04-07-2026, 02:29 PM
Option: TLDR inbound... run while you can.
I have been around the block... and I've found incredible options for "last meal" worthy entries...
But I will begin with exposing my Puerto Rican heritage...
The spread:
White rice: cooked to perfection, with salted water and some oil to ensure tasty, salty "pegao*" the secret savory crunch-factor of perfect rice. Dark or light, it makes rice "feel" like home.
"Pegao" is (generally speaking) "stuck to the bottom rice."
Dark Red Kidney beans, boiled with some tasty ingredients to make it a rich thick broth of soft beans... a "stick to you ribs" component of "rice and beans."
Pernil: Roast pork ... with it's attached skin to become "chicharones" a very hard cooked skin surface basted in pork essences spewing from the meat underneath it. The pork soft and juicy, yielding a beautiful garlic aroma...
"Pasteles": A boiled meat pie, the 'dumpling-like' component is a mash of plantain, wrapped around a dollop of hearty stewed beef, folded in paper and cooked til firm.
"Platanos maduros:" Super sweet ripe plantain sliced diagonally, deep fried in oil or lard. If you like sweet with your savory... you must sample this.
"Tostones:" starchy unripened plantains cooked to stiffness combined with garlic and other herbs, sometimes mashed in a pistil into a salty ball... also served as slices...
"Tembleque:" Half-way between a coconut pudding and a coconut jello... sweet and almost creamy coconut milk confection.... light and yet filling.
Of course... If compromises are in order, or someone wanted to make me sweat the decision they would have competition...
Pizza... (Long Island, New York) Pizza. Sorry... ALL the rest seem "wannabes" to me.
"New York" Bagels, Italian breads, Kaiser rolls, even baguettes... (it's the water)
Peking Duck: .... A BOMB... I might even pass on all else for this...
Steaks: as they are no longer available... not the new anemically thin portions, not the 3 week old beef soaked in 'red' to make it "look" good. I recall inch-and-a-half was the expected nature of a cut of meat...
now it's not that at all.
Boiled Ham and cabbage and potato...
Roast Turkey ... American Thanksgiving style.
My wife's beef and barley soup (or chicken noodle)... food for the soul....
(my wife's anything for that matter.)
But in all this, NOTHING compares with food that is prepared as an expression of someone's love.
Now I'm hungry and I hate everyone.
OK another TLDR endured...
Love ya's
MM
I have been around the block... and I've found incredible options for "last meal" worthy entries...
But I will begin with exposing my Puerto Rican heritage...
The spread:
White rice: cooked to perfection, with salted water and some oil to ensure tasty, salty "pegao*" the secret savory crunch-factor of perfect rice. Dark or light, it makes rice "feel" like home.
"Pegao" is (generally speaking) "stuck to the bottom rice."
Dark Red Kidney beans, boiled with some tasty ingredients to make it a rich thick broth of soft beans... a "stick to you ribs" component of "rice and beans."
Pernil: Roast pork ... with it's attached skin to become "chicharones" a very hard cooked skin surface basted in pork essences spewing from the meat underneath it. The pork soft and juicy, yielding a beautiful garlic aroma...
"Pasteles": A boiled meat pie, the 'dumpling-like' component is a mash of plantain, wrapped around a dollop of hearty stewed beef, folded in paper and cooked til firm.
"Platanos maduros:" Super sweet ripe plantain sliced diagonally, deep fried in oil or lard. If you like sweet with your savory... you must sample this.
"Tostones:" starchy unripened plantains cooked to stiffness combined with garlic and other herbs, sometimes mashed in a pistil into a salty ball... also served as slices...
"Tembleque:" Half-way between a coconut pudding and a coconut jello... sweet and almost creamy coconut milk confection.... light and yet filling.
Of course... If compromises are in order, or someone wanted to make me sweat the decision they would have competition...
Pizza... (Long Island, New York) Pizza. Sorry... ALL the rest seem "wannabes" to me.
"New York" Bagels, Italian breads, Kaiser rolls, even baguettes... (it's the water)
Peking Duck: .... A BOMB... I might even pass on all else for this...
Steaks: as they are no longer available... not the new anemically thin portions, not the 3 week old beef soaked in 'red' to make it "look" good. I recall inch-and-a-half was the expected nature of a cut of meat...
now it's not that at all.
Boiled Ham and cabbage and potato...
Roast Turkey ... American Thanksgiving style.
My wife's beef and barley soup (or chicken noodle)... food for the soul....
(my wife's anything for that matter.)
But in all this, NOTHING compares with food that is prepared as an expression of someone's love.
Now I'm hungry and I hate everyone.
OK another TLDR endured...
Love ya's
MM
![[Image: 708880338595ab08c831fe3fc615f4d0.jpg]](https://denyignorance.com/uploader/images/708880338595ab08c831fe3fc615f4d0.jpg)
