Quote: Personally, I like the tuna on flatbread with giardiniera.
Mmmm! There's a country store within walking distance of El Casa Bekki. They have some pepper relishes which are to die for! And there's another across the creek that has more of those canned garden yummies.
Over in the Strip District in Pittsburgh is a grocery store known as the "Lotus Food Company". If you're looking for exotic Asian condiments or stuff you never thought humans would eat then it's worth a visit on a Saturday morning. There is also a shop in the Strip that sells Mexican spices and other yummies. Not to mention the Parma Sausage Company, Wholey's fish market and other places. You can literally find a world of cuisine in the Strip.
And while you're closing out your strip visit you can't leave until you have a Primanti's sandwich! A steak sandwich with slaw and fries is just yet another form of pure awesome. :-)
Since you watch the Food Network have you checked out one show on there recently where a couple guys do their best to stomach some of the spiciest food out there?
--Bekki
Combating functional illiteracy with latex-clad drama since the '80s, because old video games rule!
I wouldn't eat it. I don't mind Subway once in a while, but I hate that fuckin' smell that is on your clothes the rest of the day. It smells like dirty feet or something.
> Personally, I like the tuna on flatbread with giardiniera. > > Mmmm! There's a country store within walking distance of El Casa Bekki. They have > some pepper relishes which are to die for! And there's another across the creek that > has more of those canned garden yummies. > > Over in the Strip District in Pittsburgh is a grocery store known as the "Lotus Food > Company". If you're looking for exotic Asian condiments or stuff you never thought > humans would eat then it's worth a visit on a Saturday morning. There is also a shop > in the Strip that sells Mexican spices and other yummies. Not to mention the Parma > Sausage Company, Wholey's fish market and other places. You can literally find a > world of cuisine in the Strip. > > And while you're closing out your strip visit you can't leave until you have a > Primanti's sandwich! A steak sandwich with slaw and fries is just yet another form of > pure awesome. :-) > > Since you watch the Food Network have you checked out one show on there recently > where a couple guys do their best to stomach some of the spiciest food out there? > > --Bekki
I don't actually watch the food network, I was just giving an example of what giardiniera is around here, I've been Led to believe it's a Chicago area thing. I don't like things that are too spicy, but I'm getting more adventurous.
> I wouldn't eat it. I don't mind Subway once in a while, but I hate that fuckin' smell > that is on your clothes the rest of the day. It smells like dirty feet or something.
... then there's something wrong with your local Subway, because I've never had that problem.
No, there is a definite Subway smell. It's from the bread, and it permiates your clothing if you're in the store longer than 5 minutes. Not only that, if the Subway is in a strip mall or has other stores attached to it, the smell will invade neighboring stores.
Quote: I hate that...smell that is on your clothes the rest of the day. It smells like dirty feet or something.
I used to work at Subway many years ago. So I'm not a fan of their food after working with it all for so long. I'm not too big of a fan of cold cuts and other stuff that is over-processed or, in the case of the tuna and seafood-like product, drowned in mayo.
Every Subway gets its dough pre-mixed as frozen sticks with all the ingredients, including yeast, already portioned out. Those sticks are then thawed and proofed so they rise and are ready to bake.
The problem is that over a decade or so the yeast managed to migrate throughout the shop. Every year the ice machine would break down due to its close proximity to the proofer and oven combo unit.
Or how about draining cans of tuna, pickles, black olives, jalapeño and banana pepper slices? And having all those lovely juices combine into one toxic stew? That smell, even when not combined, is still horrid. And don't forget about the fresh onions that need to be cleaned, peeled and sliced.
And then there's the cleaning solutions and sanitizers. Everything had to be cleaned and ready for the next morning. By the end of the night I needed a shower.
I reeked of that place. So it's no wonder that the Yeastie Boys and the byproducts thereof may be hitchin' along with you for the ride. :-(
Frank Zappa sung abut the Dangerous Kitchen. While this wasn't as gnarly as what's described within his song due to health regulations it was still gnarly. At least Subway doesn't use the "U-Gouge" anymore.
--Bekki
Combating functional illiteracy with latex-clad drama since the '80s, because old video games rule!
> I just don't think Tuna and jalepinos go together that well. > > with chicken, beef, ok, but tuna? > > But to each their own.
I don't think I've tried one with jalepenos, but I love a tuna sub with hot pepper relish on it. Tuna salad on its own it kind of bland, a little spiciness makes it more interesting.
> ... then there's something wrong with your local Subway, because I've never had that > problem.
Google "Subway smells" and you will get about 3,410,000 results (0.34 seconds)!
