travelling and food - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

**joanofarc** · 10-10-2003, 10:12 AM

alright guys - i'll be heading out soon. i just wanted to say that of course i'll be coming back and repoting as much as i can to help my fellow travellers out there, but i warn you, my focus will be on food. i've been toying around with the idea of a book "the epicurial traveller" my goal is to gather as much info as i can on that subject so be expecting a lot of this and that dish was ______ this or that restaurant was ______. if there's anything in particular that you would like me to check out, just ask - food is my #1 love, even before travelling, hell, i thank god for inheriting my mothers fast metabolism - because i eat like 2 pigs!!

also, should any of you ever come down to san diego - i know damn near all the restaurants in town, from fine dining to super cheap eats. from rack of lamb to beef tacos, i think i know the best. so feel free to hit me up. indian food, filipino, ethiopian - you name it, i can help you!

(hope i didn't offend the vegetarians here, but so you know, my diet is mainly vegetarian - for health reasons, but i know my meats, i just reserve my animal fat consumption for special occasions)

wong name · 10-10-2003, 12:59 PM

no offense, but every gurl that i know that says she eats like a pig--------------her idea of over eating is like one taco and 4 french fries and she swears thats pigging out

just like everyone else i love good food, of any ethnic dishes.......why do all chinese restaurants all have big huge fish tanks in the restaurants, with fish swimming around, with that fish tank smell ( a cross between some chemicals, chorline, and fish poopys.( is this a tradition or custom )...........for this reason i can never eat at a chinese restaurant.......but yes i get take out all the time............i just cant eat fish on my plate and watch goldfish swim around outta the corner of my eye. am i just an over sensitve american or has anyone had this thought

**Diorama** · 10-10-2003, 03:16 PM

^that's exactly why I can't eat at chinese restaurants either! ugh man I'm sorry but I just can't watch the lobsters floating around a tank and having to pick it out and then eating it half an hour later. I'm not a vegetarian at all. But I don't like seeing my meal walking, swimming or floating around. it's just not right!

**voyd** · 10-10-2003, 03:47 PM

Asians traditionally keep food fresh by simply keeping it alive - especially in the old days before refrigeration. So, when you see it still live right before you eat it - you know it's damn fresh. Hey, it's only natural! Western practice is rather to mask the meat as a product that didn't even come from animals and hide the entire bloody killing process. All you see is a browned lump on your plate, and it's even renamed from "cow" to "beef" or "lamb" to "mutton." But, what's the point of the charades? Maybe if people had to hunt, kill and dress all the meat they ate, more people would be vegetarians instead? A lot of hypocrisy/ignorance here... (nothing personal against you guys, just the public mindset in general) And if you saw where the food you ate in other restaurants came from - you definitely might not want to eat there either! Mass-production animal farms/meat-packing/processing plants are notoriously bloody, cruel, unhealthy and shameless. But, I guess it's ok cuz nobody sees it from behind closed doors. Out of sight, out of mind?

And same concept with sushi - it HAS to be extremely fresh or you will notice immediately without cooking to mask any off-odors. And we all know how bad seafood starts smelling real fast. Hence, it's generally higher-quality than cooked stuff.

wong name · 10-11-2003, 08:20 AM

yes, if i had to hunt, clean, cut the meat of the animal--------------- i would the first in line 2 be a vegetarian if i had to go through that process......i guess now im a sissy american

