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" IN HONOR OF OUR BEST-BARS ISSUE, WE PRESENT . . .  OKAY, MAY I PLEASE get this off my chest? Screw truffled popcorn.  I mean, seriously. I appreciate very much the idea of coming up with bar snacks more interesting than CornNuts, especially if I can be served my own private bowl instead of sharing one with beer drinkers who don&amp;#039;t wash their hands in the john. But it is such a pretentious, played-out idea to take something homely (e.g., hot dogs, PB&amp;amp;amp;J, grits) and tart it up with some precious ingredient--inevitably foie gras, truffle oil, or expensive mushrooms.  Instead, let&amp;#039;s look at what the bar snack needs to accomplish. It must be salty and complimentary to adult beverages, thus making you desire more of them. It should be possessed of a fatty richness. And a bit of crunch is essential.  At Outback Steakhouses across this great land, they serve Bloomin&amp;#039; Onions; well, those taste nice, but I want bite-sized nibblies to enhance swigs of Schlitz (okay, maybe Sam). At Cipriani Dolci in New York&amp;#039;s Grand Central, they offer chicken croquettes--but I said bar snacks, guys, not high tea. At the hyperchic Supperclub in Rome, they serve straight-ahead crumbled Parmigiano-Reggiano on huge platters on the bar. This is actually very cool, and I recommend it. But here&amp;#039;s something you can put a little more of your own personal stamp on: fried olives. They&amp;#039;re salty, rich, and redolent of herbal and grassy flavors that echo many of the notes in good beers, wines, mixers, and interesting gins. Get the unpitted kind if you can; they are fresher and more attractive. Buy them from the olive bar at your gourmet market (not, for God&amp;#039;s sake, the tasteless and rubbery ones from jars and cans), and get several sizes and colors. Go with my recipe at right, or mix it up with the seasonings. You could even add a splash of truffle oil. But please don&amp;#039;t.  Fried Stuffed Olives 1 lb mixed olives 1 tsp lemon zest 1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves A couple sprigs fresh thyme \u00BD tsp red-pepper flakes 1 medium garlic clove \u00BE cup extra-virgin olive oil 6 slices prosciutto \u00BD cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or pecorino Romano 1 egg, beaten lightly 1 cup fine bread crumbs with Italian seasonings Pit the olives carefully, leaving them as intact as possible. Combine the olives, lemon zest, rosemary, thyme, red-pepper flakes, and garlic clove in a container that has a cover. Add \u00BD cup oil, stir, cover, and refrigerate, preferably overnight, stirring occasionally. Drain the olives.  Finely chop the prosciutto and mix with the Parmigiano. Stuff the olives with the prosciutto-cheese mixture. Dip the stuffed olives in the egg and roll in bread crumbs. Heat a saute&amp;#039; pan over medium heat, add \u00BC cup olive oil to the pan, and fry the olives three or four minutes on all sides until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve warm. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/bars/a1019/esq0606food-52-1/>