Image: obamiconme.pastemagazine.com
I believe it says a lot about human nature and society at large that prisoners are allowed to request a “last meal”. Of course, in these politically correct times, they aren’t allowed a “last smoke” or a “last sexual experience”. But, I suppose when you’re staring your own death in the face, the prospect of your favorite food on the horizon perhaps makes it a little more bearable.
The book, My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals: Portraits, Interviews and Recipes asks the proverbial cocktail party question: If you were about to die, what would you want for your last meal?
Image: bn.com
Instead of reviewing this book - which is phenomenal of course - I would rather ask a question of my fellow OS’ers. What would you choose for your last meal if you knew this was your last day on earth?
The only rule is that there are no rules. Geography, money, convention, snobbery, courses, quantity and variety are not factors.
I’ll go first:
Amuse-bouche: Mom’s Cajun Crabmeat Cheese Ball on Club Crackers
Soup: Lobster bisque from Amore Restaurant in Conway, Arkansas (No longer open, see? No rules!)
Salad: Tomato Basil Salad
Appetizer: Toro Sashimi and lumpia
Image: kifune.com
Main: Planche de Grillades - grilled lamb chop, hanger steak, merguez, steak, thick cut bacon, french fries and roasted tomatoes from Les Halles, NYC
(I don't eat lamb because I'm a soft-hearted sissy. But it's SOOOO GOOOOD. If I was dying, I would eat lamb.)
Dessert: White Chocolate Candy Cane Cheesecake (click for recipe)
Cheese Course: White Farmhouse Cheddar from Sainsbury’s in London
This probably WOULD be my last meal if I actually did it, because I would have a heart attack WHILE exploding.
So, tell me, OpenSalon… What’s your “Last Meal”?
Oh, and here’s Tony Bourdain naked because I’m not in jail and I’m not dead yet:
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Ryan Soberg
Colony of Losers
astrid.in.lala.land
franishnonspeaker
Linnnn
vanessa seijo
Salon.com
Comments
as my last meal:
Maryland Crab Cakes
Apple-Butternut Soup
Venison Medallions with Port & Cheery Sauce
Meslun Greens with Walnut-Raspberry Vinaigrette
Chocolate Gooey Pudding Cake
coogansbluf - I think it's hyperactivity, nicotine and a lingering metabolism disorder from his junkie years. You went to CIA? Suh-weet! The BigBoyChild is aiming for CIA or Le Cordon Bleu.
That's the spirit! It's about what you would eat if you removed all conscience and economy. ;)
Ahem. Last meal? OK, I see somebody else has called dibs on AB. So I'll take James Marsters, and...
- baked brie with almonds and granny smith apples (w/ a nice voignier)
- Caesar salad (Vincent Price's timeless, perfect recipe only, please)
- Rare duck breast w/ blood orange sauce (and lots of conk-you-over-the-head cabernet)
- Duck fat roasted potatoes
- molten chocolate flourless cake and homemade vanilla ice cream (plus enough port to make sure I'm unconscious by the end of the meal)
I think I'd just want to go to the little outdoor oyster bar that used to hidden in the marshlands near the small curved I-95 bridge approaching the Jacksonville airport (I forget the exit). The owner had his own oyster boat and they were an hour fresh from the water and plump and juicy and sweet and my honey and I slurped down dozens and then went home to test the theory. ;)
Geoff - Ah, simple pleasures... But, couldn't you do that any day, pretty much guilt-free? ;)
Ardee - I swipified that photo, the rest of the article was in Arabic. Not that it mattered. It could have been a detailed timeline of the Apocalypse and I wouldn't have paid attention. I know that if I had written an intelligent treatment of this and used stock food photos, it might have gone places, but c'mon...
It's.
Tony.
Bourdain.
NAKED!
But, he has a new baby. That's a darn good excuse in my book.
I have the Azores episode on my DVR.
I'm waiting for an hour of uninterrupted viewing.
Look at those legs!!! Wrap 'em around me, baby!!!
Deborah - I think that might be why the highest cheftacular award is the James Beard Award.
Ardee - Oh, and I meant to ask, Palms Fish Camp perhaps? Certainly you were on Heckscher. Whitey's is better. Clark's if you're feeling richer.
This would not be a proper meal with courses but it would include all the (food) things I want in my mouth before I die.
Cole Slaw I had a post about my cole slaw a while back. I could eat it every day.
