Do certain foods or drinks bring back memories for you?

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I'm glad you asked! Why yes, Rob: some foods and drinks do indeed remind me of where I first was when I had them.

Haggis would qualify if I could find any within 3500 miles. There are probably places within driving distance, but to be honest, I haven't tried that hard to find any. There's no forgetting the glorious sausage-like feel when I ate it or what the pub looked like where I ate it. There's also no forgetting the stomach pains the next day (which were worth it, I think).

There is forgetting the name of the place, which is explained in a drink that takes me back: Scotch Ale. If you've had a few, you undoubtedly won't remember part of your evening: weak ones have 9% alcohol, double a normal beer. But, they aren't just these brutish alcohol bombs: they're aged into a smoothness that will remind you of the strongest tea you've ever had.

I'm now halfway through a Founders Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale, which is made in Detroit. It's very good...so good that it takes me back to 1995 on Rose Street in Edinburgh with my fiancee (and later wife). Every sip does that. Every Scotch Ale I've had since then has had that effect, too. No other drink does that for me.

And no, I can't remember the name of all the pubs we visited on Rose Street. Okay, I can't remember the name of any of the pubs (or how many of them there were). I just know that it was one of the best times of my life. And, tipping a pint or three can take me back to that feeling.

Thank you, Scotland.

 

[buckytom]

I'm sorry, which one of you should we address?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Berliner Weisse is one that brings back memories... well some memories of hot summers at school in Germany...

My Grannie's custard always brings back very fond memories. I was always allowed from a very early age (and at points in my life I lived with my grandparents for 6 months or more at a time) to scrap out the saucepan once the custard was cooked. It was always poured in to the pyrex measuring jug and there it would wait until the end of our meal. By that time a thick skin had set on it, which everyone else would fight over as to who would get it that week. Personally I hated the skin, but I always had the treat of scraping out the custard saucepan.

A certain bottle of Isle of Jura brings back more of a haze rather than memories. I didn't quite drink the entire thing myself, I did have help, just. I know it is the only time alcohol has made me ill. Such to the point where I couldn't go to work (in a pub ) for the next two days. When I finally got in 4 days later, I proved to everyone that I was still not with it... somehow it did the world of good once the rumours got around. I was missing things off orders and generally not really with it. My boss just laughed and let it go. Finally everyone knew I was actually human... (honest). I've not come close to repeating that session.

 

[Francesca]

@The Late Night Gourmet

Fascinating thread .. Yes, memories about a restaurant, event or a gathering at home surely bring some memories connected to the world of Eno-Gastro adventures ..


I am an enthusiast of wines and do not care much for beer, however, once in a great while, depending what we are eating, I have a penchant for Black or Dark Beers, however, not Stout ..

This wine was the Bordeaux we shared at a very special restaurant for our birthdays in The Madrid Capital ..

Have a lovely weekend.

 

[Duck59]

Re Rose Street in Edinburgh: a personal choice of the best pubs along there would be The Abbotsford, The Kenilworth, Milne's Bar and the Rose Street Brewery. Other pubs are available.

Of course, once you're down at The Abbotsford, it is a mere doddle to get to the Guildford Arms in West Register Street. Then you've got the Cafe Royal just round the corner from there.

 

[Morning Glory]

Scotch Ale. If you've had a few, you undoubtedly won't remember part of your evening: weak ones have 9% alcohol, double a normal beer. But, they aren't just these brutish alcohol bombs: they're aged into a smoothness that will remind you of the strongest tea you've ever had.

I'm not sure I have ever had Scotch Ale - but of course, your description, @The Late Night Gourmet, has now got me wanting to!

@Duck59 - you are something of a beer expert and you live in Scotland. What do you make of Scotch Ale? Can you recommend a particular brew?

 

[Elawin]

Himbeergeist, Pumpernickel, Leberkäse, and Spätzle remind me of where I lived in Germany.
Fresh figs, watermelon, and really large, fresh tomatoes, and ouzo remind me of where I was in Greece.
Lovely cream- and alcohol-filled cakes, fruit dumplings, black coffee, and sour milk (the scrapings of the milk churns in my case) remind me of my friends' village in Austria.
Yorkshire pudding with evaporated milk; boiled rice with a spoonful of syrup; apple, cheese and chips; and cream stout, or Guinness, or advocaat remind me of home, when I was a little girl.

 

[Morning Glory]

Yorkshire pudding with evaporated milk

I never had Yorkshire Pudding with evaporated milk - but when you mentioned evaporated milk it brought back childhood memories of tinned fruit (my favourite was pears) served with 'evap'. Its not a bad product really. I suppose it was the poor persons' alternative to cream. I never buy it now but perhaps I should. I'm sure its taste could be exploited in recipes. Do our friends across the pond have evaporated milk? It comes in tins.

 

[Cinisajoy]

I never had Yorkshire Pudding with evaporated milk - but when you mentioned evaporated milk it brought back childhood memories of tinned fruit (my favourite was pears) served with 'evap'. Its not a bad product really. I suppose it was the poor persons' alternative to cream. I never buy it now but perhaps I should. I'm sure is taste could be exploited in recipes. Do our friends across the pond have evaporated milk? It comes in tins.

Oh yes.

