Mayhaw Man

Actually, vinegar is fine for pickles, salad dressing, and works well in the water to keep boiled eggs from cracking-but on fries? No. Never. I digress- On to Winnipeg and my thoughts to food there. You have to understand that Winnipeg was only a handy stop during this recent round of fishing so this will probably not be as comprehensive as I would like. Frankly, I kind of wish that I had a few more days to kill as I think that the ethnic eating and grocery shopping potential has been highly underrated by most people here. Sure it's a big burg in the Prairie and is apparently looked at as sort of the Lincoln, NB of Canada (No hatemail from Lincolnites, only an example ). A city that exists because it kind of has to as a business center for the area but somewhere with not much to offer. Anyway, after all of the bad press I was not expecting much and was happily suprised. The downtown is somewhat vibrant and much of what I wanted to do could be accessed by foot (although, once again according to local wags, I am lucky to be alive after hoofing it all over Winnipeg) or cab (which are really cheap by New Orleans standards). Anyway, onto the food: On Friday I got the happy news from my lazy as hell brother that since he drove with one of my kids and I was getting the relative pleasure of a) traveling with only one child and b) flying instead of driving north across the fruited plain (say this over and over again-housetreebarnsilohousetreebarnsilohousetreebarnsilohousetreebarnsilotownhousetreebarnsilohousetreebarnsilohousetreebarnsilohousetreebarnsilotownhousetreebarnsilohousetreebarnsilohousetreebarnsilohousetreebarnsilotown- You have just driven through the midwestern US and South Central Canada. Beautiful in a way, but mind numbing for a thousand miles or so) that I could finish up the shopping for a weeks worth of groceries for the cottage in the woods. Shop for 6 guys (not including beer, he wanted to handle that all important task himself-Discuss the State of Canadian Beer Here! Please?) ice it all down, get it ready for air transport, and still be in Kenora for dinner at 8. N.P. I met my youngest brother (a confirmed non shopper, although he can identify good food if forced at gunpoint) and we headed out for Safeway and the adjacent Superstore at the edge of the St. Vitae district in Winnipeg (conveniently located across the road from the St Vitae Curling Club House and Curling Court-a great photo op for those of us who have mo clue at what's up with curling but are somehow fascinated by the strangeness of the sport and end up glued to the TV when it appears late night on ESPN 2 ). First the produce: I found it interesting and refreshing that the location of origin for everything (that I looked at anyway) was very clear. Potatoes from the US and Canada were labeled differently (even if the same type), etc. The selection was great. I could have been anywhere. Now on to the meat. I have no clue if it was just this Safeway, or the state of Canadian Beef in general, but the meat in this store was positively glowing. It was gorgeous. And Cheap! Beef was just great (tasted great too, incidentally) as was the pork. We loaded up on a rib eye to cut for steaks (it had been boned, incidentally, and now that I think of it I don't think that I saw any bone in meat. Is this a result of Mad Cow or just Canadian shopping preference?), big thick pork chops, a couple of kinds of sausages and some great (it turned out to be, anyway) thick cut hickory smoked bacon from Quebec. All in all a very satisfying experience at the meat counter. Thus loaded we headed out of town with a quick backtrack to the Red Top Drive Inn, a place that my keen eyed 11 year old spotted as being "cool". It was, in fact, cool. We had burgers and my brother had a gyro (Greek owned and operated by a guy named Nick-what else?). The burger meat was grilled and served on very good bread (something I found all over during this trip). The fries were semi skinless, hand cut in odd lengths, and fried to very crispy (and I would bet that they were fried in animal fat, although I am not sure about this). The gyro was bursting with meat and peppers-really good in fact. You Winnipeggers and travelers on Hwy One should seek out this fine place. (photos will be added when my brother emails me his, we were using his camera that day-he thought that it was a bit nerdy to be photographing things for a food site and my own easily satisfied pleasure-but he cooperated. After all, he is a bigshot nerd at Dell. On to Kenora, Ontario in the heart of Ontario's Cottage Country. We had dinner at Haps. A restaurant and bar on the Harbor in Kenora. Apparently the most happening spot in Kenora. We had an assortment of TGI McChilibee's type foods and all of it was pretty good. Burgers, steaks, fries (no gravy for me although the more heretical types in my family seemed to enjoy this digression from the right and true way to eat fries) etc. The seating was outside and as long as you were covered with enough deet to kill the nearest flying insects, very pleasant indeed. Breakfast was at at Dino's, a coffee shop on the side of the local Railway hotel (those places are really cool architecturally, as is the Fort Garry in Winnipeg). Great blueberry pancakes and some tasty, very high quality bacon and sausage ( I asked for grits, just for grins. The waitress didn't have any idea what I was talking about ). The coffee here is of pretty high