Friday Fun: Virtual Food Tour – What’s Your All-Time Favorite Dish? 🤤

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

I'm a bit of a foodie 🍔, and one of my biggest motivations for traveling is to try the local cuisine.

Picking your favorite food is like choosing a favorite child, almost impossible (my mom had an exception, of course).

But if I had to pick one, it'd be this bustling and cute little sandwich shop in Florence, Italy, called All' Antico Vinaio. 🥪

Picture this:

The aroma of fresh bread 🥖 and cured meats wafting through the air greets you as you get in the rather long line (which is always a good sign).

Inside, shelves are flooded with colorful boxes of marinated vegetables, wheels of cheese 🧀, and plump cured meats glistening under the lights. The frenzied staff shout out ingredient suggestions with passion and build towering masterpieces of bread and fillings. 

Finally, it's your turn. You point to the impossibly fresh focaccia, filled with a symphony of flavors – maybe some creamy stracciatella cheese, a sprinkle of salty prosciutto, and a bright pop of artichoke hearts. You grab your paper-wrapped treasure, take a mandatory pic 📸 (of course), and step outside to find a sunny spot for a taste. ☀️

The first bite is pure heaven. The bread, crusty on the outside and soft inside, perfectly cradles the melt-in-your-mouth ingredients. Each flavor sings in harmony, a feast for your taste buds. 🤤 Beware—it's a BIGG sandwich, so you better come here with an appetite! 

Your turn now! Do you have a favorite dish or cuisine that you haven't been able to forget?

Would love to hear about it and get some more stuff into my "must-eat" list.  🌍🌮🍕🍔

Meanwhile, I'm definitely craving a sandwich now (and a trip to Florence), so brb! 🥪

[Susan Waldrip]

Oh wow, @Umer Sohail _K15t_ , you nailed it! I was in Italy last year and can attest to the aromas, amazing little shops with freshly cured meats, and wonderful variety of (often handmade) cheeses. Thanks for the memory!

Two of my favorite meals are my mom's pot roast with potatoes, celery, carrots, and gravy and a big juicy hamburger. Yummmmmm! 😊

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

Yess... Italy is always such a wonderful experience - the music, weather, food, people, everything is just *chef kiss*. 

And mom's cooking is ALWAYS the best, no arguments there! 

My mom cooks the most amazing Beef Pulao (it's a Pakistani/Indian rice dish), and I really miss it a lot!  

[John Funk]

Wow, that looks quite tasty!  My traveling food would be chicharrón de chancho on the streets of Bolivia. Basically it is fried pork skins/rinds. But quite yummy!

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

Ooo, that looks very yummy and exotic! Haven't had Bolivian food yet, but this definitely looks worth searching. 

[Jacqueline Westermayer]

Wow Umer!! 🤩🤩 You are great at painting a picture. I am hungry now!!! Thank you for sharing. 

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

Thankss for the compliment! 🙏

Full disclosure, this post was actually sponsored by your local food delivery company, so my plan worked 😈

[Łukasz Modzelewski _Lumo_]

It looks delicious! Now I want one too! ^^

On my list:

#1 Since my first visit in Thailand (in 2018) is Papaya Salad <3 in all forms (even with corn). In Poland it is hard to get, because of lack of green papaya, but in Thailand it's a street food full of flavour and extra spicy :D 

#2: Steak tartare - raw meat, simple yet depending on serving and sides can taste completely different.

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

Yumm... that looks other-wordly! I've had papaya salad here in Germany, but the one in your picture looks very fresh and a lot better! 🤩

Thanks for the steak tarate suggestion, will put it on my list! 🔖

[Barbara Szczesniak]

@Umer Sohail _K15t_ You've got my mind stuck on sandwiches, but I'm trying to think of something else. 😀

I also agree with @Susan Waldrip that everything tastes better when my mom makes it (even though I make it the same exact way). 

When I lived in The Netherlands, most Dutch restaurants served a tomato soup with little meatballs in it that I love, especially on a chilly day. 

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

I get what you mean! I think the secret behind mom's food is that you, yourself don't have to do much! 😅 

Ooo.. the only typical Dutch food I know of are pancakes, Kroketten, and "eierballe" (egg balls) 🥚 I will try the soup the next time I'm visiting! 

[Laurie Sciutti]

YUM!  I was just in Florence last month but unfortunately didn't visit All'Antico Vinaio (next time) but that looks DELIZIOSO, @Umer Sohail _K15t_!  I did, however, have the most delectable cacio e pepe and pesto gnocchi from La Cantina Ristorante Pizzeria in Greve.  Highly recommend a visit to this place if given the opportunity ~ their pizzas are amazing as well.  🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤

Happy Friday, everyone!

