I play this game often when dining out with my foodish friends. After grossly indulging in whatever gluttonous gourmet feast was placed before us, deeply buzzed on wine and cocktails, sitting back in our chairs to wait out the digestion, we ask one another, "If you were going to die tomorrow, what would you want your last meal on earth to be?"
Strangely enough, even when the group of dining companions is a group of professional chefs, people in the food industry, or hard core "foodies," the answers are usually very similar. There is no answer of a fancy sit down dinner with multiple courses of preciously presented dishes. Almost always, people answer with favorite comfort foods, foods that remind them of home, family, and the experiences they've had in this life.
A few weeks ago, Caley from ChewonThatBlog asked us at Slashfood what we would want for our "Last Supper." We don't seem to have much variety on our team, with a fairly even split on only a few things: Mediterranean (since pizza is Mediterranean, right?), seafood, and Japanese food. Our individual answers are below, but we'd love to hear what our Slashfoodie readers would want as their last meals on earth, too!
From Bob Sassone, our Guy's Guy:
"Pepperoni pizza. And lots of alcohol. With my friends, of course."
From Marisa McClellan, the newest addition to our Slashfood team:
"I would surround my dining room table with a bunch of close friends and put out a really great spread of cheeses, meats, roasted peppers, artichoke hearts, olives, fruit and bread. After that there would be perfect chocolate chip cookies with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. "
From Joanne Lutynec, who takes the opportunity to laugh in her shellfish allergy's face:
"I would want my last meal to be a mountain of king crab legs, lobster tails, shrimp, scallops, etc. with lots of clarified butter and deep fried side dishes. I developed an intolerance to shellfish a few years ago, and though I still sneak it in every now and then, I really can't make a meal out of it anymore. And the deep fried stuff? May as well go out with a bang."
From Joe DiStefano, who rocks the lobster:
"My last meal on earth would involve a platter of freshly caught seafood, among other things. Here goes: an Everestlike raw platter rife with raw oysters,snow crab meat and other treats from the sea. Follow that with lots of heritage pork and beef and fresh picked veggies."
From Jonathon Forester, the culinary world traveler:
"I would love a whole day long Sushi, Sashimi, Kaiseki event where each piece of food, raw and cooked, was crafted by top Japanese food artisans for me, my family, and best friends, served to our individual tastes, and with the appropriate sake, shochu, tea, and other fine beverages for each serving.
Preferably this would take place outside, while we are comfortably lounged under the shade of an enormous tree in Autumn, as the leaves are blazing in all their jewel tones, and that spicy smell of autumn leaves with hints of wood smoke is in the air. As an accompaniment the best music would be that of a series of gentle water falls in a gurgling brook, tuned in the Japanese water garden style, and a soft breeze rustling the leaves on the trees, while occasionally soft classical music is played live in the background as a counterpoint. Of course there would be a spectacular sunset to rival the best I have ever seen, including the amazing and humbling ones I saw looking out over the Indian Ocean on Zanzibar and in the savanna in Tanzania in Africa. At night, candle filled paper lanterns of all jewel tones in all colors would be hung from the trees branches, casting their soft glow of contentment upon us."
From me, Sarah J. Gim, your humble editor, total chef -stalker, and correspondent on all things Delicious:
"Less important is what I eat, and more important is with whom. I'd love to sit down on my baby blanket spread out on the floor with Anthony Bourdain, Tyler Florence, Jonathan Gold, Govind Armstrong, Tom Colicchio, and Mario Batali and obscenely eat our way through an entire sushi bar's worth of fish. By the way, no rolls."
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