I could talk about this all day, but if I were really pressed, I would have to say that my all-time favorite food and booze combination would have to be Khortytsa Platinum vodka and Ukrainian salo on bread with a thin slice of garlic. Khortytsa was first introduced to me by a Ukrainian friend who owned a restaurant and he would insist on bringing out plates of salo when we'd drink with him. It's the cleanest vodka I've ever had and it definitely packs a punch. However, it's very unusual to get a hangover from it if you're drinking it straight. The salo is delicious on its own, but it has the added benefit of allowing one to drink Slavic volumes of liquor.
I also like the blurb from the Khortytsa website:
- PLATINUM
NEW FORM OF ABSOLUTE CLEAN
The vodka contains an amber acid that perfectly balance all vodka ingredients and its acidity. When tasting Platinum vodka, you’ll be surprised with not feeling spirit notes! This vodka is for delicate flavor lovers. Even women can drink it without eating snacks. Besides, it ideally suits to any cocktails – one feels no spirit upon mixing cocktail ingredients!
Also, if you click Disribution and select "USA" it will show a map of their distribution center, which they claim is New York, but on their map is actually in Virginia.
I don't eat much fish and chips, though in New England, I live it's fairly popular and seen on many menus. The choice fish here is generally haddock, though it might just as often actually be scrod or now that scrod is more expensive, something else. Do you favor a particular kind of fish for fish and chips? I have an Australian friend who won't eat the dish unless it's barramundi.
Not really anything specifically. There's a local pub by my campus that on Tuesdays has a fish and chips special. I like to go there after classes and enjoy some fish and chips with a large mug of Guinness.
I really like Scotch and chocolate a LOT. In particular, I like Laphroaig 15 with a nice dark chocolate. I like a rare piece of tuna with a soft pinot noir. Gosh, too many to list and I've gotta run but I'll be thinking of more while I'm out to dinner and drinks :)
Scotch and anything, really. It's got the savory factor, some umami, buttery, a little sweet. Hard to go wrong with scotch. Love the Laphroaig 15. Just got through a bottle of the quarter cask. Hit me the best with a plain old 80/20 hamburger and a pint of Firestone Double Jack IPA.
I like the way you roll fuffle, even throwing out the 80/20 to be specific. Nice.
It's tough to choose just one combination. Right now I could go for a bonfire cooked hotdog and a beer. The specifics don't matter too much in this case. If I am living it up, the hotdog is a Rebel Hot, with mustard, onions, and jalepeno relish, and the beer is a Two Hearted Ale. If I'm roughing it, the hotdog is standard issue with mustard and onion, and the beer is a Miller High Life.
I love stouts and porters, especially imperial stouts. My favorite beer of all time is a particular imperial stout called Surly Smoke. It goes perfect with a good steak, as the beer literally does have kind of a smoky taste to it, but it's also a bit sweet with fig hints to it, and because it's an imerial stout has a very malty almost creamy texture to it. Delicious.
Beer and spicy mix for me. Otherwise, I cannot usually combine food and alcohol. Once I eat something, I'm done. It's like my body suddenly recognises that alcohol is not really food and I can't down it anymore. Even wine with a meal is kind of unpalatable for me. I usually just quickly scarf down the wine and then eat. But luckily, a half hour or so after eating, I'm good to drink again.
Steak, pink in the middle, with a glass of neat whiskey. Almost anything with my favorite red ale - that produced by the Carlow Brewing Company. And then there's post-drinking - chips doused in salt and vinegar... Or fries, to you Americans.
T-bone or fillet, mmm. With mushrooms and onions. As for whiskey, I'm still partial to Jameson, which is neither expensive nor 'classy'; but it's the whiskey I drink, and the whiskey my father drinks, and probably the whiskey my son or my daughter will drink.
I usually buy a 12-year for my dad every Christmas and that's delicious enough - I'll have to put some 18-year into me sometime.
Sláinte! That reminds me - if any of you Hubskiers are passing through Ireland, let me know and maybe we can go for a sneaky pint...
