You'll be hearing from the staff at FOOD52 every week in Too Many Cooks, our group column in which we pool our answers to questions about food, cooking, life, and more.
People are sick around here. The sub-freezing temperatures are not being kind in these parts, no matter how much soup we make to try and ward them off. In short: we need a little entertainment. (A cookie would probably do us some good, too, but we have other columns for that.)
Today, we're talking date food. Worst food on a first date, weirdest food on a sixth date -- any and all are accepted. If there's food and a date and a good story involved, we want to hear it.
If you're a good friend, you'll share yours in the comments. We'll go first:
Marian: One time I went on a very awkward church date that ended with the worst omelette ever (the smell and texture of a bad omelette can kill) at a sports bar crowded with loud, drunken football fans -- circa 12 noon.
Amanda: It was at Gotham Bar & Grill. My date had an allergic reaction to his first course, and the date ended in the emergency room.
Lauren: A guy I had just started dating cooked me dinner for my birthday. Tuna steaks, as I was just back from living in Japan, and artichokes, because they are one of my favorite foods. The only problem was that he didn't know how to prepare the artichokes. He ended up cutting off every leaf and the heart, and serving me a boiled stem. I ate the whole thing, never mentioned it, and continued to date him. It's the thought that counts!
Kenzi: My worst dinner date was popcorn. Here's how it went: our date was supposed to be dinner and a movie, and we went to the movie first. Date bought a huge amount of popcorn, which he polished off (mostly) himself. After the movie, Date turned to me and said, "I'm not really that hungry for dinner anymore, are you?"
Lindsay-Jean: Being a vegetarian in Japan resulted in numerous fun food adventures on dates. One example is when I'd ask for vegetarian sushi rolls. This is the response I'd get: "The chef says he'll do it, but it won't be delicious. Are you sure that's what you want?"
Karl: This question triggers a related thought exercise, "What would be the best meal to serve a date on a hidden camera TV show to get the best reaction and test her patience?" I was imagining serving a plate with two cold hot dogs fresh out of the package and a big squirt of ketchup. When asked about why the hot dogs are cold, I'd say, "Oh it's safe. They're pre-cooked."
Want to avoid bad date food? Put these on the menu:
Written by: Kenzi Wilbur
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So he serves dinner and he's all pleased with plating it up nice. He'd been to Citarellas and gotten himself a pre-made nice salmon fillet with two or three sides, all the fixins. And for me, he serves me a ginormous plate of roasted vegetables. Yes, that's it. Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, maybe some beets, I don't remember. On top of this, he doesn't really like salt and had none at his house (I'm a salt feind). So the vegetables weren't even seasoned. I could barely eat them and glared bitterly as he enjoyed his salmon. He apologetically took me out to dessert afterwards and I make fun of him to this day. I'm pretty sure that was our last attempt at a date.
And he tried oh how he tried. Sadly he asked his mother for recipes.
We had Pork Chops that would have been cooked in Campbells Tomato Soup + Dried basil, rosemary & thyme + an half an onion and cooked for an 2 hours ...as luck would have it he bought Tomato Paste instead...so as awful as it could have been it was less so, but those poor pork chops were just decimated and on the side we had canned potatoes (!) and very well done string beans. At first I was surprised at how much care he'd taken for pare the potatoes into perfect spheres but then I tasted one..oh my were they terrible (he was probably advised to boil these for a half an a hour)
And it was pretty awful, not the worst ever (though that would come as I got to discover a family penchant for food cooked with condensed soups)...and I applauded his gift of cooking for me, because though it was not to my taste he wanted to feed me, just as I had fed him, also there were fresh cannoli for dessert and who can say no to a man who will feed you fresh cannoli (esp one who buys 3 for the two of you to share)and know he still isnt the greatest cook, but he's become a much better eater, likes is meat properly cooked (not to death)and appreciates flavors more subtle than those produced by Campbells.
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