The Politically Correct thought police

[Leimeng]

also, Jews aren't greedy.

~ Actually, Jews are no more greedy than anyone else. But different people are greedy about different things.
~ Continue to discuss amongst yourselves...

Peace,

Leimeng

Flatulo Ergo Sum ~~~

Archaeologists will date any old thing.

(*** Insert personal one liner here ***)

[klonk]

Children saying YUK is now a thought crime. We have undoubtedly come a long way in the wrong direction.

[MikeC]

British Government is severely retarded in it's oppressive social policies.

QFMT!

[Ian]

So, Steve, - let me get this straight...

... you think that branding a 3 year old as a racist, (if they say "yuk" to the food associated with a foriegn culture) IS A GOOD AND APPROPRIATE THING ?

Are you saying that 3 year olds should be taught that not having a taste for, oh, let's say, BABBAGANUSH is a bad thing, and that they are a bad, RACIST if they can't gag down a glob of mashed, garlicy, eggplant ?

Is that what you are saying?

Interesting point, though: I read somewhere that people don't develop the taste for certain foods if they're not exposed to it at least a dozen times as children.

So it's a good idea to have children try everything at least once. Force them if necessary, so they don't grow up to be such picky bastards.

They can decide they don't like babaganoush later in life.

[edededed]

One thing I don't understand is how 99% of Japanese folks love white rice. That is what they eat every day... and that is also the first thing they long for when they go overseas somewhere else.

1. White rice is bland, tasteless, etc.
2. Koreans eat exactly the same rice nearly every day, but the first they THEY long for overseas is kimchi (or other spicy food).
3. TV programs continually talk about how wonderful Japanese food is (especially white rice)...

Because of #2, I think it is just subtle brainwashing/group mentality... Sort of how Americans actually think their overly sweet, frosting-laden cakes taste good. (America does have good pies and brownies, though.)

Open your eyes! Open your minds! And throw the white rice out the window!

[juz]

British Government is severely retarded in it's oppressive social policies.

QFMT!

try working under them...I got crtiticised for being on my own in a class with a 15 year old at breaktime who had just had a liver transplant, because he was "at risk"...
yeah sure I should have just kicked him out into the rain rather than have someone think I'm gonna give him hot-gay-love

[Mike Strong]

ed,

Japanese Cuisine is FANTASTIC, one of the best in the world, IMHO.

Steamed white rice is the canvas on which a kalidiscope of flavors is painted onto to produce a gastronomical masterpiece !

I am an American, but when I go overseas I go straight for the street food, then I go for the famous dishes,and with a little luck, - I hunt out The Locals favorite spot to eat...

... you should see the looks on their faces when I step through the door!

I don't blame asians for balking at American Food, the portions are so ridculously big, and mostly it's a big hunk of meat smoothered in cheese, but my god, give rice a break.

I LOVE white rice, but I have to limit my rice intake, due to my battle with the buldge; ( which I am winning).

Twice a month I go out for sushimi, and once a week I go out for Thai food, - and once in a blue moon I go out for Tappanyaki.

IF I was forced to list my favorite cuisines from #1 on down, - I think it would be:

#1. American BBQ, ( Texas, , Memphis, St louis, N. Carolina )

#2 Thai & Vietnamese ( I can't decide they are very differnt, but both are ssooooo good).

#3 Chinese Food ( in China, Chinese Food in America SUCKS).

#4 Japanese

#5 Italian ( forget about French food, everything the French know about food , - they learned from the Italians).

#6 Mexican or Salvadoran

#7 Salvadoran or Mexican

#8 Indian, ( although I ussually regret it a few hours later).

I don't know, maybe beating the "Yuk reflex" out of children would bring us closer together. I have found the best way to make friends in a foriegn land, is by praising their cusine, and asking for seconds.

[juz]

Thats really scary stuff. It remindes me of Nazi Germany making school kids do family trees so they could use that info to further purify the supreme race...

The irony is that the Daily Mail ran MANY articles about how Mr Hitler was doing such a great job in Germany in the 30s and how we Brits could learn from such a cordial Gentleman, right up until the bombs started dropping...

New Labour= F*cknuts with pointless social policy.
Daily Mail/Daily Telegraph = VERY RIGHT-WING F*cknuts peddling bullshit and ignorance to the dumbass middle-class sheeple.

I think the U.K. is dying in quite a different way to the U.S....somehow in a very ghey-way.

PS..The Balti's from Birmingham...how's that for foreign cuisine.

[edededed]

ed,

Japanese Cuisine is FANTASTIC, one of the best in the world, IMHO.

Steamed white rice is the canvas on which a kalidiscope of flavors is painted onto to produce a gastronomical masterpiece !

I am an American, but when I go overseas I go straight for the street food, then I go for the famous dishes,and with a little luck, - I hunt out The Locals favorite spot to eat...

... you should see the looks on their faces when I step through the door!

I don't blame asians for balking at American Food, the portions are so ridculously big, and mostly it's a big hunk of meat smoothered in cheese, but my god, give rice a break.

I LOVE white rice, but I have to limit my rice intake, due to my battle with the buldge; ( which I am winning).

Twice a month I go out for sushimi, and once a week I go out for Thai food, - and once in a blue moon I go out for Tappanyaki.

IF I was forced to list my favorite cuisines from #1 on down, - I think it would be:

#1. American BBQ, ( Texas, , Memphis, St louis, N. Carolina )

#2 Thai & Vietnamese ( I can't decide they are very differnt, but both are ssooooo good).

