Natural Food

Natural is best, at least when it comes to hot dog casing. I love the bit of chew it adds to the snap of a good wiener. Anyway, that’s my excuse for posting this picture of an excellent lunch at Mr. Mac's Canteen in Monroe, Connecticut. The chili seemed especially hot today – really, very, very hot – to the degree that the wonderful earthy/sunny scent of capsicum provided good competition for the piggy-garlic perfume of the hot dog itself. And did I mention how perfect the tender, lightly toasted bun is as a backdrop to that dramatic duet?

Rhode Island Food Blog

Although it is the littlest state, Rhode Island has a huge cuisine – quite literally in the form of its grand eating halls, as well as in the astonishing diversity of different things to eat and drink, many of them unique to the Ocean State. New York System Wieners, as pictured at Sam’s previous location (thanks, Wanderingjew), above, are just one well-known example. For more, browse the Rhode Island listings here at Roadfood.com or visit a new blog called Small Bites that came about when the Johnson & Wales Culinary Arts Museum teamed up with the Public Humanities Program at Brown University to create an exhibit called Food on the Move. The exhibit will open April 15, and it sounds like a Roadfood must!

Roadfood on Rick Steeves

We are going to be on Travel With Rick Steeves on public radio this weekend talking about Roadfood. To see what stations near you carry it, go to his website. If there isn’t a station you get, Rick’s producer tells me that the show becomes available as a podcast from I-tones on the website.

On the Road with Steinbeck

In her The Reader Travels blog (“dedicated to traveling in our minds through books, music and movies”), Ann M.S. Nation’s most recent post parallels Jane and my Two for the Road with John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. A rather flattering comparison! Ms. Curry writes, “As I start down this new food journey, I find myself looking for friendly recommendations” of books or movies in which food plays an important role. Perhaps some of us have suggestions.

π r Coconut

When it comes to cream pies, coconut edged out banana and chocolate in the Roadfood.com poll: The Best Cream Pie is ... .  Here’s the thing about coconut pie, though: too many restaurants play fast and loose with the boundaries between coconut CREAM pie and coconut CUSTARD pie, and while we love them both, there IS a huge difference between the two.  You cannot call one the other.  And don’t get us started on cream pies versus meringue pies…  Suffice it to say that a cream pie has a creamy, pudding-like filling topped, ideally, with whipped cream (or at least some sort of whipped topping).  Top it with beaten egg whites, though, and you no longer have cream pie, you’ve got meringue pie, which is where the lemon version really shines.  Vanilla cream pie?  We’ve never heard of it either, but we figured if there’s chocolate there must also be vanilla.  Apparently not.

Swamp Cabbage Festival

This celebration of the Florida state tree began in LaBelle in 1966 (and yes, swamp cabbage comes from the core of a tree, the Sabal palm).  LaBelle puts on a major shindig, which begins this year on Friday, 2/26/10 at 8 p.m. with the famous LaBelle Swamp Cabbage Festival Rodeo & Pro Bull Riding.  The rodeo will continue with shows Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday afternoon.  Saturday’s swamp cabbage parade begins at 10 a.m., which will be preceded by the Swamp Stomp at 8:30 a.m. (this is a 5K run/walk).  Even earlier than that, the annual bass tournament will start at dawn, with a $2000 first prize.

There’s a Super Cruise for car enthusiasts, a motorcycle show, mower racing, and the legendary armadillo races.  An hour-and-a-half cruise of the Caloosahatchee River will be available for $20.  And there will be lots of music and dancing all day Saturday and Sunday, featuring Bobby Bare at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.  There will, of course, be plenty of swamp cabbage to enjoy, too, in the form of stews and fritters, along with such local edibles as alligator and boiled peanuts.  See the festival website for all the details.

The Smelt Derby

45 years of smelt!  This coming Saturday, February 27, 2010, La Conner, WA holds their 45th annual Smelt Derby.  What does one do at a smelt derby?  For starters, you can witness smelt jigging duels between the area’s mayors and county commissioners.  Enjoy a pancake and egg breakfast from 8 a.m. until 10 a.m.  Participate in a 5K or 10K run.  Kids can win $100 in a fishing contest.  There’s fish printing, where kids can print the image of a fish on a shirt using a dead fish.  Take a schooner tour, or take a chance in a raffle.   Lots of hot dogs too.  See the local Rotary website for more info.

I Dream of Weenie

What is wrong with these pictures? If you look around the border of the image of the one on the left, you can see that it is reversed – a photo taken in a mirror. It shows the counter of my beloved Blackie's at about 11:30 this morning when I walked in and called out “two, well.” The picture at the right is one of those two, totally split apart from its well-doneness, its skin crisp and insides succulent, mustard and relish applied. What is wrong with the picture? I am busy fussing with focus instead of doing what I should be doing: eating it! (No need to write and tell me I am wiener-obsessed; those who are close remind me all the time.)

Profoundly Palatable Pop-Tarts

If you’re Roadfooders like us, you grew up eating Kellogg’s® Pop-Tarts® and you still suffer from occasional cravings. Though the debate over the best flavor—fruit filling or chocolate, frosted or not—will probably never end, Caiola’s Restaurant of Portland, Maine offers a toaster pastry for adults with their housemade cinnamon and sugar pop tart. More brittle than the store-bought brands, this gem is warm, flaky, and filled with semi-gooey cinnamon goodness. Like most Portland breakfast spots, Caiola’s small foyer was crowded when we wiggled our way to the register to order a tart to go. One waiting patron overheard us and admitted, “I had to wean myself off those pop tarts so I could try the rest of the menu!” Another asked to see the tart before we left and declared, “I’m having one of those!” With a daily rotating menu that reflects ingredients from local farms, we’ll definitely be back to try their oyster po-boy, polenta cookies, and homemade tater tots. Caiola’s is located in Portland’s West End neighborhood at 58 Pine Street.

Roadfood Glee Club Conquers Charleston, Day 3

Though some Roadfooders had already departed, the remaining group soldiered on for multiple brunches centering on higher-end RF establishments in downtown Charleston. Our first meet was at Magnolia’s on East Bay Street, where we shared a smorgasbord of fine Lowcountry fare: housemade pimento cheese (made with diced green olives) on flatbread crackers, Down South Egg Roll (stuffed with chicken, collards, tasso ham, and served with red pepper purée and spicy mustard), fried green tomatoes, and crab cakes topped with poached eggs. Our main entrées were blue crab bisque and Shellfish over Grits, an amazing amalgam of lobster, scallops, and shrimp in a butter sauce over creamy grits and topped with fried spinach.

Our second stop was at 82 Queen on Queen Street. Hot biscuits were placed on the table after ordering, so we dispensed with the appetizers and headed straight for the main dishes: pesto-crusted grouper on fried green tomatoes and grits, shrimp & grits, and the city’s best she-crab soup. We tapped out after these magnificent meals, as did others, though we knew no one could beat the inimitable ChiTownDiner, who managed to hit an astonishing 22 eateries in three days! Could that be a Roadfood record? A few locations were bandied about for the 2011 meeting, including Houston and Key West, the latter surely stemming from South Carolina’s abnormally snowy weather. Special thanks to The Travelin’ Man, Buffetbuster, ChiTownDiner, and WanderingJew for advance planning; to WanderingJew and Nocarolina for treating the group; and to Nocarolina, Nancypalooza and Julie, and Louis and Anna for conquering storm-swept highways to join us—and of course, a tip of our collective hats to Mayor Al, Glee Club founder and primary source of inspiration.