Not Sure If This Is Good Or Bad

[Ulysses G.]

Between just San Francisco, New York and New Orleans, Australia does not even come close to winning any food competitions between the two countries. Northern California wines are at least just as good as Oz.

The food in Perth is really really good. Freshest possible locally grown ingredients.

Try the local grown Dongarra "Lobster" "crayfish" or whatever they're called. Baramundi is nice too.

I have spent a good amount of time in Perth and my favorite dish was the fish and chips in Frio. Baramundi IS nice, but I'm not sure that it is much different from Cod.

[neverdie]

^ UG, Seriously Barra like cod....next you'll be telling us its Barra in the McDonalds fish burger thingy!

Where do ya keep those taste buds of urs??? Not a smoker by chance, are you?

Edited January 13, 2009 by neverdie

[Syl]

^ UG, Seriously Barra like cod....next you'll be telling us its Barra in the McDonalds fish burger thingy!

Where do ya keep those taste buds of urs??? Not a smoker by chance, are you?

Everybody knows that Barra tasts like Chicken!!

[Ulysses G.]

^ UG, Seriously Barra like cod....next you'll be telling us its Barra in the McDonalds fish burger thingy!

Where do ya keep those taste buds of urs??? Not a smoker by chance, are you?

Maybe it was because it was deep fried? Otherwise, the locals gave the tourist cod instead of baramundi, because there was little difference.

Every time I go to Frio, I forget about the Gulls and they steal a good chunk of fish!

Edited January 13, 2009 by Ulysses G.

[fred2007]

UG, After you take me on a tour of the very best the yanks can throw at us, I will take you up the Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland, we can set up camp somewhere, I will take you fishing and catch a real nice Barra, then I will cook up a feed by the campfire....some of the finest Australian Bush Tucker....you will never see food in the same light again.

You really havent experience true Aussie outback feed....might even throw in some Echidna & Wichidy grubs just for good measure.

Make sure you throw in an australian visa after all that delicious food he wouldn't wont to go back home

[tropo]

^ UG, Seriously Barra like cod....next you'll be telling us its Barra in the McDonalds fish burger thingy!

Where do ya keep those taste buds of urs??? Not a smoker by chance, are you?

Maybe it was because it was deep fried? Otherwise, the locals gave the tourist cod instead of baramundi, because there was little difference.

Every time I go to Frio, I forget about the Gulls and they steal a good chunk of fish!

It's a crime to batter and deep fry Barramundi and also a waste of money because it's expensive. Battered deep frying is the great fish equalizer.

This may come as a huge surprise (it did to me), but the majority of basic battered fish in standard "fish n' chips" shops in Australia now is Basa or Tra Catfish from the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Ocean caught fish is becoming too expensive now and cannot compete with the cheap farmed Vietnamese catfish. This is also becoming a major trend in Europe and the US. I'm not sure what they call it in Australian fish n' chip shops, but they call shark "flake", so they can probably call it anything they like.

The catfish industry in the US has managed to stop importers from calling these fish "catfish" because they are starting to impact the US catfish industry. They need to use the name "basa" or "tra". Basa is the better tasting of the two. In actual fact it tastes cleaner than farmed US catfish due to the fast flowing, highly oxygenated water of the Mekong river compared to muddy cultivation ponds in the US.

You can taste this fish for yourself. It's sold under the name "Pacific Dory" in Foodland's frozen section. It goes for about 245 baht per kilo. You lose about 25% of the weight as water when you defrost it.

If you're eating basic fish n' chips in Australia, you're probably eating it already. Interestingly, Russia is the biggest importer of all.

Edited January 13, 2009 by tropo

[raro]

Only in amazing Thailand on TV can announcement of a new McD's almost immediately turn into another way of bashing the USA and who happens to be President. I wonder if O'Bama's people warned him to be ready for the onslaught of criticism from TV when he takes office. I'm not sure his shoulders are strong enough.

Exactly...sheeze...my op was only informational...and it starts a trans-Atlantic food fight

You would hardly know we were allies in 4-5 major wars over the past century or so

what do we learn? crap food unites and made you guys invade Germany twice in search of decent sauerkraut!

[rijb]

Nope, McDonald's Isn't Making Us Fat

January 05, 2009 02:42 PM ET | James Pethokoukis | Permanent Link | Print Don't blame fast-food restaurants for why America seems so supersized. This new economic study from Northwestern University and UC Berkeley seems to disprove the the common nutritional myth:

The results find no evidence of a causal link between restaurants and obesity, and the estimates are precise enough to rule out any meaningful effect. Analysis of food intake micro data suggests that although consumers eat larger meals at restaurants than at home (even after accounting for selection), they offset these calories at other times of day. We conclude that public health policies targeting restaurants are unlikely to reduce obesity but could negatively affect consumer welfare.

