Posted by Ed Levine, December 5, 2007 at 11:31 AM
Kim Severson poses that very question in the New York Times today. What do you think, Serious Eaters?
In a way entrees are a bulky anachronism, an ode to an earlier time when meat and potatoes were a given at every meal, whether we were eating at a four star restaurant or a diner. Let's face it. When we eat out nowadays we crave variety, stimulation, and satisfaction, and we're much more likely to get those things by ordering a number of small plates. Plus, sharing food at a restaurant is an easy way for us to connect with our friends and family.
How do most Serious Eaters eat at restaurants these days? We just order a bunch of food that sounds appealing. It usually ends up being a combination of appetizers, main courses, pastas, and side dishes. Somehow everyone at the table ends up sated and content. And isn't that the point?
Posted by Leslie Robarge, March 5, 2007 at 8:00 AM
Photo credit: iStockphoto.com
The best recipe I own came from my mom. It was passed down to her from her mom, a first-generation Polish woman who, from what I remember, never actually cooked. Unfortunately, the recipe isn't from the Eastern European "homeland." And sadly, it wasn't lovingly passed down by my great grandmother. No, it's a recipe for Swedish meatballs.
And better yet, there's not one ingredient in it that's fresh. (Actually, that's a lie—the meat is fresh, thank goodness.) But why is that better? Maybe it's because out of all the figs I stuffed with gorgonzola, all the expensive pounds of gouda-goat I've charged to Visa, out of all the farm-fresh tomatoes I've diced for bruchettas, there's some indescribable satisfaction in knowing that the best appetizer recipe I own consists of one packet of Lipton onion soup mix, one can of Campbell's cream of mushroom soup, and one chicken-flavored bouillon cube. There's a teeny nugget of pride in knowing that what people are lapping up involved no chopping, grating, or reducing. And that this recipe, one that's totally unnatural (and let's not even talk about the sodium content), is the one that I'm asked to share the most, out of all the expensive, time-consuming, silly little dishes I have served. And it costs less than $10 to make.
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