It's not my local Subway, it is everyone I've ever been to. I think it is from the way they bake their bread. Maybe it is from all of those weird breads they serve now... probably the ones with cheese on them. I don't remember Subway smelling like that when they first came around about 25-30 years ago. I think they only served two kinds of bread then.
> I hate that...smell that is on your clothes the rest of the day. It smells like dirty > feet or something. > > I used to work at Subway many years ago. So I'm not a fan of their food after working > with it all for so long. I'm not too big of a fan of cold cuts and other stuff that > is over-processed or, in the case of the tuna and seafood-like product, drowned in > mayo. > > Every Subway gets its dough pre-mixed as frozen sticks with all the ingredients, > including yeast, already portioned out. Those sticks are then thawed and proofed so > they rise and are ready to bake. > > The problem is that over a decade or so the yeast managed to migrate throughout the > shop. Every year the ice machine would break down due to its close proximity to the > proofer and oven combo unit. > > Or how about draining cans of tuna, pickles, black olives, jalapeño and banana pepper > slices? And having all those lovely juices combine into one toxic stew? That smell, > even when not combined, is still horrid. And don't forget about the fresh onions that > need to be cleaned, peeled and sliced. > > And then there's the cleaning solutions and sanitizers. Everything had to be cleaned > and ready for the next morning. By the end of the night I needed a shower. > > I reeked of that place. So it's no wonder that the Yeastie Boys and the byproducts > thereof may be hitchin' along with you for the ride. :-( > > Frank Zappa sung abut the Dangerous Kitchen. While this wasn't as gnarly as what's > described within his song due to health regulations it was still gnarly. At least > Subway doesn't use the "U-Gouge" anymore. > > --Bekki
I think it is from the weird breads they now serve. Probably the ones with cheese on them.
Yup.They all share that same smell.Its a smell that is really hard to describe.Its like feet and dirtyness.The one in the Walmart up the street from me stinks up the entire store.And its a Walmart supercenter,pretty bad when you can smell it all the way in the back of the store!
> It's not my local Subway, it is everyone I've ever been to. I think it is from the > way they bake their bread. Maybe it is from all of those weird breads they serve > now... probably the ones with cheese on them. I don't remember Subway smelling like > that when they first came around about 25-30 years ago. I think they only served two > kinds of bread then.
Remember when they used to cut the bread weird? They would cut a strip out of the middle, put the fillings in, then put the strip back on top. It was actually pretty good that way.
I've thought about asking them to do that now, but I'm afraid the poorly trained knuckleheads they hire these days would cut a finger off or something. Twice at two different stores, my wife got the veggie burger sub and they took the frozen pattie, plunked it on the bread with ice still visible on it, and tried to serve it like that.
> I think it is from the weird breads they now serve. Probably the ones with cheese on > them.
I smell threaded mode.
See, while scrolling down - I've already read where Hizzout has said this. But he said it was due to the yeast from the bread.
AAAAAAnyway.......
On-Topic. I haven't tried it, but I think I would like it. Just about everytime I make tunafish (salad) for sandwiches I toss in something spicy. This is at home, so I use Miracle Whip too.
If I get it at Subway I might get spicy mustard, and maybe the southwest chipotle sauce, or the sweet & sour(?).
> Remember when they used to cut the bread weird? > I've thought about asking them to do that now, but I'm afraid the poorly trained > knuckleheads they hire these days would cut a finger off or something.
Or they could be too young to remember when that's was how it was done.
Quote: Or they could be too young to remember when that's was how it was done.
I got good with my "U-Gouge". Though for my veggie patty sub I'd take home I knew how to make it extra deep and extra wide for the veggies. I had to have it as narrow as defined by my boss at the time. Which wasn't too bad.
But it was a love it or hate it thing for customers. One in particular didn't like that "dog's tongue" of bread in the top. At least I never cut myself with those fancy knife tricks. Especially on high-volume "Two For Tuesdays".
Looking back I wonder how many miles of subs I've worked on in five years.
> Or they could be too young to remember when that's was how it was done. > > I got good with my "U-Gouge". Though for my veggie patty sub I'd take home I knew how > to make it extra deep and extra wide for the veggies. I had to have it as narrow as > defined by my boss at the time. Which wasn't too bad. > > But it was a love it or hate it thing for customers. One in particular didn't like > that "dog's tongue" of bread in the top. At least I never cut myself with those fancy > knife tricks. Especially on high-volume "Two For Tuesdays". > > Looking back I wonder how many miles of subs I've worked on in five years. > > --Bekki
Say, Bekki. (Becky?) er, anyway. I've always wondered something. That trough on the edge of where all the 'fixings' (lol) were - where the sandwich artist would accidentally drop some of them, you know - the lettuce, tomatoes, olives, etc. etc.
