Advice concerning a US starter and wine accompaniment

Shrimp likely is the most popular seafood in the US. In parts the South, especially in Louisiana, crayfish are very popular. Food from the US South West has become trendy in some restaurants. For starters, they sometimes fill and cook small peppers ranging from a bit hot to hot enough to kill your taste for wine for an hour or so. Cheese, chopped meat and Mexican spices and herbs often are included. Actually Swedish starters are not out of place, because we have quite a few persons with a Swedish background in parts of the US, and Swedish dishes still can be found in homes and restaurants.

Shrimp likely is the most popular seafood in the US. In parts the South, especially in Louisiana, crayfish are very popular. Food from the US South West has become trendy in some restaurants. For starters, they sometimes fill and cook small peppers ranging from a bit hot to hot enough to kill your taste for wine for an hour or so. Cheese, chopped meat and Mexican spices and herbs often are included. Actually Swedish starters are not out of place, because we have quite a few persons with a Swedish background in parts of the US, and Swedish dishes still can be found in homes and restaurants.

"Joe "Beppe"Rosenberg" skrev i meddelandet news:- snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

Amen to that - lutfisk is a nono ... But I can´t see a USA theme where we serve Swedish dishes as starters!!!

Cheers

Nils Gustaf

I'd agree with the shrimp statement. A fairly popular item, and one that can go a few different ways with wine, is shrimp with horseradish, wrapped in bacon, with a drizzle of honey. Without the horeradish, this works on scallops and on chicken livers, too.

Have you thought about miniature hamburgers, on tiny buns?

"bijoudog" skrev i meddelandet news:Yeffg.11644$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.nyroc.rr.com...

Sounds interesting. Honey? Really? Somehow, sounds like something skewered on tooth picks or similar. Correct? Horseradish, honey - wine? Something late harvested with good acidity perhaps?

Naaaaaah .... ;)

Cheers

Nils Gustaf

Nils, if I understand you correctly, you'll be bringing Bonny Doon Big House Red. For a starter that would pair with that wine, I wouldn't choose a shrimp dish. Instead, I'd look to that most American of foods, the pizza and make some Alice Waters/Wolfgang Puck pizzettas. Another possibility would be fried chicken, another American classic. On a more substantial level, how about either barbeque or Texas chile con carne? Or, making use of local ingredients, you prepare an alder plank-grilled salmon, not that that would go very well with Big House Red, either.

Mark Lipton

Ed Rasimus wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

How about barbecued chicken wings? (Celery and blue-cheese dressing optional!) d.

Sorry, no - it goes like this: first we have a blind tasting of the wines brought by the group members, and that is where I'll apply the Bonny Doon. THEN we have a mildly rumbustious set dinner where we provide starters, with a suitable wine, which is by no means absolutely the Bonny Doon but could be eg a CalChard or other US wine (such as a late harvest riesling). After that, the hosts bring on the main course which is unknown to us, and some other guest the dessert, and so forth.

And, yes, typical USA ... on the hand, more a continent than a country, on the other, oodles of different nationalities congregated, melting pot exetra - perhaps I should adress alt.red.indians or something similar ... it might appear that what is typical of USA is being atypical ...

Thanks for taking an interest, all of you. Hreat food for thought (pun intended).

Cheers

Nils Gustaf

"Ed Rasimus" skrev i meddelandet news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Ye cats, what kind of wine do you drink with that?! Also, two of the AAB regulars are allergic (sort of) to garlic (this is true) and will not eat somewhat what is spiced with them garlicses of which there seems to be an ample supply in this dish.

And you were sooooo close.

Cheers

nils Gustaf

"Nils Gustaf Lindgren" wrote in news:dnmfg.3105$ snipped-for-privacy@newsb.telia.net:

Hmm, it seems that the best wings are usually found in dive bars, where there is a limited selection of cheap, very cold, American beer...or at least that's *my* experience ;)

Oh, pooh. How about shrimp cocktails? Wine? Hm. SB? California sparkler? I'm thinking about the cocktail sauce... d.

