Day 11 at The Culinary: Lox

I got lox today.

Man was I happy to get lox. I like lox a lot. I've had it most times that I've been to my dad's in the past five or so years in some form or another on my bagels. It is now a staple in my list of comfort foods. The one thing I was not expecting to get here was lox. But I did, and here's the story. I went to Banquet:

-- Lox Salad with Fennel Tops, Shaved Fennel, Arugula and Spinach with an Herb Oil
-- Chicken Roulade with Couscous and Broccoli Rabe
-- Chocolate Pudding with Banana and Strawberry
-- Orange Cream Float

Lox: Fresh salmon that has undergone a smoking process

Fennel: An aromatic plant with white bulbs and pale green, celery-like stems

Roulade: The French term for a thin slice of meat rolled around a filling

Couscous: Granular Semolina

Broccoli Rabe: A cabbage family vegetable that has long green stems and small broccoli-like bulbs, bitter flavor

I'm sorry, but I didn't take any pictures. I wish I did, but I think the old scary guy was around again, and I didn't yet get over his ominous glaring around the Banquet room for mistakes.

Alright, so I was thrilled to get some lox. I ate it all up, and loved the fact that it was paired with the licorice-flavored fennel and other salad greens. The chicken was filled with prosciutto, mozzarella and sage, and it was a little too herbal, but otherwise it was cooked very well and I enjoyed it. The chocolate pudding was one of the best desserts I've had at the school so far. It was thick and perfect. I loved how it had sliced banana on top, because banana is my favorite fruit. The special drink was the orange cream float, and it was delicious. This was overall the most solid meal I've had at Banquet yet.

Here's the problem. I sat with some other people, not my usual crowd, at Banquet. When I got to math class later, which the usual crowd has with me, they started a discussion of the lunch. The only thing they had a problem with was their lox.

Remember my post about the second day here? I mentioned how picky people were. Well, not a thing has changed.

I know this might come back around to me if they read this, because they know who they are, and they know what they said. So sorry, but not really because I don't care.

The lox was F.I.N.E. fine. Oh my guava melons. It started with one person wondering how it was made or something. Then some kid was like, "it's dry cured salmon." I wanted to smack this kid. He was so confident about himself. The salmon has plenty of moisture, and dry curing takes OUT moisture. Dry cured things are crisp, brittle and really salty. There are fishes that are dry cured, like Baccala' (dried and salted cod) and dried sardines, but not lox. Lox is smoked salmon. It is fresh and raw, and then they smoke it. That's why it's wet and floppy.

Someone else said it wasn't good smoked salmon. Another person concurred and said it was way too tough, the pieces were really thick so it was very chewy, and also it was too salty. Bullllllllllllll-ogna. Thick-headed. I doubt they've ever had lox before. I've had lox that was light pink, buttery soft and incredibly light in texture that I fileted myself. I've also had dark orange lox that was packaged and was very very salty. Every variation I've loved. Obviously some of those kinds won't be liked by everyone, but the problem is that this particular lox used was right in the middle. It wasn't too salty. It wasn't too thick (they probably didn't even separate the pieces). It wasn't too chewy. It was the right color.

It would've been a different story if they said it was good or even fine but they like it better when it's less or more salty, or something like that. I say that because people have preferences. I would prefer all my lox to be like that gigantic filet I cut myself, but I'm not an ape. This was good quality lox.

Oh yeah, then someone insisted that fennel doesn't have tops. I was just pissed.

Alright, moving on. Later, I went to K16.

-- Roasted Leg of Lamb with Pommes Au Gratinée and Haricot Verts in Lamb Jus
-- Fruit Tart

Pommes: French for "potatoes"

Au Gratinée: French term for any dish that is mixed with breadcrumbs and cheese and then placed in a broiler until brown and crispy

Haricot Verts: French for "green string bean". Hand-picked variety of green bean

Jus: French for "juice", in this case refers to the natural juices exuded from the meat

This was a very nice French dinner. The lamb was cooked nicely, and pretty much everything else on the plate was perfect. The fruit tart was really great. I had a couple when I was in Farq. and then brought one back to the room for later. The shell was just magnificent and so was the cream that the fruit was stuck to. Sure, the fruit was good too.

Until the next post,
Eat well, then eat more