Friday, April 17, 2020

Draught or Draft?

Draught beer fonts at the Delirium Café in Brussels.
(Source)

Actually this is one of those "I got nuthin'" posts. It's not about beer, it's not about the difference between the words "draught," primarily an English usage as in the Queen's English, and "draft," which is what we colonials use as opposed to  "draught." Our cousins across the Pond use both spellings, though they mean different things. Here in the U.S. of A. we stick with "draft," though in some hoity-toity drinking establishments we will use the term "draught" for all of the fancy non-American beers they have on tap.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. Now I'm not a beer "snob," I drink what tastes best to me and it often depends on the occasion. For instance, if I can't make up my mind what I want, then it's Guinness. If I'm eating at Aidan's Pub, here in Little Rhody, then typically it's a Guinness with bangers and mash, if it's the meatloaf mountain...

What's a "meatloaf mountain" you ask? Well, officially it's "homemade meatloaf over grilled garlic bread, topped with mashed potatoes, grilled onions & beef gravy." The meatloaf is incredible (they don't mention that the meatloaf is wrapped in bacon, they should as it's delicious), they do mashed potatoes at Aidan's so well, the gravy is to die for. The gravy bit is odd, something else which I could not abide as a callow youth, which now I crave!

The only thing at Aidan's better than their beef gravy is their Irish whiskey gravy. Which has, you guessed it, whiskey in the mix. Tastes INCREDIBLE and, excuse me a minute...

Sorry about that, what with this Sparkling Isolation and all I haven't been to Aidan's in over a month. So yeah, I drooled all over my keyboard whilst expounding upon the gravy at Aidan's. Damn it I miss their food!

But I was talking about the sort of beer I like with my meatloaf mountain, typically I will go with a porter (did I mention that Aidan's has a superlative beer selection? Well, they do.), but not just any porter, this one -

(Source)

It has been described as "dessert in a glass," being a big fan of desserts, I rather like it, and it really does complement the meatloaf. I don't know why, I am no epicure, nor do I pretend to be one. I like what I like.

Hhmm, maybe this is a beer post, might even be a food post. Perhaps it's both, I dunno, I am pretty much doing a brain dump at this point. There are times when I fret because I don't know what to write about. So I just start writing. Odd that.

Okay, I miss the food at Aidan's, I miss the atmosphere at Aidan's. If you were to ask, Aidan's is to me, what Shakespeare's was to Lex. FWIW, I love both places. A visit to Shakespeare's is mandatory when I'm in San Diego, to Aidan's when it's Sunday, right after church. It's a tradition which The Missus Herself has not tired of, yet. (Though truth be told, there are Sundays when she says, "let's go somewhere else today." To which I always say "Casa Margaritas?" Which she will normally agree to, though the only thing she likes there is the Texas fajita. So much so that the last time we went there the waitress just looked at her, smiled, and asked "Texas fajita?"

The Missus Herself is not ordinarily so predictable.

For the record, I love pretty much the entire menu at Casa Margaritas. What do I drink for beer, er, cerveza, when I'm there? Easy question, easily answered, this -

(Source)

Usually at least two, I tend to go heavy on the hot sauce on my Mexican food. Love it.

Damn, I think Casa Margaritas is actually open for delivery now! Should I? I crave their burrito Mexicano, this damned hunkering down has put me off my feed.

I guess this is a beer and food post.

Now I'm hungry.

And thirsty.




50 comments:

  1. On entering Aidan's on a Friday evening the bartender looks over and I hold up 1 finger if I'm alone or 2 if accompanied by wife. Not the saluting finger nor the two finger British salute. The requisite number of Guinness (Guinnae?) are started before I reach the end of the bar. No verbal communication necessary. Old Guns.

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    1. I was going to say that you're a regular, but no, you're a fixture at Aidan's. Heck, they even have your picture on the wall!

      My kind of place.

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  2. Guinness 'beer': this stuff has the consistency of molasses. I for the life of me can't understand why anybody would drink it, as it is so thick and hopped up that with every swig one has to chase it with a huge slice of German chocolate cake to wash it down.

    Of course, there are those out there that swear by this goo. To each his own.

    Having spent 6 years of my life in Germany, the very best beer in the world is brewed in Munich and served in the Hofbrauhaus, aptly titled Hofbrau. It is a nice light amber color, beautifully hopped, and served in a liter sized clear glass 'stein that when full weighs a couple of pounds. The swill brewed in America such as Coors, Bud and Miller, all complete watered down garbage. Yes, I will when forced to be polite drink one (and only one).

    But I will never order a Guinness, unless threatened by red hot pokers jammed into my eyeballs by not doing so.

    Of course, that's just me.

