My Most Memorable Meals of 2008

Lord knows I am not a gourmet or a food aficionado! A local columnist recently highlighted her five top restaurant dishes from last year so I thought that I would try to identify mine as well.

I will use her choices as a kind of standard of excellence, for after all, she is a restaurant reviewer. Her first selection was Ossobuco alla Milanese – a slow braised veal shank, served with saffron risotto. She salivated over a meal of Bonito Panko-crusted Spider Crab Cake atop a bed of edamame mash and raved about Wahoo Tataki with Sasabi Sauce, sunny-side up quail eggs, chives and crispy shallots. Her final two selections were, Black Cod Alaskan Sablefish with Saikyo Miso maple glaze and Lionfish Tempura with Voodoo Sauce.

As exotic as her selections sounded, they did little to stimulate my salivary glands. I sometimes wonder if people rave about some food because of its unusual name, the weird combination of toppings or the probably exorbitant prices. I don’t think I would have ordered any of the above dishes if I had not read her review. I am not sure I would order any of them even after having read her selections. I am basically a simple meat and potatoes kind of guy, I guess.

Unlike the gourmet selections above, many of my favorite meals of 2008 were home made meals. If you want to watch me drool spontaneously on my shirt, just mention that we are going to have sauerkraut and spareribs. Of course it would have to be promoted as an Eastern European Hunter’s Stew of prime Danish pork riblets accompanied by a savory fermented cabbage vinaigrette soup! Either way I would need a bib!

Anything grilled over a wood fire would make my favorite meal list. A steak, pork chop, hamburger or even a wiener that is flash cooked over white-hot wooden coals cannot be beaten. The flavor and juices are sealed into the meat and could be promoted as Naturally Braised and Seared with a Hint of Cedar and Sunshine, if you need to get fancy.

Black Angus Ground Meat Spheres with extruded pasta in a delicate tomato, basil, onion, and garlic sauce, also known as Spaghetti and Meat Balls, is always a favorite of mine. Or Clam Linguini or Kraft Dinner.

Just as our expert reviewer chose several fish dishes, I also love seafood. I am always more than satisfied with a piece of grilled salmon, a lightly battered white fish, pan-fried trout or a tin of sardines smothered in ketchup. My tastes are not as fancy as sablefish, lionfish, or spider crab, but I find all seafood meals are good meals.

So there you have it – my favorite meals of 2008 – sauerkraut, grilled meat, pasta and fish. Come to think of it I am sure that is the same list I would have used in 2007, in 2006, in 2005… No Voodoo Sauce or quail eggs for me!

Now it’s your turn!