 

[Lynne Guinne]

Desserts baking reminds me of the great aunt who lived with us. She did all of the baking for the family; making well over 1,000 cookies every year to give away as Christmas gifts to friends and family.

A pot of beef simmering on the stove top. My Mom made the best beef stew that I could never duplicate. However, she would tell me that my pot roast was better than hers. I don't know if it was really true, but telling that made me very happy.

The smell of turkey roasting reminds me of spending Thanksgiving with my in-laws in Florida, which we did nearly every year until we had kids. Hubby was sweet enough to let me spend Christmas with my folks, although we did head to his parents' home for Christmas twice between getting married until his Mom died. By then his sister and her family had moved to Florida, so they spent every Christmas with Dad after that.

...Do our friends across the pond have evaporated milk? It comes in tins.

Both evaporated and condensed. Evaporated is regular milk with roughly 60% of the water removed, while condensed is often labeled as "sweetened" and is heavily sugared as well as having water content reduced. It can also be used for a quick version of homemade Dulce de Leche.

 

[Duck59]

I'm not sure I have ever had Scotch Ale - but of course, your description, @The Late Night Gourmet, has now got me wanting to!

@Duck59 - you are something of a beer expert and you live in Scotland. What do you make of Scotch Ale? Can you recommend a particular brew?

I'm not very keen on Scotch Ale. Being a traditional Scottish drink, it is generally heavy on the malt and light on the hops (obviously Scotland is not the epicentre of hop growing). This means that it is usually rather sweet. Sweet and malty doesn't do it for me. I prefer bitter and hoppy.

You might, though, want to try Skullsplitter, a rumbustious brew from Orkney Brewery. At 8.5%, you probably don't want many. There are also a couple brewed by Traquair House: Traquair House Ale (7.2%) and Jacobite (8%). The excellent Black Isle Brewery does a slightly lighter Scotch Ale (6.2%).

The US brewery Founders brews the jauntily-named Dirty Bastard, as featured above. It is 8.5%. I've seen it in a few off licences in the UK and aficionados of the style proclaim it to be rather good.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

Both evaporated and condensed. Evaporated is regular milk with roughly 60% of the water removed, while condensed is often labeled as "sweetened" and is heavily sugared as well as having water content reduced. It can also be used for a quick version of homemade Dulce de Leche.

At least twice, I've accidentally bought evaporated milk when I meant to buy condensed milk. They're in the same part of the supermarket, in cans that are the same size with labels that look very similar. I used condensed milk for coconut clusters, and I'm currently working up a recipe for pralines that uses it (if it's good enough for Paula Deen, it's good enough for me!)

 

[Cinisajoy]

At least twice, I've accidentally bought evaporated milk when I meant to buy condensed milk. They're in the same part of the supermarket, in cans that are the same size with labels that look very similar. I used condensed milk for coconut clusters, and I'm currently working up a recipe for pralines that uses it (if it's good enough for Paula Deen, it's good enough for me!)

Odd. Every sweetened condensed milk can I have ever seen is just a bit shorter than the evaporated milk cans by about an inch. Though yes, they are quite near each other. In our stores, they tend to put all the half size cans on a top shelf or the very bottom shelf. Your store may be different.

 

[Duck59]

All this talk of condensed milk reminds me of what has become known (in this house, at least) as The Powdered Milk Incident.

While I was working in Eritrea, a chap came into my office one day and told me "You can collected your milk at the Refinery Club this afternoon." My rather blank reply was, "What milk?" He explained that there was powdered milk being provided to managerial (hah!) staff and it was all free.

I thanked him and said I'd pick it up in the afternoon. The club was just up the road from my house and I assumed (you can spot this one coming) that I'd be getting a couple of tins of the ubiquitous Nido. I wandered along at about four o'clock to discover two twenty kilo sacks of the stuff.

I had to make two trips. As I mentioned, it wasn't far, but the things were heavy and the temperature was about 40C. The only time I ever used the stuff was in cups of tea, so there was not the remotest possibility of using anywhere near all of it.

Somebody suggested selling it, but I felt that would be a rather mercenary activity, especially for a VSO volunteer. I ended up giving most of it away. I told people that if they wanted some, just bring a tin round and I'd fill it for them. Even after all that, I still ended up donating about half a sack to a group of UN volunteers.

 

[buckytom]

Lots of foods remind me of so many things. No milk, condensed, powdered, or otherwise, though.

Pot roast, gravy, mashed, and peas remind me of my mother. She made an awesome pot roast dinner about every fortnight.

Same with Norwegian pancakes filled with berry preserves, and lapscaus (leftover meat hash).

Cheddar cheese, spicy mustard, and minced raw onion on crackers with a cold beer reminds me of my dad. So does bringing a knife, bowl, and a bottle of Worcestershire sauce into the veggie garden to put on tomatoes.

Cold grilled chicken leg quarters with salt, hard boiled eggs with salt, celery and carrot sticks, and bunches of green grapes remind me of going to the beach with my family when I was a kid. My mom would prepare everything the day before, then pack it in a cooler for the beach as we all loaded into the station wagon. I can't recall ever going to the beach without these.

On the way home, we'd almost always stop off for fried shrimp and chips/fries, and then vanilla custards.