Magnifico · 10-11-2003, 07:15 PM

Joan, or anybody else: right back at ya. If anybody on the boards ever plans to come to Memphis (God help you if you think "Hey, that'd be fun!"), I could point you to the good restaurants in town, and tell you some of the hellholes in this town to avoid, like Graceland. As for the whole meat-eating thing: that's why I'm pretty much veggie. I eat fish, because I can bring myself to kill a fish; a cow is a whole 'nother ordeal. That, and I could never give up sushi ^_^

dmac · 10-13-2003, 01:43 AM

Man did all you guys live in the city your whole life???? I'm just kidding. Where I'm from, there's hunting, fishing, FFA. Raise the cattle, sell it, kill it, eat it. Damn, the High School had it's own Meats Class. It's the way the planet was meant to be. Survival of the fittest, we are higher on the food chain. I think that's how it's supposed to work.
And I've been to the slaughter houses, I was actually impressed with how the place was run, how the animals did not suffer, how efficient the business was, how they utilized the entire animal.
Anyways, my Two Cents as a Gruesome Red Meat, or as some would refer to it as a Burnt Cow Devourer :P

**joanofarc** · 10-13-2003, 08:39 AM

hey, i assure you wong - i am a pig. (maybe it's all the weed i smoke) but i can eat a whole meal, a big one - an hour later - i'm ready again. my mother always says she's glad i moved out for that reason!!

voyd - and anyone else (mayble you have read this already) but, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair is a great book about the meat packing industry at the turn of the 20th century. it gets a little preachy at times - but i dare you to read that and eat a steak anytime in the near future. i read it as a sophmore in high school - our u.s. history teacher assigned that - he was really cool.

after reading the jungle, i took 5 years off of meat - now i'm a blood thirsty insensitive carnivore again. (sorry animals)

and it's not just about the slaughterhouses, it also carries some socio-political weight as it is focused around the life of a european immigrant family - i loved it.

**voyd** · 10-13-2003, 09:58 AM

joanofarc - Well, apparently, things still haven't changed much in some places 90+ years later..

"If slaughterhouses were made of glass, we'd all be vegetarians."

Although as dmac says, I'm sure many places aren't so bad, either.

I digress tho, my point was simply to educate and get peeps to look past the facade...

**joanofarc** · 10-13-2003, 10:08 AM

i believe that, voyd.

the past 3 months, i have been living a vegetarian lifestyle, mostly to save money- i mean who can beat $1 for a pound of tofu - add some rice and green onions and you have 2 meals for $1 each (or less!).

the only meat i have had has been from beef tacos (damn, i love those) at the local taco shop - i don't even want to think of where that meat came from - so, i won't.

but, i've been meaning to read fast food nation - so thanks, now i will.
right now though, i'm reading the world according to garp by john irving! phenomenal, just for fun, but he's a great writer - i love the hotel new hampshire, which by the way, is a great movie tp, have you seen it (jodi foster, rob lowe)!!

**travelpunk** · 10-14-2003, 03:24 PM

Went to a Japanese restaurant and they table over, had a fish on a platter for dinner- straight from the tank!

No biggie! I used to fish liesurely(still would, if I had the time) and would bring the fish home wash it, gut it, slice it, and dip it in soy sauce. Fresh sashimi, baby!

Never saw the whole movie, joan, but I know it was a hit and I'll get it someday

Voyd, those books scare the crap out of me

. Sometimes I think that too much education always puts you "in the head." That is to say that I'll constantly be thinking and analyzing rather then enjoying the moment and I love to live/be in the moment. It's the best way to live a full and meaningful life, in my opinion.

dmac,

Quote:

It's the way the planet was meant to be. Survival of the fittest, we are higher on the food chain. I think that's how it's supposed to work

Brotha, Guess, I too, am walking on the dark side as I come from the same school of thought- exactly! Now, where's the nearest Outback Steakhouse

?!

Joan, thanks! I'll hit you up for some suggestions the next time I'm in Diego. Gotta get my adobo fix

. Living in LA, it's all about beef, chicken pork tacos and burritos- 7 days a week!

And, please do give us a rundown of your recommended travel foods, as you discover them :P .

Columbia · 11-13-2003, 02:22 PM

dmac I gotta agree with ya. Where I'm from, although orchards and vinyards are the main thing, hunting is a huge part of the town, for recreation and for sales puproses. I don't think I could survive without my chicken or my ribs.