Food, Glorious Food

My ‘tude about food – I’ll try just about anything once or twice. More! I like to give fresh fare a decent shot at impressing me. Oh, yes I do.

• When in Scotland the first time, I had blood pudding. Quite tasty actually.
• In Poland, at a Hungarian restaurant with menus in German, Polish and Hungarian (of course) but no English, I just randomly pointed and picked. TOTALLY wish I'd written down what I tried because it was AWESOME.
• I found myself in New York (Manhattan) at a restaurant that served alligator. OF COURSE I had to try it. And? Yup, tasted like very old, tough chicken. No need to eat that poor, sad reptile again.

Now that I’m older, know my likes/hates/mehs a bit more and I’m a vegetarian, I’m more about what’s in this dish, tell me more about it. Also, I want to indulge in good, authentic fare as often as possible. I'm obvs gonna be mega suspicious of, fer instance, a Bhindi Masala made by someone with the last name of O'Grady or Zongzi by a Fanelli.

So then, on this très recent vaca, where I was just 12 (Bisbee) and 180 (Phoenix) miles from the Mexican border I figured, boyhowdy, I just gotta eat nothing but the local grub. And so I did. My much loved Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese chow could wait until I got home.

The place that really, truly blew my socks off was a cafeteria in a grocery store of all places – Los Altos Ranch Market. First off, Jenny introduced me to the most astounding and magical of drinks – the agua fresca. You may be wondering, was ist das? I surely was.

Agua fresca (Spanish for fresh water) is a light, non-alcoholic drink served by street vendors, in bodegas, and at eateries throughout Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, as well as Mexican cafés and taquerias around the U.S. They are made by combining fresh fruits, grains, seeds, and even flowers, with sugar and water. (source)

I figured I’d just get the same thing as Jenny since I’d no clue what to expect. We had a cinnamon/walnut combo and it was astounding (made fresh while we waited too). This is now my utterly fave, MUST have drinky. I believe I’m actually going to brave my kitchen and make some of this. The Latin Kitchen has some recipes that look totes necessary. I think all I gotta do is throw the ingredients in the blender (leftover from when The Amazing Bob made me smoothies) and POOF. I may start with mango or cucumber or mebbe tamarind!

After my brekkie burrito (along with some kind of amazing flat bread-ish type thing) I, embarrassingly, entered a big fat food coma and needed a nap. Yup. Fer fuck’s sake, it’s not like I ate my considerable weight in goodies. The food was just that swoon-worthy.

Also too, the grocery’s tamales were un-fucking-believable. Wonder if I can get them shipped here?

I’m home now, in the frozen North East, almost 3,000 miles from the border. What to do if I’ve just GOT to have a killah tamale? There are two Mexican restaurants here in Quincy. Both authentic enough, with one significantly more delicioso than the other. And then there’s Taqueria Lupita down in Pawtucket – def worth the drive.

PHEW!

Food, Glorious Food from the musical Oliver!