I didn't have a camera for so long that I guess I forget I have one now. My goal last night was to take pics of the Friday night fish fry at the Creekside Cafe and post them here with some commentary about how sweet it is that we in CNY have this tradition. Fish fry happens all year, but it really takes on significance when Lent rolls around and Catholics forsake meat on Fridays. During Lent, every restaurant, bowling alley, church and just about any building in CNY with a kitchen is cranking out this delicacy. It's battered and fried haddock served with fries and slaw, and if you're paying more than ten dollars for it, you're getting robbed. The piece of haddock you'll get is HUGE, and the fries and slaw just add to the overall deliciousness of the dish. If you ate fish fry every day, you'd probably keel over in a month.
Writing this post has reminded me of all the good eats we have here in CNY. I'll be honest, I don't eat all of these area specialties, and one of them I haven't even tried, but here they are with no descriptions:
-- riggies, either chicken or vodka
-- tomato pie
-- pusties
-- spiedies (more a western New York thing, but you can get them here too)
-- greens
Okay, dear reader now it's up to you to provide descriptions of the aforementioned dishes.
Idaho has its delicacies too, and some of them I sorely miss. If you're reading my blog from the Gem State (Clark and maybe Ginger), can you tell our readers about the following delicious dishes?
-- Indian fry tacos
-- funeral potatoes (probably more Mormon than Idahoan, but oh so delightful)
-- chokecherry syrup or jam
-- Basque sheeepherders bread (from central Idaho)
-- huckleberry syrup or jam
-- fresh trout (rainbow, cutthroat, brook, any kind really)
-- Pollo Asada (clearly not just Idahoan, but certainly not on any Mexican restaurant menus around here)
What did I forget? There are plenty of potato-related dishes, from ice cream to chocolate covered potato chips, but I've never had the urge to partake in any of those.
Well, have fun with this post. It'll make you hungry. Maybe for a garbage plate at Betty's Cafe in Marcy, NY? That's where I'm going.
Happy Saturday
Happy Anniversary
My Loves
Vincent Murphy
Central New York
Rocks!
Spring
Come On!
Awwwwww
I miss my Missy
Better Days
they'll come again
Alicia Vida Billman
is 29 today
This says it all!
Friday noon, you're coming home with me Vinny.
Vincent Murphy?
What!?
Tuesday nights
are gonna change in May
Mr. Murphy
waiting for his haircut
When I get bored
I take pictures of myself in bathrooms
Graphic Boulevard
blown transformers and a tree
Cars in Bergenfield
didn't do well
House on Queen St
with a for sale sign in front of it
Bergenfield
Storm 2010
Vincent Murphy
and his look alike Bob Murphy
Off my back porch
Don't worry I didn't take this pic while falling
Down Kellogg Street
Up Kellogg Street
My house, our cars
Winter 2010
Summer!
I want summer back!
If I can add a line for us "Jersey Folk" I would like to add:
ReplyDelete-Scrapple... the best breakfast meat I have ever eaten... don't ask me what's in it till you try it. I hear it is infiltrating the freezer aisles at Great American's in NY.
-Water Ice... can I say AMAZING never had it before I came here and I don't know why NY has not jumped on that one.
-Chicken Cutlet Hoagies... not just any... ones from a place called Esgros or Tony Lukes, where there is just enough pickle juice to season the bun and the chicken... SOOOOO YUMMY!
Also for the NY side of me:
-Foccacia sandwiches from Oscuggnizzo's in Washington Mills. I prefer the chicken club, but all of them are great. Nobody does it better!
-Slop & Slop Supreme- The best "garbage" you can have in the morning, from Betty's Diner which is now under new management and closed for renovations. Let's hope they keep the great food!!
My best story on tomato pie:
ReplyDeleteIn my 103 class, I was talking about local specialties and mentioned it. One girl in the back, who had never voiced a word in class the entire semester, yelled "Oh!" Everyone turned around and looked at her, and she went on "They served that at the soccer party on Saturday! I had no idea what it was! I was like 'What the hell cold pizza with no toppings???'"
I said "Exactly. See, this is a perfect example of how outsiders view a local food tradition. When I moved here, I had the exact same reaction."
For the record, there is only one tomato pie in all of Utica that I can stomach. It's whatever one they buy and smuggle in for the student events here - I don't even know where they get it, but the sauce is better than the usual stuff everywhere else.
Ah, funeral potatoes! Starch, cheese, onions, sour cream. Put it all together and you get a kind of nirvana-- really!
ReplyDeleteDid anyone mention all the weird things people put in Jell-O around here? You've heard the stories, I'm sure. Walnuts, carrots, mushrooms, cottage cheese, etc. Yikes.
How about "fry sauce"? If you ask for fry sauce outside of Utah or Idaho, you'll get "Do you mean ketchup?" or a blank stare.
We can also do great things with SPAM.