Monday, April 30, 2012

Food Fetish

Happy Monday, everyone. Congrats to all who have are completing the A to Z Challenge! Respect. 

Reflecting on my past few novels, I've noticed my characters generally have a kind of food they love. Serenity from Build A Man scoffs Jaffas at every opportunity, while Mattie in The Hating Game has a fondness for prawn crisps. It's no surprise they adore munching so much,  I guess, given that my first thought in the morning is 'what yummy thing am I going to have for dinner tonight?'

I've lived in several different places around the globe, and I wanted to share some of my favourite dishes with you. 

Halifax, Nova Scotia (my birthplace): It's gotta be lobster with garlic butter, and Blueberry Betsy for dessert. 

Montréal, Quebec: Poutine with fois gras at Au Pied de Cochon wins every time! Poutine is chips (French fries) with cheese curds and gravy. You really couldn't get anything fattier, but oh... *rubs belly*

Wroclaw, Poland: I'd kill for some pirogi ruski, little dumplings stuffed with cheese and onion.  I'm drooling. 

London, UK: Give me some falafel from Falafel King on Portobello Road, and I'll die a happy woman. 

What's your favourite food, from your hometown or beyond? You are NOT allowed to say chocolate! :)

54 comments:

  1. As I grew up at the seaside (Scarborough in North Yorkshire) I do have a soft spot for all things seasidey - fish&chips, candy floss, ice cream. You can't beat an ice cream sundae from the Harbour Bar in Scarborough, ideally eaten in the middle of November when the daytrippers are all safely at home.

    Having said that, the best fish and chips I ever had wasn't in my home town, it was from a chip shop just outside Auckland, NZ. Freshest, tastiest fish you can imagine.

    And then there's all the lovely Italian food... proper super thin pizza in Sorrento or Naples and... and then the real basics - a proper bacon sandwich, and all the lovely cake in the world - I know you said no chocolate, but I do make the best choc chip brownies in the world (really I do)... drifts off into food fantasy land...

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  2. Great choices, Talli! From my childhood, I remember my mum's coffee fudge (you did say, not chocolate!)fish and chips from the high street shop & fresh locally-picked strawberries. Love writing about food too...

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  3. Lol, I always wondered what poutine was!

    I am very British, I love me some fish and chips, a steak and kidney pie, or a classic English fry-up! :D

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  4. Definitely fried chicken from the US South. I could even eat it for breakfast. Second would be fish and chips - it's the only way I'll eat fish. (But there's only 1 place to get it here, at a pub run by a guy who moved here from London. Americans just never seem to get it right, and nothing worse than greasy nasty slightly soggy fish and chips :-((

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  5. Oh my, get me started on food so early on a Monday?! Okay, in NZ when I can get home - I love a pacific island style raw fish (like ceviche but with coconut cream mixed in). Also, can't live without black sesame ice cream from Japan, if I can find it here - look out! Happy Monday my dear! xo

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  6. Uh, what's a Falafel? And a Blueberry Betsy?

    And for me??? PIZZA!!!!!!!!!!! Anytime, anywhere, anykind. Yummy. *stomach growls*

    ~JD

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  7. boiled dinner aka sunday dinner (cabbage, turnip, carrot, potato, greens, salt beef and peas pudding) YUM

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  8. Home: lobster salad, caesar salad, pumpkin donuts...

    :)

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  9. Best Dublin food ever - a bag of Tayto crisps, washed down with either a mug of strong Barry's tea or a glass of red lemonade. Red lemonade is like a cross between Irn-Bru and 7-Up and it's fantastic. It's also the beverage cornerstone of my family's Christmas :)

    I'm also a big fan of the cupcakes from the Sugar Loaf Bakery in the Powerscourt Town Centre in Dublin 2, and the masala chai tea in the Tea Gardens on Ormonde Quay is to die for!

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  10. What in blazes are cheese curds?!?! LOL!!!