quality for a diner and the place is cheap. We ate there coming and going. I reccomend it. On the way home, after 6 days of eating fish in various ways (walleye and small mouth bass primarily) I was ready for some green food and some red meat. We ended up at Earl's-a HUGE place on the edge of "the Falls" area of Winnipeg right next to the Railway Station. I'm not sure how this happened, perhaps I was tired and didn't express my desire for something interesting. Anyway the combination of very attractive waitstaff, lots of drinks, and some really, really good Canadian Beef seemed to satisfy my dining companions (ever seem an 11 year old tear into 16 ounces of New York Strip after a week of camping? It's a shocking sight ) Actually, on the surface, this is a place I would never have chosen on my own, but I ended up enjoying it quite a bit and my brothers and Dad loved it so I guess I would do it again. Did I mention the attractive waitstaff? I'm sure that I did. Everyone had early flights on Friday and my youngest son and I were left to our own devices. I woke up early (sunset at 10:30 or so and sunrise before 5-it was awesome-I know it's cold up there in the winter but the summer is just great) and headed over to Starbucks in the bottom of the Portage Mall for some dependable coffee and walked over to the Manitoba Capital Building. It was a really interesting place and suprisingly, damn near wide open at 6 in the morning. I wandered back to have a look at the Assinbone River directly behind it and then went for more coffee and woke up the sleeping boy. Boy and I headed to Gunn's Bakery and enjoyed a pretty delicious selection of stuff and then I succumbed and took him to the mall for about an hour of looking at stuff you can buy anywhere else in the world, but he loved it. I did talk him into going across the street to the Hudson's Bay Company and I actually enjoyed that, as it is such a throwback. There are very few downtown "true" department stores left in the US and this place was huge-one block, four or five stories, everything departmentalized. Quite fun, actually. Now, on to lunch. We walked through downtown (managing to avoid all of the ne'erdowells trying to rob us ) and went to King Street and the Chinatown area of Winnipeg. After going through the stock at a couple of local Chinese Groceries and picking up a few things, we headed for Kum Koom Garden, a highly touted (rightly it turned out) dim sum palace. First of all , I was expecting the usual storefront type place that one usually finds this kind of restaurant in but KKG is huge, much more like a cafeteria than a bun shop. And did I mention efficient? Well, let me do that. As soon as you sit down a woman hits the table and takes the beverage order, before her wake clears another woman (the first of 6 different women circulating with 6 or seven items per cart) comes by, offers her wares, and after we chose the one's that we wanted she would snap them into pieces (if appropriate) with her very sharp poultry shears and lay them on the table. This is about one third of the plates. We aren't proud and we don't get to do this very often. It is really great to have children who aren't afraid to try new stuff. He mowed through some pretty unfamiliar foods without even looking up. KKG is now the "best dim sum place in the world!" We ate until we foundered. The aforementioned BBQ Pork Buns were our favorite, but lobster dumplings, steamed shrimp dumplings, spicy pork rib filled dumplings, and some really cool shrimp dumplings with lots of fried dough in a kind of puff deal were some of our favorites. We ate 13 different items (no chicken feet, we'll save that for next time) and loved all of them. Service was great and the servers did their best to explain the items if we asked questions. All in all a superb experience and I would do it again in a minute (in fact, I will next summer as we already made reservations to return-the fishing was awesome and the weather was such a refreshing change from here-90% humidity and rain every day coupled with 95 degree temp). On the way out of town I wanted to take Graham to a couple of institutions so we stopped by a Robin's Donuts for a donut or two (like we needed more yeast, but there's always room for a tasty donut) and at the airport (we had a couple of hours to kill thanks to the really stupid and (this is my own observation of actual happenings) really ineffective Homeland Security Precautions we had to be there really early-we enjoyed another donut and some coffee from Tim Horton's. So he has now covered two ubiquitous Canadian Dining Landmarks. It was a great trip and I look forward to another visit. You Prairie Dwellers need to stop underselling the place. It's a pretty cool looking downtown and in the summer, and extremely interesting place to wander around in. In the Winter-you couldn't get me there with a free ticket and all of the Polar Fleece in Canada. BRRRRRR. To cold for my thin blood. Oh yeah, there is lots and lots of street cart food and Mr Chippie Van type operations. Someone should take some time and analyze these. I had an excellent smokie from a cart on the corner of Portage and Edmonton on Thursday p.m. Good bun steamed and a decent large sausage to go with it. Very Tasty. Are all Canadian cities filled with these food carts? After all of the warnings about the crime epidemic in Downtown Winnipeg I suppose that I am lucky that I made it out with my skin.

