[Orik]

To whoever is claiming fashion and technology are not changing food very rapidly, I propose taking a look at the Time Life Foods of The World series.

I have some of those books - and I think you'll find a lot of classical recipes in them. Like Coq au Vin in the Cooking of Provincial France (a recipe I've prepared many times in the almost 40 years since I bought the series). You're not exactly talking Sandra Lee recipes or anything like that. So are you saying that Coq au Vin is "out of style"? It is certainly an old dish - but one worth eating IMO. Robyn

where do you get Coq?

[balex]

sure but how does that contradict what is being said here?

It would seem inconsistent to blame food for being dated whilst praising food for being modern since it is a common quality of both that is at once the object of blame and praise.

I don't think this is a valid argument -- the common property that you refer to is presumably "being susceptible to the vagaries of fashion" -- but what the food is being blamed for is being out of fashion -- which is a different though related property.

[Lex]

Yeah, I just read some Famous Chef or other saying that he thought sun-dried tomatoes had become undervalued as an ingredient, and that he's been using more of them (again) in less blatant ways than in the past.

I wish I could remember who it was.

Spooky. I heard that recently too. Emeril?

ETA: Anne Burrell?

[robyn]

Yeah, I just read some Famous Chef or other saying that he thought sun-dried tomatoes had become undervalued as an ingredient, and that he's been using more of them (again) in less blatant ways than in the past.

I wish I could remember who it was.

I read it somewhere too - within the last few weeks or so. Thought it might be the WSJ - but I can't find it there. And about the only other food stuff I've read recently is a ton of reviews/descriptions/etc. of restaurants in Los Angeles. Could have been there. Suspect if I spent a couple of hours I could find it again. Might be something that Jose Andres said? Or Lefebvre at LudoBites? Or similar. Or something in Eater LA? Something that someone who lives in New York might read. Happy hunting . Robyn

P.S. If I only encountered sun dried tomatoes perhaps twice a year in a nice pairing with something like goat cheese - perhaps I'd learn not to hate them.

[robyn]

Yeah, I just read some Famous Chef or other saying that he thought sun-dried tomatoes had become undervalued as an ingredient, and that he's been using more of them (again) in less blatant ways than in the past.

I wish I could remember who it was.

Spooky. I heard that recently too. Emeril?

ETA: Anne Burrell?

I don't watch Emeril. I do watch Alton Brown occasionally - and I watched Top Chef masters recently. Could have heard it on those shows - but I suspect it was something I read (I read a lot more than I watch TV). Robyn

[Wilfrid1]

sure but how does that contradict what is being said here?

It would seem inconsistent to blame food for being dated whilst praising food for being modern since it is a common quality of both that is at once the object of blame and praise.

I don't think so. Some manners of cooking endure, others don't: those that endure were modern once. I don't believe that being at some point fashionable guarantees becoming dated.

I am sure I could think of some examples if I tried.

[Sneakeater]

Yeah, I just read some Famous Chef or other saying that he thought sun-dried tomatoes had become undervalued as an ingredient, and that he's been using more of them (again) in less blatant ways than in the past.

I wish I could remember who it was.

I read it somewhere too - within the last few weeks or so. Thought it might be the WSJ - but I can't find it there. And about the only other food stuff I've read recently is a ton of reviews/descriptions/etc. of restaurants in Los Angeles. Could have been there. Suspect if I spent a couple of hours I could find it again. Might be something that Jose Andres said? Or Lefebvre at LudoBites? Or similar. Or something in Eater LA? Something that someone who lives in New York might read. Happy hunting . Robyn

P.S. If I only encountered sun dried tomatoes perhaps twice a year in a nice pairing with something like goat cheese - perhaps I'd learn not to hate them.

We are all going to go fucking crazy until someone remembers who and where this was.

[Anthony Bonner]

sure but how does that contradict what is being said here?

It would seem inconsistent to blame food for being dated whilst praising food for being modern since it is a common quality of both that is at once the object of blame and praise.

I don't think so. Some manners of cooking endure, others don't: those that endure were modern once. I don't believe that being at some point fashionable guarantees becoming dated.

I am sure I could think of some examples if I tried.

lets just start with any New World product that has been assimilated into European home cookery.

[Wilfrid1]

When I think of out-of-date cuisine, I don't have in mind standard dishes like coq au vin, cassoulet, spaghetti carbonara - okay, add your own examples. People still eat those dishes. They're not going to grab attention - unless chefs "re-invent" them, as they like to do - but it wouldn't seem quaint or an affectation to prepare them, eat them, or even offer them on an appropriate menu.

Out-of-date cuisine is more like... sherry soup, green turtle soup, veal Marengo, steak Diane, broiled baby turkey, vol-au-vents...okay, I really will get Vincent's menus out later.

ETA: Look at this way - if I invited you all round to dinner and served pate, coq au vin and cheese, you'd think "Oh, regular old French food." If I served turtle soup with Madeira, steak Diane and peach Melba, you'd say "What possessed you to recreate this strange old vintage menu, Wilfrid, are your meds okay?"

[hollywood]

If I served turtle soup with Madeira, steak Diane and peach Melba, you'd say "What possessed you to recreate this strange old vintage menu, Wilfrid, are your meds okay?"

Depends. What wines are you pouring?

[Wilfrid1]

Mateus Rose and Chianti in a straw basket, I fear. Irish coffee to follow.

[Sneakeater]

Don't forget the Reuniti to start.

[Wilfrid1]

I think I missed that growing up in the UK, but we did have Blue Nun.

[hollywood]

Mateus Rose and Chianti in a straw basket, I fear. Irish coffee to follow.

Wow, vintage.

[Sneakeater]

I think I missed that growing up in the UK, but we did have Blue Nun.

Blue Nun actually might be a cannier choice for this menu than the Mateus, since as we know it's the white wine that's as correct with meat as it is with fish.