I used to have 5-6 huge compendium cookbooks. One day I found a mushroom sauce recipe. A few types of mushrooms, cooking wine, some other ingredients I forgot.
I can’t even describe how indescribable the taste was. Ate with some barbecued pork chops. Scrumptious.
A few years later I spent multiple hours pouring over those damn cookbooks and never, ever found that recipe again…Probably good as nothing is ever as good as the first time!
That was one of those time traveling recipes. It appears and then disappears. Don’t try to remember the ingredients. I may be… problematic.
The beat meal I ever ate was in Gandria Switzerland, on Lake Lugano. It was a restaurant on a deck above the docks, and looking over the lake to Italy at sunset. We started with some prosecco, followed by the best bruchetta I ever had. Fantastic local wines, homemade bread, prosciutto and melon, pasta in white wine sauce and a chicken that by the time I got to was a bottle of wine in, and so completely bowled over by the appetizers that I cease to remember anything but it being very good.
Not only was the food amazing, but the ambiance of the mountain lake at sunset was divine.
It will probably never be topped.
I no longer live in Austin, TX and am no longer vegetarian as I was for the last five years I did live there. My first trip home after falling off the wagon, Other Austin* took me to a food truck called La Barbecue. Its founder trained at Franklin’s. The line was over an hour long by opening, and the day’s BBQ sold out in hours. They had a keg of Lone Star, freely offered while waiting in line or eating your food. It kept everyone happy while they waited, but the bliss at the end of the line knows no equal.
Other than the curious details leading up to that first bite, I remember nothing but the delicious brisket I had that day. It was sublime, and I cannot imagine anything else surpassing it. Even if I make it back to La Barbecue again, which is clearly best in class, it won’t have that extra first-BBQ-in-years kick.
(*I moved to Seattle with another Austin from Austin. I’m Austin A, he’s Austin B. You can’t make this shit up.)
The one that immediately springs to mind was in Marrakech. We were there during Ramadan, which meant it was somewhat difficult to find food during the day, but not impossible. Made for an interesting trip.
We had two amazing meals while we were there. One was a super expensive (by Moroccan standards- about $60/person) 10 course dinner in this big ‘palace’ - a big multi-story building with a completely open central courtyard all the way up. Every table was basically a balcony table, rose petals were strewn on our path to sit down, roaming live music players, etc. It was good. I don’t remember much of what we ate, or the name of the place- it was 15 years ago. Sue me.
Here’s the thing, though. While things were quiet during the daytime, at night the Jemaa el-Fnaa- the main plaza- would turn into a huge street party about two hours after sundown. Acrobats, storytellers and tons of food stalls. Each food stall had the name of the proprietor and a number, and nearly all had a big spread of meats and veggies on display- you’d sit down and point and pick and they’d throw them on the grill. We tried a few of those, they were good.
But in the very middle there was one stall. Hassan #37. No spread. Kind of a raised central grill, constantly billowing up huge clouds of smoke and flame. It was different. So on the night after we had the expensive fancy dinner, we sat down at Hassan #37.
There were no choices, just some basic questions even I got the gist of- ‘both of us eating?’ (yes), ‘do you want water?’ (also yes). So he sent a boy to go run and get us bottled water and turned around to get the first course. He produces two small bowls of tiny lamb sausages (about the size of lil’ Smokies) and some soft bread. So we dug in, and they were the best lamb sausages I have ever eaten in my life- and I’ve made plenty of my own (grew up doing charcuterie with my grandpa before becoming a professional chef). So we scarfed them down and when we looked up he was gesturing like ‘do you want more?’, and of course we said Hell Yes. So he goes over and ladles something into a couple of bowls, sets it down in front of us. Some sort of chopped meat, onions, peppers, little bit of thin broth/juices. More bread. So we tear off chunks of bread and use it to pick up the food, sopping up the juice along with it. Holy shit, it was divine- soft and flavorful and Holy Shit and all that. I was completely gobsmacked. So I try to ask what it is, he’s not understanding, my gal translates in French. He nods and reaches down and pulls out what is unmistakably a giant floppy raw sheep’s liver. I’m like ‘ok, then, thanks!’ but somehow that didn’t come across and he though he’s offended me. So as I’m eating he tries to reach in and take my bowl back and we have a little tug-of-war for my bowl, while I’m trying to protest that this is the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten until he was satisfied and let us finish. That meal cost us about $5 apiece, if I remember correctly.