Unfortunately, none of the links on that page have any content on them. THe Picayune, and their rediculous website policies, foil even my best efforts. A shame really as that was a great series of work. I am going to see if I can get the text version of the articles. It really was an interesting series.

I just spent a week about halfway between Redhat and Kenora, Ontario. One of the major decisions among my happy band of Southerners was the decisions that we had to make at the incredibly efficient Beer Store in Kenora (I love the way that you hand over your money and the beer comes flying out on the roller table! Kind of like a giant, magic, human operated beer machine). The stuffs not cheap, but what the hell, you guys get health insurance with the proceeds. These choices were not taken lightly,as we only had one shot at making the right choices! A 200 mile round trip on a float plane would have been needed to rectify poor choices. I was stunned by the number of Canadian Brands available and the interesting package sizes available (I really liked those manly liter cans-conveniently designed to cure the thirst of even someone as large as Husky the Muskie). My gang decided on a wide selection, with Molson Canadian as the base brand. They also enjoyed a fair amount of Keith's India Pale, a brand that none of use were familiar with prior to the trip. Rickard's Honey Brown met with a bit less enthusiasm, but was consumed nonetheless (hell, they would have sucked down anything by the end of the week and liked it ). Trying to save weight on the trip back, seemed to be the general excuse. What are your favorite brands? Are there beers that are available only regionally? How do you Canadian's feel about Nationally regulated beer sales (I have an opinion on this, but will hold it until for a while to keep from influencing the discussion). Canadian Beer. You guys drink enough of the stuff! What do you think about it?

FRIED PIES! Let me say it again.....FRIED PIES! I save up scraps until I have enough to make a few savory or fruit (mmmm, peach) pies and use it up that way. The pastry gets a bit tough in the freezer for more regular use (as typical pies, anyway), but it works just great for meat pies or fruit pies. Can't go wrong with fresh fruit or spicy meat and fried dough, is what I say.

As with most of the stuff down here, it's pretty murky water. Here are a couple of articles that will explain/confuse the situation even more Cajun Evolution 101 Well, those Germans might be Cajuns after all John Folse is a German who qualifies as a Cajun (in my pea brain anyway) This should confuse things for you

I'm back. Detailed report tonight, but I can tell all of you that were short selling Winnipeg that one can find some seriously good food there with a little effort. To begin with the steamed pork filled buns at Kum Koom Gardens ROCK! They were unbelievably good. Light moist buns filled with sweet BBQ'd pork. (photos to follow tonight). We ate like the rednecks that we are and still got out for under 40 Canadian. I also ended up at the Red Top Grill (Hwy 1 headed east in St. Vitale District). Great greasy spoon type burger and superb hand cut fries. A throwback hamburger joint/diner that was a real treat for my boys and I. Photos and details to follow. One last thing/ What is the deal with you guys spending all of the time warning about "bad areas" in Winnipeg. I hiked all over Downtown for the better part of two days and, outside of a few bums looking for change, couldn't imagine what the hell I had been warned about over and over and over on eGullet and by the locals in Winnipeg (including the concierge at the hotel-by the time that I got done with him I was on the lookout for huge bands of roving criminals on the lookout for wandering tourists on holiday). The people that I met were unfailingly polite (including the bums) and really helpful. P.S.-I still don't get gravy on fries. Ketchup Dammit! Ketchup! That's the way to go. Get with it already!