Lets say its the end of the day. Would you get to put all those misplaced/discarded items into a sandwich of your own? Or has that ever been done (that you know of), or has a customer ever asked for a sandwich like that?
My favorite local chef here in my area has spoiled me to canned tuna. She too refers to that as "cat foot". She's served us an Ahi steak that was wonderful.
Then she served us a beef filet later in the meal, and I've never had meat melt in my mouth before.
One of our dining party asked, "She can make tuna taste like steak and steak taste like heaven."
> My favorite local chef here in my area has spoiled me to canned tuna. She too refers > to that as "cat foot". She's served us an Ahi steak that was wonderful.
That's comparing two completely different things. I like a nice, rare tuna steak and I like a good tuna melt, but one can't even come close to substituting for the other.
Also, I tried the Jalapeno Tuna Sub this weekend, pretty disappointing. The tuna was meh, and the jalapenos (which I had to ask for twice, three times if you count the fact that I ordered a Jalapeno Tuna Sub) weren't very hot. Subway has gone way downhill lately.
Quote: Lets say its the end of the day. Would you get to put all those misplaced/discarded items into a sandwich of your own? Or has that ever been done (that you know of), or has a customer ever asked for a sandwich like that?
Now that's a first! :-) No one asked that until now. Maybe someone else was asked but this is a first for me.
On high-volume days it can get wrecked by the oil, vinegar and sauces. Veggies are okay on their own or when layered. But I've never encountered a time when anyone, from customer to sammich artisté, wanted to brave the gutter. It would get especially nasty with that fake seafood product and the tuna. But that's why it's kept clean. No one wants anything that funky on their sammich. And there's the local food safety codes so it couldn't be done even on request.
Of course, it all depends on who is serving you. Adventurous college kids are always game for such things if only to have a nice story to tell their friends after work.
For some reason the "Gutter Combo" has a pleasant ring to it. Quite possibly due to the ghetto outside the back of the store I worked at and the liquor store down the street.
Quote: Also, I tried the Jalapeno Tuna Sub this weekend, pretty disappointing. The tuna was meh, and the jalapenos (which I had to ask for twice, three times if you count the fact that I ordered a Jalapeno Tuna Sub) weren't very hot. Subway has gone way downhill lately.
Canned jalapeños just don't do it for me. Though I've had some awesome chipotlés that I snagged from the local Sprawl*Mart. They were canned but they were still nice and hot!
I have to show some love towards "Five Guys". They use honest to goodness freshly cut jalapeños! An over-processed jalapeño that's been pickled to death then entombed in a can for who knows how long just doesn't hold a candle towards the majesty of a nice fresh, crunchy, and hot pepper!
Here's an idea: Make your own tuna salad but substitute the celery for fresh diced jalapeños. Or sub habañeros for the jalapeños. Go nuts. ;-)
In any case it would be a superior tuna salad yummy if that's your heat-seeking thang.
> Here's an idea: Make your own tuna salad but substitute the celery for fresh diced > jalapeños. Or sub habañeros for the jalapeños. Go nuts. ;-) > > In any case it would be a superior tuna salad yummy if that's your heat-seeking > thang. > > --Bekki
I've had some habanero peppers, and diced them real fine to put on my subway sandwich. It wasn't a problem to eat, it was just that after a while the burning sensation crept up on ya. Before you knew it your mouth and lips were in agony.
Quote: I've had some habanero peppers, and diced them real fine to put on my subway sandwich. It wasn't a problem to eat, it was just that after a while the burning sensation crept up on ya. Before you knew it your mouth and lips were in agony.
Habaneros have awesome flavor. It's when that white pith kicks in with that creeping heat that flanks the flavor before you know it you're in agony.
But for deadly peppers I've worked with in the mid-'90s the red savina habaneros were some deadly pods! At that time they were the hottest pepper known. I had to wear two pairs of latex exam gloves to work with them because the capsaicin oil is so abundant. Just slice a fresh one and you can see the oil bead upon the pith as it oozes from the veins.
I only wish I had a digital camera to snag a shot of that. To see that red flesh with the orangish-white pith inside with those drops of glistening oil. That's when I gave all respect to mother nature. But somewhere I have a scan of a bunch of peppers that I placed on top of a flatbed scanner and draped with a black cloth. It made for a nifty desktop background.
And the funny thing is that at the time I had my pepper garden going. But I had two plants in large pots: One red savina and one orange habanero. The potted plants were also fed with epsom salts because that's the secret for very big thumpin' peppers. These two potted plants were more like pepper bushes loaded with large and deadly fruits. So they wound up getting wheeled near the house for further culinary curiosity and care.
