Tag Archives: dc omni 100

Food and Drink, The DC 100
By

DC Omni 100: #71 Gazpacho

Photo courtesy of
‘Chilled Soup, Hot Summer’
courtesy of ‘LaTur’

It’s time for another item on the DC Omnivore 100 list of the top one hundred foods every good omnivore should try at least once in their lives.

With warm weather hitting the area, palates and appetites turn from stews and comfort food to lighter, refreshing dishes in an effort to cool off during the summer. Gazpacho, a cold liquid salad, originating from Andalusia, the southern most region of Spain, is a thirst-quenching option that should definitely be on everyone’s mind.

Typically, Gazpacho includes hard bread, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, olive oil, vinegar of wine, onion and salt. However, there are many modern variations of gazpacho, often in different colors and omitting the tomatoes and bread in favor of avocados, cucumbers, parsley, watermelon, grapes, meat stock, seafood, and other ingredients.

A good gazpacho’s viscosity should be a tad short of a thick tomato sauce and the ingredients should be completely blended. And in my opinion, there’s nothing worse than getting a gazpacho that’s watery and filled with cubed peppers.  This should be a substantive, cold soup. Continue reading →

The DC 100
By

DC Omnivore 100: #91, SPAM®

Photo courtesy of
‘Photo of Crispy Grilled Spam “Chips”‘
courtesy of ‘foodistablog’

Today, we’re trying another item from the DC Omnivore 100, which lists the top one hundred foods every good omnivore should try at least once in their lives.

You have to give credit to the fine makers of SPAM®–they sure do know how to make canned meat fun.

The bright blue and yellow packaging on the Spam Single Classic I picked up the other day at the supermarket in my quest to share with you, dear readers, the joys of this highly processed food, invited me to “Just rip and tear your way to CRAZY TASTY® town!” The back had a SPAM Idea O’Wheel with suggestions of what to do with my SPAM, which included making a necklace from the very pouch I held in my hands. (Okay, even I know that’s not fashion.)

A little alarmed by the prospect of eating nearly half a day’s saturated fat in a single slice, I considered buying the SPAM Lite instead, but was even more frightened that the package actually listed “mechanically separated chicken parts” as an ingredient. I’m sure the pork in the regular fared no better at the factory, but still….

This ain’t health food, folks, and I’m pretty sure it ain’t green, but indeed I grew up on the stuff and still have fond memories of it.
Continue reading →

Food and Drink, The DC 100
By

DC Omni 100: S’mores (#61) and PB&J (#13)

Smore by flickr user Colin Purrington (creative commons)

Smore by flickr user Colin Purrington (creative commons)

Welcome to yet another review of the 100 foods an omnivore in DC should partake of. Read the full list.

Today, class, we will discuss s’mores and  peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I choose to discuss them together because both are delicious, ooey-gooey, comfort foods of our childhood. Both are sweet and gushey. Both are sandwiches. Most importantly, both make (most) everyone in America go… “Yummmmm”.

First we’ll ponder the s’more, number 61 on the list. The smore, a simple sandwich created by smooshing a block of chocolate (typically the Hershey’s milk chocolate bars you can break off into squares) with a toasted marshmellow (to your personal degree of satisfaction, ranging from very rare to cajun-style blackened) between two graham crackers. So basic, yet so satisfying.

My personal s’more is exactly like the one pictured above. I aim for a golden-brown cracked marshmellow with white fluff oozing out the sides, smothering the chocolate, and making it melt. Layered between two halves of a graham cracker, it drips down my face while I eat it. Continue reading →