Tagliatelle with Seafood and Cream - modified from a Jamie Oliver recipe. Or I could just have Jamie Oliver and die very happy.
Chicken Tikka Masala from 5 Star Diner in Long Island City, NY. If any NY people want to arrange a trip there, I'm in.
Garlic Bread - with fresh herbs and garlic in the butter
Brandywine tomatoes with Murray River Salt Flakes from Australia
Triple Cream Brie
Grilled Fontina & Sage Sandwich
My apple pie (I make the best apple pie ever. ever.)
Grandpa's Mayonnaise Chocolate Cake
Homemade vanilla ice cream
Homemade Chai from Sarah McLachlan's cookbook
Dark Chocolate Pudding
Jesus, I'm hungry now! Thanks for the inspiration Jodi!
All I know about the last meal I'd like is that it would have to include the fried, stuffed tofu with sauce from Tong Kee #3 in San Francisco, which no longer exists, therefore postponing my execution indefinitely, I suppose.
Peking Duck from the little place across the alley from a certain Chinese Acrobatics Theater in Bejing would also have to adorn the menu, as would Szechuan Hot Sauce noodles from the old lady with her cart behind the train station in Chengdu. They serve a fresh-caught Pearl River trout at a little al fresco joint by the river in Guangzhou that I'd request, s'il vous plait, and for dessert the delicate sesame balls from Lianxianglou, also in Guangzhou.
谢谢你
love the Beard quote, too!
jambalaya with crawfish AND shrimp
fresh field peas (or tiny lady peas if I could find them)
warm cornbread with butter
a yeast roll for maximum carbohydrate pleasure
turnip greens
a snickerdoodle cookie with a really good vanilla ice cream
a cafe au lait from the old days of Cafe Du Monde (when they still served it strong)
a big snifter of armagnac, because I wouldn't have to worry about waking up with a headache the next day
Not that I could eat all that, but I'd sure try.
Anthony Bourdain is ... amazing ;)
katina - For me, it's not that he's drop-dead gorgeous. (Not that he ISN'T.) It's his mind. Not to besmirch anyone who can do it quite ably on their own, but his snark is so... so... sensually cerebral. Plus, I was born in Jersey, so I think it might be environmental.
coogansbluf - In Kitchen Confidential he makes it sound like he really dropped his basket around that time. I'd like to imagine that he's only full of b.s. when it's funny.
Lonnie - Another tasty entry. Oh, I liked your food choices, too.
Silkstone - I didn't know it existed until I was hunting for pics for this blog. I'm pretty sure my eyes rolled back in my head and a "KA-CHING!" sound was heard for miles around.
Ah, Suze! 'Ze soft shell crab roll! Tres magnifique!
PF - I think that's the general consensus. It's just something about a man with a brain, a sense of humor and cooking skills.
My meal could be a buffet of all the dishes I've seen ahead of me on this thread, except maybe the mayonnaisse chocolate cake which is probably delicious but I hate the idea of mayonnaise. Add some stone crabs and key lime pie and that's enough. Oh, and I'll leave the Cheetos to Geoff, who does not sound like a foodie to me. Men.
Which brings us back to Bourdain. Thanks for the photo.
That sounds like a speed round challenge from Top Chef, huh???
I'll work on it!
I don't think I can make this into a coherent menu like some others here did, but I'd love:
a bacon thingie (I don't know what exactly but i love bacon)
some melt in your mouth tender sushi or sashimi
fresh steamed crab and lobster with lemon butter
homemade potato chips
Thai style duck breast salad
grilled Hawaiian opah fish
really good creamed fresh spinach
a big piece of the hot apple cake with fresh "cream" that i had in a hotel in Dorchester England 15 years ago
Chocolate molten at Commander's Palace
a warm snickerdoodle cookie
Giordano's deep dish pizza
homemade turkey, swiss, bacon, and avocado sandwich
How does Anthony Bourdain cook (and eat) and stay so slim?! It boggles the mind!
Denise - Oh, Commander's Palace...
::sigh::
I could just sit in there and eat my way through the whole menu!
Everyone else - I LOVE all of your menus!
Caviar with all the trimmings - if there are no blinis, I will eat the stuff directly off of Anthony Bourdain.
Stone crabs with horseradish/mustard mayo
Home made tagliatelle with ridiculous amounts of shaved white truffles and fresh ground pepper.
Grilled lobster, barbounia (whole, from Greece) and flat grilled calamari. Lots of fresh lemon and olive oil eaten with my hands.