Shrimp cocktail consists of boiled shrimp tails that are peeled, except for perhaps the tail tips, and well chilled and often served on ice. Hopefully a good stock for fish is used for boiling instead of plain salted water, but this often is not the case. The shrimp are served with a small container of a sauce for dipping, and this is sometimes in the center of a server filled with ice with the shrimp in a circle around the outside. There are variations in the service. You can serve any sauce that you think would taste good with shrimp and not conflict with any wine. The common seafood cocktail sauce sold in nearly every grocery store in the US is not a friend of many wines. A bottle I found in the refrigerator contains tomato concentrate, distilled vinegar, horseradish, onions, garlic, spices. etc. Off hand, I can not think of a good wine match for that sauce. Perhaps a shot of aquavit washed down with a good beer would be better suited :-) .

Salut/Hi Ed Rasimus,

le/on Wed, 31 May 2006 13:57:33 GMT, tu disais/you said:-

Well, I'd agree with you that clam chowder owes its origins to Breton fishermen (Chaudrée) but it's been very much a signature dish of New England for many years. I think that part of your problem in finding an "American" starter is purely _because_ all american cooking is localised. You can easily find a typical cajun starters (Crayfish étouffé for example) or a typical East coast starter (soft shell crab) or a typical mid western starter - your chicken wings, but it's hard to find something that really would typify all America. Given that you now find (badly made) clam chowder from north to south and from east to west, I'd say that a really good clam chowder would be very hard to beat as a "typical American" starter AND it has the advantage of being wine friendly.

Just my 2¢ worth.

Just to get your imagination flowing, here's a link to an Americana cookbook. Be sure to look at them all 8-) --

Mike P

At one time on both coasts shrimp or crab cocktail was the usual starter at all but fast food restaurants. That kind of dish is now passé unless you screw around with horseradish based cocktail sauce. More mushroom dishes & antipasti are used as starters. Except for New Orleans & Chicago I have no idea of the typical starters---perhaps mac & cheese, lutefisk, lime Jell-O aspic. A big salad with lots of iceberg lettuce is an other option. Now they even offer a diner ground pepper for their salad. Salad dressing choices are French, thousand island & bleu cheese, although I've heard a few dining places have added vinaigrettes to their selection.

The day of a pasta with marinara sauce in rural eateries is no longer ketchup over some egg noodles. Most kitchen's now have in their pantry some Chef Boyardee and vermicelli for the discerning, and real Parmesan cheese for those who are not happy with cheddar or Velveeta on their veal or chicken.

How about meat loaf for a universal American classic? It's pretty ubiquitous from shore to shore - although the exact style may be subject to some local customization. Macaroni & cheese is another such dish.

You haven't been to Los Angeles, have you Ed? Clam chowder is very commonly the Friday soup special in restaurants here. Some of it is even pretty good.

Buffalo isn't in the mid-West? From a Californian perspective, everything East of the Rockies except the Eastern seaboard and the gulf coast lies in the Midwest! ;^)

Tom S

And don't forget the hamburger, the hot dog and the grilled cheese sandwich. I'm not sure that any of these classify as a "starter," though, Tom.

LOL!! Before leaving CA, I once referred to Pittsburg as being an East Coast city ;-) Nowaways, as a resident of the Midwest, I'd say anything between the Appalachians and the Rockies qualiifies. YMMV, of course.

Mark Lipton

True. And the other way around too. For example, the *best* clam chowder I ever had was in Atlanta. Which is 200 miles from the coast. Go figure.

While not on the coast, I certainly would classify Pittsburg as "east". I think the "mid-west" starts in Ohio. My opinion, of course.

I'm from Philly are, by the way.

In reality, though, Pennsylvania is really two (maybe three of more) states in culture. Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and "pennsyl-tucky"...

Jeff

"JR" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:

"Pittsburg" is in Kansas. ;) d. ;)