That would be great, I would love to be in Ireland enjoying a pint!
beef tenderloin mid rare with gorgonzola on top and a full cab to wash it down.
Hmm, never really thought of this before but I'll try: Sweet and Sour Pork with either rice or noodle or Crispy Peking Duck Pancakes complimented by a Tsingtoa Beer. May be stereotypical to have a Chinese beer with Chinese food but often they serve it in restaurants, and I find the flavor often compliments the sweet tang of the Chinese dishes. BLT Sandwich (Bacon, lettuce, fried tomato, mayo, on fried bread) with an Amstel beer. Had it first when I was ahem "in the clouds" of Amsterdam and I fell in love with it. If all else fails, a Craggenmore 12 year old single malt scotch on the rocks, with a fat cigar. Not technically food, but part of a (read: my) balanced diet.
Shrimp & White Wine (credit: Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!) Generally:
Double IPA with fried anything
Deep & fruity malbec with steak or salmon
King's Ginger with lemon cake Recently: I had a couple of outstanding birthday meals last weekend. Night one, I took myself out to a place in my old neighborhood called Lula Cafe and had a glass by Tami and the spinach cavatelli followed by a couple glasses of really good rye from an insane, torso-sized bottle at a friend's place. His brother's a salesman for a liquor distributor so he's always got something interesting in his bar. Night two, my girlfriend took me out to a place in the suburbs that flies in its fish and meats daily. I had venison (for the first time in years) with squash and sprouts, and a mild but delicious pinot noir, followed by key lime pie and intelligentsia coffee. Hash-tag Chicago.
Chicagoans are the worst when it comes to talking about the food. It's like a bad comedian, always the highest or the lowest and never anything relatable. If you're visiting Chicago, you don't need to go to Hot Doug's and stand in the wind/rain for an hour just to eat a mildly interesting hot dog. Nor do you need to wait two hours or more for a seat at Kuma's (again in the wind and the rain) to eat a mildly interesting hamburger. And if you're visiting Chicago and can swing Moto or Alinea, go for it, but I have a hard time finding the point in spending that much money on food unless you're not just famous, but famously wealthy, which you are not. If you return, do visit Lula. You might have to wait a little while but the staff are incredibly kind, the food is not just consistently delicious but reasonably priced, and the neighborhood you'll be in is one of the better places to have to wait (if you must wait for a meal). Compare this to Hot Doug's, which is adjacent to a mile-long parking lot for the electrical company fleet vehicles and a drab office park. If you're here in the summer and as inclined to drink as you are to eat, go to the Orbit Room. The longer I've been away the less I feel like I have a "top five" as I do a "top two" establishments. Lula's at the top, and Orbit Room's at the bottom. The best patio in the city (that isn't a roof deck, or whatever it is people do downtown) soundtracked by the best tunes. I don't think I've ever had anything here other than the fish tacos with shots and beers, but it still beats a long list of other Chicago bars and restaurants, and I've never had to wait to get in there. If I had to include a third it'd be Longman & Eagle, but they're just a younger, meat-obsessed, haughty version of Lula. I've also heard they don't treat their staff well at all, which is reason enough for me to stay away unless I've been in a pinch (like xmas eve one year). Randolph Street is the test kitchen. If you really, really, really care about food you likely know where to go, but it appears that you didn't, so moot point.
I would say that I do really care about food, though my focus has been elsewhere as I only moved back to the States in the past year. I'm glad that people are paying more attention to what they're eating and the quality of what they're eating, but the whole "foodie" thing kind of bugs me sometimes. I remember as a kid, buffalo wings were just gaining traction, but not many people were preparing chicken wings at home. Thus, the price of chicken wings was dirt cheap. Now they're as expensive as anything. Same goes for soup bones. Now everyone and their ma is suddenly into eating marrow on toast points and what used to be $1.50 now costs $8. It's one thing to enjoy a nice selection of cheese, but it's quite another to look down one's nose at an establishment for serving what that blog/TV show considers to be a poor pairing. Anyhow, thanks for the recommendations. It's kind of up in the air at the moment, but I just might have a long term thing developing in Chicago, so I'll definitely keep your words in mind.