Phil Collins. Gorilla. Drums. It's all an ad for Cadbury Dairy Milk (which we can probably find at Wegman's).
And it. Is. Odd.
Whenever I look at Midwestern states, I keep on finding strange (to me) sandwiches: Horseshoe sandwiches from Illinois. Breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches from Indiana. Loosemeats from Iowa. Coney Island dogs from Michigan. And though they aren't sandwiches, there was enough in the way of bread from Kansas (honey sunflower) and Minnesota (wild rice frybread). So why not continue the trend with perhaps one of the stranger sandwiches I've read about in a long time.
Official Name: State of MissouriAccording to local legend, the St. Paul Sandwich was named by Steven Yuen at Park Chop Suey in St. Louis for his home town of St. Paul. It’s considered a fast food snack that is really cheap < $2. [Lee 2009]
The title of this post is the most recent moderated comment that I received from some online academic paper writing website (if you don't know my opinions of the proprietors of those sites: they deserve the wrath of a thousand infernos. Okay, maybe just a hundred).
Do spammers REALLY think I'm so dumb or desperate for comments that I will deliberately publish de-contextualized comments that lead to spam sites? I'm not, though the brazenness is actually becoming amusing.
Cole slaw: it's one of those unassuming yet still classic of American dishes. And it exists in many forms: creamy, vinegary, boiled or non-boiled dressings, with or without sugar, with big slivers or small bits of cabbage, with red or green or even Chinese cabbage, with a very few ingredients or with many, and even some varieties from outside our country (such as the simple curtido variety brought in by Salvadorans and easily found in any Central American community in the DC region). And anyone can tell you that cole slaw is the quintessential barbecue side dish.
Official Name: State of MissouriIn Missouri, as it is nearly everywhere in the Midwest, cole slaw is mostly creamy style... but there is a school of slaw makers who still prepare a boiled dressiing: the early forerunners of commercial bottled salad dressings like Miracle Whip. It is a tradition worth reviving. Laced with dry mustard, boiled dressing is good on potato salad: thinned with additional cream, it can also be served with roast pork, ham or fish [Adams 1991: 166]Her boiled dressing, and the adaptation I followed for the typical non-boiled creamy version, are on page 166 of her Heartland cookbook. And yes, it is a lovely accompaniment to the Kansas City style spare ribs I made in the last post.
Tomorrow morning, the Locust Point branch of Charlotte-based Harris Teeter finally opens on McHenry Row. Apparently this evening there will be a "Taste of Teeter" event for the local community, so people can get a taste of what has just opened up in their neighborhood. I have said before how much I like Harris Teeter, having shopped at their Columbia store and (when I am down that way, which I am often these days) their Kalorama (DC) and Pentagon Row (Arlington) locations. But it will be nice to finally have access to it in my own home town, the northernmost Harris Teeter location.
I'm getting back on track with the state-by-state posts again. So meet me in St Louie, Louie....
Continuing up the Mississippi River we arrive at the Missouri, a state whose food is at times Midwestern, at times Southern. The state is more than just wonderful, wonderful BBQ. I'm ready for it to Show Me just what else is there.
Official Name: State of MissouriSt. Louis...with its location at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers...was a Southern-belle sort of town with an Eastern look to it... Buzzing with activity and crammed full of inviting new shops and restaurants, it is as lively today as it was a hundred years ago.Okay then, so you know which dish I have to tackle first.
Across the state on the western border is Kansas City, and it is as Western as St. Louis is Eastern; there is an expansiveness here... Today it is a metropolis, a sophisticated place with a flourishing arts community, wide streets, and green meadow parks dotted with Henry Moores. And, of course, there is Kansas City barbecue, an enthusiasm of the whole area, as important as baseball or ballet. [Adams 1991: 150-151]
I saw this on WJZ recently: laws enacted in June to make things easier for food trucks to operate legally and effectively were at first set to expire at the end of the year. No more! The city has extended them indefinitely. WJZ's Monique Griego interviewed Gypsy Queen Café operator Tom Looney about Baltimore's food truck policies.
“There wasn’t really a central database that you look at to say this is what I need to do to operate a food truck,” said Looney.
The new policies also created designated parking areas and did away with a proximity ban that kept trucks from parking near restaurants.
Looney says vendors hope to work with the city on setting permanent policies. [WJZ 2011]
As stated in my previous post, I've taken a pause in mourning for my father. It's humbling how many friends will show such kindness to you upon the death of a loved one. I am quite thankful (and when the horrible day comes, I look forward to helping them out too).
Now that I am back and posting, I had to start with gratuitous silliness. Yes, more Sandra Lee. This was the Halloween episode I missed for much more important highlights, Lee's latest lameness (created by MrSuperProductions). Scratch that: it's not lame. Anything this absurd can not be described merely as "lame". It is fabulous and campy in its horribleness. And by that standard, Aunt Sandy has really topped herself. Even the slightly out-of-sync audio just seems to completely work here. She's slurring her words. Apparently this show was mostly silly costumes and silly cocktails, and very few "recipes".
