Monday, May 11, 2020

A TABLE AND RICE

A good friend posted that when he places a phone order for food it would be nice if the person answering at the restaurant spoke English. This being San Francisco, that isn't always the case. My comment-response was, perhaps, unnecessarily snarky.

"Bonne journée! Je veux un eggroll, riz frit, et aussi thermidor du homard aux crevettes, avec une sauce Mornay, garni de pâté de truffe, cognac, et d'un œuf frit sur le dessus. Et Spam®."

I'm sorry. A glib facility with languages and familiarity with potatoes have made me an asshole.


Another friend, not resident in SF, writes on his own page: "I love many Mexican, Lebanese, Oriental dishes. Today, I would choose Mole poblano (Mexico), Hummus (Lebanon), Ramen (Japan and other countries). What is your choice for a day when you can have all the food you want on your table?

Honestly, what I really miss is where that table would be located: the various chachanteng in C'town which I frequented, which are closed for the duration.
Porkchops and rice (豬扒飯 'chyu paa faan') at the Regency, Portuguese chicken rice (焗葡國雞飯 'guk pou gwok kai faan') at the Washington Cafe, or bitter melon omelette over rice (涼瓜煎蛋飯 'leung gwaa jin daan faan') at New Honolulu. With a cup of milk tea, so that I can dawdle and people-watch while filling my pipe for afterwards.

We all miss that, I think.


Besides, no matter how skilled one is in the kitchen, some dishes just taste better when someone else prepared them. Phở for instance. Pre-prep, long-simmered broth, careful ingredient choices before hand, skillful and quick assembly, and fresh herbs. Followed by dripped cà phê đá afterwards, and lazily observing the street outside. While not part of the foot-traffic.
Yes, good phở can be made at home.
But it isn't the same.


Really old-school: opening a fresh tin of State Express 555 unfiltered cigarettes afterwards to enjoy with the Vietnamese coffee.

Except, of course, people would have conniptions.



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