The drowned sandwich (ahogada torta) was invented in Guadalajara in
the early 1900's. It was literally a mistake, a "slip-of-the-hand", senior De La Torre accidentally dropped the sandwich in the
container. "It's drowned", the customer cried

The same story is told about the French dip, said to have been
similarly discovered/invented in Los Angeles.

And with just a slight switch in the bread and condiments you have
the Chicago style "Italian Beef" sandwich.

There is one difference. The Chicago beef sandwich is actually good.
Not so good as the Pioneer Pit Beef or the North Shore (Boston area)
roast beef, but pretty good - I had one at Al's original location
that (with the giardiniera on the side) came reasonably close to an
east coast sandwich. Philly cheesesteaks, though, are revolting.

New taste:
Roslind and her two Vietnamese buddies are swapping more and more
foods and cooked dishes when they get together. I am now in
possession of a pound of Vietnamese finely ground coffee. I am not

Ah, that deserves experimentation. What I'd do with it
would be to investigate cold infusions, syrups, and
concentrates, possibly with an eye to cocktail-making.
Flavoring with other aromatics - sweet Asian spices, citrus,
vanilla/tonka.

in love with milk in my coffee, overly sweet coffee or iced coffee
so I am not making the classic Vietnamese iced drink with condensed

That's the only way I can take the stronger coffees, and not
often at that. Teas, sure, and I'm rather fond of the sweet
woodiness of southeast Asian iced tea.

milk but brewing it like any other drip coffee and drinking it hot
and black with just a tiny bit of sugar. It's got an odd but
interesting flavour, no doubt because it's made from Robusta not

You want to drip slowly and perhaps use less of the powder,
as more surface area allows for greater extraction.

Arabica beans: strong, bitter, with caramel and toasted grain notes
and a peculiar fruity acidity. I won't recommend it to you as it is
said to have twice as much caffeine as Arabica coffee.

I was made aware of that long ago (not in the context of
Vietnamese or Thai coffee but before all the robusta plants
were ripped out from the Central American plantations.

Dark and Stormy Julep Cocktail
categories: booze
servings: 1

2 sl peeled fresh ginger, thin, 1/8 oz total
10 mint leaves
1 ts maple syrup
2 oz aged rum
Crushed or shaved ice
mint sprigs for garnish
Directions

In a julep cup or large rocks glass, muddle ginger until
well crushed and juices are expressed. Add mint and maple
syrup and muddle until mint is lightly bruised, then swab
the cup's sides with the aromatic oils. Add rum and stir
well. Half-fill cup with crushed ice and stir to combine.
Fill completely with crushed ice and stir until outside
frosts. Add more crushed ice, heaping generously, then
garnish with sprigs of fresh mint.

Serve, adding a short straw if desired so that the
fragrance of the mint bouquet will greet the drinker
with each sip.

Daniel Gritzer, Serious Eats
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
* Origin: Fido Since 1991 | QWK by Web | BBS.FIDOSYSOP.ORG (1:123/140)