I certainly thoguht it was the best meal I had eaten at that point, but that point was 15 years ago.
I had a fondue meal somewhere in Texas.
Cheese fondue to start, then broth with meat for us to put in it (like a pho,) and more cheese and then a chocolate fondue.
It was delicious.
Homemade croûte aux morilles. Like any great dish, getting the right ingredients (in this case, the eastern France morrels) is very expensive, be it financially or timely.
Then the proper preparation will take many, many hours. Have to start the day before on this one, and be well rested to clean the damn shrooms properly.
I feel that way about some of the places I’ve been. I’ll never ever probably get back there and it was one of those experiences that you just don’t forget. Lake Lugano sounds awesome. There is something to be said about great food prep and cooking but also paired with the setting, the people, and all else.
But this…
… is the kind of stuff I dream about. Austin and Dallas both had great BBQ. I’m betting that place was fantastic.
I’ve eaten a lot of BBQ in my life too, from all over Texas & few other states besides. For my money, I think Pok-e-Jo’s makes the best sausage. But Texas BBQ is mainly about brisket, and La Barbecue is the best I’ve ever had. I’ve been getting back into cooking under quarantine, which I haven’t done regularly since the years I was vegetarian, and I think I’m going to jump right in the deep end of smoking brisket to learn meat.
If I ever master it, I’ll invite Seattle QT3 over. (I assume it will be safe by then!)
I have a frozen brisket calling my name to make as well. I suffer from a less-than-ideal smoker (electric) but it’ll still get some good flavor. I’ll see if I can get that thing defrosted and prepped this week.
I don’t think I’ll ever be amazing at smoking, there is a lot of nuance to it.
Good candidate for “most surprising answer”!
Mine was a dish of langoustine in a little restaurant in Normandy when I was 13. Absolutely eye-opening.
The runner-up was a bacon cheeseburger (with fries and a root beer float) after getting back from a two week canoe trip during which we subsisted mainly on dehydrated trail rations. That one had a head start, though, since I’d been fixating on it since day 2 on the water. ETA: Come to think of it, the first fish dinner we had on that trip was freakin’ amazing.
Its tough to nail down my single best dish but I think I have to go with a Filet Mignon with Bearnaise sauce and sauteed mushrooms, that I had in a really nice Chicago restaurant years ago. I grew up in a family with 9 siblings. My mom was basically an army cook. When ever we had any kind of meat it always bordered on well done. This Chicago place was probably the first truly “fine” restaurant I had eaten at and I had just recently learned the true wonders and excellence of a rare steak. I’ve had some incredible dishes since but nothing has had an impact on me like that meal.
I would have to go with this. I have had some good food, but often the meal is made by the atmosphere and the company you eat with.
On the cheap end, probably the Cuban-style chicken at a little shack called Denny’s that’s right next to US1 in the Florida Keys. It wasn’t too far from our hotel, and we went back so many times the employees would crack up when they saw us come in and say, “Hey Boss, how many chickens this time?” It didn’t hurt that their black beans and rice was really good, too. We had chicken for breakfast a couple times it was so good.
On the high end, dinner at Trois Mec. You don’t get to pick anything except whether you want 7 courses or 9 (I think those were the counts) and whether you want the regular or premium wine flight ($100 a head vs. $300 as I recall). The food changes every two weeks, depending on what Chef Ludo can get & what’s in season. You can’t just walk in, they sell tickets through their Facebook page every two weeks, and they sell out within a minute. We’ve only gone once, when my wife got lucky & grabbed four tickets from a canceled reservation. It was the best meal of my life, hands down.
Bucket list!
Oh, man. I’m right there. Thanks for this!