Posted on 09/05/2001 5:38:43 AM PDT by Orual
If it's true that you are what you eat, then what are we to make of the fact that we live here in the land of foie gras with chocolate sauce? Of eel with roasted watermelon and green tea-cauliflower foam? Whatever the answer, one thing is clear: Today, the New York culinary scene provides food for thought to challenge even the most bizarre tastes. See which Manhattan restaurants have the weirdest dishes of all: Can your palate handle it?
#7: Foie Gras with Dark Chocolate Sauce and Orange Marmalade
Goose liver only a chocoholic could love...
• $72 prix fixe at Lutece
The Dish: Is it breakfast? An appetizer? Dessert? If you're pressed for time, kill three courses in one slab of foie gras, drowned in dark chocolate sauce and accented with orange marmalade. All that's missing is the toast. The New York Times called it “ill-chosen” and “out of register” but still gave new chef David Feau’s pyrotechnics two stars.
The Restaurant: What would Andre Soltner think of this revamped culinary legend? The guiding force behind Lutece ( 249 E. 50th St.) is long retired, and his pantheon is being turned on its head. East Side ladies beware, this is not your father’s Lutece.
Other Dishes: Feau, formerly of Guy Savoy in Paris, is no French-cuisine snob. He borrows flavors from around the world to create dishes like raw tuna with cilantro, apple and Moroccan oil; cumin- and rosemary-crusted lamb loin with lemon sauce and parsnip gratin; and curried squab with mascarpone and fava beans.
#10: Lobster with American Cheese
The sublime and the ridiculous on a plate.
• $22.95 at East Boat Restaurant The Dish: Think of it as a new use for the Kraft single: Icky, viscous processed cheese defiles pricey lobster flesh. “Like tuna melt!” the owner told the reviewer from the New York Post.
The Restaurant: The Post’s Steve Cuozzo, the only New York critic to pore through the bizarre, voluminous menu at East Boat Restaurant (72 Kenmare St.), recently declared the place “NY’s weirdest eatery.”
Other Dishes: An endless variety of lobster preparations, from Sichuan to satay, served alongside garlic bread, New England clam chowder, and wok-sauteed spaghetti slathered in ketchup.
Allze Cuisine!
#3
Flash-Fried River
Crabs
Sushi Samba 7 skips the slaughter
and fries their crabs alive.
• $9.75 at Sushi Samba 7
The Dish: Think of them as potato chips with legs. Dancing around in a jar
atop the sushi bar, these restless crustaceans look like giant bugs. Until,
that is, the chef plucks the little critters from their receptacle and plunges
them -- live -- into hot oil. Zap! They’re crisped in place like the residents
of ancient Pompeii. But don’t be afraid: "They actually taste like popcorn a
little bit, believe it or not," says manager Paul Guerzon.
The Restaurant: At Sushi Samba 7 (87 Seventh Avenue South),
caipirinhas, bossa nova, chorizo and wasabi are all served up in a fab
Mondrian-in-the-tropics decor. Potato chips with legs!!!! ROFL !
And no, I did not have any Haggis.
Baked Seal Flippers
Then, of course, there's the ever popular Southeast Asian dish of raw monkey's brains, eaten out of the top of his little skull while he watches until he dies...
Yummy!
Also you must try a roll of wonton wrappers stuffed with wintergreen mints covered with a blended sauce of lime juice and gatoraide.
Wash it all down with a frosty mug of clam juice.
I once ordered the Cologne Cold Plate at a pub. It consisted of zwiebelmett, raw bacon, other raw cold cuts, vegetables, and raw blood sausage. I spent a little more time than usual in the restroom the next day.
Culinary adventures in Japan: fish brains, eel livers, raw duck, an anchovy-filled donut, ...
"You may have been wondering what kind of product would flaunt the fact that it contains no snouts? . The answer is scrapple. What is scrapple? Scrapple is a breakfast meat product which has been attributed to the Pennsylvania Germans. However, although the Amish and Mennonites may still consume and produce some of this delicacy, the world's largest producer of scrapple is my home state of Delaware."
"By the way, some purveyors of scrapple still insist on including the snouts in their product. And we appreciate it. Finally, it is important to note what scrapple is not. Scrapple is not for vegetarians, those who keep kosher, or those with weak stomachs."
Also you must try a roll of wonton wrappers stuffed with wintergreen mints covered with a blended sauce of lime juice and gatoraide.
Wash it all down with a frosty mug of clam juice.
This menu makes my beer on Corn Flakes sound tame!
Or for those with any modicum of taste.
It's the main seasoning in soup du jour.
And I thought it cured skin diseases. Kind of like getting your oil changed in a way.
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