Any salad from any seaside restaurant in Turkey and some eggplant dishes too. Alternatively, a great frisee with lardons and oeufs.
Rack of lamb with garlic and fresh rosemary. Braised escarole or creamed spinach. Parsnip fries.
Every stinky cheese possible and crunchy, grainy breads.
Chateau de Sel blancs de blancs or rose for the starters followed by anything bottled by - Gaja - 1984 was a brilliant year.
the best friggin tarte tatin from the restaurant (whose name escapes me for the moment) in Eze. Served bubbly hot with a PAIL of cremefraiche and a big ass ladle.
Or, maybe I'll just end the way I started and eat that directly off Borudain too.
fried catfish
freshly made sage pork sausage
grits with lots of butter
3 fried eggs, over easy
a bloody Mary
biscuits made with White Lily self-rising flour
fried apples
gravy
Irish coffee
peach preserves, freshly made the same day so they're still warm
ambrosia with oranges, grapefruit, coconut and lots of maraschino cherries
champagne (I don't know enough to pick a good one so you can pick one for me)
Then if I'm still hungry a couple of pancakes with the chocolate syrup my mother used to make only with lots of rum added.
Did somebody mention calories? Give me a break. I'm dying for Christ sake.
Oh yes, the picture. I'm going to have trouble watching his show now and keeping my mind on the subject matter.
Thanks for the fun!
(rim shot)
Great food!
(rated)
(Of course, if I were trying to put off the day of execution, I could keep changing that "last meal" menu indefinitely, wouldn't I?)
PS - That nude guy is really gross. But I really like your comment quote!
http://deneno.com
Ristorante Deneno is improbably a New York City Italian restaurant in Alachua which is a small town outside of Gainesville, Florida. I first stopped there one afternoon a few years ago after stopping in nearby High Springs to see a few art galleries. One gallery owner directed me to Deneno where at 4 p.m. the chef prepared an amazing asparagus salad just for me and the best glass of oaky Chardonnay I have ever tasted. I have been back many times since when going to or coming home from Tallahassee.
Crunchy vietnamese egg rolls rolled in romaine with that wonderful fish sauce stuff. (Hmmm, time for a trip to Kim Son's, now I'm craving them.)
Pappas' greek salad. With olive bread.
Baked asparagus. (Slurp!)
Shrimp etouffee (sp?)
Eggs benedict.
My luscious pork chops with sundried tomatoes & yellow bell peppers (brown the pork chops, deglaze with white wine - the one I used Sunday was a too-sweet variety a friend brought from Paris, add veggies, garlic, seasonings then simmer till fork tender and serve over couscous - easy and amazingly delicious).
Champagne
Sangria
Frangelico
Fat Ass Chocolate Cake
Creme Brulee
Pumpkin Cheesecake
You get the idea, I'm going to become a gourmand after I've raised my girl and outlived my husband.
A slice of Pork Pate en Crute with a stewed prune culee
Escarole and canelloni beans with roasted garlic
Spinach, walnuts, wild mushrooms and dried cranberries with a poppy seed vinagrette
Prawns with a Thai red chilli/cilantro dipping sauce
New Zealand lamb chops with a mustard/parsley/cashew crust and a Port reduction with sage mashed potatoes and asparagus with Hollandaise
Chocolate and Esspreso gelato
Cafe au lait
Napoleon Brandy
Coogan I agree, I have my doubts about working in a kitchen on smack...I had a hard enough time when I started needing percocets.
I hate the fact that Tony B eats so well and stays so thin, Im convinced it's a Dorian Grey thing and there is a fat smelly Tony dopelganger in a closet somewhere.
Appetizer, start with gougere, a hot French cheese pastry. Second choice is stuffed grape leaves.
Main course: Either leg of lamb, or rack of lamb. If we're talking quantity, leg of lamb, exquisite succulence, rack. That lamb should be prepared with lots of garlic, and a quantity of butter and lemon juice, and cooked until pink inside. Not red-rare, and certainly not gray. The lamb should be served with the potato gratin dauphinoise. Or if you want to be down to earth, scallopped potatoes, and thin stalks of asparagus with plenty of hollandaise ladled over them. Oh, and mint sauce for the lamb, please.
Dessert no.1 chocolate mousse with raspberries and lots of both.
Dessert no 2. Pear sorbet.
Hell with the calories--it's my adieu to the delights of the table. And narrowing it down to these choices took days.