writercises | EXERCISE: Your Last Meal? (Reply)

Originally posted 16 Jan 2013

There's a funny one for you to think about.

Recently, I was eating by myself, and my wife said get anything you want. There's a lot of different restaurants in the area, but I ended up getting something that I really like: fried rice, deep-fried shrimp and chicken with mayonnaise sauce... really simple Japanese fast food.

And I was thinking, suppose it was the last meal that you were ever going to have? The classical prisoner's last meal before his execution. What would I get if I could have anything I wanted in the world?

Well, one thing would be weiner schnitzel with a good dunkel or dark beer. That's from Vienna. I suppose I might also have a slice of Sacher torte. That's a chocolate cake, with a layer of I think it's apricot jam, and a coating that is just pure dark chocolate.

Or maybe some New Orleans Beignet with chicory coffee?

The thing is, when I think about it, there are some odds and ends that I would certainly enjoy trying again. But they're not high cuisine. Most of them are actually almost fast food or plain sorts of things. Calzone from New Jersey. Or maybe a good eggplant pizza from Boston. Some good Mexican food. Cornbread, Chile relleno, burritos. The kind of thing that I can buy in the food court in Hawaii, or get at a Mexican restaurant in New Mexico.

Oh! What's that greek or italian dessert? The one that's about a zillion little layers of flaky dough, with some kind of nuts chopped fine, and drowned in honey? Baklava?

But you know food doesn't really push me. I'd be just about as happy with a basic hamburger. Although, if you can get the one with the fried onions on it or something like that, I'd like it, but it's not going to drive me crazy.

It's interesting to speculate about what would you eat, and how do you feel about it. Why is or isn't it exciting?

What would you want for your last meal? If you can have anything at all...

Oh, yeah, those dim sum rolls from Chinatown. And maybe...

(burp!)