In article <XAMUj.8775$ko5.6963@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
"0tterbot" <spl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Billy" <wildbilly@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>
news:wildbilly-F0E6E3.20351505052008@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >> oh get over yourself!!!! <g> the u.s. is not the ruination of
> >> civilisation
> >> everywhere ffs ;-) it doesn't have that much power.
> >
> > Not everywhere, just where I eat. We have this Ile de France Brie
> > cheese, made in New Jersey and tastes like wax. The faux
> > croissants are either wonder bread in crescent shapes, or dripping
> > of oil (probably soy). Croissants that shatter into hundreds of
> > toasted shards with a center of airy french bread are rare and not
> > easily found. But having found one, Nutella, and Bonne Mamam are the
> > perfect condiments to serve with them, along with a strong cup of
> > coffee. (We call it French roast, the French call it Italian roast,
and
> > the Italians call it coffee.)
> > No we haven't ruined it everywhere but most Americans never get a
> > chance to taste what real food can be. We get new combinations of
> > confected wheat, corn syrup and corn fractions, soy oil, and salt,
> > and it gets called, new and improved.
>
> what about people who know their food? what do they do? foodies might be
a
> small pro****tion of the populace, but what are they eating? (im****ts???)
> what about the really good restaurants?
I live in Sonoma County, California. Wine country USA. Our grapes are
second in price to Napa, only because Bob Mondavi is such a great
salesman. Crop value for grapes in Napa totaled $463 million last year.
Total value of the 2007 grape crop in neighboring Sonoma County was $411
million. That¹s based on a total crush of 197,714 tons and an average
price of $2,081 per ton (That's over a $1/lb from the grower).
Two-thirds of all wine sold in the U.S. comes from California wineries.
A total of 449 million gallons of California wine were sold in the U.S.
in 2006 with an estimated retail value of $17.8 billion.
The value of California's grape harvest is second only to marijuana.
(December 18, 2006) California is responsible for more than a third of
the cannabis harvest, with an estimated production of $13.8 billion that
exceeds the value of the state's grapes, vegetables and hay combined ‹
and marijuana is the top cash crop in a dozen states, the re****t states.
Wineries pitch wine as an everyday accompaniment with meals, which has
put considerable attention on food.
Presently, "Locavore" (eating locally grown fresh food) is the mantra
among foodies and trend setters/followers.
Whole grain, mixed grain, sprouted grain, and sour dough bread is easy
to find but most comes from out of state, although there are at least a
half dozen bakeries sup****ted in the county. But is still isn't like
France where it seems that there is a boulangerie every couple of
blocks. The bread is good but it still isn't up to French or German
standards. The French bread here has a tough crust (instead of crunchy)
and the interior is too chewy. There is nothing like a German fünf corn
brot:-(
> we are very lucky where we are: despite being in the country, you can
get
> wonderful food, excellent local bread, etc etc. weird though it might
sound,
> often in country australia the food is awful due to lack of foodies to
up
> the ante. that seems to be changing a lot now, thank heavens, you can
get a
> nice espresso in the most surprising places.
They seem to have sprung up at all the local supermarkets, plus the
ubiquitous Starbucks and their competition, here in Sonoma, but the
expresso is of varying quality.
>
> when bill bryson came to write his (only slightly erroneous) book about
> australia he remarked on how good the food was everywhere he went, which
> made me speculate that american food must really be woeful if he can get
> better stuff in a flyspeck town in woop-woop :-)
>
> had a conversation with a lady online at a different group who was still
> huffy (several years after the event) that some frenchwoman in the u.s.
had
> remarked that food is much better in france. i opined that, on the
balance
> of probability, there was no chance that food was better in the u.s. &
the
> frenchwoman must have been correct & she could get over it now. but her
> outrage and denial were not to be stopped :-)
The French habit is to grocery shop every day. The meals were always
fresh. There is much pressure on the French worker now and their eating
habits are trending towards American style but they are still conscious
of quality. When they grab a mouth full and rush back to work, they know
what they are missing. The 2 hour lunch breaks are pretty much history
except in rural areas.
Before a much hated and reviled man ruined the value of the dollar, for
$12 you could get a fixed price meal in France that included appetizer,
entrée, salad, dessert, cheese, and 500 ml of drinkable wine. I hate
that bastard.
California is the principal grower of fruits and vegetables in the US
but the routine level of quality in France and Germany is much higher.
Our best and their best may be similar but not the average. France is
still a nation of small farmers and they go to the local markets, which
are held on different days in the different villages. So the producer
still gets looked at, right in the eye.
>
> she was from california where food is probably better.
>
> > One of the problems with corn syrup is that it doesn't satiate.
> > You don't know that you've had enough.
>
> it sounds a really bizarre substance.
It's not good and its' introduction into use, roughly matches the onset
of type II diabetes epidemic that we are having. That's not proof but an
empirical data point.
>
> I would probably take the
> > admittedly creepy aspartame over corn syrup. But then that is a
> > lot like our election, choosing the least bad. I'm going to vote
> > for some third party candidate because the Democrat will take
> > California anyway, and to assure that a third party gets federal
> > funds to stay viable. The Republicrats are an op****tunistic
> > embarrassment.
> >> kylie
> > Thanks for the "chin wag".
>
> you too.
> i can't watch your videos as my dial-up is far too slow for video.
Mostly is is telling anyone who will listen that rich people don't care
if we are getting screwed and that we aren't all in this together as
some would have liked to think.
The other video is of the brutality of Israel towards the Palestinians.
The Israelis want an ethnically pure nation, all of Palestine, on ground
where other people have lived for centuries, a millennium in fact. The
only way to do that, is to chase the inhabitants away. The Israelis
have known that this was the price for their state, from the beginning.
They are deadly serious about Arabs leaving Palestine.
> kylie
I gotta go cook dinner.
Hasta luego,
--
Billy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg&ref=patrick.net
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0aEo59c7zU&feature=related
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