Important Food Poll

[Mr. Smith]

Does "burger and fries" mean that I'm giving up both burgers and fries, or just the combination of them?

Anyway, probably fried chicken.

Ooooh good catch. Probably means the first.

[politicallefty]

It's a really a process of elimination considering I enjoy all of them. I could vote for tacos, but I think that's sort of cheating. The reason I say that is because you have other very similar Mexican foods that are in fact actually better than tacos (such as quesadillas). I took giving up tacos to really mean giving up other Mexican dishes where a tortilla holds various ingredients (which would include quesadillas).

If tacos is interpreted in an expansive definition, that would definitely be the hardest to give up. After that, it'd be pizza. I enjoy a good burger, but I can take or leave fries unless they're really good (like seasoned curly fries).

That leaves fried chicken. I do like fried chicken (though only really the breasts and wings; I don't like thighs), but I've never had particularly amazing fried chicken. I get cravings for Mexican a lot and great pizza and great burgers are really amazing. I don't feel anything particularly special when it comes to fried chicken, so that's how I voted.

[Badger]

If I had to pick one, probably fried chicken, though I do enjoy it. Definitely couldn't do without pizza, though.

[Torie]

I find the fried chicken hatred here surprising. As a kid, that was my favorite food. I remember as a 6 year old kid, eating fried chicken in bed once, and put the bones under my bed. My mother was not pleased when she found them.

[angus]

I'll go with burgers.  

I really like pizza and we probably eat pizza a couple of times per month.  I've tried to make them at home a few times over the years, but I can't seem to master the dough so we eat out or carry it home.  I like mushroom and italian sausage but my son likes buffalo chicken pizza, so we usually end up geting two and have the remainder for the next morning's meal.  Breakfast of champions!  

I really like tacos and eat those nearly once every week.  Among the foods listed it's the only one I make regularly at home.  Yesterday for lunch I had tuna and haddock tacos.  I sautéed onion, garlic, jalapeños, serranos, poblanos, and a little finely-diced chorizo in butter, then added a can of tuna and some leftover haddock from the night before and put that on soft corn tortillas with grated gouda cheese.  Usually I do pork or chicken tacos, and usually I use soft flour tortillas and have homemade pico de gallo, but I wanted to use the fish.  I just diced some fresh cilantro and threw in the pan during the last 60 seconds of cooking rather than making the pico.  Mostly because we're out of lime at the moment.  My son usually opts for the hard corn shell, so I put the stuff inside his shell and then top it with grated mozarella (he always wants mozarella), and put it in the toaster oven for a couple of minutes at about 350 to soften the cheese and harden the corn tortilla shell.  That can be a tricky business.  You only have a few seconds between just crispy enough and totally blackening the top edges.  He likes Old El Paso taco sauce.  I prefer Cholula or Melinda's.

That leaves fried chicken and burgers.  I don't eat either very often, but both can be delicious.  Fried chicken is best when smothered in sauce, and about the only time I eat it in the United States is when it's on a buffet and I can put a big breast on my plate and smother it with either marinara sauce or chipotle sauce, never both.  (Whereas I always use thighmeat for chicken tacos, I prefer breast and wingmeat for deep-fried chicken.)  When we're in China or Mexico I eat fried chicken more often.  They don't do marinara, but they have other really good sauces for smothering the chicken.  We usually spend about a month in China once every few years, and of course I eat more roasted duck there than fried chicken, but Chinese fried chicken is delicious.  And I always spend at least a couple of weeks in Mexico every year and I tend to eat fried chicken there as well.  When we were at a resort in Mexico this past summer, the buffet had a fried chicken on a bed of green chili and corn waffles and smothered with ancho bacon and salsas picantes, choice of roja or verde.  It really hit the spot.

Burgers are rare.  We never eat them at home and I rarely order one at a restaurant, but I actually had a burger fairly recently--about a week ago.  It was smothered in grilled mushroom, onion, and swiss cheese, served on a toasted kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, and pickle, and washed down with a couple of pints of the house IPA.  Of course I ordered a tub of mayonnaise for my fries, but the waitress brought out four condiment packages.  I guess it was all they had.  The burger wasn't bad, but I probably won't have another one for a long time.