#3 Chinese Food ( in China, Chinese Food in America SUCKS).

#4 Japanese

#5 Italian ( forget about French food, everything the French know aobut food , - they learned from the Italians).

#6 Mexican or Salvadoran

#7 Salvadoran or Mexican

#8 Indian, ( although I ussually regret it a few hours later).

I don't know, maybe beating the "Yuk reflex" out of children would bring us closer together. I have found the best way to make friends in a foriegn land, is by praising their cusine, and asking for seconds.

Mike:

Of course, I humbly bow to your gastronomical and culinary skills, but in my opinion... Even though Japanese cuisine does have its bright spots, but on my list, it is on the very bottom! (Second to last is Korean...)

Brown rice is okay, but white rice is just bleached blobs of flavorless calories. Although 99% of Japanese folks love it, it may also be poignant to note that a majority of pregnant women in Japan find white rice revolting (while they are pregnant) - especially the smell. (Perhaps their instincts are telling them something!)

The worst thing about white rice here is its ubiquity and homogeneity - you cannot get away from it... I mean, it is not just white rice in general, it is a specific type of white rice (species?) - I enjoy the somewhat different Thai white rice or Indian white rice sometimes when I can get it (usually out of the country) - I just want SOMETHING different sometimes... I mean, try eating white rice daily three times a day for a while...

As for a kaleidoscope of flavors... I dunno. Nearly all food in Japan is the same flavor: sweet and sour ("amakarai"). Everything is flavored with the same things: salt, soysauce, (white) vinegar, and (white) sugar. Sometimes you can get lucky and have something with garlic or ginger in there as well... but usually it is just the former (they don't like spices). For example: sushi rice is white rice + white vinegar + white sugar (Korean kimbap rice is white rice + sesame oil, on the other hand). Yes, they do have a lot of raw food or just salted food (which can be nice), but I am not sure that this could be called characteristically "Japanese cooking" as it is more just a basic way of flavoring things that should be similar around the world (just salting something). (Note that Japanese food thus has a high sugar and salt content.)

I used to think Japanese food was okay, but that was when it was a rare treat... You "notice" that everything tastes the same after a while of eating it three times a day, every day, for a while... (As for Korean food, well, it is simply too spicy, but flavorwise it is quite similar to Japanese food, if you replace sweet and sour with sweet and spicy, and add some sesame oil as well.)

Thai food is 100 times tastier than Japanese food, because they know how to use spices and flavors (like coconut milk) and such. Chinese food also is very good and very skilled with the flavoring.

Still, there are some items I like okay here:

1. Hiroshimayaki - sweet and sour, but a very interesting mix of ingredients (flat flour pancake filled with special noodles, mochi, etc.)
2. Unagi (eel) (kabayaki style) - still sweet and sour, but the flavor is more complex. (Sichuan peppercorns help.)
3. Sashimi - some items are good (uni (urchin), ikura (salmon eggs), sake (salmon)). Without (sweet and sour) rice is even better! Note that sashimi is a treat, though (as it is expensive)...
4. Ramen - depends, but sometimes this can be quite good as well.

I am also glad that there are a lot of Indian people here opening (authentic) Indian food restaurants... Thai food is also okay here... Wish there was Italian, Chinese, and Mexican food here, though.

[mixjourneyman]

Japanese people obviously eat so much white food because they want to be white! (just look at their pop culture and this is extremely evident)



Half kidding, just trying to stir up shit.

[Mike Strong]

Yeah ed, I can see your point, but I still like the way the flavour of the food stands on it's own, (with salt).

And Mix, - why do you have to be such a Canadian

[MikeC]

My take:

#1. American BBQ would be tied for first with Italian(I'm Italian and I live in NY, so I'm biased)

#2 Japanese - I could eat this stuff every other day if I had to.

#3 Thai & Vietnamese ( Tastes 'cleaner' than Chinese food, not as heavy I guess... ).

#4 Chinese Food ( American I guess, never been to China).

#6 Mexican (it's Ok, but IMHO it's wayyy overated peasant food)

#8 Indian, ( although I ussually regret it a few hours later).

[Mike Strong]

MikeC ! All this time I thought you were in Chicago !?!

[mixjourneyman]

My list goes:

1: Japanese girls food. Its delicious, I usually try to get some avacado maki at least once a week
2: Rotti from anywhere in the Carribean
3: Central and South American food in general
4: Italian food, with an emphasis on pasta salads etc....
5: Indian food that is made by people from India, who know how to cook well.

[edededed]

Note that "salt-only" Japanese food is quite rare, really - usually, daily fare is the standard sweet-and-sour stuff, plus some vinegar-flavored sides ("su no mono" - blech! Basically veggies drowned in white vinegar). "Teppanyaki"-type stuff would be great every day (mushrooms are very nice) - but that is pricy fare, not everyday food... I have had "teppanyaki" like twice my whole time here?

It's also kind of funny - Japanese versions of "Western" food are far oilier than anything we have... and then they go and point to it and say, "SEE?! It's SO unhealthy! Eating it makes me feel bloated!" Same thing with their Chinese food - they dump extra lard on it and then complain about its fattiness...

But anyway... don't forget to try the Hiroshimayaki...

(I miss American food, by the way - silly things like fried clams that I can never get over here.)