Although restaurants conveniently deliver calories at a low marginal cost, they are only one source among many. While taxing restaurant meals might cause obese consumers to change where they eat, our results suggest that a tax would be unlikely to affect their underlying tendency to overeat. The same principle would apply to other targeted obesity interventions as well. For example, two recent large-scale, multi-state randomized trials of school-based programs that improved the nutritional content of cafeteria meals found no effect on student weight (Nader et al. 1999; Caballero et al. 2003). One principal investigator noted, in retrospect, that the intervention could not control what the children ate outside of school (Kolata 2006). Future research and policy proposals may find greater success if they are designed to account for the optimizing behavior of the targeted subjects.

[Ulysses G.]

Of course. Only the terminally stupid think that obesity is only caused by fast food. The food Nazis should quit advertising their lack of mental gifts and keep their yaps shut.

[tropo]

Of course. Only the terminally stupid think that obesity is only caused by fast food. The food Nazis should quit advertising their lack of mental gifts and keep their yaps shut.

It's irrelevant what some bs studies have found that were probably financed by the large junk food restaurant chains anyway.

Anyway you look at McDonalds, it's garbage food for some, for others it's pure garbage not to be confused with food.

You really should give up that McBacon. It's not helping your mental abilities at all.

[Ulysses G.]

Adolf Hitler was an avid vegetarian Herr Tropo and it didn't help his brain.

[raro]

Anyway you look at McDonalds, it's garbage food for some, for others it's pure garbage not to be confused with food.

..brilliant!

OT...I am in Phnom Phen at the moment. I am stunned by the food quality over here. Freshly made fruit juices at every street corner, bistros with food items that read "Moroccan Beef, pickled carrot, goat cheese, green olive on rye bread"

Can someone get me a job over here???

/edit: forgot to mention that during happy hour they threw in a glass of wine for free for every food item you ordered.....

Edited January 18, 2009 by raro

[WOWAsia]

It's bad!

More junk food in Pattaya. However, nobody is forced to eat junk food american style.

[britmaveric]

^Eat Thai food, much better than the western fast food anyways!

[tropo]

^Eat Thai food, much better than the western fast food anyways!

What can you do if chili's a problem? Thai food tends to rely too much on chili. Chili with coconut (Thai curries) kills me.

[britmaveric]

^Love Spicey - Ms. Brit says she sure I was born Thai in farang skin.

[tropo]

^Love Spicey - Ms. Brit says she sure I was born Thai in farang skin.

How many chilis can you take in a papaya salad? I heard this is a test of chili heroics. One Thai guy told me he managed 20.

I believe the 2nd hottest chili in the world is of British origin...far hotter than it's Thai counterpart.

Edited January 18, 2009 by tropo

[britmaveric]

Well early on in our relationship I was tested when she was making dinner with her mates - bought a bag of chili(s) for penang - at prob about 10 before dinner. She kept asking me if they were hot. I was drinking quite a few beers, actually makes the heat worse. I think my past experience with Vindaloo/Pow indians - prepared me well.

[endure]

I've got a Thai friend who eats mouseshit chillies from a bowl the same way you and I eat peanuts

[bangkokrick]

Just a snippet from an article about Mc Donald's fries.

The taste of McDonald's french fries played a crucial role in the chain's success -- fries are much more profitable than hamburgers -- and was long praised by customers, competitors, and even food critics. James Beard loved McDonald's fries. Their distinctive taste does not stem from the kind of potatoes that McDonald's buys, the technology that processes them, or the restaurant equipment that fries them: other chains use Russet Burbanks, buy their french fries from the same large processing companies, and have similar fryers in their restaurant kitchens. The taste of a french fry is largely determined by the cooking oil. For decades McDonald's cooked its french fries in a mixture of about seven percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow. The mixture gave the fries their unique flavor -- and more saturated beef fat per ounce than a McDonald's hamburger.

So the have to be good for you!

Cheers, Rick

[endure]

In the UK the best fish batter and chips (fries to you) are supposedly made from lard (beef fat) although I don't recall having seen a chippie using lard for years. They all use vegetable oil.

[MeetJohnDoe]

OT...I am in Phnom Phen at the moment. I am stunned by the food quality over here. Freshly made fruit juices at every street corner, bistros with food items that read "Moroccan Beef, pickled carrot, goat cheese, green olive on rye bread"

I agree...the food is very good in PP...it's the residue of the French influence no doubt.

[neverdie]

Maybe it was because it was deep fried? Otherwise, the locals gave the tourist cod instead of baramundi, because there was little difference.

Every time I go to Frio, I forget about the Gulls and they steal a good chunk of fish!

