SandwichShortOfAPicnic
Veteran
Felicity Cloake does a bit of an American food odyssey - What do you think of her choices so far?
She is a food and travel journalist who writes cook books usually by collecting the best recipes chef's have to offer on a version of something and test kitchening them to pieces for her own definitive version.She's gathering info for her next book. Which given I'm wanting to dap over to the tiny island
of America I'm quite interested in. What would you add as a must try American classic?
Link to original article -
https://milled.com/the-guardian-sou...n-bayou-country-the-guardian-TfHODrrZvXzz8bNr
Beignets by bike in bayou countryBy the time you read this, I should be somewhere in western Louisiana, pedalling towards New Orleans, the promised land of muffuletta sandwiches, jambalaya and big bowls of sausage-studded gumbo. Occasionally, a vision of sugar-dusted beignets (pictured above) dances tantalisingly on the road in front of my eyes, a powerful incentive to keep those legs turning through bayou country.I’ve been in the US for three weeks now, cycling around and eating everything in sight while researching my next book. America often gets a bad rap as a place that values quantity over quality in the food department – and while I’ve had more than my fair share of oversized meals (though I did take a pass on a half-pound burger with refried beans, cheese, salsa and tortillas chips on top), it’s as lazy a stereotype as the surprisingly popular assumption that British cuisine peaks at beans on toast. Not that I’ve got anything against baked beans – in fact, I slightly miss them and will certainly be seeking out some of the Boston variety when I make it to New England next month.Though I’m travelling through the land of the motor car, where, with a few urban exceptions, everything is set up for the driver (why get out of your car to buy doughnuts when you can order them from the wheel), I’ve found several advantages to travelling by bike. For a start, you really work up an appetite for a hamburger or two when you’ve done 40 miles before lunch, and second, sticking to the smaller, slower roads means you bypass the big chains in favour of the smaller, independent joints that often predate the freeway system. | |||||||||||||
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I started in San Francisco, spiritual home of sourdough and Chinese-American food (it’s thought to be the birthplace of the modern fortune cookie), then headed down the Pacific Coast Highway to Los Angeles for staggeringly expensive smoothies and incredible Armenianand Mexican food, before letting the train take the strain en route to Texas. Though the longhorn state may be famous for its big beef, San Antonio is the centre of Mexican-American food and the birthplace of the fusion cuisine now known as Tex-Mex (and a Unesco creative city of gastronomy). Forget the forgettable fajitas and regrettable chimichangas that took the UK by storm in the 1990s; the real deal is as rich and nuanced as any other cuisine, from specialities from every region of Mexico to homegrown favourites such as puffy tacos and proper, slow-cooked chile con carne (but never, ever with beans). After this, I’m heading to Tennessee for barbecue, hot chicken and Elvis’ favourite sandwich. If anyone knows a good salad joint up that way, please let me know. |