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    1. In my stint in Germany we had a very nice "local" pilsner, Bitburger, brewed natürlich in Bitburg. Which was about 110 miles away, by road. A very nice brew.

      But I gained an appreciation for the darker beers from a night out with the boys to Düsseldorf.

      Some like it light, some like it heavy, for me it depends on the mood I'm in, but a good stout (or porter) is always welcome in my hand.

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    2. Guiness used to brew beer according to local tastes. Guiness in the UK is quite different to Guiness in Ireland, it's a totally different taste. Guiness also brewed a special beer for Nigerian tastes. It was about 7.5-8% alcohol. BTW always look at the small print on bottles to see where the beer was brewed. I quite like Tsingtao beer. I was put onto it by a an Inspector in the old Royal Hong Kong Police. Brewed according to German purity laws and goes well with a curry.
      Retired

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    3. I've had Tsingtao, a very good beer.

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  3. Sooner or later I'm going to have to get hold of that Heretic beer.
    And we tell each other that one of these days we are going to go into our local Mexican resterant and order something different. But their jumbo shrimp quesadilla is so good.



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    1. A quesadilla would be awesome right about now!

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  4. Unfortunately, I can't drink any longer, although I break that rule very occasionally for a sip of good bourbon or scotch. But when I was drinking more frequently, I also liked a good beer - Modelo Negro was one of those, as was Guinness, and my frequent trips to the UK back in the 90's and early 2000's brought me into the world of good English ales and bitters (Sam Smith and Boddington's were both good, but I'm not sure I ever had a bad one).
    My wife spent a fair bit of time in southern Germany (Ulm) and came back with a great appreciation of Hefeweizen. It's pretty tasty and a meal all in itself!
    One a couple of trips to Belgium, I really liked some of the Trappist beers - unusual taste in some of them (cloves??), and most had a pretty high % alcohol. I remember one 'sparkling beer' that had about 15% alcohol!
    As for Margaritas, I prefer mine with gold tequila. Nothing special, just a little bit more flavor. Now for sipping tequila, there are a lot of good premium types out there. If you haven't tried them, I encourage you to do so. It's kind of like scotch or bourbon - cheap stuff is hard to handle straight and can take the surface of your throat off, but good stuff is quite enjoyable a sip at a time.
    I envision juvat and STxAR grimacing when you talk about good Mexican food in Little Rhody - I also would have to be convinced! Yes, I have high standards when it comes to that subject - judge me as a snob if you must! But I will admit one of the best Mexican places I ever found was in Chicago.

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    1. I've had Mexican food in Sandy Eggo which was very good. The guy who owns and operates this place is actually Mexican. So the food tastes "right," if you know what I mean. When we first started going there the food was nice and spicy. After a few weeks of not going we went back and the food had been toned down quite a bit. Seems some Norteamericanos don't like it that spicy, so he toned it down to keep the customers coming in. Which worked. They keep a nice supply of Cholula and Tapatío at hand, so I (and others) can season to taste.

      So it's a lot better than you'd think, being in New England and all.

      The only hard stuff I drink is the occasional glass of Jameson's, I just prefer beer. The Missus Herself likes margaritas though, so she washes her Texas fajita down with one of those. Me? I'll stick with cerveza as I like the taste.

      Some of those Belgian beers are awesome!

      At Christmas I like a nice cold glass of Stella Artois, crisp and refreshing, also Belgian.

      I did drink the occasional Hefeweizen while in Deutschland, but I need to be in the right mood for one of those.

      Good stuff!

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    2. I love this time of year, the temperature is just right. We've taken to having a beer in the evening on the front porch, right now I'm drinking Hefeweizen, although I've still got a Guinness in the fridge. Sip on that and watch the hummingbirds do air to air around the feeders. In spite of all the hysteria, life is still pretty good.

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    3. Sounds good, you're away from the crowds, out in God's country.

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    4. juvat - you're drinking Hefeweizen at 8:47 am? Awesome! And did you notice your burg made the news when one of the 60+ yo locals shot a 19 yo home invader? God Bless Texas! https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2020/04/13/tx-woman-in-her-60s-takes-down-19-year-old-home-invader/

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    5. Yeah, Tuna sent me that article. Lotta “aw...feces” in that. Not in the didn’t happen thought process, but that it did. Got to re-evaluate defenses. Did the message that home invasion here will make you dead get through? Or did “ he didn’t try hard enough” get through? We’ll see.

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    6. Deterrence only seems to work on the non-stupid.

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  5. I grew up in Lubbock county, just north and east of the outer marker for the main North-South runway of Lubbock Intergalactic Airport... The mexican food there was very different than what you get down here in south Texas. Truth be told, I like it down here better. I had some really good mexican food in Montana about 20 years ago. She was from the Rio Grande Valley, and had her mom send spices up every month.

