Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Good Eats!

My dad, brother, sister-in-law and I went out to lunch today to one of my brother's favorite places, Pete's Coney Island. I don't know if the 'Coney Island' is something native to the east coast or not, but we don't have them in Nevada that I'm aware of. Basically a Coney is a chili dog with mustard and onions. If I remember right, there's a couple of Coney Island restaurants in Detroit that have a big rivalry. One dresses their dogs differently than the other does. In any case, this started me thinking about some regional food differences.

For about 12 years I lived in Grand Rapids, which is in western Michigan. A common food in a Mexican restaurant there is what they call a 'wet burrito'. This is a typical burrito covered with something like enchilada sauce or gravy. (Yeah, gravy doesn't sound right, does it?) Other places I've lived, they've looked at me like I'm crazy when I mention a 'wet burrito'.

I'm sure everyone knows this, but many ethnic foods we have in the US are very different than what people actually eat in the original countries. I certainly found that out when I went to China in 2008. I didn't see a single thing that looked like chow mein or lo mein! Pizza in Italy isn't much like pizza in the US, either. Mainly because they use fewer, but fresher, ingredients than we do.

I went to Costa Rica earlier this year, and found that I really enjoyed their food. I don't know if there is a typical 'tourist menu, but every meal had black beans (including breakfast) some kind of shredded lettuce, and mainly chicken for the meat (although not a whole lot. I think the beans are their primary source of protein and carbohydrate) The fruit there is amazing. Perfectly ripe pineapple, bananas, strawberries, cantalope, and another I can't remember the name of. (Another sign of my age. *sigh*)

I've always wanted to go to India, but the food is a major concern of mine. I've never been able to tolerate spicy foods, and I think Indian foods tends to be on the spicy side. I could be wrong, though, because I've never eaten it! One of these times I'll have to get brave and try an Indian restaurant!

I think I got a little off course with this post, but that's typical for me. This gives you a little bit of an idea about how my mind works! I definitely have some 'flight of ideas' going on!

I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving! I'll be with the relatives trying to survive the chaos! *teasing*

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