You can get cuban cigars here, so you can also get kobe beef not sure what area it originated from but it was one of the best ever... in any case, most beef experts believe that US has always had the corner of the market on beef/cattle, no need to go outside of the country for beef of the very best quality, now, more than ever... and i have had kobe filet mignon (came frozen) but if you get a good, fresh, filet mignon, its even better.. freshness is always the key...

*Real* Kobe beef comes from Kobe, Japan. Unless you wanna pay $300 for an imported steak, you're getting the same Wagyu beef (maybe ;)), raised in the States instead -- and, probably raised much differently. That $16 burger was NOT Kobe... it was maybe Kobe-Style... (which I'm sure is still damn good, but still...!)

It's like *real* champagne only coming from France, as opposed to imitation sparkling wine...

Man, did you blow that answer!

Thai
Mexican
Indian
Mediterranean
Italian

And you're complaining?

1. Chinese
2. Korean
3. Italian
4. Mexican
5. American

Champagne only being "real" if it comes from the Champange region of France is a french law, we are in USA and anything in the process of being made for over 100 years that name becomes generic (like the "brand name" asprin)... Even French chefs admit (this is BiG and KEY) they ADMIT that many things in the USA are as good as or better than what they are in france... thank you California (that state is good for something)... as for the kobe beef argument... i dont care what it was, it was great, i loved it, it was a great experience and quite honestly, char broil any chopped meat and add cheese and bacon and serve it to me 100 flights up with a martini and i doubt ANYONE would know the difference, so let me enjoy that, would you pull-ease??? jeez!!

Enjoy it all you want... just don't call it what it isn't

Italian
Mexican
Chinese
Spanish
More Italian

(1st reserve: Thai)

It is what it is... I didn't make the menu, i didn't give it the name, but i will be sure to specify it as "JAPANESE Kobe" next time, just like i will refer to you as "VIRTUAL webmaster/moderator" :-P

If it was only $16, it WASN'T Japanese Kobe

I forgot about Greek
I love Greek food!

Yes, it WAS KOBE! (ok your turn to say no, its not! LOL)... if it was Jersey Kobe, it as still good lol. No wonder you have 20,000 posts.

As for Greek food, love the stuffed grape leaves... and feta, calamata olives, etc, not sure about the other stuff...

Well, here are my choices as of today:

1. Chinese and Italian. This is a tie - a virtual dead-heat because I like them both equally, in no particular order.

2. American - I have to subdivide this into (a) American Diner (yes, I consider the true, real American Diner to be worthy of a cuisine classification all its own, (b) American Regional (self explanatory) and (c) American Historical (one day I may post my recipe for Martha Washington's Chicken Fricassee).

3. Mexican - when it's prepared properly, there's nothing like it.

I have lots of other favorites - Middle Eastern, UK, Greek, Indian - but overall, the ones listed above are my personal favorites.

This week.

Signor V.

Look up "Kobe", biotch. It's ONLY from Japan. And certainly not less than a few hundred dollars here, not $16. At best, maybe it was Wagyu beef.

DV, it's a Top 5 list

As the lawyer said to the Japanese waiter:

SoSueMe.

Depending on how you tally up my choices, I come up with too many or too little. Such is life.

Either way you "slice" it, I always go "against the grain".

Sorta like Kobe Beef!

Vitelli-san

Geoff, there's always one in every crowd. Ours is Vitelli, but you gotta love him no matter what.

Getting away from Japanese Kobe Beef my favorite champagne is actually from Italy, and its called Prosecco... and my favorite AMERICAN champagne is Korbel... lol.

Getting back on track... I LOVED (past tense) LOVED indian food, i would go out for it on occassion, but i kind of burned out on it this past summer, I was shooting an indian wedding for 5 days straight... guess what i ate for 5 days straight? I never smelled garlic from my skin, but even after a week my skin still smelled of curry... i was eating garlic to flush the curry out of my system - as much as i love indian, 5 days of anything in a row is a lot to handle (or digest)...

As for american diner food, would that be burgers? salad? you know most are greek? so are we talking rubens, burgers, fries, salads or pancakes? Ever had genuine kobe beef in a diner? I think Geoff has, ask him about it lol.

I heard that you can get a great Kobe burger for $16, if you know where to go!