    There is a tony place down in Laredo that sells machacado for an appetizer. It's dried beef, that is rehydrated and spiced out of this world. Don't google machacado, it means beaten to death. And the Mexican press is all about accurate documentation. Yikes.

    It's the beer that causes me to shiver. I grew up around cows and horses. I've seen untold gallons of yellow beer spill out on the ground. Same foamy head, but the smell could knock you down sometimes. You can put my share back in the horse, thanks all the same. I've been the double d* since, forever. (*designated driver)

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    1. If there's one thing I've learned from the Food Network and Guy Fieri is that their is no single "Mexican food." You say that to some Gringos and they think tacos and burritos. Their are regional specialties just like any other big nation. The same for "German food" or "Chinese food" or "American food." Variety is good and if it tastes good, I go with it.

      (There's a reason some folks refer to the mass produced American beer as "horse piss." Just sayin'.)

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    2. Best Mexican food I've ever had was just off base at Kadena. Hispanic NCO had married an Okinawan lady and retired there. It was WAY better than the on base Mexican restaurant, although quite a bit more expensive.

      Which brings me to...what are Texas Fajitas? Really big meal sizes? Meat too tough to chew? Meat so dry it takes two bears to wash down. Meat so hot you are reminded the next morning you had them? Inquiring minds want to know...well maybe not about the last one.

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    3. juvat #1 - It all depends on who is cooking. If they don't know what they're doing, doesn't matter if the ingredients are authentic.

      As to Texas fajitas, big, lots of shrimp, beef, and chicken. Quite good actually. Meat at Casa Margaritas tends to be very good and well seasoned. As to the next day? Depends on how much Cholula or Tapatío you put on. (I will do both at times, just because I can.)

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    4. Best Mexican food I ever ate was in the late '60s. In California, a little town somewhere east of Santa Maria on the Santa Fe Railroad line. One of those places covered in bull-fighting posters. Where you park your car in the shadow of a building otherwise the tires will melt in the heat. The staff speaks broken English, but at least they're trying. Huge mounds of food, and soda pre-chilled to near freezing temperatures (maybe the beer was, too, dunno, I was like 5 or 6.

      It is the gold standard of which I hold all other Mexican food joints against.

      The only contender is 'Las Margaritas' in Gainesville, FL. Good food, good selection of salsa from mild to hot, red to green. And the owner got the joke about having a mixed bowl of both red and green in a bowl that looked like it was made of duck tape.

      Unfortunately, after Mrs. Andrew's episode in 2009, she went from being able to eat a whole large bowl of jalapenos to not tolerating hot or spicy at all. Darned.

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    5. Oddly enough The Missus Herself, born and raised in the land of kimchi, is not able to tolerate extremely spicy food anymore. Yes, it bugs the Hell out of her. As for me, Mr Boiled New England dinner wants it spicier the older I get.

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    6. I grew up with spicy food. Tobbasco sauce on eggs. And so forth. I didn't have a semi-healthy digestive system until Mrs. Andrew introduced me to supposedly bland food. Know what you mean. About TMH that is.

      I actually crave flavor over hot-spicier the older I get. Garlic, onion, that type of flavor.

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    7. Loves me some garlic and onion!

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    8. Yep, lots of different styles of Mexican food - San Diego/ Southern California style is usually quite good; Tex Mex is what I grew up with (weaned on jalapenos, I think); New Mexican style uses a lot of green chiles (I was wondering what all that green stuff was when I ordered a chili burger the first time I was there); and the one 'benefit' of the extensive proliferation of Mexican immigrants is a much better selection of 'Mexican' restaurants throughout the country.
      Most of the time, the more questionable looking the place, the better the food. As far as New Englanders go, my wife is from New Hampshire. First time I took her to one of my favorite places in Dallas (Escondido Cafe off of Harry Hines near Inwood - not sure it is still there), we pulled up out front and shut off the engine. She looked at me and asked, "Why are we stopping here?" I told her this was the restaurant... she looked around again and asked, "Do you have a gun with you?" She still doesn't care for Mexican food that much, but will occasionally get a plain burrito. But she does like tequila.

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    9. Ah, New Hampshire! Mom and Dad both hail from that fine state. Hhmm, Tex-Mex, been a while since I have sampled that.

      Good thing I are already, otherwise I might be hungry again!

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  6. How many ways can you spell:
    Draft
    Draught
    Draffed
    Draphed
    Draughed

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  7. Here I thought it was going to be a discussion of nautical terms and how the bloody Limeys get everything wrong or are pretentious twits.