    Erm... cream tea from Haworth - best cream tea I had!! LOL! Take care
    x

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  11. Oh, darn. Can't say chocolate? : ( Chai tea is a favorite beverage of mine.

    What are cheese curds? Can't figure that one out.

    Susanne
    PUTTING WORDS DOWN ON PAPER

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  12. Talli! How could you do this to me this morning...I am salivating now! :-) I love food, the whole experience of it. Lately I have been a big sushi kick but because I am from MN, I have to say - my favorite comfort food is my Mom's goulash or some call it hot dish. With lots of bread and butter!

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  13. Oh it varies depending on my mood. Last Friday we got off the ferry tired and starving, had fish and chips that burnt our mouths, restoring warmth and life. They were good. But I also love sushi, Thai curries, prawn salads. boiled eggs with marmite - difficult to say really!

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  14. Wow... lots of seafood lovers here! LOL. I'm a food omnivore. I will eat ANYTHING. I'm determined to try every type of cuisine. So far, some more unusual ones I've had recently were Tibetan and Ethiopian, both of which I loved! Anything with meat and vegetables served on doughy bread is a winner.

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  15. Mine is silly but I love it because it's nostalgia!!! Walking Tacos. It's super simple... grab a bag of dorito chips (the individual size), make taco meat, grab diced tomatoes, lettuce, sour cream, onions, and cheese. Crunch up the doritos and then pour all the fixins to the perfect taco in the bag! Voila, you've got lunch!

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  16. Think I'll skip the fatty stuff.
    And give me any kind of Thai food, the spicier the better!

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  17. More of a desert but I love cheesecake. The best I had was on Christmas Day in New York. I'd go back just for that!

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  18. oh god, i'm already starving and then i read THIS! You are killing me, fine lady! KILLING ME!

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  19. You won't find any better pizza than in Chicago. When I lived in Dijon, France, I did develop a taste for snails.

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  20. Ah, poutine is absolutely to die for, and the closer you are to the province of Quebec, the better. I'll have to try that place you suggest the next time I'm in Montreal.

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  21. And we do have those scrumptious Beavertails here in Ottawa...

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  22. LOL! Yes I had noticed.
    Marcia Willett's characters always enjoy coffee.
    My hubby eats pizza til it's coming out of his ears!
    have you tried a proper traditional round Bath bun with crystalised sugar, currants and real butter? Yum

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  23. Okay, if you're gonna nail me down to just one thing:
    from "home" (Southern Germany), what I miss most is good bread. Fresh-baked rolls for breakfast- take your pick of any of a dozen or more varieties... For a dinner, Jägerschnitzel (breaded veal cutlet topped with sauteed mushrooms).
    In my current home (BC, Canada), I've developed a decided taste for Turkey Dinner! Got a bird in freezer as we speak - when's the next big holiday I can cook it for?

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  24. I need to travel and eat more! Let's see--I could go back to New York and get pizza and roasted almonds and be very happy.

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  25. My favorite food will always be ice-cream, though a good pizza is a close second. I must admit, I'm dying to try your favorites!

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  26. I have simple tastes. Give me some homemade Mac and Cheese, and I can eat if for every meal including breakfast.

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  27. I adore fresh figs. Which I discovered while living in France but now I have big fig tree in my backyard. Lucky me! ;)

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  28. Living in Jersey I really should say seafood, so mine would be lobster with a crispy salad and chips. Dying to know what blueberry betsy is?

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  29. For me, living in Scotland, it's a haggis - and trying to catch one of those pesky little three-legged critters really works up the appetite - making the haggis hunt all worth while!

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  30. This is weird, but I love a good Gyro, and I'm starting to really love goat cheese.

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  31. Hmm, I love poutine! But, give me a good curry any day.

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  32. Crayfish for me. The quintessential Kiwi treat!

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  33. Hi Talli, Sounds like you've lived in some great places!

