I actually think foie is one of the highly rated foods that, for me, is not overrated. The seared foie gras on toast at Bouchon in Vegas might be my favorite dish. And Le Pigeon here in Portland has a foie gras cream puff that I could eat forever.

I very much enjoy oysters but can totally understand people not liking them.

The pacific mackerel that show up near shore here in the summertime are delish - clean them, dunk them in fresh grated ginger and soy sauce for about an hour and then throw them on the grill until the skin just starts to char

Ha. Fair enough. Here's what I eat the most:

- BBQ. Used to be all about the pulled pork, now I don't even touch it. Brisket and greens wherever I go, and if I feel like eating like a fat kid, mac n' cheese.

- Korean BBQ. Bibimbap. I eat it a LOT. Delicious and filling. Specifically from Kim Jong Grillin' food cart.

- On that note, lost of Asian food. There are a couple of thai "street food" places where I get take out.

- When I go out to eat at restaurants, it's usually places with prix fixe or "chef's choice" menus. I like doing that for variety, and to try new things. Lots of farm-to-table, whatever the hell that means. Locally sourced, fresh, seasonal ingredients.

- I eat a lot of steak....just because I love it. Used to be all about filet, now it's rib eye or new york. Simply prepared.

I need to eat more vegetables. Thinking of getting into Plated or Blue Apron; I've tried both, but not consistently. Any reviews?

One thing I thought of that you guys might consider kind of weird.

I love pretty much any and all seafood (oysters aren't food), especially any and all firm and semi-firm fish like mahi, wahoo, tuna, swordfish, cod, etc. The weird part is that I have a very strong preference for having my fish completely plain. It's not that I don't like coatings, sauces, or seasonings. They are fine. It's more that for whatever reason I just very much prefer the taste of the fish itself, and don't want to distract from that taste by adding unnecessary flavors. Also true for squid and octopus. I will buy packages of cleaned squid and toss them in the pan with absolutely nothing other than maybe a smidgeon of oil solely to prevent sticking, then eat them right out of the pan just like that. I'll buy packages of frozen snow/king crab legs, reheat via boiling or steaming, then just eat them exactly as is. Don't even use any butter!

I'll absolutely eat fish with coatings, seasonings, and sauces, but won't enjoy them as much. Only exception I can think of is light egg/flour coating on cod, or maybe a very light panko coating on any white fish. Sometimes a very, very light touch of pepper on mahi.

This is not how I feel about chicken, pork, beef, etc. I'm fine with and often prefer seasonings and sauces for them.

Liver is fantastic. I like drowning goose liver pate in hot sauce (Franks, tobasco, etc.) on dark rye.

I get very specific hankerings for the minerals in offal. It's a strong sensation, kind of like how I want something acidic/pickled with rich food. I've always assumed there's some sort of genetic predisposition for men to seek out strong/bitter/rotten foods (beyond our anosmia and worse tastebuds).

El D,

Quinoa has its healthy reputation mainly because it's fairly high in protein as grains go (it is not about to knock off traditional protein sources as a source of protein, however), and it's a complete protein. There are a few other exotic grains out there with a little more, but it is well ahead of rice. If you are an adequately nourished meat eater, there isn't much reason to go out of your way for quinoa unless you like it, but if you are an undernourished person in the developing world or a vegan, it can be a big win.

El D,

Re: the Bush's baked beans--the Onion is far better than any of the others, and add a couple of splashes of a spicy bbq sauce to improve it even further--I prefer McClard's, but I suppose anything you like would do.

I love oysters. My favorite (so far) are Blue Points, but they are hard to get--and expensive--here, so I usually have Gulf. They are bigger but not better. I prefer cocktail sauce with plenty of horseradish.

I don't think I've ever had a west coast oyster.

+1 on the CFA love, even though I eat fast food very rarely. If you look at revenue for fast food chains, it's absurd how much more the average CFA restaurant makes than basically everybody else in the market.
I know a couple people who eat more, but everyone of them is an athlete. I am around 3100/day (1850 resting, 1250 activity) which is probably significantly above average.

HP: seared foie, brioche, and some berry compote is certainly delicious. And your bbq, kbbq, Asian, farm-to-table list is right in line with my fave things to eat! Not surprising, as Portland and SF are pretty similar in terms of food cultures/availability.