It should be noted that I only voted for Burger, not for fries.  While Burger is my least-frequently eaten entrée among the four listed, I do eat french-fried potatoes regularly.  My son likes malt vinegar (or barbeque sauce if the vinegar is unavailable) on his fries; I prefer copious amounts of mayonnaise with mine.  I can use hot sauce or vinegar in a pinch, but I prefer mayonnaise.  If they're really fresh and still finger-burning hot, I don't even need a liquid condiment.  Just lots of salt and black pepper.  (I just polled the boy and he agrees:  Among the four choices, burgers are his least favorite, but he agrees that fries and burgers are necessarily different and should not be listed as a single item.  He also eats fries regularly.)  

[dead0man]

Pizza, it's overrated.

Presumably you say that because you've never had real pizza.

and if you ask two different people what "real" pizza is you'll get three different answers.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Pizza, it's overrated.

Presumably you say that because you've never had real pizza.

and if you ask two different people what "real" pizza is you'll get three different answers.

Doesn't mean one of them isn't correct.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Love all of them, voted for fried chicken.

[DC Al Fine]

I'd give up burger and fries easily.

I find the fried chicken hatred here surprising.

Indeed. Chicken skin should have been Aquinas' sixth proof of a loving God.

[RINO Tom]

Tacos or fried chicken, can't decide.

[Vosem]

I live in Ohio. However terrific authentic Mexican tacos may be, that's really not what I have access to. It's gotta be the tacos.

[politicallefty]

I live in Ohio. However terrific authentic Mexican tacos may be, that's really not what I have access to. It's gotta be the tacos.

I've been to some of the whitest places in the country and I've never found it difficult to find a great Mexican restaurant where servers can barely even speak English. Any place with a population above 20,000 seems to have at least two Mexican restaurants no matter what or do you live in a particularly obscure location?

[Vosem]

I live in Ohio. However terrific authentic Mexican tacos may be, that's really not what I have access to. It's gotta be the tacos.

I've been to some of the whitest places in the country and I've never found it difficult to find a great Mexican restaurant where servers can barely even speak English. Any place with a population above 20,000 seems to have at least two Mexican restaurants no matter what or do you live in a particularly obscure location?

No, I live in the city of Columbus. It could just be that I haven't put the effort into finding a good location, because I eat Mexican food very infrequently and I don't think I've ever enjoyed any Mexican place I've ever been at; I usually assume when I try some ethnic cuisine in the US and don't like it that it would be better if I actually traveled to that country, hence the "I live in Ohio" comment.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Fried chicken is the most one dimensional and least versatile of the foods listed.  You could easily substitute a fried pork chop and be reasonably satisfied.

[politicallefty]

No, I live in the city of Columbus. It could just be that I haven't put the effort into finding a good location, because I eat Mexican food very infrequently and I don't think I've ever enjoyed any Mexican place I've ever been at; I usually assume when I try some ethnic cuisine in the US and don't like it that it would be better if I actually traveled to that country, hence the "I live in Ohio" comment.

That's not a valid excuse. There is great Mexican food everywhere in this country. We may not yet have a taco truck on every corner, but Mexican restaurants are everywhere, including very white America. If you live in a growing city like Columbus, you just aren't trying that hard. Ohio may not have a huge Hispanic population (although it is bigger than some other very white states), but there are more than enough great Mexican restaurants. Seriously, try to find a good Mexican restaurant nearby. I'm sure you can find one and I'm certain you'll enjoy it and want to go back (especially if you get something with chorizo). If you're lucky, the servers can barely speak English and you'll only hear Spanish out of those cooking.

[Kingpoleon]

Fried chicken, then most hamburgers and French fries. Most pizza isn't very good, and most tacos have far too much on them.

[President Johnson]

Fried chicken. Then Burger (but self-made, not McDonald's).

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Tacos, easily

[muon2]

Lunch for me was tacos arabes at the place around the corner that was written up this summer in Bon Appetit. Marinated pork, herbs, salsa, lime. Now we're talking real tacos.

[Vosem]

No, I live in the city of Columbus. It could just be that I haven't put the effort into finding a good location, because I eat Mexican food very infrequently and I don't think I've ever enjoyed any Mexican place I've ever been at; I usually assume when I try some ethnic cuisine in the US and don't like it that it would be better if I actually traveled to that country, hence the "I live in Ohio" comment.