I'm a brogan wearing redneck. Raised North of I-20 near the Arkansas Line. I have lived in South Louisiana since 1983, but would never call myself a Cajun. Cajun, as applied by us to natives, generally involves people who were brought up in Acadiana (broadly Central and South Louisiana-Draw an oddly shaped triangle from South of Alexandria to Cameron Parish to Lower Jefferson Parish (Grand Isle) -I will find a map, but I'm at work and can't do it right now). Pyrguy has it right. They know who they are and that's about as good a definition as you are going to get. I think that Lucy's show is done by a local Public Television outlet in either Lake Charles or Lafayette. That would more or less explain the production values. Did you see the one where she fried pork chops with her grandaughter? It was high comedy in a serious way.

Campfire Cafe Mrs. Lucy Jason, you watch all of the classics. Do you get them on PBS or somewhere else. "Now we'll just add in our pineapple. Put the lid on the old dutch oven, and layer on our coals. We just hang it back on the hook and we'll move on to our Campfire Baked Alaska." I love Campfire Cafe. We occasionally make the egg roll recipe out of Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee's Chinese Cookbook (a seriouly great cookbook) and while they are a chore, they are very good. A great example of the style and they look much like the ones that Jason was touting.

You too?! It's those damn jars full of martinis. Too spicy to drink, to tasty to leave alone. They must have a hell of a time deciphering the credit card scratchings. Maybe THAT'S why they only took cash for so long. Were you around for his upstairs sandwich place? It was great, but short lived in the early eighties.

I seriously doubt that Vieux Carre Wines and Spirits is doing the same. I do love that place however. Those guys, upon request, have gotten more strange spirits for me over the years than anybody else. They will order anything if they can get it and the best part is that they used to give giant discounts to regulars AND they mix reasonably well made cocktails while you stand around and chat with the regulars (how many liquor stores do you know of with tables and chairs in the front window). As far as K Pauls goes, the food is still really good. I ate there just after New Years and really enjoyed it. I have a great K Pauls story involving the liquor store next door and poor behavior by me, but I can't seem to find it. It was in the "drunken meals" thread which I can't seem to find. I'm not proud of it, but it was funny (at least to me).

Yeah, Kristin, but do they come in cool baseball bat shaped bento boxes? Easily worth the extra money.

I live in New Orleans. We have a few roaches. Roaches on the wall-depends on whether they cover the wall or they are just cavorting about. A few friendly prehistoric insects don't worry me much. Roaches in the food-not going back. Ever.

I thought that I was clear, but perhaps not. I hate Salt Lake International Airport with a hate I feel for few other things on this earth (or any other planet, for that matter).

I like O'Hare and Hartsfield/Atlanta for the variety of food available and Chicago in particular for the Hot Dogs and that incredibly convenient Hilton IN the airport. A great idea if there ever was one. I hate, with all of my cold little heart, Salt Lake International Airport. I am a frequent flyer on Delta and sadly damn near everything smoking from New Orleans to the Western US connects through Salt Lake. I hate the Salt Lake Airport. No Food. Crummy Drinks governed by their bizarre laws. Did I mention that I hate the airport in Salt Lake? Because if I didn't, I should have. The airport in Salt Lake is awful in the most extreme sense of the word. New Orleans has a crummy airport setup (parking situation is pretty abismal), but the foods pretty good. How many other airports in the country have a "seafood to go" outlet where seafood is sold and packed for travel or they will pack what you bring in yourself. A great service.

I like the do it yourself checkout. On the other hand I have a theory that before you are able to use it one should have to take a "checkout exam". Something concerning produce, scales, codes, i.d. of vegetables, how the stupid checkout belt works (move your stuff before the belt piles up or the whole thing will come to a grinding halt! Dammit!, and how to pay. Once you have a minimal knowledge of these subjects you would be given a swipe card that would allow you to operate the machine. It is amazing how many people manage to involve the store manager in these seemingly simple transactions. Those machines are an incredible test in honesty as well. Green bell peppers and those pricy other colored ones, for example, ring the same on the register. I don't cheat, but I have to admit that I think about it every single time.

