New York, New York - so good they named it twice. Only one thing to do with that kind of hype - a one-day smash-and-grab of Philadelphia. In your face you over-sized, pomacious metropolis.
Philadelphian highlight? Was it the Liberty Bell? Was it the birthplace of America? Of course not, down in the boho ghetto a crazy man has turned his house into a mosaic - Philadelphia Magic Garden, down on South Street - and whilst you're down on South Street you can get yourself a Philly cheesesteak. Or not bother, because it's just a hard to eat sandwich. Overrated.
Speaking of which, one of the big things I was aiming at whilst in the States was to eat as many of the local dishes as was viable. So here goes the Traveller Cliche guide to the cuisine of Louisiana - remember I eat these things so you don't have to:
Biscuits and Gravy
Biscuits and gravy? Get right in my face you. Oh no, wait, you're not what I was expecting at all - you're flavourless bits of dough in a boring white sauce. How mundane? I was expecting chocolate hobnobs in beefstock - at least that would've provoked a reaction of more than an ambivalent shrug.
Crawfish Etoufee
What is the fuss about. People go crazy for this and I don't understand. It's not unpleasant - well the taste isn't unpleasant, the smells fairly bad and the texture / look reminds you just how crawfish live - but it's not something I'd go voodoo for.
Grits
Feels a bit like you're eating an ants' nest. Taste's alright though.
Gumbo
Watered-down curry.
Shrimp Po'boy
Right, shrimp bo-boy sounds really quite exotic whereas a scampi sandwich sounds a bit Kerri Katona. They're the same thing.
Oysters
If you deep-fry stuff in breadcrumbs it tastes of chicken - why would you do that to the poor little oysters?
Jambalaya
Jambalaya=good
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment