The Best Country in the Universe

[Dan From Smithville]

I listen to country on a local station here, although they often play both kinds: Country and Western. I don't know if they're the best, although they would probably say they are.

I've been listening to music from other countries (other country, music or other, country music?). Some of it is the best too.

I'm reminded of a slogan used by a local rock radio station, but I'm not sure if I can post it here. It isn't all that terrible, but I don't know what words make it through the filter. Basically it says that radio is terrible, but the station is just the least terrible. I don't think they use it anymore, but they used to.

 

[Stevicus]

I'm not sure what really constitutes American food, but I think you may be correct that it may be or becoming just burgers and fries or anything fastfoodable.

I could live with chili being the national dish. Especially with all the variants.

American food is kind of amalgamation of many different cultural cuisines. Some foods may become so familiar to Americans that we consider them to be "American foods" even if they may originate from elsewhere. Just like how many Americans believe that everything was invented in America, some might think we invented food, too.

 

[JustGeorge]

My mother was raised in the city and taught to cook by my grandmother who was raised in Croatia. Her take on chili was a combination of that with what she knew as traditional chili. Her recipe contained other ingredients beyond the traditional chili and beans. Chickpeas, mushrooms, lots of onions, garlic, various sweet peppers, whole or chopped tomatoes and whatever struck her fancy. It was delicious and full of different textures and flavors not found in other chili recipes. I recall that the chickpeas for their light color, crunchy texture and nutty flavor that added to the overall dish became a favorite for me. I also like big hunks of tomato.

That sounds delicious!

I used to make pots of chili based on a random ingredient that I'd ask some unsuspecting sap to pick for me.

You should have seen my husband's face after dinner one night, went to the fridge to find the blackberries he'd picked out, only to learn he'd already consumed them in the chili. But, that was a good one. Wish I remembered everything I put in.

We ate a lot of broccoli when I was growing up, but I have recently discovered--you may have been the person that brought this to my attention--the use of it on pizza. It's a great pizza topper.

Yeah, that was probably me...

 

[Dan From Smithville]

That sounds delicious!

I used to make pots of chili based on a random ingredient that I'd ask some unsuspecting sap to pick for me.

You should have seen my husband's face after dinner one night, went to the fridge to find the blackberries he'd picked out, only to learn he'd already consumed them in the chili. But, that was a good one. Wish I remembered everything I put in.

Yeah, that was probably me...

You can add ingredients to traditional stew recipes, but I can see limitations that chili doesn't seem to have. Or chili allows for a greater latitude in the things you can add without altering it so much it isn't recognizable or still good.

It was and remains a delicious recipe. I still follow her methods. Haven't tried blackberries, but some fruits would be an interesting addition. Pineapple or mango might be interesting choices singly or together. I'm fond of mixing savory and sweet. I love jalapeño jelly.

I like to use beets with stews along with the traditional carrots, potatoes and onions. The problem I have is that I tend to overcook it and the beets breakdown into this purple mush. Different colored beets would change the color of the mush. I haven't made one in a while, but I have to figure out the best timing to avoid that. Either add them later in the cooking or roast them first perhaps.

Now I'm wondering about beets in chili? There may be something wrong with me.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

That sounds delicious!

I used to make pots of chili based on a random ingredient that I'd ask some unsuspecting sap to pick for me.

You should have seen my husband's face after dinner one night, went to the fridge to find the blackberries he'd picked out, only to learn he'd already consumed them in the chili. But, that was a good one. Wish I remembered everything I put in.

Yeah, that was probably me...

I'm pretty sure it was you that mentioned it. Thank you for that. I would never have thought to add it.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

American food is kind of amalgamation of many different cultural cuisines. Some foods may become so familiar to Americans that we consider them to be "American foods" even if they may originate from elsewhere. Just like how many Americans believe that everything was invented in America, some might think we invented food, too.

I think you are right about how some understand the origins of the food they eat to be entirely concocted here.

 

[JustGeorge]

You can add ingredients to traditional stew recipes, but I can see limitations that chili doesn't seem to have. Or chili allows for a greater latitude in the things you can add without altering it so much it isn't recognizable or still good.

It was and remains a delicious recipe. I still follow her methods. Haven't tried blackberries, but some fruits would be an interesting addition. Pineapple or mango might be interesting choices singly or together. I'm fond of mixing savory and sweet. I love jalapeño jelly.

I like to use beets with stews along with the traditional carrots, potatoes and onions. The problem I have is that I tend to overcook it and the beets breakdown into this purple mush. Different colored beets would change the color of the mush. I haven't made one in a while, but I have to figure out the best timing to avoid that. Either add them later in the cooking or roast them first perhaps.

Now I'm wondering about beets in chili? There may be something wrong with me.

Beets sound like an excellent addition! You would have to be careful not to overcook, though, unless you wanted to use the 'mush' to add thickness.

I sometimes roast beets cut into slivers to a point where they're crunchy, and then add them as a soup garnish. Good flavor, good texture.

 

[Dan From Smithville]

Beets sound like an excellent addition!

I got the idea from finding a very well-done stew on the lunch menu at a place I worked. It was the right choice and done well in that instance.