UG, After you take me on a tour of the very best the yanks can throw at us, I will take you up the Cape York Peninsula in far north Queensland, we can set up camp somewhere, I will take you fishing and catch a real nice Barra, then I will cook up a feed by the campfire....some of the finest Australian Bush Tucker....you will never see food in the same light again.

You really havent experience true Aussie outback feed....might even throw in some Echidna & Wichidy grubs just for good measure.

Make sure you throw in an australian visa after all that delicious food he wouldn't wont to go back home

^ UG, Seriously Barra like cod....next you'll be telling us its Barra in the McDonalds fish burger thingy!

Where do ya keep those taste buds of urs??? Not a smoker by chance, are you?

Maybe it was because it was deep fried? Otherwise, the locals gave the tourist cod instead of baramundi, because there was little difference.

Every time I go to Frio, I forget about the Gulls and they steal a good chunk of fish!

It's a crime to batter and deep fry Barramundi and also a waste of money because it's expensive. Battered deep frying is the great fish equalizer.

This may come as a huge surprise (it did to me), but the majority of basic battered fish in standard "fish n' chips" shops in Australia now is Basa or Tra Catfish from the Mekong Delta in Vietnam. Ocean caught fish is becoming too expensive now and cannot compete with the cheap farmed Vietnamese catfish. This is also becoming a major trend in Europe and the US. I'm not sure what they call it in Australian fish n' chip shops, but they call shark "flake", so they can probably call it anything they like.

The catfish industry in the US has managed to stop importers from calling these fish "catfish" because they are starting to impact the US catfish industry. They need to use the name "basa" or "tra". Basa is the better tasting of the two. In actual fact it tastes cleaner than farmed US catfish due to the fast flowing, highly oxygenated water of the Mekong river compared to muddy cultivation ponds in the US.

You can taste this fish for yourself. It's sold under the name "Pacific Dory" in Foodland's frozen section. It goes for about 245 baht per kilo. You lose about 25% of the weight as water when you defrost it.

If you're eating basic fish n' chips in Australia, you're probably eating it already. Interestingly, Russia is the biggest importer of all.

Hey UG, What is it with you guys and deep frying food? Anybody that batters and deep fries Barra should be subjected to a public flogging. I agree with your sentiment that you were probably served something else. Tropo calls it how it is.

Fred, I don't know what of visa Im getting for UG????? I wonder if theres a visa for travelling the countryside to soley sample food & wine .

My delayed response to this is due to the fact that I went fishing in Oz for the week.....theres nothing like catching a fish then cooking it on the barbie & eating it.....& no I didnt get any barra . Anyway, I'm back to eating the fish from the filthy klong again or whatever other filthy water their diggin em up from here

[Ulysses G.]

Actually, I was in Perth (Freemantle) and wanted to try Aussie style fish and chips. They had deep fried Barramundi and shark and a few others - no cod - and I had heard how nice Barramundi was, so I tried it deep-fried and did not realize that it tastes better when prepared in a more healthy way.

[Cuban]

McDonalds has opened a new branch on 2nd Road and soi 5...

There has been two McDonalds outlets in that area in the past, one was in the car park in front of the Triangle restaurant the other was built into a half container just North of Soi 6 on the West side of Second Road.

[imaneggspurt]

The Brits who complain about Mickey Ds are just jealous because our junk food sells so much better than theirs. Meat pies and bangers and mash have twice the grease of a Big Mack, but only a fraction of the customers!

I am not british but I do agree with you, I do have a burger ones in a while and I can't see it doing any harm to me, not like the british food ( fish and chips, pie and chips, chops and chips, bangers and chips, and not to forget the nice fresh vegetables, baked beans.)

You forgot our other choice as kids, canned heinz spagetti !

[imaneggspurt]

Yup Australia has some of the best whines in the world.

Wine!

Can't disagree with that.

He said whine !

[fred2007]

By thaizer • March 20, 2008

It’s official; Thai people are getting fatter. I’d long since suspected it, but my own less-than-scientific observations have been confirmed in a recent report from the Kasikorn Research Centre. This year, the number of Thai people classed as overweight is expected to increase to between 10 – 12 million, which is almost 1 in 6 people. Between 1986 and 2004, the number of overweight Thai people increased by over seven and a half times. So why is a country famed for its supposedly healthy and nutritious food suffering from the same problem that affects much of the West?

Thai Fast Food

It isn’t just the advance in popularity of places like KFC and McDonald’s that has caused the increase in obesity in Thailand. Thai street stalls sell their own version of KFC. It may not have the Colonel’s secret recipe, but gai yaang served with rice, dipping sauce and washed down with a fizzy soft drink has plenty of calories.

Interesting

Thailand 5th obese country in SE Asia