Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog
Follow the Culinary Ruminations of New Mexico's Sesquipedalian Sybarite. 1,302 Restaurant Reviews, More Than 13,100 Visitor Comments…And Counting!
JP, my former boss at Intel used to pride himself on consistently working “half days.” If you’re thinking you’d like a job where you work only four hours a day, you’ve misinterpreted his definition of “half days.” To him, half days is a literal term meaning twelve hours a day. When most of us are…
When the temperature dips and the Land of Enchantment’s ubiquitous winds howl with a vengeance, savvy diners revel in the knowledge that they can luxuriate in the familiar warmth of a steaming, swimming pool-sized bowl of aromatically alluring pho. Few things in life are as comfortable as snuggling up with a simple and no frills…
If you’re susceptible to the power of suggestion–especially as it pertains to ear worms (recurring tunes that involuntarily pop up and stick in your mind)–you’re probably going to hate me (or you can skip this paragraph and continue to love me). That’s because if you do read this paragraph you’re going to be humming to…
“I have become obsessed with cooking meat over fire. I get prepared for it. I make sure I’m hungry before I cook it. The smell of the smoke and the aroma of the crackling meat ignites some ancient genetic memories. It makes cooking and eating significantly better.” ~Joe Rogan, Podcast Host Those of us with…
Several years ago Mike Muller, my friend and former colleague at Intel was sent to Chengdu, the capital of the providence of Szechuan in Southwest China. It was an assignment I would have loved. Unfortunately I could barely spell the name of the enterprise asset management application Mike would be training our Chinese counterparts how…
By definition, many, if not most noodles are fun. No, not fun as in luxuriating in a tub filled with ramen (albeit non-edible, synthetic noodles) with real tonkatsu (pork bone) broth. Yeah, that really is a thing in Japan. Nor does my contention that noodles are fun have anything to do with the Simpsons episode…
Popular culture is defined as “commonly known information that briefly holds the public interest. It is typically discussed in various mass media, including TV and the Internet, and becomes a topic of everyday conversation (what used to be called a “water cooler conversation” before that term fell from popularity). Apparently you’re out of touch with…
By chronological standards, Thai cuisine–especially as we know it today–is relatively new to the world culinary stage. Culinary historians believe Thai cuisine may be as young as 1,400 years, coinciding with a mass migration of people from regions of China. These settlers dined mostly on seafood, herbs and plants prepared mostly by stewing, baking and…
“I’ll give you three guesses to tell me what tabula rasa means,” I challenged my friend and Wordle phenom Carlos. “That’s easy,” my erudite amigo proclaimed, “Tabula Rasa was a silent screen actress in the 1920s.” “Close,” I replied, “but you’re thinking about Tallulah Bankhead.” “I was just kidding,” he demurred, “Everyone knows tabula rasa…
According to some stereotypes, when you eat Chinese food, you’ll be hungry an hour later. That stereotype is known as the “Chinese food paradox.” One of the culprits behind that stereotype is rice, a very starchy food which metabolizes quickly. Others blame monosodium glutamate (MSG) when hunger creeps in shortly after finishing a meal.…
Hawaiian pizza, black licorice, blue cheese, anchovies, candy corn, cilantro…these are among the pantheon of foods Readers Digest says everyone either loves or hates. And by “everyone,” Readers Digest includes such culinary glitterati as Julia Child who expressed her loathing for for cilantro in a 2002 interview with Larry King. The towering chef proclaimed…