JR, friends of ours who are from England brought over a lovely French bubbly. It was very good and ridiculously cheap. They used to drink it all the time in France, but hadn't had it for years. Lo and behold, they found it in our local liquor store. Darned if I can remember the name of it, though!! I'll try to find out. It's not sweet, but I wouldn't term it a Brut either. Just nice and light, perfect for a summer evening.

1. Italian
2. Puerto Rican
3. Japanese (sushi)
4. Indian
5. Soul Food

JR, I emailed my friend. The French sparkling wine is Veuve du Vernay. When I say it's cheap, I'm not kidding (I've gotten it for as little as $6), but it also happens to be a very nice sparkling wine. Give it a try some time.

I think i may have heard of it but will check it out next time I am at my local liquor store (which is more like a warehouse) so i will definitely look for it, i need to stock up, i m down low on some key liquors... when my busy season dies down, who is up for a cocktail party at my place in caldwell?

Supply & Demand at work, people!

ME!! ME!!!

Depends. Will you be serving REAL Kobe Beef or the fake $16 version?

Most of these five are the English-catered versions that you'd find in takeaways and restaurants over here; I'm not sure if I'd fall for them in their own country, since I've been told they're all quite different in their native, respective regions (though my #4 is on there solely because of the massive banquet my French flatmate once prepared for the European freshers at university, which I'd say is one of the nicest things I've ever tasted).

1. Italian
2. Indian
3. Chinese
4. French
5. Turkish

Capo, what actually is Turkish food? What kind of dishes does it consist of?

I mean I know that they use the same meats, poultry and fishes that most other cultures use, but do they prepare them differently? In different kinds of sauces or something?

Turkish cuisine can often overlap with other countries round the Balkan region (because of the Ottoman Empire); when I went to Greece I certainly saw a lot of that. Again, with the others on my list, for the most part my experience has been in restaurants or takeaways catered to the English taste (because of the holiday resort I go to is catered to English tourists, etc.), though I have tasted proper stuff, and it's amazing.

Their kebabs (sis and doner) are obviously notable because of their fame, but the Turks are also known for their pilav (rice dishes) and borek (pastry dishes). A lot of their dishes are served with separate plates of vegetables; not sure how they're prepared, but aubagines figure a lot (and they're gorgeous), as do tomatoes, onions and peppers - and rice, too. The most recurrent meat dish I've come across is lamb, and it's usually so fine that it's falling off the bone.

Actually, my two culinary highlights in Turkey have been very different from one another; one was ordered in a restaurant at a reasonable time of the evening, the other was an impromptu, home-made dish served at about five o'clock in the morning and shared generously with my sister and I by someone who hardly spoke any English - telling of how food really is a universal bridge between cultures. In fact, I think the two best ways of delving into a culture is via its food and its arts (literature and painting, because those two are often the oldest).

Anyway, back to these two dishes: the first was called "Ottoman Dish for Two" or something. My dad and I ate it: it was served on a wooden stake, symmetrical, with two sides, with various meats, peppers, chillis and rice; Turkish bread (divine) and, to share between us, sitting above a little flame, was a casserole of some sort. I was ignorant of specifics at the time, and I still don't know exact ingredients or preparations, but my memory has not subdued the taste one bit.

The second, served that morning in half-darkness as dawn was just breaking and you could hear the crickets chirping their relentless chirp, was in fact a Kurdish dish, so shouldn't really count (though I imagine what goes as "Turkish" in most tourist places actually borrows from the remnants of its own empire). It was served in a large, flattish pan. It was a mixture of bread and egg cooked together, with peppers and tomatoes in. It was astonishing. My sister and I were like polite vultures; you've got to eat these things with your hands, or else it's no good. You've got to tear at it like a barbarian, pulling bits off and folding them up (because the texture crumbles, because it can get messy). I remember the guy just smiling and saying, "Good, good", chuckling with pleasure at my own pleasure, a result of his culinary skill and social generosity.

On top of that, one of the most refreshing drinks you can ever have is Turkish tea. And one of the nicest desserts I've ever had is baklava - divine in itself, but eat with two lumps of gleaming white ice cream and you'll just about ejaculate.

I also have a taste for Efes, the local beer.

I like baklava, but I somehow cannot imagine with ice cream!