    Boy, was I wrong.

    So, Mr. Smarty Pants... since you spoiled a semi-good rant. What's the square of cloth on the back of a sailor's uniform supposed to be? Hmmmmm?

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    1. Off the top of my head? Back in the day sailors wore their hair clubbed in a queue which they tarred to keep it all in place. Often there would be a length of wood in that queue as well, protects against cutlass strokes dontcha know? (Which is where the term "tars" came from, meaning sailors. The square of cloth was meant to protect their uniforms from the tar in their queues. But the square of cloth is not called an antimacassar, which involves different hair products made from macassar oil.

      Actually we get it all wrong, after all they did "invent" the language.

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    2. Geez, Beans, even I knew the answer to that question.

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    3. But you, juvat, are an officer and a gentleman. Thus I expected you to get the answer.

      The uncouth NCO? Wonders never cease...


      :)

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    4. juvat - So you're not just a pretty face?

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    5. Beans - I'm smart, I know things. (Channeling my inner Fredo.)

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    6. Beans, if us Brits got everything wrong why aren't you speaking French or Spanish? BTW I'm not a class warrior but some of the people over here in positions of power are quite....inadequate.
      Retired - feeling the strain of lockdown and the stupidity of the general public

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    7. Hear, hear!

      Don't feel bad Retired, many of our people in power are worse than inadequate. Or was that just the celebrated British understatement?

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    8. Well, just like the best of France left with the Normans, so did the best of Britain left and came to America.

      Or something like that....

      Says the descendant of English religious fanatics who got politely asked to leave Holland... ;)

      Curiously, also the descendant of French settlers who got asked to leave France and then, once settled down in Acadia, got not-so-politely asked to bugger off and ended up in the bayous of Louisiana, and not the Bayeaux of tapestry (it's really an embroidery) fame.

      Seems my ancestors were a fractious bunch, always getting kicked out of where they were.

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    9. British understatement, I remember talking to an American who said if a Brit said 'I say, that's a bit off' you could expect to be subjected to extreme violence not long thereafter. Times change. What I think is that our political/media class are not doers, it is much easier to sit on the sidelines and criticise those trying to sort out an unprecedented situation rather than come up with practical solutions. Over here our scientific and medical advisors have come across very well and what has struck me is how 'grown up' a lot of the European politicians and press have appeared in comparison to ours.
      If you know your Kipling I think we are run by the
      'sons of Mary' whilst the 'sons of Martha' have to sort it out.
      Retired (currently surrounding some beer)
      http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_martha.htm

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    10. Beans - My blood runs hot with ancestors from Scotland, Ireland, and France. My English ancestry is vastly outnumbered. But having a number of friends from dear old Blighty, I can't criticize the English. Because of them travel around the world is fairly easy as everyone speaks English! (Though I did meet the lone Dutchman who spoke no English, or German, or French. Yet he insisted on having a chat. We got along famously. Still not sure why...)

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    11. Retired - Sad to say I'm not all that familiar with Kipling, just the odd bit here and there. So I read that one. Martha and Mary, after I finished it, the story from Luke came to me. Martha is the doer, Mary not so much. While I'm not that great with Scripture, that one I remember well! (Luke 10:38-42 I believe is the operative passage, yes, I had to look it up.)

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  8. One of my favorite little places here has gone take out/delivery only, and they don't deliver this far South.

    "Meatloaf Mountain" sounds like my kind of "Comfort Food"!

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  9. I always keep a six pack of Modelo Negra and a six pack of Freestate Oatmeal Stout on hand. I'm not a daily beer drinker but when I'm in the mood, I want the best.

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  10. In response to all the threads,
    Dos Equis Amber for Miss Jeanie and me. Out on the beach, a Corona with lime actually hits the spot, but XX is the way to go. I can remember a restaurant in Fukuoka Kyushu (Itazuke AB environs) that served enchiladas and tacos, made with rice flour tortillas. Depending on how long you'd been away from home, it tasted pretty good, washed down with a cold Asahi. We always used to remark when bringing a newbie to the place "You'll never see any dogs around here, either!"
    I think a lot of what we call "Mexican food" is "Tex-Mex". The food I used to have in Mexico City was much more sophisticated. Ask Rick Bayless.
    I can remember as a lad, visiting kin in Corsicana Texas, there used to be a tamale man that came by just like the ice cream man later on.

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    1. I've never tried Dos Equis, perhaps I should.

      Rice flour tortillas, different, but they sound good. (I have come to believe that you can make almost anything with rice and soy beans. And it tastes good, big fan of Korean food here!)

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  11. All those beers are likely keg beers. If you can't see a proper pump handle to pull the beer to the tap it is keg and not cask beer.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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