Oil and Vinegar?

So, after yet another mishap at my local Subway, this time being given Oil and Vinegar on my sandwich instead of Oregano. Okay, so they at least sound very vaguely alike if you weren't paying attention - better than the whole tomato-mustard debacle, but it made me think - oil and vinegar on a sandwich? Ewwwwww. Now, correct me if i'm wrong but i'm certain that this isn't something very common in the UK - at least not in the Subway chain there. I'm almost fairly certain that it's not de rigeur for the rest of the continent but then, having only done a little travelling in Europe and most of that when i was younger, i couldn't swear to it. I personally just find it a very unusual addition to it all. Thus, when you ask for a sandwich all the way, you get lots of salad stuff, mustard and mayonnaise, oil and vinegar. Whether you like it or not! A handful of times, i have made requests not to add the oil and vinegar and got some unusual looks but, hey, i don't really like eating oil that much.

Now, okay, i know what you're thinking - Chris, you're clearly losing it. After all, what are the main constituents of salad dressing - oil and vinegar of course. But i have to say i prefer them mixed with the other stuff rather than separately. I don't particularly like biting into a sandwich and having oil oozing down my finger. Or chin. Now, i guess a bowl of salad is a different thing - i did add some olive oil (very GOOD olive oil i shoud add) to my salads in Italy, but i stress it was minus the bread. And also, in my defence, i have borne witness to people getting sandwiches from Subway with no salad on whatsoever and getting it dowsed in oil. I mean, so saturated that you could set the thing alight. Okay, so also when you go to restaurants you get bread, and olive oil usually to put on a plate and dip it in, and i often do that myself. So i guess all in all, it makes the whole post here somewhat of a waste of time. Well, i suppose it's all down to personal taste. I suppose i'm just venting from the fact that the worker was busy chatting to her friend instead of listening to what i was saying, and completely didn't get what i wanted. I suppose the morale of the story is that i REALLY should stop going to this Subway!

Food, glorious food......

Of course, no trip to Italy wouldn't be complete without lots and lots of eating, and it's perhaps no real surprise that i've been happily embracing the tradition. Okay, so i havenb't been quite as bad as when Robert De Niro ate his way through the country in order to pile on the weight for the filming of 'Raging Bull' but there has been a lot of food availabler (in terms of variety) and so i've been quite happily trying it out. One of the more unusual things i have heard whilst being here is that the Italians don't really do breakfast and so they put out what they think other people want to have for breakfast. Given that the conference i was attending was very multinational, this led to their being a lot of stuff. The mainstay was a lot of breakfast cereal - surprisingly this was quite high sugar, so i guess they think we all have a sweet tooth. THere was, naturally, lots of coffee (good stuff) and then the usual fruit juice, yoghurt and fruit. On top of all that, though, there was a large amount of very sugary and sweet pastries, lots of prosciutto (cold cured ham), cheese and scrambled eggs. In short, almost anything and everything you could consider earting for breakfast. Except grits. Thank God.

For lunch and dinner, naturally, the Italians are little more at home, and there was also lots of good stuff to be had. To list it all here would be rather long winded and, quite frankly, would make me hungry. And probably you as well. Suffice to say, it was largely all pretty good - despite not being 'really italian' as our italian friends at the conference would have it. I guess this is mainly as it's made on a larger scale. However, none of us were complaining as it was pretty damn good. Suffice to say, i suspect i shall be hitting the gym when i get back. And certainly not eating pasta again for quite some time!!!

Magnolia

With the lab having it's first, for some time, potential post-doc candidate visiting, you can imagine that a lot of us were interesed in taking the opportunity to go out for dinner or lunch on work - a chance to try some of the nicer restaurants in town and not worry overtly about the cost. Fortunately for me, I was given the opportunity to go out to dinner and had selected a restaurant in downtown Charleston that has a reputation as being one of the nicer places in Charleston to eat whilst not being ridiculously extortionate. The place is called Magnolia and is one of three restaurants owned by the same people - they have one that is slightly cheaper and one that is more expensive. Now, having said that the prices aren't too bad, it can also be said that it would be extremely easy to drop a large amount of money there - a glance at the wine list reveals a good number of bottles of over $100 and much much more. Fortunately for us, our tastes aren't THAT expensive, so the main concern was whether the reputation afforded the restaurant was accurate or not.

I'm happy to report that the food certainly did live up to the word of mouth. The style of cooking is something of a Southern cooking that has been given some upscale dressing - basically, it's high class Southern food (even with the grits, i might add) that works very well I think. I'm not sure if i would rush back to the place again, given that there are also a couple of other places in the vicinity that do a similar style of cooking for a slightly more reasonable price (it was no surprise to any of us that we were right at the limit of our budget). However, overall, i'm happy that i have had the chance to eat here, and would certainly go back. Provided someone else is offering to pay!!!