I have a feeling that the two plants cross-bred with each other. ;-)
Anyway, I may have to start a couple plants to see if I can recreate the glory. I was really impressed with the garden but those two plants were prized.
Agreed about the fresh. I love fresh jalepenos, have a load of them in the fridge right now and the canned ones suck, they just taste like vinegar. Most of the ultra hot peppers are a bitch to work with because you have to be so careful to barely use any. I don't like my mouth being on fire. Jalepenos you can actually eat enough of them to get a kick and a flavor, they are by far my favorite pepper.
I had two "ornamental" pepper plants that had edible peppers, they were about 1/2 inch. The plant bloomed white flowers and when they died there'd be peppers growing from them.
Some stupid spider aphids killed the plants, I tried to save the plants but they died.
I miss the plants, and have never seen them sold in my neck of the woods again.
I don't know what specific species they were, but their peppers were delicious.
Quote: Re Smitdogg: Agreed about the fresh. I love fresh jalepenos, have a load of them in the fridge right now and the canned ones suck, they just taste like vinegar. Most of the ultra hot peppers are a bitch to work with because you have to be so careful to barely use any. I don't like my mouth being on fire. Jalepenos you can actually eat enough of them to get a kick and a flavor, they are by far my favorite pepper.
I think the canned ones vary too much in the way of heat. You can get the mass-pickled gallons from Vlasic and they aren't so hot. But, for a potent smoked jalapeño, the small 7oz cans of La Costeña chipotle peppers from the local Sprawl*Mart retain their heat. Then again, those peppers are packed in adobo sauce (another type of pepper for those looking for hot two-way pepper action) and aren't pickled to death. The ones I have are whole peppers so take care when chopping them up for a unique mesquite-smoked experience. Good stuff!
La Costeña also has pickled red sliced jalapeños in those small cans. I have yet to open that can up and give a review. But hopefully they didn't pickle them to death. Since they're red they will be a tad bit spicier too.
I can rag about Sprawl*Mart but not about their ethnic food section. :-)
It isn't like I pop peppers every day. But when I'm in the mood for a pepper fix I do have plenty of choices on how far I want to take it. Even the local Big Lots is getting into the pepper/salsa action. The Mrs. Renfro's for $2USD/jar is yummy! The raspberry+chipotle is damn good! Though the habanero salsa is rather tame in regards to heat but does have the awesome flavor. Then again there's the small bottles of habanero sauce for $0.70USD/ea which is very wicked and offering a lot of bang for the buck!
Quote: Re: greybeard: I had two "ornamental" pepper plants that had edible peppers, they were about 1/2 inch. The plant bloomed white flowers and when they died there'd be peppers growing from them.
My former neighbor who is a drunken redneck (last guess on location is somewhere near New Kensington) used to have one of those plants. They were very bushy and had the cutest tiny peppers! They were also nice and spicy. I'm thinking they were tiny tabasco or cayenne peppers. Anyway my plant with those tiny peppers succumbed to those pesky critters too.
My dad and I are fans of Burpee. And it's just now that I am checking out their website and wow! I can definitely vouch for their jalapeños. Those seeds combined with epsom salts as plant food, some weeding and moderate watering (not too much or you'll rot 'em) and the jalapeños are big, thick, meaty, crunchy and spicy! Let them go from green to red as the skins begin to look "woody" and they're magnificent for heat!
Of course, the more peppers you pick the more the plant will bloom and the more peppers you'll get! So make sure you have a decent dehydrator or lots of freezer storage.
Anyway, back to your plant: I think it may be one that produces something along the lines of tiny serranos. Though I've grown serranos and the plants aren't like the bushy ones that give the very tiny yet hot peppers. Do browse around at Burpee's for hot pepper seeds and plants. You'll find it. :-)
Hot peppers and vintage arcade video games: The things that cross ideological lines for community unity. At least that's what I'm hoping for. There is a "Pepper II" arcade game but there are no peppers within it. ;-)
> The problem is that over a decade or so the yeast managed to migrate throughout the > shop. Every year the ice machine would break down due to its close proximity to the > proofer and oven combo unit.
So did the yeast get into other places it shouldn't? Did the girls working there all end up with yeast infections?
Quote: So did the yeast get into other places it shouldn't? Did the girls working there all end up with yeast infections?
I think one there may have been a result of yeast recombination. I dunno. In five years I was out. :-)
As much as I have my memories of Subway I wouldn't want to work in that particular location again. It would need deep cleaning. And the place is still there since the mid '80s!
To really add something rancid to the pool I learned that the place used to be a "brew thru" where you used to pick up cases.