleaf's menu, but there's a lot more to Belgian food than that.

Anne,

You took the words out of my mouth. Moules-frites, steak-frites, those are of course great basic staples but there is indeed so much more to Flemish and Walloon cooking. I cook a number of Belgian dishes at home but I would love to have a couple of real Belgian restaurants around, both of the traditional sort and of the more inventive 'haute cuisine' sort.

I also think that French cuisine is underrepresented here. Yes, of course, there are some fine French restaurants but no place that I know of that is firmly rooted in one region and represents that regional cuisine well. If there are such places and I'm just ignorant, I hope I will be enlightened.

Antonius

Rijsttafel apparently exists at this point mostly in N. Europe and maybe a few tourist hotels in Indonesia. It is a product of colonialism that the former Dutch colony would rather forget, from all I've read. The contrast between this and, for example, the popular coopting of French foods and techniques in Vietnam, says something about the Dutch brand of colonialism.

Re the Tommy's double chili, I suggest that you head over to the Diner, Dinner Grill (the two signs create the ambiguity). The burger certainly fits the Tommy's/Jay's mold, and the chili is pretty good. The grill man will make all reasonable accomodations, though I have never asked for chili on my burger.

Anne, do you mean steamed Maryland blue crabs? Stone crabs, from FL, we got.

There's always something missing, no matter how great a food city you are in. The LA board on CH pretty much agreed that paczki don't exist there. Toronto has a million Portuguese and Hong Kong places, but you can't find a decent taco to save your life. On balance, we (and LA and NY and the Bay Area) really have it good in terms of high-quality variety. Ethnic variety simply does not exist in most of the nations known for great food.

JeffB wrote:Rijsttafel apparently exists at this point mostly in N. Europe and maybe a few tourist hotels in Indonesia. It is a product of colonialism that the former Dutch colony would rather forget, from all I've read. The contrast between this and, for example, the popular coopting of French foods and techniques in Vietnam, says something about the Dutch brand of colonialism.

Or perhaps something about the differences between Dutch and French cuisnes!

I think that sounds about right: the rijsttafel was a feast for the colonials made by their native cooks, but I have no idea what relation it bore to feasts enjoyed by the native rich and powerful. I haven't been to one in decades but it was a fun experience, as I remember it.

Some time back I regularly had the opportunity to teach Dutch to Indonesian grad students for research purposes and was invited to some great home-made Indonesian meals by them.

I think Penang at the corner of Wentworth and Cermak claims to make Indonesian or at least Malaysian dishes (that probably covers a tenth of the earth's surface and dozens of languages and distinct cultures but presumably there are some 'national' dishes in both countries and perhaps some overlap between the two).

Antonius

Portuguese and Brazilian.

thanks for the diner reminder, JeffB. i've been there before, but apparently still have not gotten it through my thick head that they are and should be the destination for all of my artery-clogging desires. i'm sure they can do tommy's proud.

I just watched Tommy Tang.He had Chip Hunter,I think that was the name,from Australia.That made me think of Kangaroo Connection.I just looked them up and was suprised to find they are still open.And my sister lived in Australia.So although I am not sure what it would entail as far as I know there are no Australian restaurants in the area .I do remember reading about various Asian restaurants in one of my old Australian travel guides.

Kangaroo Connection(Australian store)
1113 W. Webster,Chicago
773-248-5499

1) Sonoran Mexican. Absolutely impossible to find in Chicago.

2) I concur about the Burmese idea, as well. Some place like "Burma Superstar" in SFO would be most welcome, I think.

3) I was out with a friend this morning and afternoon (went to the Scharffen Berger Guy presentation at Kendall College, then Hot Doug's for brats, birch beer, and duck fries), and we got on the subject of Aquavit's new digs in NY - and why Marcus Samuelsson decided to put the only other branch of that wonderful place in Minneapolis (now shuttered, BTW). WHY, oh WHY, didn't he open one here? Haute Scandinavian could have been very successful nere, I think. There's so much more to the cuisine than we are able to get here, and I hate to always have to cook it myself when I want it.


Just One Woman's Opinion. Oh, and we should have a Scharffen Berger store here, too!

Scharffen Berger Guy presentation at Kendall College

Hi,

What a snooze of a talk ... his low, monotone presentation was causing me to fight to stay awake. I kept waiting for him to explain the fateful day when sugar intersected with chocolate. I learned that instead from another audience member after the talk.

