Weekend Open Thread

by wj

We are overdue for a new open thread. Unfortunately, inspiration is failing me this morning, so I’m going to fall back on something which is probably irrelevant to almost everyone else here: the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

For those of you who are not aware, the DMV can be described (if ones is very, very generous) as a mess. If one is merely very generous, “disaster” would be the term of choice. Listing the faults of the current DMV could take months. But a recent audit gives a taste. https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/03/29/editorial-dmv-audit-provides-shocking-examples-of-dysfunction/

One item, in particular, struck me. The DMV’s software was characterized as “using a 50 year old programming language.” My first thought was that they were probably talking about CoBOL; and why was that a major problem? But no.

Assembler, the primary programming language used in DMV field office computer applications, was created around the 1950s and is less commonly used today. With a significant portion of the agency’s IT workers approaching retirement age, DMV faces a potential shortfall of workers with skills to program its computers.

Oh, (mainframe, no doubt) Assembler. NOW, I see why there might be a problem. In fact, my biggest surprise is that they still have any Assembler programmers who haven’t retired. I have to wonder, how long is it going to take to rewrite all those programs in a better language? For that matter, how long will it take just to document what the existing programs actually do – because I’m betting that the current “documentation”, where it exists at all, is massively inadequate.

Anyway, Open Thread

Comments

[Nigel]

unpurged goat intestine

Does that mean what it sounds to mean ? And it wasn't bad ?? ???

I once had andouillette when my wife ordered it in error, and I nobly agreed to swap plates with her.
Haven't tasted anything quite so disgusting since I was at school, but I finished the plate.

[hairshirthedonist]

I can imagine thinking andouillette was just another name for or a slight variation of this kind of Andouille:

In the US the sausage is most often associated with Louisiana Creole cuisine, where it is a coarse-grained smoked sausage made using pork, garlic, pepper, onions, wine, and seasonings. The pork used is mostly from a smoked Boston shoulder roast. Once the casing is stuffed, the sausage is smoked again (double smoked).

I can also imagine thinking something was wrong with it when it showed up on the table and I got to smell it!

[byomtov]

I make an anchovy paste and spread it on toast.

I do that with sardines - the boneful skinful kind packed in oil - but on rye bread.

[Pro Bono]

Sardine sandwiches, and sardines on toast, are delicious. Made with tinned sardines in olive oil. The fish are only little and the bones are good for you.

Almost everything else, yes to garlic.

Interesting point about liver. My mother used to feed us liver occasionally, and I didn't like it at all - too dry. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she overcooked it.

[Girl from the North Country]

I can (and do) eat anchovies straight out of the tin too, the in-oil kind not the in-salt kind. There is almost nothing more delicious than anchovies on top of an open egg salad sandwich, unless it is smoked cod roe spread underneath the egg salad instead. Salty fish + eggs: a winning combination. In Hong Kong, canapes were charmingly called "small chow", and that's where I first tasted that taste sensation.

[wj]

"Garlic makes it good": words to live by.

Hear hear!

Amen, sisters, amen.

[Girl from the North Country]

My mother used to feed us liver occasionally, and I didn't like it at all - too dry. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she overcooked it.

That's my guess. hsh's comment about "dust" tipped me off to the likely (and extremely common) problem. When liver is cooked through, it develops a very unpleasant dryish, almost grainy texture, and a strong and unpleasant taste, whereas when it is pretty pink inside it is slightly juicy, and mild. However, the ox liver with which we were served in boarding school is probably more or less incapable of being made palatable: as well as the revolting (very pronounced) graininess and strong taste, it was also shot through with worrying "tubes" (veins?). If I hadn't already tasted delicious liver, I would certainly have been put off for life, as most of my peers were. Apart from this, regarding my normally missing squeamishness reflex and further to the noble John Thullen's Filipino experiences, one of the things that did activate it was the Filipino eggs cooked with embryos inside filling the shell: I could not even begin to make the attempt!

[JanieM]

Per hsh: we too (my siblings and I) used to love to eat the raw meatball mixture. I would have it for a meal to this day if it weren't for safety reasons. I did get very sick on it once as an adult, and that cured me.

Chocolate chip cookie dough is also much better uncooked. Freeze a roll, slice off a treat whenever you want.... Only again, I don't do it any more.

[John D Thullen]

Ah yes, balut. Hawked at every bus stop and street corner in the Philippines.

Tried it once. Crunchy for all the wrong reasons.

Yes, the goat intestine was as described. But remember, several bottles of warm San Miquel beer, in which the alcohol content is, let us say, unregulated, accompany nearly every meal AND the frequent power outages in the barrios, if there is power, cause the room to go dark so many times you can't get a good look at what is being proffered.