    Hmm - fave foods. From home (Scotland) I'd have to say a fish supper with salt AND sauce. Venturing further afield I reckon San Francisco clam chowder is hard to beat :)

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  34. Turkey at Christmas. A well made Greek salad. Fresh strawberries. Ice-cream. Curry. And a plain, mature cheddar and tomato baguette. Yum.

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  35. I live at the seaside town of Bournemouth but never buy shop fish and chips. I do love the walk along the shore though.

    Yvonne.

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  36. 1. Dahl puri and chanas for a Sunday brunch in the old part of Lahore.
    2. Suaerbraten with potato dumplings in the market square of Freiburg.
    3. Crêpes filled with sour red cherries and whipped cream, flambéed at a café in Paris.
    4. Spâtzle with a cheese sauce at old Inn in Chur.
    5.Créton on crackers near rue de Trésor, Québec City.

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  37. Grandma Conway's Irish soda bread. Real fish n' chips. Chicken liver spread (don't judge!). Fresh Greek food.

    I have to know--What's Blueberry Betsy?

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  38. Fois Gras sandwiches in the Dordogne, France, even though I feel guilty thinking about those ducks.

    Your foods sound intriguing.

    Denise

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  39. I have a huge food fetish. Just reading about the lobster et all makes my mouth water!

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  40. Oh my! My first thought each morning is usually "I have to make dinner AGAIN today?"

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  41. We have the most incredile pizza in our city! Our Italian restaurants are 2nd to no one! Never tasted anything like what they serve :)

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  42. Can you believe I've never been to Au Pied de Cochon? But poutine is definitely one of my favourite foods! (Sadly.) I also crave my mother's homemade cretons. And now I'm starving! :)

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  43. When I was in Switzerland in fell in love with raclette fixed with the boiled potatoes and petit cornichon...found it again in Quebec City. Yum.

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  44. I don't even know about half of the food you've just said. That's just sad. It's why I need to travel more. I love all you do. Honestly, you can sit me down at a Texas Roadhouse with a filet minon or a broiled salmon and I'm in love. Plus - their rolls are heavenly. Other than that, I'd take the Olive Garden with Chicken Alfredo or Seafood Alfredo and Black Tie Mousse Cake for dessert. YUM!

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  45. Great idea! I love Chinese and Italian food, even though I live in Scotland!

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  46. In my current hometown it would be a bagel...nobody does bagels like NJ! In my original home town it would be a Philly cheese steak. Annapolis-steamed blue crabs picked while sitting next to the bay. My all time favorite food.

    London would be a tough one...curry? Cornish pasty? Sunday roast. Really if I'm in London I don't care : )

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  47. Lol, I gotta say I read the title too quickly. I thought it said Foot Fetish LMAO. I'm all for a philly and cheese. But the best down here in South Carolina is a mouth watering BBQ pulled pork sandwich.

    Now, I'm hungry.

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  48. Oh I know, I know: Rosti from Switzerland (it's like a crisp potato cake) and Bratwurst from germany!
    One of my colleagues is polish and she once brought pirogi to work. Dang that thing is good!! : D

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  49. From my hometown in Ipoh, Malaysia, it has got to be the local chicken hor fun dish: silky white rice noodles in a fragrant chicken and prawn broth. Imitated worldwide, but nothing tastes like the one from home!

    http://umami.typepad.com/umami/images/imp061115_061.jpg

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  50. I'm fond of rice pudding but I don't know where I learned to love it!

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  51. I love all your real-life choices except poutine. I don't get the cheese curds because they don't have enough flavor.

    I noticed Serenity loved Jaffas. Never heard of them before that.

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  52. Oh Talli I could live on falafel. Other than that, Hungarian tomato salad, fried cheese, Indian mango lasse, Afghani/Indian or Pakistani naan (sooo gooood!!!), Thai street food (drooling at this point), and when I'm in England? Fish and chips!!

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Coffee and wine for all!