My problem was and remains that it is a vegetable I have limited experience with and my enthusiasm to repeat it was greater than my awareness of my ignorance of how to do it.

You would have to be careful not to overcook, though,

As I found out the hard way.

unless you wanted to use the 'mush' to add thickness.

It turns out that the mush I created in my attempts made the stews edible and still palatable, but just less so than a regular stew or one with beets done properly as I had first encountered them. If that makes sense. It homogenized the flavors of the "gravy" too much.

I sometimes roast beets cut into slivers to a point where they're crunchy, and then add them as a soup garnish. Good flavor, good texture.

I think that advice would put me on track to coming closer to achieving the sort of dishes that I want with the beets.

I still consider myself a novice cook, but my ever growing awareness adds to my appreciation of the efforts that a good cook has to make to get a dish right even if I never reach that level myself. It's like a chemistry experiment with food. To get the right product, you have to make sure the reactions occur in the proper order, temperature and timing.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

My opinion is based on having been in Europe and India as well as having food from many different nations available in a short drive based on immigration from those countries including Mexican/South American, Indian, French, Italian, African, various Chinese and Indian regions, English, German etc.

Also bard.google.com wrote:

There are over 50 different nation's foods available in a 50 mile radius around San Francisco based on this prompt: How many different nation's food is available in a 50 mile radius around San Francisco?

Hmm...in complete seriousness;

I ran the same query on bard, substituting Melbourne for San Francisco.

There are over 100 different nations' food available in a 50 mile radius around Melbourne. This is because Melbourne is a multicultural city with a diverse population. The city has been home to immigrants from all over the world for centuries, and this has led to a rich and varied food scene.

 

[Quagmire]

Or so I was told at a demolition derby I treated myself to last night at the county fair. I know I'll probably take some heat from some of our US members over this, but...

For whatever reason, I took exception to a comment by the MC, who announced after the national anthem, "We are the best country in the UNIVERSE!!" to which the grandstands went wild. While they cheered, I couldn't help but think, "I'm not even sure we're the best country in North America right now."

I suppose I understand national pride thing to an extent, when it comes to cultural things, but I find it a bit arrogant to say "we're #1."

Maybe other countries wouldn't dislike the US so much if we actually took a look at ourselves and realized we have some opportunity for improvement?

What say you?

Well to be fair, he didn't say which universe.

 

[PureX]

I don't see those as incompatible.

Why put indoctrination in scare quotes? It's a simple idea and easily identified. I just wrote these words minutes ago on another thread:

"You fear government because you have been skillfully trained to do so by people who resent anything that impedes their bottom-line including taxes, government spending on ordinary people, and environmental protections. The evidence that you didn't come to these conclusions yourself is that you can't back up any of what you say or rebut posts like this one. All you bring are unsubstantiated corporatist memes."

That's indoctrination. In our prelinguistic phase, we learn how to move around and manipulate our environment by trial and error. Once we acquire language, which is passive and occurs by osmosis by just being conscious when language is spoken, we are now able acquire the ideas of others, but also passively, which is what indoctrination is. A parent says something, you can't evaluate it, you don't know to question it or that you should, and you imbibe it uncritically.

And it is possible to never go beyond that stage, to never learn that critical thinking exists or what it does for those who acquire that skill. That's the source of the Dunning-Kruger syndrome in most cases in my opinion. It's not hubris to think that your beliefs and opinions are as valid as anybody's if the only way you know to acquire them is passively. I saw that clearly here on RF during the pandemic when we were discussing vaccines and the data supporting taking them if eligible. Somebody would say that the data are clear on what is the case regarding the relative danger of the virus and the vaccine, and somebody would answer, "That's just your opinion" implying that other opinions were just as valid. That's a person who is unaware of what critical thinking is and does.

I don't think you're getting what I'm saying. These people are defenseless against indoctrination coming from a trusted source, and they trust by faith. There's a nice metaphor in marine biology. Plankton are the creatures like algae that float with currents. Nekton are the larger creatures that swim, walk, slither, etc., and in so doing, choose their direction and location. We all begin as plankton intellectually. Some become nekton. The plankton have their course imposed on them because they can't chart a direction and follow it, just like the obligate indoctrinee.

Religion's part in America's mindless consumerism is its anti-intellectual message praising faith as a virtue, which generates citizens susceptible to all manner of indoctrination outside of religion, like the vaccine stuff I just mentioned, and the anti-government posture of many indoctrinated conservatives carrying water for their corporate indoctrinators that I just illustrated. It's why Trump could so easily manipulate his uncritical devotees. It's why the petrochemical industry could generate a huge climate denial contingent. It's why people support removing reproductive and marital freedoms. There are too many plankton, and that's by design.

Agreed, but you know that there are too many that can't do that. That requires a certain depth of thought and an understanding of the tentative nature of knowledge - the kind of thing creationists decry when they object to scientific language like "appears to be" or "It is possible" - too wishy-washy for binary thinkers.

Anyone COULD do it. But once one has chosen not to, it becomes more difficult. And the difficulty causes them to keep choosing not to, making it more difficult, still. Very much like an addiction. And sadly, once a person goes down that road, they usually do not return from it.