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

@Laurie Sciutti The food on the website had me saying "Ma Mammia" 👨‍🍳 ! I'm visiting the city again this October, so will definitely check it out! 🤗

[Dan Breyen]

I'm borrowing Alton Brown's picture, but Breakfast Carbonara is an amazing thing for breakfast.  Pasta, sausage, egg, cheese and some herbs.  

I've learned the most about cooking from Good Eats and his cookbooks.

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

Oooff.... never thought carbonara could be a breakfast meal, but come to think of it, why not! 🤷‍♂️ Sounds like it's full of protein and is also delicious! 

Do you usually cook it yourself? 

[Andy Gladstone]

There is a small restaurant in NYC that used to be in the Theater District and has since moved to the Upper West Side. It was originally named 'My Most Favorite Dessert Company', and has since been renamed 'My Most Favorite Food Company'. 

In the winter of 2020, just before Coronavirus took over the world my wife and I spent a few days in NYC. One of those days was in the single digits, and we spent the morning walking up Fifth Avenue and through the miles of paths in Central Park. At lunch time we were both famished and freezing. We walked into MMFFC and I ordered a Pumpkin Soup that I have not been able to get out of my gustatory and olfactory senses since. I can still smell the aroma and feel the consistency of the soup when I think about it. I may even be salivating as I type.

I have not had it since. I'm almost afraid to ruin the memory.  

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

@Andy Gladstone Oooff... the way you described it, I can sense how much you treasure that memory! 

I'm sometimes also scared to revisit or relive an amazing experience as I don't want to be disappointed, so I totally get what you mean. Thanks for sharing, it made me smile! 😊

[Vronik]

Hi

I love it, I've been there, it's a spectacular place, it doesn't matter what you order, what you eat, it's simply incredible, your photo is worth framing.
Thank you for reminding me of such a beautiful moment

Regards

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

You're welcome! It's so awesome to think that enjoying good food can be such a universal experience. 

Damn, I should've gotten a manicure 💅 before taking the picture if I knew people would want me to frame it at some point! 😅

[Huwen Arnone _Deiser_]

OmG, we share the same hobby. Traveling and discovering food.

This thread reminds me of the one @Jimmy Seddon started a few days ago about avocados. Yum!

As a former professional cook (I abandoned that career to work in martech), I'm not into focaccia unless it's properly done (Italian family, here). Still, if you nail it with the dough, the crust, and the consistency, it's the best, heavenly piece of bread ever made. I love to do "Scarpetta" (cleaning the sauce from the dish with a piece of bread) after eating pasta or meatballs.

Following another Italian cuisine classic, I must say my favorite dish is all things pasta, including even those sacrileges (for the Italians) made in the USA, mac and cheese. Also, I'm into the varieties made in Asia, from ramen to different types of noodles. I love all things pasta forever.

Thanks for sharing, @Umer Sohail _K15t_. This is such a cool topic!!

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

@Huwen Arnone _Deiser_ High five for having the same hobby! 🙌

Thanks for linking that awesome post by Jimmy - spent the last 20 mins going through the entire thing (don't tell my boss) 😅

It's so cool to hear that you were a professional cook, I bet you have some amazing stories and experiences to share!

And I didn't know there was a word for cleaning the sauce from the dish - I thought it was me just being too passionate about not wasting any food. 🤯

Calling mac and cheese a sacrilege is an understatement, I'd call them blatant blasphemy against pasta - and I'm not even Italian!  😂😂 

Thanks for adding the comment, it rounded up the discussion quite nicely! 

[Brant Schroeder]

I had papaitan a number of times.  It is a famous Ilocano dish that had I know what it was I might not have ate it.  It is really good actually but might not be for everyone.  

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

Just googled it and it looks super exotic! Thanks for sharing! 

[Dan Breyen]

Being a Midwesterner in the US, I must admit that Tator Tot Hotdish, although it is very simple and certainly commercially influenced, 

[Umer Sohail _K15t_]

@Dan Breyen This looks delish... Is it a street food? And do you eat it with some sort of dip? 

[Dan Breyen]

@Umer Sohail _K15t_ you could probably use it as a dip, but it usually a main course.  Now officially, the recipe should be called 'Tator Tot Hotdish', but we'll blame those Food Network people for the mislabeling.

Tator Tot Hotdish