the american palette and the Babylon bar

"I bagged Chuck-Wagon Cooking: тАЬAn authentic collection of round-up law, cowboy humour and more than 100 old-time recipesтАЭ. The cover is a fetching photo of stew, biscuits and a .45. No well-fitted kitchen should be without one. Then there was a collection of recipes from the pinto-bean cooking contest, with classics such as pinto-bean mock chicken legs and pinto-bean fudge. And there was a book with one of those titles that makes you kick yourself for not having thought of it first: Best Recipes from the Backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans and Jars. IsnтАЩt that brilliant?"

"America has a particularly intimate relationship with proprietary processed food, and these recipes were as bizarre, touching, occasionally delicious but mostly palate-scrapingly disgusting as the States itself. How about oven-fried chicken and bananas, from the Coco Casa cream-of-coconut label? The ingredients are chicken bits, cream of coconut, lemon juice, bananas, three-quarters of a cup of melted margarine and two and a half cups of cornflakes. IтАЩm not going to give you the method for Jell-o Artichoke Salad. YouтАЩll just have to imagine. The Jell-o flavour is lime, naturally."

A A Gill Sunday Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 78,00.html (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25609-2308278,00.html)


"I hadnтАЩt had dinner with Jeremy Clarkson for ages. тАЬWhere are we eating?тАЭ he asked. Gilgamesh, I said. тАЬWhat?тАЭ Gilgamesh. тАЬWhatтАЩs that?тАЭ Earliest recorded fiction. Written in cuneiform. Story of Babylonian deific king of Uruk and his wild and brutish friend Enkidu, who runs naked through the forest.
тАЬI donтАЩt like the sound of that.тАЭ ItтАЩs wonderful: a marvellously powerful poetic narrative that includes the original story of the flood. And youтАЩre very like Enkidu. тАЬNo, I mean I donтАЩt want to eat cuneiform.тАЭ Granted, itтАЩs an odd name for a restaurant. тАЬWhere is it?тАЭ Okay, got a pen? The Stables Market. тАЬThatтАЩs pretentious.тАЭ Chalk Farm Road. тАЬOh God, itтАЩs north. The next thing youтАЩre going to say is N something.тАЭ NW1. The ululating rant about north LondonтАЩs inhabitants, their mothers, personal hygiene and habits that followed neednтАЩt detain us................"

A A Gill Sunday Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 78,00.html (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25609-2270578,00.html)

[Aunty]

Cedric you have done this board a magnificent service bringing to its attention one of the greatest of American traditions. This one baby is bigger than Mom and apple pie! ItтАЩs AmericaтАЩs cuisine, White Trash Cooking and White Trash Cooking II: Recipes for Gatherin's. ItтАЩs big at the White House! I like the road kill, and the recipe for Five Can soup.

Of course for the more discerning and educated American, with a sophisticated palate and outlook on life, one simply cannot go past Ruby-AnnтАЩs Down Home Trailer Park Guide to LivinтАЩ Real Good, and her magnificent contribution to food, Ruby-AnnтАЩs Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook. This oneтАЩs on every shelf in every dorm at Harvard! Let that be a lesson to you. These outstanding recipes give you a feel for the real America of Cooter, Hoss and Bo, and just a taste of whatтАЩs served in the finest restaurants of Atlanta, Alabama and Arkansas. www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

And after all this food might I recommend a moment of gratitude and worship, as my good friend Mrs Edmonds would suggest, at the Baby Jesus, LordтАЩs Tabernacle of Missoula, to show your real appreciation to God Almighty for America, President Bush and the Republican Party.

My dear, itтАЩs where the worthwhile worship, and the NancysтАЩ all go straight to Hell.

ha ha HA! Aunty I am so happy, you fill my days with laughter.