Memorable meals of your life ............................food snobbery and one upmanship strongly encouraged. No nugget and twizzler talk here please ladies!

[moondog]

God I'm a greedy cow and there is a dearth of good food talk at present.

For moi they are as follows...

Mumus in the South Pacific where I grew up.
A big pit is dug and meanwhile stones heated in a fire. Meanwhile pork,chicken,fish, taro and sweet potatoes are placed in banana leaf parcels,usually with coconut cream.Then they are put in the pit,covered with stones and left to steam for hours.
This was special celebratory food and utterly divine.

A picnic in a pine forest en route from Perigord to the Alps to see my sister.
It was only bread,pate and red wine but never have these tasted so good.

A shashlik (bbq) in the orchard of a Russian dacha with the family of a university student I taught.
A warm spring day after a very long cold winter.
Pork kebabs,marinated in oil,vinegar,bay and juniper,tomatoes,rye bread and vodka,followed by a sauna in which we wore funny little woolen hats to encourage the sweating and beat each other with birch branches.

Last night, sitting under the plane trees at a little restuarant that only opens in the evenings when the owner feels like it. The owner cooked fish steaks (alose, the big bony fish currently in season here, caught by his fisherman brother) and you ate as many steaks as you liked, cooked over hot coals by the owner. Goats cheese salad as starter, sublime creme brulee for pudding. Good coffee to follow. All accompanied by locally produced rosé.

Nothing fancy but utterly perfect.

Chip,why was your cookery course ruined?

Woman,that first cup of tea post birth has to be up there with the best.I agree.

Ggg,sounds divine.
The French do that sort of thing soooooo well don't they?

Right girls,I'm off to catch my plane with a suitcase groaning with baklava and Turksih delight,artichokes,Van cheese and pomengranate syrup.

Catch up with you all in dear old Blighty.

well, I have been to the Fat Duck..and I was pregnant at the time so couldn't have half the food nor much of the wine..
it was lovely though, but find it surprising that it was last yr's world's best as it's starkly plain and brightly lit inside, not v atmospheric for IMO. LIke others, that good old NHS cup of tea, sarnie post-birth was probaby the best ever..

oh ggglimpopo that reminds me of going ot la guinguette (don't know if it had another name) in Bx when I was a student with some friends, not sure where it was or what we had (drunken haze possibly to blame), does it mean anything to you???

have a good trip moondog!! enjoy the airplane fare (not)

One was with now DH in a really nice restaurant on Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco. The chef came to the table to see us as he heard my Mcr accent and his family were british. we took his recommendations and had the best seafood meal ever.

Second was with my best friend in The Rainbow Rooms, Rockerfeller Centre. New York. I can't remember what we ate but it was after the theatre and we had the most fantastic views. Although we knew we were in for an expensive meal when one glass white wine and one JD & coke came to nearly £50.

love the thread moondog.
Mine would be an amazing meal I had in LA about 10 years ago. It was a Japanese restaurant in the Hollywood hills; the food was awesome - as was the view.

Mine was on holiday in Antigua at a Japanese restaurant. The chef cooked and chopped at our table, there was a power cut and everything went dark and the chef kept chopping!

I got halfway through this wonderful thread and had to write some of my foody expereinces before I forgot them , as reading these seems to spark memories;

ok here goes

After kyaking in the bay near phna nar bay(sp? no idea!!)
phuket , the boat we were on laid on the most amazig buffet of salads and chicken and curries oooh I was in lick finger heaven.

Nahm at the Halkin hotel London was the most unsual and amazing thai meal ever in my life, it being the only michelan star one in europe , we ordered the tasting menu and my word it was blow your mind wonderful , so so so tasty , it zinged in the mouth. DH wants to go back for our anniversary , but well have a new 4 wk old baba, so a bit much to be out all evening in town.

Salathip , \link{http://www.shangri-la.com/bangkok/shangri-la/restaurants/en/index.aspx?ID=226\Salathip} is a 3 pink hutted pavillions all joined by wooded platforms. Its a royal thai restaurant at the Shangri la hotel bangkok, they look out over the chao prou river and the food is so fresh , its tastes like it just got picked, so wonderful.

Yes quite a thai theme , its one of my favourite foods.

hmmmmm gonna have another think and memory scan to see if any others.

VERY saucy gingerbear , lol at you and smoke salmon !! Not sure illlook at it the same ever again!!

ooOOH prettybirsd you reminded me of a faboulous romantic night at Spier in Stellenbosch, we had a cape malay buffet and Ive never tasted such amazing food like it. We could go in and out of the buffet dining area , covered in an array of amazing a stews, vegetable ,seafood and salads. Our table was under and umbrella with candlelight amongst the trees. This place is just soooo romantic \link{http://www.spier.co.za/jonkershuis.asp\Spier winery & hotel}

Ohh and on our honey moon we sat on jimbaran bay beach in Bali eating just bb'q'd lobster in wrapped red checked napkins in baskets. The table was funny as it sat sank in the sand and was amazing to watch the water so close.

ggglimpopo - we went to chateau de bagnols, in the Beajoulais region, about an hour away from Lyon. It is stunning.

Moondog, that particular trip wasn't tainted at the time but a couple of years afterwards. It was a big news story at the time in Ireland but would have had no impact in the UK. Basically, the woman who runs the cookery school is a well-known TV chef over here. Her husband was convicted of downloading child pornography on the net and she stood by him. It just seemed that the organic wholesomeness of the place was all a big lie and that what I had perceived as a little piece of heaven was far from it.

I remember an incredible meal I had with a friend in a tiny village restaurant somewhere in the Loire region of France. They served us this incredible goats cheese souffle - slightly chewy on the top, but light and creamy underneath, served with chunks of the freshest french bread. Unbelievably delicious.