If it's not moving, I'm game .... once.

I cannot swallow boiled okra, or any other okra for that matter.

I wish it did move.

Far away from me.

[Girl from the North Country]

Is it the sliminess of okra, John? I am told there are ways to mitigate it, by slicing fine and frying hot for example. You may not consider it worthwhile however.

San Miguel: yes. Tsingtao: ditto.

[russell]

okra's good in a gumbo.

sharing: my wife likes to taste everything, I like to eat what I ordered. I'll have a taste of her dinner if I haven't started eating mine yet, otherwise I don't want to be distracted from whatever it is I'm having.

Tapas or dim sum or other kinds of things where variety is the point, however, is fine with me. I will happily partake of whatever's on the table.

People are weird. I am a person. The remainder of the syllogism is left as an exercise for the reader.

[CharlesWT]

Only again, I don't do it any more.

Which pretty much describes my current diet. I eat almost nothing that I routinely ate in the past.

[John D Thullen]

Here's my recipe for okra.

Assemble the ingredients: okra, corn meal, flour, bacon fat, red pepper flakes.

Throw the okra away. Use the remaining ingredients to prepare something else.

Bon appetite.

If I am asked in a southern cuisine restaurant if I would like okra with that, I ask if the okra has OKRA in it, and if yes, I mitigate by declining the offer.

[wj]

Much more challenging than dodging things like okra or liver: avoiding chilli flakes and other hot peppers. My taste buds are generally alive and well, and I prefer to keep them that way. But any number of foods are subject to having hot peppers by default.

Besides, pepper** really has only one purpose: to conceal the fact that the meat has started to rot. These days, what with refrigeration etc., there's really no need any more to eat rotten meat.

** Excepting bell peppers, of course.

[Nigel]

I’m with wj - I can’t even touch chillis, as I’m somewhat allergic to them (I don’t mind hot, as the most pungent wasabi is fine for me).
And I’m in the percentage of the population for which cilantro tastes like soap, so Mexican food is simply not a thing for me, sadly.

My ideal diet would probably be Japanese.

[byomtov]

Salty fish + eggs: a winning combination.

Scrambled eggs with lox. Yum.

[hairshirthedonist]

My ideal diet would probably be Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Greek, Spanish, Malaysian, Jewish, or something I haven't tried yet. I'm very picky!

[Girl from the North Country]

Scrambled eggs with lox. Yum.

Funnily enough, that's one I'm not crazy about. I don't mind it, but would never choose it, although I love both components. Perhaps this is because our smoked salmon is much less salty than most of your lox (I think), especially my favourite "London Cure", recently described by Nigella Lawson as "tender and mild, like silky wafer thin sashimi", even more delicate than your Nova. However, each to his or her own. I'm in favour of hsh's eclectic approach immediately above, although I feel sorry for the chili and coriander/cilantro haters among us - these are two of my favourite things!

[Marty]

I pretty much just beef, chicken and pork no organs, no lamb, no veal, with some form of potato and maybe spinach(in butter and garlic).

I am flexible about in which country the meat is grilled(with garlic).

Chicken , bacon, ranch anything.

Hidden Valley ranch, no substitute.

[Girl from the North Country]

Marty, please clarify your second and third paragraphs! I am trying to understand your preferences....

[CharlesWT]

A limiting factor to my consumption of chili peppers is my concern that I might overload my liver and kidneys. That would be offal...

At one time I had my tolerance built up enough that I put about 35 grams of dried chili peppers in a smoothie and suffered no discomfort.

As a kid, most of the liver I ate might now be called chicken fried.

For a time we had a pressure fryer. If you got all the variables right, it would produce some very good results. Maybe not good for you though.

[Marty]

GftNC, I like the cooked meat from pretty much any ethnic cuisine. Meat defined as beef, chicken or pork and not body parts. The limit of seasonings is basically not too hot and not curry.

:Chicken, Bacon, Ranch" is a thing. Pizza, subs, fast food, salad, as long as it contains those key ingredients it is awesome. Although, as always, the bacon should be crisp.

[Girl from the North Country]

Thanks Marty, now I understand.

[wj]

My ideal diet would probably be Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Greek, Spanish, Malaysian, Jewish, or something I haven't tried yet.

I'd drop Mexican*, but definitely add Afghan. Some of the afghan restaurants here are just awesome.

* In addition to lack of tolerance for hot/spicy, I'm not fond of corn and I detest avocado. Doesn't leave a whole lot of Mexican....