If this was your first exposure, well, I can only hope you will choose to come again. I always joke to my friends Culinary Historians meetings remind me of kindergarten: interesting lecture, a nice snack and lunch afterwards.

BTW - I am the program chair of The Chicago Food and Foodways Roundtable beginning April 2nd.

LOL - I got a bit dozy, too. Dr. Steinberg was interesting, but his voice was indeed sleep-inducing, and is was warm and cozy, and the chairs were comfy...*zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz* I did wake up when he was railing against the unspeakable evil that is Dutch-process cocoa, though. Yikes!!

I really enjoyed the tour of the new Kendall facility. That Chocolate and Sugar Kitchen is to die for. Man....


So, what's on the Roundtable agenda, Madame Chairperson?

Sundevilpeg wrote:So, what's on the Roundtable agenda, Madame Chairperson?

A formal announcment will be on the Events board soon.

The plan is to encourage research into food history. There will be a program on how to conduct oral histories. I also plan to have invited guests such as ReneG with his Big Baby, other very local history like Francois and Antoinette Pope, another on MFK Fisher, I know one poster who wants to talk of Marco Polo. We already have someone who is quite expert on pecans ... so there is a wide range of topics to consider.

It will be very compatible to the existing Culinary Historians meetings, though with a greater emphasis on researched history. We will encourage those actively researching to provide updates for our edification and feedback. Amateur historians and academics are all welcome to share their knowledge.

I can't wait for this to begin, we will meet 10X a year with the months of July and August excepted. I hope some here will find this of interest and participate.

Cathy2 wrote:It will be very compatible to the existing Culinary Historians meetings, though with a greater emphasis on researched history... I hope some here will find this of interest and participate.

Care to have me come talk about the real history of "Chicken Vesuvio"?


Antonius

P.S.: For those interested in culinary history who are relative newcomers to LTH, this now well-buried post may be of interest:
Ratatouia, Samfaina, Cianfotta.

Hi,

I will be pleased to have you come speak, whether it is Chicken Vesuvio or something else. If this roundtable works as we envision it, then you will find it interesting.

Real bbq..not the chain stuff...i mean the real deal like ribs that DO NOT fall off the bone..brisket that is not cubed but sliced with a nice smoke ring and a nice crust ..

Deke,

This is available at places like Honey 1, Lems and Barbara Anns. Search the board and you will find BBQ nirvana in Chicago. None of these places serve you, you have take it and eat it in the parking lot, at a picnic table or at your kitchen table.

Of course, you would like be interested in the pork shoulder I smoked yesterday. Pulled pork! Nice ring! Nice crust!

you have to understand..ive eaten at a few of those.they come close but for the most part Chicagio is lacking in good and authentic bbq. I compete in KCBS bbq competitions so im no stranger to good BBQ . It just seems to cater to the masses what with less smoke flavor and boiled ribs, etc

Cathy2 wrote:Deke,

This is available at places like Honey 1, Lems and Barbara Anns. Search the board and you will find BBQ nirvana in Chicago. None of these places serve you, you have take it and eat it in the parking lot, at a picnic table or at your kitchen table.

Of course, you would like be interested in the pork shoulder I smoked yesterday. Pulled pork! Nice ring! Nice crust!

Cathy what type cooker do you smoke on..and yea im no stranger to smoking pork shoulder either

Hi,

I have a Weber Smokey Mountain, which I have owned 24 years. I just learned how to use it well via G Wiv last summer. Everything I did, like soaking chips, was wrong. I had the WSM soooo long, I had the preliminary instructions!

yep..we use three of those in competitions along with an old offset smoker. You might be interested in another forum..its the BBQ Forum

..http://www.rbjb.com/rbjb/rbjbboard/
everything from newbies to seasoned competition vets on there..everything you will ever want to know about bbq and smokers you will find on here
you will find a few of us Chicago people on there as well
and if you want to see a comp close up the Illinois State BBQ Championships are in July in Shannon IL ..about a two hour drive from Chi-Town. We will be competing there as well as poepl from all over the country several of which you will have probably have seen on the Foood Network BBQ Specials

Hi,

Please post details of the BBQ competition on the Events board. I would be interested in going, if I am in town, I have several obligations in July, which may preclude this year. However, it is not an unreasonable distance to traverse ... at least by my standards.