On Sat, 09 Jul 2005 16:38:23 GMT, T i m wrote:

On Sat, 09 Jul 2005 17:08:44 +0100, Pete C
wrote:

On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 11:32:33 GMT, T i m wrote:


We have have been all though this on alt.food.snobs .. and I think we
came to the conclusion that most basic 'food' is bland and they way
the food fans 'fix' that fact is to smother everything with garlic and
herbs?

I find with basic food, quality and preparation is everything, I'd
rather have that than some bland pre-processed ingredients smothered
in garlic, chilli etc.

As would I Pete, so what sort of things do you mean and to what
please?

Anything really, bread, tomatoes, lettuce, olive oil, coffee beans,
bananas, cheese, even pepper corns.

Take lettuce, a normal round or iceberg lettuce are fine, but
romaine/cos lettuce and curly lettuce are better. There was a program
about them on BBC radio recently which is worth a listen:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/foodprogramme_20050619.shtml

There's also loads of info on the web worth a look:

http://www.foodreference.com/html/artromainecoslettuce.html


OTOH if buying pre-prepared food, the ingredients are dictated by the
manufacturer, and if it's quite cheap then the ingredients themselves
will need to be very cheap to compensate for manufacturing costs.

Spuds taste of nothing / dirt (and I'm not talking about
muddy raw ones now g) as do most vegeatables (remember, 'to me').

I do really really love excellent chips.

As do I (sometimes). We generally only have bought chips (no deep fat
fryer) and actually enjoy 'saute' (sp?) spuds or baked (with a nice
thick baked skin). The taste remains pretty much the same though and
would only be made interesting by the filler?

It's probably as much about texture as well as taste, chips that are
fried at too low a temperature can be too greasy and soggy, and
overcooked chips can be quite indigestible. Bad oil can give chips an
unpleasant bitter flavour.

There isn't much (any?) texture in a McD's, but it will still be
better than badly cooked chips. But excellent chips have much better
texture, and probably taste better too.

Ripe vine cherries are the opposite, very
sweet and full of flavour.

So why would one eat them Pete. Do you eat them for variety (I'll
pass), because you 'like' the taste (I'll pass) or because they are
supposed to be good for you balanced diet and that (I'll eat a few but
don't 'enjoy' them as such)?

For the taste mainly, also they are pretty easy to prepare. They also
have a better flavour than when used in ketchup. What tastes do you
enjoy?

I don't even like them cooked / fried as part as a breakfast (they are
like very hot balls of water!).

They probably are! I sometimes buy lamb moussaka, and the better ones
have chunks of whole tomato which is nice. BTW they are never supposed
to be refrigerated, as it makes them lose their flavour:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=refrigerate%20tomatoes&btnG=Google+ Search&meta=

cheers,
Pete.