That's not a valid excuse. There is great Mexican food everywhere in this country. We may not yet have a taco truck on every corner, but Mexican restaurants are everywhere, including very white America. If you live in a growing city like Columbus, you just aren't trying that hard. Ohio may not have a huge Hispanic population (although it is bigger than some other very white states), but there are more than enough great Mexican restaurants. Seriously, try to find a good Mexican restaurant nearby. I'm sure you can find one and I'm certain you'll enjoy it and want to go back (especially if you get something with chorizo). If you're lucky, the servers can barely speak English and you'll only hear Spanish out of those cooking.

First of all, bruh, I speak fluent Spanish. I just don't like Mexican food, but I'm refusing to categorically rule it out until I try it in actual Mexico one day. That's all there is to it. I'm sorry if phrasing it as "I live in Ohio" was confusing.

[Phony Moderate]

Never had tacos. Burger and fries is almost always good regardless of where from. Pizza tends to be better from smaller chains or independent outlets in my experience. That leaves fried chicken, which while good never fills me up much. So that gets my vote.

[Hatman 🍁]

Tacos, since I haven't had them all that much in my life anyways. Ottawa is not known for its hispanic influence. Replace "taco" with "shawarma", and this question becomes harder.

[Badger]

I live in Ohio. However terrific authentic Mexican tacos may be, that's really not what I have access to. It's gotta be the tacos.

I've been to some of the whitest places in the country and I've never found it difficult to find a great Mexican restaurant where servers can barely even speak English. Any place with a population above 20,000 seems to have at least two Mexican restaurants no matter what or do you live in a particularly obscure location?

No, I live in the city of Columbus. It could just be that I haven't put the effort into finding a good location, because I eat Mexican food very infrequently and I don't think I've ever enjoyed any Mexican place I've ever been at; I usually assume when I try some ethnic cuisine in the US and don't like it that it would be better if I actually traveled to that country, hence the "I live in Ohio" comment.

Oh, Vosem. You sheltered sheltered boy.

There is tremendous Mexican food throughout Columbus. If you're interested in at least two I know of on Bethel near my office, shoot me a PM.

[angus]

Lunch for me was tacos arabes at the place around the corner that was written up this summer in Bon Appetit. Marinated pork, herbs, salsa, lime. Now we're talking real tacos.

looks tasty, but I'm having a little problem with the interpretation:  arabes = pork?!  I've been to egypt and I'm pretty good at learning languages quickly, and I swear I never learned how to asked for a pulled pork sandwich in arabic.  I've also been to at least 12 spanish-speaking countries, and I studied Spanish for four years in high school and several semesters in college, and I worked as a Spanish-English interpreter in an ESL program, and I'm quite sure I know what "arabes" means.  On top of all that, I'm a huge fan of tacos and have eaten all manner of them, including some made from rodents that gringos don't normally eat, and I have only one question:

Seriously, how does "arabes" come to mean pork, of all things? 

[muon2]

Lunch for me was tacos arabes at the place around the corner that was written up this summer in Bon Appetit. Marinated pork, herbs, salsa, lime. Now we're talking real tacos.

looks tasty, but I'm having a little problem with the interpretation:  arabes = pork?!  I've been to egypt and I'm pretty good at learning languages quickly, and I swear I never learned how to asked for a pulled pork sandwich in arabic.  I've also been to at least 12 spanish-speaking countries, and I studied Spanish for four years in high school and several semesters in college, and I worked as a Spanish-English interpreter in an ESL program, and I'm quite sure I know what "arabes" means.  On top of all that, I'm a huge fan of tacos and have eaten all manner of them, including some made from rodents that gringos don't normally eat, and I have only one question:

Seriously, how does "arabes" come to mean pork, of all things? 

Many dishes are named for a place or group of people. Spaghetti carbonara is spaghetti in the style of the charcoal makers, but you wouldn't have a clue that it is a bacon and egg topping from the name. Tacos arabes are tacos in the style of the Arabs. In some places that means they cook the meat on a spit like gyros. It can also be pork marinated with olive oil, parsley and other seasonings.