Why in the f***k would you buy Gallo wine? That's like buying Coors beer. When you know that a supplier is an outright union-busting swine, why support it?
michael yates
Chuck Grimes wrote:
>
> >From an exchange between Joe and Kelley:
>
> >No, it is not possible. Not anywhere in the
> South. (JN)
>
> Why on earth not. I can get cheap oranges in the
> Northeast. Why not cheese in the South. This
> must be some sort of perverse cabal against the
> Yankee North. Think about it: isn't cheese much,
> much easier to preserve for a lengthy time since,
> afterall, good cheese is *aged* (KC)
>
> Since I've been here, too, I've heard some
> anti-Italian rumblings in terms of food,
> especially, Do Southerners have something against
> Italians and/or Italian foods. Obviously, it
> can't be that bad if Frances recommends a place
> called Giancano's. But really, you can't get good
> New York city style Italian pizza around here
> either. (KC)
>
> Snit, done ranting--maybe
>
> It has been almost 20 years since I moved from Wisconsin and
> I still can't get over what people call cheese in the South. The
> only way to get decent cheese is at a supermarket in an affluent area or
> a Whole Fodds type. (JN)
>
> -----------------
>
> Speaking of food, I just bought a great little cookbook called, "The
> Food of Italy", Waverley Root, Vintage, NY:1992. It is a historical
> survey of Italian food and cooking by region and sub region starting
> in Tuscany and heading south to Sicily. There are no recipes, but
> descriptions and you get the idea from those on how to prepare the
> dishes.
>
> I lived in Iowa City (Unv. of Iowa, thirty years ago) for about a year
> and struggled mightily to keep myself fed. There was no fruit, no
> produce, no decent meats, nothing but gawd awful looking junk. But,
> there were good cheeses (from Wisconsin) and excellent sauages, so I
> adapted my eating accordingly. I couldn't figure out why the food was
> so terrible. There was nothing but agriculture outside town for the
> next three hundred miles in any direction--so what's up I wondered (I
> now realize it was all industrial bulk feed grains). Chicago, supposedly
> a giant farmer's market for the midwest was only two hundred or so miles
> away. At that time, most of the rail systems were still intact. Never
> did figure it out. The only excuse I could come up with was nobody
> running a grocery chain could afford to support buyers and transport
> from Chicago--and still sell for a profit. Super markets and grocery
> stores run extremely tight margins with way below 5% profit (I think),
> so price competition is fierce.
>
> More recently about two years ago I was at Penn State, PA for a few
> weeks and found almost the same problem, thirty years later--except
> there were some modest improvements--mostly the name brand product
> lines that catered to the arty bourgeois--like tasteless, stale French
> roast coffee beans and bad imitation fancy breads--soft, flavorless
> baguettes, spongy bagels, and such. But this time, I knew how to cook,
> so I bought mostly whole chickens, beef, and pork roasts and then
> butchered them down to something resembling regular portions. Also the
> wines were terrible, and I couldn't find Taylor, which is a New York
> State produced label that isn't too bad--are they still in business?
> (Nothing but very over priced and not very good California
> labels--with that selection I figured it was better to get Gallo). Any
> way, they did have very bad olive oil, and there were garlic and
> onions and the usual spices. So, that was enough to at least get
> through a few weeks. (Hello, fellow olive oil fanatics)
>
> You have to ask yourself with the so-called global economy (collapsing
> or not), why can't you get decent food in the hinterlands. Besides the
> obvious increase in expense, there is also the local culture and
> history. I mean the Midwest never had good food--anybody out there
> ever eat buckwheat cakes and pork gravy? That's about as good as it
> gets. But this must be a reflection of who settled the various areas
> and what they developed locally.
>
> The Bay Area always had Mexicans, then Chinese, and finally Italians,
> and exploitated or not they all made sure they brought their food with
> them and then subsequently developed the markets to go with those
> traditions. So when the Southwest and Midwest got here, they couldn't
> insist on their tasteless homogenized shit--does good food reflect
> something about people and history? Perhaps it is just that both are
> better formed under the accumulated variations of a diverse
> history. Here is a little piece from the book noted above:
>
> "A certain number of Ravennese dishes are still described as Byzantine,
> it is true (tartui con pollo alla bizantina, truffles with chicken,
> Byzantine style), but it is probable that this name is not really a
> description of the origin of the dish, but simply one of those
> romantic titles with which misguided restaurant owners like to adorn
> their menus. This is certainly the case for asparagi in consumato
> Teodora, filetti di sogliola Teodora, and pollastra all'Esarca, which
> are simply asparagus in consomme, fillets of sole, and pullet, whose
> modes of preparation own nothing either to Theodora or the Exarchs."
>
> Well, romantic ascriptions or not, you have to have the history to
> even dream such exotica up in the first place. Last week, I
> (completely lacking in history) made a huge skilet of coc'au vin from a
> whole roasting chicken (better meat) and then took the left over to
> work with rice to micro wave for several days. The idea was to
> impress my work buddies who are great cooks--each specializing in their
> traditions. So Loi (Vietnamese) makes great fancy rice and fish dishs
> (mostly with Thai sweeten red rice and very hot sauces), Larry (Native
> American) does fabulous salsas and chilis, and Joe (African American)
> holds a once a month work BBQ--fresh caught Pacific fish, chicken,
> pork, beef, and sausages. I am telling you we eat good at work. It may
> be working class, but by god it is a civilized working class!
>
>
> Chuck,
>
> in solidarity with the food challanged lives of the American
> outback--smurk.
>