More restaurant April foolery
Michael A. Gray came up with a great list of possible April Food Top Tens, all of which I think we ought to talk about. Maybe we can't come up with 10 in each category, but surely we can do some in each. Here are his suggestions:
Yes indeed, El, make it an April Fool top ten. Will it be foods that look or taste like something else? Ethnic dishes that are toned down to suit western tastes? How about servers who suggest the most expensive special on the menu without mentioning the price? More fool, you. Or even a Fool's Paradise, restaurants that fool you by being better than you'd ever expect? Like most of your growing gustatory gallery, I look forward to the surprise. ...
To get things started I'll suggest:
a) I think he means trompe l'oeil foods like meringue mushrooms, but I'm going to tell you about something I saw on the 'net when I was looking for food jokes. Make Jell-O with unsweetened gelatin, red food coloring and water and serve it at a party. See how people react. (Apparently even though it doesn't taste like anything, people go nuts.)
b) Hot and sour soup at just about any Chinese restaurant.
c) I haven't had this happen lately, but the waiter at Micho's in Reisterstown did tell us how reasonable the wine list was and then suggested a $115 bottle of wine.
d) This was definitely true of the Chameleon Cafe in Lauraville when it first opened, although I think everyone's on to it now.
(Michelle Gienow/Special to the Sun)
Comments
UGH! My mother used to make Junket (a rennet/milk pudding sort of thing) in milk glasses. When you tipped it to drink the milk, it just stayed in the glass. Of course, I am in therapy because of that. ;-)
Posted by: Fairfax | April 1, 2008 12:39 PM
I remember on a Simpsons episode --- the one where Marge enters a bake-off --- they referred to your meringue mushrooms and frushi things as "tasty fakes".
Posted by: dancing monkey | April 1, 2008 12:47 PM
My in-laws think the funniest food joke in the world is a dribble glass.
Posted by: Rosebud | April 1, 2008 2:54 PM
You mean like marzipan anything or wooden apples?
Posted by: Mr. Old Fart | April 1, 2008 9:10 PM
When we were young, my little brother asked me if I wanted a glass of Kool Aid one hot day. Shocked at his consideration (which had never been displayed outside of the 20 min. before Christmas), I thanked him, and said I would have one.
He brought me a cold glass of grape Kool Aid, with ice. As I spit it out, he started laughing. Eventually he calmed down enough to tell Mom (who was concerned that he might have poisoned me) that he'd created the "Kool Aid" with his watercolour set.
I would not still be traumatized if Mom hadn't started laughing, too.
I should tell you all about the time he tried to make a hard boiled egg to make up for it...
Posted by: Lissa | April 1, 2008 11:07 PM
Apropos of changing food for the Westerners, I get the feeling that most of the food on a Chinese menu has little, if anything, to do with China. I have a co-worker from Taiwan who would pretty much laugh at our selections as being rather pedestrian.
But then again, how often do you see an English Muffin in England? French Fries/French Toast in France? And I know for a fact that on Long Island we didn't call it a "Long Island Iced Tea".
Posted by: Claude | April 2, 2008 12:31 PM
We're curious now, please do tell the hard boiled egg story. I don't have a brother so I missed out on a lot of fun.
Posted by: Barb | April 2, 2008 2:04 PM
Lissa, I would love to hear about the egg! lol
Posted by: Greedygirl | April 2, 2008 2:37 PM
Ditto, Lissa!
When I was in 5th grade, a friend gave me a Christmas cookie slathered in light green frosting.
I should've known by the look on her face as she watched me eat...it was Crisco and food coloring.
Still makes me nauseous to think about.
Posted by: kitpollard | April 2, 2008 3:20 PM
Someone wrote a book about how Chinese food is really American. See her interviewed on the Colbert Report:
http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/videos.jhtml?videoId=163297
Posted by: rokchik | April 2, 2008 3:40 PM