You have something more important than that in your life? You're lucky! This is the highpoint of my day, as I seem to be the only person in the United States who is forced to work today (and I would not be working if you guys would quit ordering exercise equipment to work off all of those hot dogs you slammed down yesterday! )

OhhhhNooo! Hold the Phone! If there were a World Championship for Grocery Store Shopping with Style, Grace, and Efficiency I would be a contender. I LOVE to go to the grocery. I go damn near everyday. My wife goes to the grocery store when she is forced. Once I learn the layout of a store I can sail through with no trouble and great speed. The key is to know your store. All things are possible after this. I know plenty of men who do the same (here in the "Land of Men Who Cook Almost Every Meal"-South Louisiana). Not every man is a lunkhead shopper.

I actually count the stuff. If I am over (generally by one item or more) I tough it out with the ladies buying the week's groceries. The only exception is if there is no one else in line at the express checkout and the store is not overly busy. I will then go through the speed line. My favorite local chain actually has express lanes designed for limited cart access-discouraging those that have a boatload of groceries. There is one with cart access, but it is for handicapped folks who cut a slightly wider wake with wheel chairs and those little electric carts. And, even though I am an extremely polite Southern type, I would have said something to the lunkhead. Especially when he started reading his reciept. You are lucky that he didn't whip out coupons (of course he wouldn't have done it until the checker had already totaled the order ) You New Yorkers are too timid. The question for the day: What the hell are you supposed to do with the handbasket after you have emptied it onto the conveyor? Put it on the floor? Carry it around until you leave the store? There is never anywhere to put the damn things.

Milk Cartons (which thankfully are slowly being replaced by plastic with convenient lids). Did you ever notice how the side that says "open here" has more glue than the opposite side? Huh? Did you?

Col. Klink- Seer to finish? I've never done this. No seering on the front end (I suppose that this would prevent some of the smoky deliciousness getting through). So.....you just take the rested meat and throw it on a hot grill turning pretty much constantly? Correct? I'll have to give this a try as I have one of those things (from Sam's Club) in the freezer.

Squeat reminded me of one that I had forgotten to mention. My children loved Zatarain's Root Beer when they were little and I like it too. We kinda stopped making it after we started making Abita Root Beer (yet another Southern Beverage I failed to mention).

Yeah, Yeah. Fresh, schmesh. Whatever. I use canned to make this and the stuff is great and totally simple. It will be in recipe gullet shortly for you cooking and eating pleasure. Incidentally, this halves just fine. It feeds about ad dozen people this way. It's really good and there is rarely any left over. Corn Casserole 4 tbls. butter 1 Medium yellow onion, finely chopped 1/2 Green Bell Pepper, finely chopped 1 tabasco pepper(or other small hot pepper-scotch bonnets are good here) 4 Cloves garlic, finely minced 2 Cans Whole Kernal Corn 2 Cans Creamed Corn 2 Cans Yellow Hominy 2 Cans White Hominy 1 small jar pimientos 1/2 Tsp salt 1 tsp. cracked black pepper Sautee veg until soft, putting in garlic at the very end to avoid burning Mix remaining ingredients in a large, greased, pyrex or ceramic dish . Bake @350F until a thin crust forms on top (about 30 min). This will look very wet when you put it together but it dries nicely in the oven.

Maple Leaf? Welcome to eGullet Ellen. Always pleased to see a fan of local dumps. Snake and Jake's? Cooter Brown's? Chart Room? Carrollton Station? Nick's Big Train Bar? Lagniappe? Johnny White's ? Saturn Bar? What, pray tell, is your favorite horrible dive bar in New Orleans? There are so many fine choices.

Absolutely correct. In fact, it is just the opposite-When the very rare occasion occurs that some social misfit wants something other than tea, they will need to ask for "hot tea", otherwise they will get regular tea (iced). They will also most likely get a cup of luke warm water and a bag of Lipton. One of the worst things that happens in restaurants concerning tea is when the tea is served in giant pitchers with tons of ice in them. THe ice slowly melts and causes the tea to become brown water. I am a much happier camper when I see a couple of tea urns on the service station or behind the bar (sweet and unsweet) as I know that I have a pretty good chance of getting a delicious, refreshing beverage to accompany my meal instead of some brown water with too much ice.

Dave, Are you thinking about going to the conference in Oxford in October? Several of us are going to be there. It looks like it will be pretty interesting. I don't think that there is a direct relationship there, bt honestly I haven't thought to ask. I am emailing them now with that question