Chop: I think it’s odd that you don’t season with a little salt. Plain grilled fish is great, but just a touch of salt really accentuates that flavor.

All: a couple of other things I really love. Grilled pork and vermicelli bowl with imperial rolls at Vietnamese places. Berries. Just a bowl full of plain berries. Yum. Green onions (big fan of onions in general, too) - they are such a great addition to so many dishes.

Not every meal, just dinner. If we're grilling on a Saturday evening it's a beer, though.

I moved to the east coast (New Jersey) when I was 26. First time I went out to dinner, at some chain restaurant I don't remember, I ordered a milk with my meal. The waitress didn't know what to do. She looked at me like I ordered blended chicken**** to drink.

Do you snort that?

Since I love all kinds of food, here is a list of foods I dislike:

raisins
dates
figs
cucumber
coconut
pineapple in large doses (al pastor for example is great)
cottage cheese
any "salad" consisting of half a jar of mayo

Favorite desserts, always with coffee or espresso:

Tiramisu
Cheescake
Key Lime pie
Creme brulee can gtfo, most overrated dessert.

Vietnamese grilled pork skewers confirmed GOAT-tier food. Really a huge fan of anything in that genre; satay, yakitori, etc.

When I graduated high school I was 73.5 inches tall and weighed 165 pounds, and both numbers are the same now......30 years later.

It was easy through my 20s, but then starting at 30 I had to up the exercise and watch what I eat a bit more. Then more adjustments at 35, 40, and 45. Nowadays I eat pretty light 4 days a week (cereal for breakfast, protein bar and crackers for lunch, pasta for dinner), a big dinner two days a week (usually pizza or maybe fast food), and whatever I want one day a week (big breakfast and dinner). Lots of fiber and water is the secret, plus minimal dessert and between meal snacking. If you're not processed food of any kind, make sure it has 2-3+ grams of fiber and your body will be grateful, both in terms of how you feel and what you weigh.

Quinoa's much better than rice in non-Asian dishes. Most people use too much water and make it too mushy. It's great as part of a salad, or with ratatouille-like concoctions involving whatever vegetables you have around with black beans or chickpeas, or any sort of hippie stew.

I love good fish. I recently found that I am a big fan of Red Snapper. +1 on not liking swordfish very much. Here is a salmon dish at a latin/carribean place near me that I really love:

SALMON
24

goat cheese polenta, asparagus, roasted pepper, lemon-caper beurre blanc

Greg: there’s a place here that does quinoa bowls and they’re plenty tasty. I’m happy to eat them, but it’s nothing I’d go searching out. That reminds me, though, I really like couscous.

All: dill pickles, don’t care for them much at all. Strangely, I like dill (like with salmon or maybe in a cream cheese spread or something) and I love pickled stuff (Asian sweet pickled veg among my favorite, bread and butter pickles, kimchi, pickled red onions, pickled jalapeño, it goes on and on!). I try some dill pickles every time I get some (which between sandwiches at Delis and burgers is quite often). I don’t find them super disgusting or anything, but I just prefer not having them.

Samuri: salmon at a restaurant is almost always cooked more than I prefer. Sous vide or poached (butter or white wine) salmon cooked at home is amazing and very easy.

With regards to cooking salmon at home, unless if its a super thick piece, my go to method now is pretty much a modified Ducasse steak method where one side stays in contact with the pan for 90% of the cook.

I bet this is in part due to your access to and experience with super fresh fish. I mean fresh like minutes to hours. The best fish I ever ate was a ling cod that came up in a prawn trap when I was fishing that we boiled and ate immediately.

No seasoning at all but it tasted incredible and really illustrated to me just how quickly the flavor of fish deteriorates once out of the water.

Yah maybe that mahi mahi in the middle of the pacific off the line and onto a pan in 10 minutes had something to do with it.

A large part of cooking seafood is buying seafood.

You could be Eric Ripert and still have problems if your fish monger is not so good.

Isn't that the opposite of the Ducasse steak method?

I used Ducasse to describe it because of the constant spooning of butter/oil over the top but its modified since I dont really flip like you would with Ducasse Steak.

One side will develop a crust and the other side will be only cooked through from the spooned over hot fat.

They’re scallions, El D. Scallions.

Wow, I'm pretty shocked people don't like swordfish. I LOVE blackened swordfish tacos.