Years ago I had a sushi bar which I went to with business associates who spoke fluent Japanese. The employees at the restaurant spoke little English. On of my favorite dishes was a squid dish, sort of like little slices with a zingy sauce. One day I was in the area and decided to try the place myself. First thing I planned on getting was that dish, which I thought was either called pickled or marinated squid. Feeling sure of myself I ordered thew marinated squid. The waitress, in her few words of english, said "are you sure?" I said yes. A couple minutes later the manager came over to ask me the same question. I said "of course, I’ve had it several times and it’s really good." A few minutes later the waitress brought out a dish for me. I knew then that I had the name wrong, but figured it would still be ok. It looked like sliced squid in yellowish mayonnaise. After two tastes, I asked the manager what it was. I was told, "they take the insides out of the squid, whip them up until they are creamy, and use it as the sauce". I said I would gladly pay for the dish—–but they could remove it from my presence now. I did learn on that one!
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Being from PA, the first time I ate breakfast in a restaurant in Atlanta, when the grits came out I asked for some milk and sugar for what appeared to be cream of wheat. I nearly got laughed out of the place. Then they told me you put butter and salt and maybe cheese on them. I eat them like a native now[:I]

We had to travel a lot as I was growing up, and I will never forget the first time I ordered myself a meal in a London hotel. I ordered beef and Yorkshire pudding, and then could not understand what that dough thing was they brought to me.[:)]

quote:

Originally posted by dendan

Meet a ramp and I bet you would change your mind. [xx(][xx(]

I love ramps.

The first time I was in London, my girlfriend ordered shrimp scampi. We are use to NJ shrimp scampi which would be shrimp swimming in an oil, butter, garlic sauce. Shrimp scampi across the pond apparantly is simply battered, fried shrimp.

If it’s steak or even a burger—-it goes back. If I didn’t specify rare/medium rare, then I keep quiet and eat it. These days when I order sushi——I always make sure it’s real crab. In vietnamese or chinese soups, if I didn’t ask—-again, I just eat it——and chalk it up to "shoulda known better".

Ramping back to the topic, two thoughts. Who out there has ordered crab in a Chinese restaurant and been served surimi-imitation crab made from pollock-instead;and who has ordered beef, be it hamburger staek or prime rib, rare or med. rare, and been served it medium well or well done?
What do you you usually do , accept, send it back , complain??

Some info on ramps for the un-initiated.
The potent mountain ramp, "the sweetest tasting and vilest smelling vegetable in Mother Nature’s bounty." An edible member of the onion family, the ramp is alternately called the wild leek, taking its name from a similar plant, the rampion, which also has a fleshy tap-root. Believing the ramp to possess the revitalizing power of a spring tonic, the mountain folks looked forward to the return of the ramp after a winter of eating mostly dried foods. The ramp’s flavor, though sweet with a hint of garlic, is accompanied by a potent odor so objectionable school children with "ramp odor" were known to have been excused from school for a few days. – source = http://lcweb.loc.gov/bicentennial/propage/TN/tn-1_h_jenkins5.html

. Anyone had ramps? [?]
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Does it hurt?[:D][xx(][xx(][xx(]

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Meet a ramp and I bet you would change your mind. [xx(][xx(]

A friend of mine from France was in the US, I think it was his first trip and his English was minimal. He went into a restaurant for lunch, ordered something to eat and pointed to a tap that looked like it was dispensing some lovely porter beer. He took one sip and spit it out…….it was ROOT BEER!! He was mortified to think that we would brew something so foul tasting…..until I explained.
Liketoeat, I picked beets several times this summer and always cooked the greens…..they are delicious! And I agree with the rest of you…….never met a cooked green I didn’t like.

Hillbilly, since you, too, enjoy and appreciate greens, if you are ever traveling I-40 between Memphis & Little Rock, stop at the Sawmill Cafe in Forrest City for some of the best greens you’ll ever eat, even better than most fine homecooked greens I’ve had. I know the greens come from some commercial source, but they are good greens, tender, not bitter, not tough stem parts, and guess its the way they season them which make them so especially good – with peppers and plenty of meat.

I like greens of all types but just plain old turnip greens are my favorite. Did any of you ever eat beet greens? I remember as a kid they were occasionally served around here, but I’ve not seen or heard of beet greens in years.

In my neck of the woods, a root beer float is called a Black Cow. Went to a drive in in eastern Tennessee and ordered a Black Cow. I got a very puzzled look back "you want to buy a cow?"

Imagine the surprise when ordering greens in western NC and discovering a pile of ramps. Now ramps are at best the stongest form of stringy onion-like things you will ever try. Plus.[xx(], they stay with you for a loooong time. Anyone had ramps? [?]